“Conspiracy Theory”: Foundations of a Weaponized Term
by James F. Tracy
Global Research
Jan 22, 2013
“Conspiracy theory” is a term that at once strikes fear and anxiety in the hearts of most every public figure, particularly journalists and academics. Since the 1960s the label has become a disciplinary device that has been overwhelmingly effective in defining certain events off limits to inquiry or debate. Especially in the United States raising legitimate questions about dubious official narratives destined to inform public opinion (and thereby public policy) is a major thought crime that must be cauterized from the public psyche at all costs.
Conspiracy theory’s acutely negative connotations may be traced to liberal historian Richard Hofstadter’s well-known fusillades against the “New Right.” Yet it was the Central Intelligence Agency that likely played the greatest role in effectively “weaponizing” the term. In the groundswell of public skepticism toward the Warren Commission’s findings on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the CIA sent a detailed directive to all of its bureaus. Titled “Countering Criticism of the Warren Commission Report,” the dispatch played a definitive role in making the “conspiracy theory” term a weapon to be wielded against almost any individual or group calling the government’s increasingly clandestine programs and activities into question.
This important memorandum and its broad implications for American politics and public discourse are detailed in a forthcoming book by Florida State University political scientist Lance de-Haven-Smith, Conspiracy Theory in America. Dr. de-Haven-Smith devised the state crimes against democracy concept to interpret and explain potential government complicity in events such as the Gulf of Tonkin incident, the major political assassinations of the 1960s, and 9/11.
“CIA Document 1035-960” was released in response to a 1976 FOIA request by the New York Times. The directive is especially significant because it outlines the CIA’s concern regarding “the whole reputation of the American government” vis-à-vis the Warren Commission Report. The agency was especially interested in maintaining its own image and role as it “contributed information to the [Warren] investigation.”
The memorandum lays out a detailed series of actions and techniques for “countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries.” For example, approaching “friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors)” to remind them of the Warren Commission’s integrity and soundness should be prioritized. “[T]he charges of the critics are without serious foundation,” the document reads, and “further speculative discussion only plays in to the hands of the [Communist] opposition.”
The agency also directed its members “[t]o employ propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose.”
Russia to ban Bitcoin by next spring
Red Ice Creations
Sept 19, 2014
From: coinreport.net
RT, an English-language news outlet in Russia, reports that a top official with the Russian government has announced that a law will be passed banning Bitcoin’s exchange into real money by next spring because of Bitcoin’s use by criminals and terrorists.
Deputy Finance Minister Aleksey Moiseev said to journalists in Moscow:
“People can play with their chips, and they can call them money, but they can’t use these surrogate currencies as tender. We will discuss this law in the current session of parliament, and possibly even pass it then, or at the very latest by spring next year. We are currently dealing with comments from the law enforcement agencies, about the specifics of legal measures, and we will take their remarks into account. But the overall concept of the law is set in stone.”
While the draft of the proposed legislation has not been published, officials state they will open criminal proceedings against people who mint digital currency as well as those who use it for transactions. Russia’s financial ministry has also asked regulators to ban access to exchanges and online shops that accept Bitcoin, reports RT.
Bangladesh Central Bank: Cryptocurrency Use is a ‘Punishable Offense’
CoinDesk
Sept 16, 2014
Update (17th September 3:00 BST): A full translation of the statement from the Bangladesh Bank has been added to the piece.
The central bank of Bangladesh has issued a new statement suggesting that the use of digital currency is now illegal in the country.
The Bangladesh Bank, as originally reported by the Agence France-Presse (AFP), has said that the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is unlawful under existing anti-money laundering (AML) statutes.
The Bangladesh Bank noted in its advisory that harsh penalties could be imposed on those who use digital currencies, saying:
“Bitcoin is not a legal tender of any country. Any transaction through bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is a punishable offense.”
AFP also reportedly spoke to a representative from the bank, who said that the act of using a digital currency could be punishable by as much as 12 years in prison.
Bangladesh recently enacted Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, a revision of a 2009 law that aimed to bring the country’s AML policies up to global standards.
Popularity leads to announcement
Notably, the bank’s decision to outlaw digital currency transactions derived from increasing reports in the local media regarding the use of bitcoin by domestic residents.
VIDEO — Stop Race Baiting, Turn off your TV
Ryan Dawson
Sept 11, 2014
All sides, quit being racist idiots. Divide and Conquer. The police exist to generate money for the state and to protect the political class. They are not there to serve you or protect you.
St. Louis Cop Suspended After Radical Views Are Exposed by YouTuber — videos included
Activist Post
Aug 23, 2014
Sergeant Dan Page of the St. Louis County Police Department was caught earlier this week participating in what seemed like a staged CNN broadcast in Ferguson where he shoved reporter Don Lemon while standing with peaceful protesters.
YouTube activist The Black Child noticed the encounter on CNN and quickly identified Page and exposed his radical views in the video below. The Black Child pulled clips from a 2012 lecture given by Sergeant Page where he gives detailed plans of a military police state takeover of America.
CNN has now confirmed the officer pretending to manhandle reporter Don Lemon is indeed Dan Page in that 2012 lecture. Page has been suspended for his ideology and will be forced to undergo psychiatric evaluation. Of course, they still pretend that Page wasn’t a CNN-paid provocateur in that ridiculous sidewalk scene.
Lemon uses the opportunity to smear the Oath Keepers as sharing Page’s views. However, they report Oath Keeper’s response that Page is not a member of their organization and was only invited to lecture about the police state.
This is the second time in a week that an activist journalist got a thug removed from the Ferguson protest. Three days ago a police officer pointed an assault rifle in the face of a peaceful citizen journalist and says “I will fucking kill you”. When the livestreamer asks for his name the officer replied “Go fuck yourself!”
The officer was removed from Ferguson the following day and suspended. Activist journalists have done more to enforce police accountability this week than authorities seem to have done in a span of years.
It’s a very interesting world we live in.
New Bill In Congress Would Ban Private Citizens From Owning Body Armor
by Michael Snyder
The Economic Collapse
Aug 21, 2014
A new law that has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives “would prohibit the sale, transfer or possession of military-level body armor by civilians”. In other words, private citizens all over the entire nation would be permanently banned from owning body armor if this bill gets passed and signed into law. The bill that I am talking about is H.R. 5344 (The Responsible Body Armor Possession Act), and you can view the proposed legislation for yourself right here. The driving force behind this new law is Democrat Mike Honda from California. To Honda, it doesn’t matter that large numbers of very responsible Americans have purchased body armor to protect themselves and their families in a society that is rapidly decaying. Instead, it makes perfect sense to Honda to ban body armor because “access to military-grade body armor emboldens criminals and mass shooters to act.” And Honda wants to make possession of body armor a criminal offense with a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. This is absolutely crazy, and it is yet another example of the “police state mentality” that is so prevalent among our politicians these days.
When I first learned about this new law, I could hardly believe it. But it is actually true. The following is an excerpt from a news story about the introduction of this new bill…
Rep. Mike Honda, D-San Jose, has announced legislation that would block civilians from accessing military-grade body armor to prevent criminals from using them in gun battles with law enforcement.
Honda, speaking at a news conference in San Jose Wednesday morning with police chiefs and the district attorneys and sheriffs from Santa Clara and Alameda counties, said his proposal would discourage criminals from wearing enhanced body armor to commit mass shootings.
“This bill will keep military body armor out of the wrong hands,” Honda said. “It would ensure that only law enforcement, firefighters and other first responders would be able to access enhanced body armor.”
Fortunately, it is incredibly tough to get just about anything accomplished in Congress these days, so the odds of this bill ever becoming law are probably pretty low.
But without a doubt those that are attempting to systematically disarm the American people will just keep on trying.
And we need to be vigilant, because history has shown what happens when entire populations are disarmed. All we have to do is look back at the millions that were killed under Nazi Germany or the tens of millions that were killed under the communist Chinese.
Of course one of the greatest examples of this phenomenon was what happened under Joseph Stalin as Simon Black recently explained…
By the late 1920s, Joseph Stalin became the unchallenged leader of the Soviet Union after having eliminated his opposition.
He topped it off in 1929 by serving a decisive blow to anyone that would dare to oppose him by outlawing private gun ownership in the country.
From that year on until 1953 when Stalin died, it’s estimated that more than 20 million Soviet citizens that were seen as a threat to the country’s leadership.
Many Americans are tempted to believe that it is impossible for that kind of tyranny to happen in our day and age, but the truth of the matter is that America is becoming more like Nazi Germany with each passing day.
Crowdfunding campaign for officer who shot Michael Brown spurs controversy
RT USA
Aug 23, 2014
People gather for a “National Day of Rage” protest against the police fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, outside the White House in Washington August 21, 2014. (Reuters/Yuri Gripas)
A crowdfunding campaign in support of the officer who shot unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown is under fire as it has raised more money to date than all of the campaigns for the victim of the shooting combined.
Calls to have the website hosting the campaign, GoFundMe, take down the donation page reached a fever pitch when the internet was alerted to the fact that many of the comments being left alongside donations were hateful and racist in nature. As of Friday, donations to Officer Darren Wilson stood at $234,910 after five days of activity.
A similar campaign for the Michael Brown family – set up on the same website – has raised just over $174,000 in nine days, while a separate fund established specifically for the Brown children had raised $1,136 in 10 days.
A separate campaign meant to support local journalists and keep the events in Ferguson, Missouri, in the news, meanwhile, has raised more than $13,000 so far.
Critics of the campaign for Wilson complained that it was unnecessary since the officer is still getting paid by the police department – he was placed on paid administrative leave following the incident involving Brown, in which the teenager was fatally shot up to six times. The shooting sparked protests against police brutality and excessive force in Ferguson, which are still ongoing.
“This page has been created to support Officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police Department,” the page originally read, according to Business Insider. “We stand behind Officer Darren Wilson and his family during this trying time in their lives. All proceeds will be sent directly to Darren Wilson and his family for any financial needs they may have including legal fees.”
Additionally, when donations began flooding in, many were accompanied by racist comments, causing many on social media to accuse the campaign of violating GoFundMe’s terms and conditions. The website specifically states that “items that promote hate, violence, racial intolerance, or the financial exploitation of a crime” are prohibited.
Wilson has not been charged with a crime over Brown’s death, however, and it is unclear if he will be. The website eventually disabled the comments on the page, but stated that it’s a “neutral platform” and the campaign would not be removed.
Others, meanwhile, noted that GoFundMe collects five percent of all the money raised in a campaign, suggesting it may be why the page was never taken down.
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[related: Ferguson Officer Who Shot Mike Brown to Get $250,000 in Donations]
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