The Slaughterhouse Informer

A Compendiium of Various Official Lies, Business Scandals, Small Murders, Frauds, and Other Gross Defects of Our Current Political, Business and Religious Moral Lepers.

Presenting a new magazine that contains material that is not found elsewhere and is very difficult to post on the Internet. The ‘Voice of the White House’ will appear in each issue containing material not found on TBR News for very obvious reasons.This publication will appear once a week, on Wednesday, every week, will be ten pages in length and is available by subscription only. The price is $5.00 a month and can be paid via PayPal or by check. If you don’t like it, and Bush supporters can read the Drudge Report for free, you can cancel at any time.

Civil insurrection in America and government countermeasures: The official papers

By Bradley Moscrip

An in-depth study of official American plans to construct FEMA detention centers in America and specific recent U.S. Army domestic counterinsurgency plans. Here is a sampling of the ebook contents:

Gun Control by Confiscation

As the American general population is known to be the most heavily armed in the world, immediately upon the declaration of Martial Law and the execution by the military of counterinsurgency programs, it has been determined that the BATF, will begin the process of rounding up all rifles, pistols and so-called assault weaponry from the civil population. Lists of gun collectors obtained from firearms dealers, gun magazine subscription lists and other sources will be the basis for these mass confiscations. Gun owners will be supplied documentation by the BATF showing which pieces have been confiscated so that in the future, they will be told, they can recover their weapons when the state of emergency has passed. In actuality, weapons that do not have a high value or are not suitable for arming loyalist police forces, will be destroyed by order

This study is available from tbrnews at $5.00 by PayPal  

The Voice of the White House

            Washington, D.C., April 4, 2010: “We have been writing about MERS, the Federal mortgage agency, and the unpleasant truth that because of peculations, deliberate and accidental, the bulk of MERS’s 50 million American mortgages are so sliced and diced that property owners can never, ever find out who actually holds there title and therefore, can never get clear title when the mortgage is paid off. I have obtained a file on the man behind what is one of the largest swindles in history, passing even his friend and co-religionist Bernie Madoff. This man helped organize the Mozillo Countrywide mortgage scams of a few years back in which many, many false credit reports were deliberately made by Mozillo’s co workers to enable people with no credit and little income to buy houses. The falsified mortgages were then packaged, like sausage, and sold by the bigger banks overseas. The man behind this is one Alan G. Shapiro and I am going to pass along some information about Alan. Bernie got off with 65 billion, only some of which was recovered but Alan got off with nearly 200 billion, not one cent of which can ever be recovered because, like Bernie, he put his loot into Israeli banks and lending establishments from whence it will never return. Here is some information on Alan for you:

Alan G. Shapiro

            The Shapiro’s family are Lithuanian, Orthodox Jewish, from Wilno and originally named Speyer. His father, Chaim, a rabbi , fled Lithuania in January of 1939 and went to Stockholm. While in Sweden, Chaim married Esther Domeratsky at Viborg on February 17, 1941. The family emigrated to Israel in September of 1949 and lived near        Alan was born on September 8, 1958, at.Tel Aviv and emigrated to the United States, through Canada, in August of 1979.       the Israeli  think tank, JINSA. the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs  Shapiro has been closely associated with the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidics, who follow the Qabala and hold very extremist and insulting views of non-Jews.  Shapiro was taught colloquial English as a child and when he was finished with his obligatory IDF service, he came to the United States to find his fortune and better serve his employers, the Israeli government and people. In due time, Alan became connected with a number of the Hebraic Illuminati in and around Washington, an area that has proven to be of rich pickings for some. At one period or another,Alan was:

·         An associate of William Kristol who published the Weekly Standard, a Rupert Murdoch-financed magazine that promotes the neocon credo a must-read in Cheney's office.

·         Was a member of the Defense Department's National Security Study Group, at the Pentagon

·         Worked closely with the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), a Washington-based Israeli outfit which distributed articles translated from Arabic newspapers portraying Arabs in a bad light

·         Worked even more closely with top members of the Bradley Foundation, one of the largest and most influential right-wing organizations in America. It set up the PNAC led by William Kristol

·         Was heavily involved with Israeli think tank ‘The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)’ and worked very closely with the Israeli Embassy out of 3514 International Dr NW, Washington, DC 20008, dealing with a Lev Aedelstein, later identified as a senior Mossad operative

·         At one point in his career as a more successful Jonathan Pollard, Shapiro received both Top Secret-SCI (sensitive compartmented information) and Top Secret "NATO/COSMIC" security clearances.

·         And while reaping what other had sown, Alan also worked closely with Angelo Mozilla, head of Countrywide Mortgage which specialized in falsified credit backed mortgages.Countrywide was founded in 1969 as Countrywide Credit Industries

·         .Alan G. Shapiro has often been confused with another Alan who owns TAG Inc. of Orange County, CA, Threat Assessment Group designed  to prevents workplace violence. The latter Alan has nothing to do with his namesake.

Shapiro yacht and Bernie Madoff

            Madoff founded the Wall Street firm Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in 1960, and was its chairman until his arrest on December 11, 2008. The Madoff family gained access to Washington's lawmakers and regulators through the industry's top trade group. The Madoff family had long-standing, high-level ties to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the primary securities industry organization.^[55] Bernard Madoff sat on the Board of Directors of the Securities Industry Association, which merged with the Bond Market Association in 2006 to form SIFMA. Former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt has estimated the actual net fraud to be between $10 and $17 billion.^[82] Erin Arvedlund, who publicly questioned Madoff's reported investment performance in 2001, stated that the actual amount of the fraud will never be known, but is likely between $12 and $20 billion. Union Bank of Israel Ltd, Bank Massad Ltd, Leumi Mortgage Bank Ltd, Total Money International Ltd. Hadar Weitzman Group.

            Bernie, like Alan, stole billions but the American authorities were never able to ascertain where much of the stolen money went. The U.S. investigative agencies strongly believed that all of it was safe in Israeli banks but could never figure out how the stolen m money got there. All banking wire transactions are automatically reported and the transfer of so much money would be easy to spot. What both Bernie and Alan did was to buy gold. They bought bar gold and coins with their money because, unlike paper money, gold will keep its value. And how did they get such enormous weights of gold to Israel? On a plane? No, in the hold of Alan’s yacht. His yacht, once called ‘The Polar Queen’ is large enough to carry all the gold in Ft. Knox across the Atlantic and in great comfort for her passengers. Here we include some technical information from the company(s) who built the yacht

            “Offering the highest degree of luxury, PJ World is a unique 82m Ice Class  superyacht capable of traversing the most remote regions in the most challenging conditions.

            Rolls Royce Marine and Palmer Johnson Norway have introduced a revolutionary approach whereby the vessel’s design is optimized to its operational profile ensuring a multitude of benefits. Peak performance, endurance, reliability, low ownership costs and maintenance efficiency have been the prime focus throughout the design process. Furthermore, her exceptional ‘Clean Design’ offers a host of environmentally conscious features which are beneficial to both cost and performance.

            PJ World’s opulent interior and exterior layout features a fully equipped gym with spa, cinema, swimming pool, a heli aft-deck and an owner’s suite on the fifth deck with a breathtaking panoramic ocean view. Redefining the exploration-style vessel, PJ World breaks all boundaries.”...

Principal Characteristics                        

LOA    267'      81.4M

BEAM 48'                    14.6M

DRAFT  approx 13'       4.0M

DEADWEIGHT           600 tonnes       

GROSS TONNAGE     2800 grt             

Tank Capacities                        

FUEL OIL                    260,000 Lts      

FRESH WATER          80,000 Lts        

BALLAST WATER     400,000 Lts      

WASTE FLUIDS HOLDING   85,000 Lts        

Speed & Range             

Range   10 Knots           10,500NM

            12 Knots           10,000NM

            14 Knots           8,400NM

            16 Knots           6,500NM

Fuel Consumption          10 Knots           24.8 L/NM

            12 Knots           25.8 L/NM

            14 Knots           30.7 L/NM

            16 Knots           39.8 L/NM

Max recommended speed:         16.5 Knots       

MAIN ENGINE           Diesel Electric Propulsion: medium speed 4-stroke, Rolls Royce Bergen C25 type 2000KW @ 1000rpm, 6 cylinder

CONSTRUCTION       Steel plate and extrusions. Welded construction. Scantlings and plate suitable to Ice Class 1B Classification requirementsSuperstructure and upper areas faired to superyacht standards

CLASSIFICATION    DNV* 1A1, E0,LC Yacht R0 Clean Comfort- V(1) HELDK-SHFMCA, Marine and Coastguard Administration, per Isle of Man Ship Registry. MCA Large Commercial Yacht Code (LY2)Dynamic Positioning system to DP1 (DYNPOS-AUT)Hull Class: ICE- 1B

            And once the Mozilla scheme collapsed and the Bank of American rushed to buy up his Countrywide Moertgage company, Alan took quiet leave of his many friends and co-religionists in Washington and sailed into the sunrise. Is he now living in Israel, untouched and untouchable? No, Alan, untouchable because of his threats to expose half of Washington for various high crimes and misdemeanors, is now living in France. He lives in a beautiful villa located at Villefranch-sur-Mer near Nice on the Mediterranean French Riverna. The harbor there is big enough to take his yacht, now registered outside the United States, and Alan is thoroughly enjoying the loot he ripped off from millions of hard-working Americans. They were looking for the American Dream but Alan found it.  Here is some detail on Alan’s new home:

            Villefranche-sur-Mer (Niçard: Vilafranca de Mar, Italian: Villafranca Marittima) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, and has been home to notable celebrities such as Tina Turner and Keith Richards.

            Villefranche-sur-Mer is located about 6 km (4 miles) east of the city of Nice, separated by Mont Boron, Mont Alban and Mont Vinaigrier, and 10 km (6 miles) south west of Monaco. The bay (rade) of Villefranche is one of the deepest natural harbours of any port in the Mediterranean Sea and provides safe anchorage for large ships, reaching depths of 95 m (320 ft) between the Cape of Nice and Cap Ferrat; it extends to the south to form a 500 m (1700 ft) abyss known as the undersea Canyon of Villefranche at about one nautical mile off the coastline.

            The city limits extend to the hills surrounding the bay climbing from sea level to an altitude of 520 m (1750 ft) at Mont-Leuze, reflecting on land the features found offshore. The three "Corniches" or main roads linking Nice to Italy pass through Villefranche and offer spectacular vistas of the coast and surrounding hills.

            Unless, and until, some fed up American victim catches up to Alan and lets daylight through him, he is safe enough and proves that crime does indeed pay. Ask any Republican senator or representative.

New EU Gestapo Spies on Britons

March 26, 2010

by Mark Reynolds
The Express
 

            Millions of Britons face being snooped on by a new European intelligence agency which has been handed frightening powers to pry into our lives.

            Europol can access personal information on anyone - including their political opinions and sexual preferences - if it suspects, rightly or wrongly, that they may be involved in any "preparatory act" which could lead to criminal activity.

            The vagueness of the Hague based force's remit sparked furious protests yesterday with critics warning that the EU snoopers threaten our right to free speech.

            It is understood the agency will concentrate on anyone thought "xenophobic" or likely to commit a crime involving the environment, computers or motor vehicles.

            This could include covert monitoring of people who deny the existence of climate change or speak out on controversial issues.

            Paul Nuttall, chairman of the UK Independence Party, said: "I am horrifid. We thought Gordon Brown's Big Brother state was bad enough but at least we are going to kick him out in May. These guys we cannot sack until we leave the EU."

            James Welch, legal director of campaign group Liberty, said: "We have huge concerns that Europol appears to have been given powers to hold very sensitive information and to investigate matters that aren't even crimes in this country. Any extension of police powers at any level needs to be properly debated and scrutinised."

            Until January 1, Europol was a police office funded by various states to help tackle international organised crime.

            But it has been reborn as the official criminal intelligence-gathering arm of the EU and Brussels has vastly increased its powers.

            It can now target more than simply organised crime and the burden of proof required to begin monitoring an individual has been downgraded.

            Europol has also been absorbed into the EU superstructure, so it will be centrally funded, sweeping away a key check on its independence.

            Campaigners last night expressed concern over the vague list of "serious crimes" which the agency can help investigate, which include racism and xenophobia, environmental crime and corruption. Among personal details that can be gathered and stored are "behavioural data" including "lifestyle and routine; movements; places frequented", tax position and profiles of DNA and voice.

            Where relevant, Europol will also be able to keep data on a person's "political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership and data concerning health or sex life".

            Sean Gabb, director of the Libertarian Alliance, warned that it threatened our right to free speech.

            "It doesn't surprise me that Europol has been handed these rather frightening powers, " he said. "We now live in a pan-European state so it was to be expected that it would have a federal police force with powers over us.

            "There is a real danger that opposition to EU policies could make an individual liable to arrest.

            "For example, if Brussels adopts a hard-line stance on climate change, it's conceivable that someone who broadcasts their scepticism of climate change may be accused of committing an environmental crime because they have undermined the EU's efforts to save mankind."

            Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative leader in the European Parliament, said: "Europol's new mandate has significantly expanded its powers.

            "There is a real chance that the vague mandate will enable it to gradually extend its areas of intervention even further."

            The Home Office insisted the changes were in Britain's interests.

            A spokesman said: "Europol is now in a much stronger position to better support our fight against serious and organised crime and terrorism."

            Comment: Here are some useful tips for our British friends for more secure use of their personal computers. Every little bit helps, as the fat man said in the day care center.

Let us consider using an ISP which assigns IP addresses dynamically rather than uniquely. Accept the extra cost for a second ISP.

Always to use a computer away from your location, a public library, coffee house and the like.

Use a computer that is not yours  Be sure the owner does not know your real name or address.

Most certainly do not ever use a computer at work: all employers legally spy on workers, as ISPs spy on users, and will eagerly report you to authorities to hide their own crimes.,

Use a single computer and/or ISP only for Internet use. Never connect the net machine to your principal computer and never transfer information from it to your main computer – it is permissible to transfer information to the net box if you are careful to prevent covert snooping by the net box on your principal computer. There are concealed bots and trojans which do just that.

Use a program to mask the MAC of your network card, see Google. This does not affect the IP address but helps cloak the machine ID.

Every few months, if not sooner, do a search for latest techniques. There is a fast growing demand for them, and naturally, an equally fast growing industry to get past protection, part governmental and part private snoopings

Stings and honey pots are used to lure the uninitiated or trusting to so-called safe protection sites and programs 

Do not ever trust media accounts of new programs that the government-paid newspaper finks claim are “unbeakable” because they have built-in trapdoors that would let the ‘Titanic’ sail through.

Pentagon investigating spy operation

March 16, 2010

Charleston Gazette (West Virginia)
 
            WASHINGTON - A Defense Department official is under investigation for allegedly hiring private contractors to gather intelligence on suspected insurgents in Afghanistan and Pakistan, a U.S. official said Monday.

            The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Associated Press that

            Michael D. Furlong directed a defense contract to gather information about the region that could be shared with military units. After military officials suspected that he was using Defense Department money for an off-the-books spy operation, defense officials shut down that part of the contract, the official said.

            The story was first reported by The New York Times in Monday's editions, quoting unidentified military and business sources as saying that Furlong, now a senior civilian employee at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, hired subcontractors who had former U.S. intelligence and special forces operatives on their payrolls. The newspaper said some of the information collected by the contractors was used to track down and attack militants.

            "The story makes some serious allegations and raises numerous unanswered questions that warrant further review by the department," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday.

            The military in mid-2008 put Furlong in charge of a program to use private companies to gather information about Afghanistan's political and tribal culture, the Times reported.

            Part of the original $22 million contract that Furlong was directing remains intact, the official told the AP, because it provides the funding for nine workers involved in information-gathering, translation and similar work. Those workers are employed by International Media Ventures with offices in Florida, Texas and elsewhere.

- The Associated Press

            Nine employees from International Media Ventures were hired by the U.S. military to serve as information analysts and in other administrative jobs at the International Security Assistance Force headquarters operations center in Kabul, said Maj. Steven Cole, a spokesman for the international military coalition in Afghanistan.

            "We are not aware of, nor responsible for, any other activities performed by this company or any of its subsidiaries," Cole said.

            Furlong continues to work for U.S. Strategic Command as a "strategic planner and technology integration adviser" at the Joint Information Operations Warfare Center at Lackland Air Force Base.

            Master Sgt. Kevin Allen, a spokesman for U.S. Strategic Command, said Furlong began working there in February 2008 but was soon assigned to support U.S. Central Command, which oversees the war in Afghanistan.

            Allen declined to make Furlong available for an interview or confirm that Furlong was under investigation.

            Riechmann reported from Kabul.

U.S. has no defense against cyber attacks

March 11, 2010

by Sentinel & Enterprise
Sentinel & Enterprise (Fitchburg, Massachusetts)
 

            If a top intelligence expert said America was not prepared for war, and indeed that if we went to war "we would lose," that would worry you, wouldn't it? Start worrying.

            The expert is Mike McConnell, who served as director of the National Security Agency under President Bill Clinton, and as director of national intelligence under President George Bush. He was referring not to a conventional war or a guerrilla war. He was referring to a cyber war. But understand: Cyber war does not mean fun and video games. McConnell told a Senate committee last week that the risk we face from cyber attacks "rivals nuclear weapons in terms of seriousness."

            Cyber combatants could cause massive blackouts lasting for months. They could destroy the electronic processes on which our banking, commerce and financial systems have been built, stealing -- or simply wiping out -- vast amounts of wealth. They could put our air transportation system in jeopardy. They might even be able to cripple our defense and national security infrastructure. It is possible to defend against such threats. But we are not doing it adequately.

            A year ago Jim Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told Steve Kroft of "60 Minutes" that in 2007 America suffered "an espionage Pearl Harbor. Some unknown foreign power, and honestly, we don't know who it is, broke into the Department of Defense, to the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, probably the Department of Energy, probably NASA."

            After that, you would think a serious and comprehensive cyber-defense program would have been initiated. But in an op-ed published Sunday, McConnell warned that the U.S. government has "yet to address the most basic questions about cyber-conflicts. ... we lack a cohesive strategy to meet this challenge."

            Add to that the growing menace of cyber crime, which Joseph Menn, in his brilliant and disturbing book, "Fatal System Error," reports is already a "shadow economy that is worth several times more than the illegal drug trade, that has already disrupted national governments, and that has the potential to undermine Western affluence and security."

            If cyber crime is not curbed, Menn predicts, it is likely to get "far worse potentially wiping out faith in electronic transactions and rendering the Internet unfit for more than entertainment and informal, quasi-public communication."

            What about the nightmare scenario of cyber criminals and cyber combatants joining forces? That's already happening. "The full truth," Menn writes, "is that a number of enormously powerful national governments, especially those of Russia and China, have picked up the blossoming of the Internet age as the time to ally with organized crime. The Russian government, and possibly the Chinese government, has access to minds capable not only of stealing millions upon millions of dollars, but potentially disrupting the Western economy. Why wouldn't they encourage additional research to nurture such a weapon?"

            Terrorists are penetrating cyberspace as well. Menn reports that "three British jihadists convicted in 2007 for inciting murder used access to a database with 37,000 stolen credit cards to buy 250 airline tickets, night-vision goggles, hundreds of prepaid cell phones, GPS devices and more -- $3.5 million in total purchases -- to assist others in the movement." Could Iranian linked or al-Qaida jihadists do the same -- on their own or by making common cause with either cyber criminals or cyber combatants from countries ruled by regimes that would like to see harm done to the United States? All too easily.

            The good news is that there are solutions. "The problem is not one of resources," McConnell says. "Even in our current fiscal straits, we can afford to upgrade our defenses."

            But he also predicts that the United States may have to suffer a catastrophic cyber attack before the public demands that its leaders make this threat a top priority.

            America has built an incredibly high-tech society. But it is flying on gossamer wings. Our enemies know how fragile it is. So do we. The difference is they will do everything they can to destroy it. And we're not doing everything we can to defend ourselves and to defeat them.

            Clifford D. May is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.

Pay Garnishments Rise as Debtors Fall Behind

April 1, 2010

by John Collins Rudolf

New York Times 

            PHOENIX — When the bank sued Leann Weaver for not paying her credit card balance, her reaction was typical for someone in that situation. Personal and financial setbacks weighed her down, and she knew she owed the $2,470. So she never went to court to defend herself. She was startled by what happened next. When she swiped her debit card at the grocery store, it was declined. It turned out Capital One Bank had taken $224.25 from her paycheck, a quarter of her wages for two weeks of work at a retail chain, and her bank account was overdrawn.

            “They’re kicking somebody who’s already in the dirt,” she said.

One of the worst economic downturns of modern history has produced a big increase in the number of delinquent borrowers, and creditors are suing them by the millions. Concern is mounting in government and among consumer advocates that the debtors are not always getting a fair shake in these cases.

Most consumers never offer a defense, and creditors win their lawsuits without having to offer proof of the debts, much less justify to a judge the huge interest charges and penalties they often tack on.

After winning, creditors can secure a court order to seize part of the debtor’s paycheck or the funds in a bank account, a procedure called garnishment. No national statistics are kept, but the pay seizures are rising fast in some areas — up 121 percent in the Phoenix area since 2005, and 55 percent in the Atlanta area since 2004. In Cleveland, garnishments jumped 30 percent between 2008 and 2009 alone.

Debt collectors say they are being forced into the action by combative debtors who dodge attempts to settle. “I think there’s a lack of accountability among debtors, and a lack of interest in reaching out to their creditors to resolve things amicably,” said Fred N. Blitt, president of the National Association of Retail Collection Attorneys.

Bankruptcy can clear away most debts. Yet sweeping changes to federal law in 2005 — pushed by the banking lobby — complicated that process and more than doubled the average cost of filing, to more than $2,000. Many low-income debtors must save for months before they can afford to go broke.

In some states, courts allow creditors to charge high interest rates for years after a lawsuit is decided in their favor. In others, creditors can win lawsuits by default and seize wages and bank accounts without a case ever appearing before a judge.

Lack of participation is the most fundamental problem. Some consumers do not even know they are being sued; the people who are supposed to serve them with formal notice have sometimes been caught skipping that step and doctoring the paperwork.

In far more cases, consumers are served but still do not offer a defense. Few can afford lawyers; others are intimidated or confused. In their absence, judges can offer little relief.

In the rare event that a consumer battles back, creditors frequently lack the documentation to prove their claim, and cases are dropped. That is because many past-due debts are owned not by the banks that issued them, but by debt collectors who bought, for cents on the dollar, a list of names and amounts due.

“If the consumers were armed with more education about how to defend against these debts, they’d be successful,” said Jeffrey Lipman, a civil magistrate in Des Moines.

The case of Sidney Jones shows how punishing the system can be. In January 2001, Mr. Jones, 45, a maintenance worker from California Crossroads, Va., took out a $4,097 personal loan from Beneficial Virginia, a subprime lender now owned by HSBC, the big bank.

He fell behind, and Beneficial sued. Mr. Jones did not appear in court. “I just thought they were going to take what I owed,” he said.

By default, Beneficial won a judgment of $4,750, plus $900 in lawyers’ fees, with the debt accruing interest at 27.55 percent until paid in full. The bank started garnishing his wages in March 2003.

Over the next six years, the bank deducted more than $10,000 from Mr. Jones’s paychecks, but he made little headway on his debt. According to a court order secured by Beneficial’s lawyers last spring, he still owed the company $3,965, a sum nearly equal to the original loan amount.

Mr. Jones, who did not graduate from high school, was baffled. “Where did all this money go that I paid them?” he said.

Dale Pittman, a consumer law lawyer in Petersburg, Va. , took Mr. Jones’s case without charge, and found that all but $134 of his payments had gone toward interest, fees and court costs. “It’s a perfectly legal result under Virginia law,” Mr. Pittman said.

HSBC said it ceased collection shortly after Mr. Pittman took the case, but declined further comment. “We are confident we are treating our customers fairly and with integrity,” Kate Durham, a spokeswoman for HSBC North America, said in an e-mail message.

The rare debtors who press their claims, and catch a sympathetic judge, have a shot at a result more to their liking.

Ruth M. Owens, a disabled Cleveland woman, was sued by Discover Bank in 2004 for an unpaid credit card. Ms. Owens offered a defense, sending a handwritten note to the court.

“After paying my monthly utilities, there is no money left except a little food money and sometimes it isn’t enough,” she wrote.

Robert Triozzi, a judge at the time, heard the case. He found that over a period of several years, Ms. Owens had paid nearly $3,500 on an original balance of $1,900. But Discover was suing her for $5,564, mostly for late fees, compound interest, penalties and other charges. He called Discover’s actions “unconscionable” and threw the case out.

Discover defended its actions. “This account was placed with an attorney only after all other efforts to reach the card member were exhausted,” Matthew Towson, a bank spokesman, said in an e-mail message.

Going to court is no guarantee of victory, of course. Consumers who do go are sometimes intercepted by collection lawyers, who press them to sign papers settling without a trial. These settlements may be against the interests of debtors, but they sign anyway.

“We’re signing off on a lot of settlement agreements where we shake our heads and ask, ‘Why is this person settling to this?’ ” Judge Lipman said.

For the working poor, losing a lawsuit can mean disaster. Federal law permits creditors to seize as much as a quarter of a worker's paycheck, though the cutoff is lower for the lowest-paid workers, and a few states also offer greater protection.

The working poor “have difficulties maintaining payments on life’s necessities with their full paycheck,” said Angela Riccetti, a lawyer with Atlanta Legal Aid who represents indigent clients whose wages are being garnished. “You lose 25 percent of it and everything folds.”

For Leann Weaver, the woman at the grocery store, Capital One’s lawsuit made a bad situation worse. After being evicted from her apartment, she moved in with her grandparents. Without them, she might have ended up on the street or in a shelter, she said.

Capital One declined to comment on Ms. Weaver’s case. “We encourage anyone facing difficulties meeting their financial obligations to contact us right away,” Tatiana Stead, a bank spokeswoman, said in an e-mail message.

Ms. Weaver said she repeatedly asked Capital One for more time to pay her $2,470 debt, but last year the bank filed suit. She failed to show up in court, and a judgment was entered against her, swollen by $1,800 in interest and lawyers’ fees. Then the garnishment began, almost $500 a month, or a quarter of her pay.

“I can’t even look at my paychecks any more,” she said.

Holocaust Was Just a Jewish Invention say top Polish Bishop
April 5, 2010

eutimes.net

            Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, one of Poland’s most prominent religious figures, is reported to have told an Italian Catholic news web site that the Holocaust was a “Jewish invention”. The bishop says his remarks were “taken out of context” however.

            `“The Holocaust, as such, is a Jewish invention invenzione ebraica. We could just as well establish a day of remembrance to the numerous victims of communism, when Catholics and Christians were persecuted,” he told the Pontifex.Roma web site on Sunday.

            In remarks that will outrage Jews the world over, Bishop Pieronek said that in his opinion the memory of the Holocaust is often used as a “propaganda weapon” by Israel.

            The Krakow-based bishop said: “Undoubtedly, the majority of those who died in the concentration camps were Jews, but also on the list were Poles, Gypsies, Italians and Catholics. So do not steal this tragedy in the name of propaganda.”

            “But they, the Jews, have a good press, because the powerful have the financial resources – extremely powerful with the unconditional support of the United States. And this promotes a kind of arrogance, which I consider to be unbearable,” Bishop Pieronek continued.

            The bishop expressed his opinion that the Palestinians are victims of injustice at the hands of the Israelis.

            “Seeing the photographs of the Gaza wall we can conclude that a colossal injustice has been committed against the Palestinians, who are treated like animals and their rights are being violated.”

            “Let them establish the international lobby a Memorial Day for them also.”

           
Arctic ice recovers from the great melt
April 4, 2010

by Jonathan Leake,

The Sunday Times
 
            If you thought it was cold in Britain for the time of year, you should see what is happening around the North Pole. Scientists have discovered that the size of the Arctic ice cap has increased sharply to levels not seen since 2001.

            A shift in the chilly winds across the Bering Sea over the past few months has caused thousands of square miles of ocean to freeze.

            The same phenomenon, known as the Arctic Oscillation, is also partly responsible for the cold winter experienced in northern Europe and eastern America.

            It allowed icy blasts of air to escape from the Arctic and make their way southwards. Provisional Met Office figures for December to February suggest the UK had its coldest winter since 1979, with an average temperature of 1.6C — a full 2.1C below normal. Last week a teenager was killed in Scotland when a school bus crashed in the snow — just days into British Summer Time.

            The Arctic Oscillation usually acts like a ring of strong winds circulating anti-clockwise around the North Pole to dam up cold Arctic air. This year it has turned “negative”, meaning the ring has broken down, allowing blasts of cold air to escape to lower latitudes.

            Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Colorado, is surprised by the Arctic’s recovery from the great melt of 2007 when summer ice shrank to its smallest recorded extent.

            “It has been a crazy winter with Arctic ice cover growing and very cold weather in northern Europe and eastern America all linked to this strongly negative Arctic Oscillation,” Serreze said.

            Vicky Pope, a Met Office scientist, said the Arctic Oscillation had affected weather across the hemisphere. “It also played a part in the very warm weather experienced in the Mediterranean, and western Canada, where the winter Olympics were at risk of too little snow,” she said.

            Scientists emphasise that the regrowth of ice in the Arctic and the fierce US blizzards are natural variations in weather which have little relevance for long-term climate change.

            “Records kept by Nasa show that in January and February global average temperatures were actually well above the long-term average by around 0.7C,” Serreze said.

            Such caution contrasts with the warnings issued by scientists in 2007 when the north polar ice cap suffered a spectacular summer melt.

            It hit an all-time low size of 1.65m square miles, about 39% below average, prompting many scientists, including some at the NSIDC, to suggest that global warming had pushed the Arctic to a tipping point from which it might not recover.

            By last summer, however, the ice cap had expanded to 2m square miles and this year’s figures show it approaching normal levels for the time of year.

            “In retrospect, the reactions to the 2007 melt were overstated. The lesson is that we must be more careful in not reading too much into one event,” Serreze said.

            The Met Office had taken a more cautious approach in 2007, warning that the melting was a natural variation so the ice was likely to recover.

            Scientists have made mistakes over other short-term trends such as increases in tropical storms. In 2004-5 an increase in the number and severity of storms, including Hurricane Katrina, prompted some researchers to suggest a link with global warming — but this was then followed by a decline in storms.

            Similar fears were raised in 2005 when scientists at Southampton University published research showing that some deep Atlantic Ocean currents, linked to the Gulf Stream, had slowed by a third.

            They issued a press release entitled “Could the Atlantic current switch off?” which suggested that circulation in the ocean, which gives Europe its temperate climate, might shut down. But more recent studies have shown that such currents slow down and speed up naturally, so short-term changes cannot be seen as evidence of global warming.

            “The reality is that greenhouse gases are making the world warmer, but it is a mistake to see short-term changes in weather, currents or Arctic ice cover as evidence of this,” Pope said.

            “Instead you have to look at long-term trends. These show that Arctic summer sea ice is decreasing by 232,000 square miles a decade, nearly 2.5 times the area of Great Britain.

            “On current trends it will still become ice-free in summer by around 2060.
 

An Open Letter to Dr. Dobson (“Focus on the Collection Plate!”)

Dear Dr. Dobson:

             Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. For instance, when someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

              I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws  and how to follow them:

             a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They say the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

             b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

             c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15: 19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

             d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

             e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

             f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

             g) Leviticus 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

             h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die?

             i) I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

             j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev.24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

              I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

            Your devoted disciple and adoring fan

Israel recognizes Obama means business
by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler
Inter Press Service
           

            JERUSALEM - Against all expectations, it's becoming the forerunner of a peace plan. Indeed, it might in the end even surprise the world as Israelis and Palestinians are forced into peace. Even if, for now, it's shaping up as anything but peaceful.

            It's a battle royal.

            "It" is the ongoing and unprecedented crisis in relations between the United States and Israel.

            Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to insist that the divide between his government and the administration ofPresident Barack Obama is still bridgeable.

            But nearly a week since his humiliation at the White House, beneath the Israeli leader's bluster, the message is beginning to sink in for Israelis: the United States means business.

            Writes Ari Shavit, in Monday's lead story of the Tel Aviv daily Ha'aretz: "The demands that Obama made at the White House are the tip of the iceberg between which lies a dramatic change in US policy towards Israel."

            Shavit says that the Netanyahu government believes that the demands made of Israel by the president "point to an intention to impose a permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians within two years at the utmost."

            In what, according to Israeli political sources, amounts to a "White House dictum", Obama made 10 demands of Netanyahu.

            Four relate specifically to Israeli actions and policy in occupied East Jerusalem; the rest relate to the negotiating process and other core issues of the conflict which the US intends to have on the table when both sides are pressed into the planned "proximity" talks that are to be run by Obama's special envoy, Senator George Mitchell.

            As the US awaits Israel's answer to the president's demands within 10 days (following the Jewish Passover holiday week), four possible scenarios are evolving:

            Netanyahu sticks to his guns, draws into his laager. His besieged battleground is Jerusalem. So, the Israeli leader continues to declare the popular Israeli credo - as he did repeatedly last week in the US - that "Jerusalem is not a settlement, it is our capital". Israel, he insists, will continue building unhampered throughout all parts of the city.

            With the backing of the bulk of his steady coalition, his right-wing flank, Netanyahu might well choose this tough stance, however risky.

              Netanyahu caves in: Because, as his defense minister and current closest political ally, Ehud Barak, noted in a special security briefing on Sunday, for Israel, solid relations with the US is the "pillar and cornerstone of our security ... we must never lose sight of how important these relations are, or of our capability to act in harmony and unity with the US."

            To follow such advice, albeit sound, would be uncharacteristic of Netanyahu, however.

            The third scenario is probably the most likely, at least for the time being.

            It would involve Netanyahu continuing to prevaricate or manoeuver by tiptoeing his way between the US demands while seeking to rally the Israeli public behind him for the fight. He would also solicit the backing of the president's domestic pro-Israeli opponents, however slim that hope, given Obama's recent triumphs both in domestic policy with his healthcare reform, and internationally with the new nuclear agreement with Russia.

            Last month in an IPS interview, top Israeli political pundit David Landau argued that Obama should strive to secure an Israeli-Palestinian peace through what he defined as "the Grand 

            Bargain: full-fledged support for Israel in the neutralizing of any Iranian nuclear threat in exchange for Israel accepting to give up its occupation of Palestinian lands".

            The Israeli prime minister has suddenly been awoken to realize that he faces a new choice - not simply linkage between neutralizing the threat of war with Iran and working for peace with the Palestinians, but between neutralizing the threat of war with Iran and an imposed peace.

            That would seem to leave Netanyahu with only one way of pre-empting the US plan that is now taking shape - the imposition of a settlement with the Palestinians, on US terms. He takes the initiative.

            The fourth scenario therefore involves Netanyahu turning "the Grand Bargain" on its head: he formally pledges Israel's readiness for a fair peace with the Palestinians but only provided he gets, upfront, iron-clad guarantees, not only from the US, but from Europe and from the Arab world, that Israel need have no fear - present or future - from any Iranian nuclear weapon.

            It is almost 43 years since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war is said to have changed "forever" the face of the Middle East.

            It is a moment when "forever" post-1967 is coming to an end; the Middle East is fast approaching its most important crossroads since June 1967.

The Flood of the Urine-Colored People!

From England [but valid elsewhere]

Let me see if I've got this right… 

   
IF YOU CROSS THE NORTH KOREAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU GET 12 YEARS HARD LABOUR. 
  
IF YOU CROSS THE IRANIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE DETAINED INDEFINITELY. 
 

IF YOU CROSS THE AFGHAN BORDER ILLEGALLY, YOU GET SHOT

 IF YOU CROSS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE JAILED.

  
IF YOU CROSS THE CHINESE BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU MAY NEVER BE HEARD FROM AGAIN. 
   
IF YOU CROSS THE VENEZUELAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE BRANDED A SPY AND YOUR FATE WILL BE SEALED. 
   
IF YOU CROSS THE CUBAN BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU WILL BE THROWN INTO POLITICAL PRISON TO ROT.

IF YOU CROSS THE THAI BORDER ILLEGALLY YOU ARE IMMEDIATELY DEPORTED AFTER A SPELL IN THE MONKEY HOUSE. 


IF YOU CROSS THE BRITISH BORDER ILLEGALLY; YOU GET A JOB, A DRIVERS LICENCE, SOCIAL INSURANCE CARD, MONEY FROM SOCIAL SECURITY, FOOD STAMPS, CREDIT CARDS, SUBSIDISED RENT OR A LOAN TO BUY A HOUSE, FREE EDUCATION AND FREE HEALTH CARE. 
 

Good day and welcome to a brand new edition of  . . .. 'ASYLUM'.
Today's program features another chance to take part in our exciting competition:
HIJACK AN AIRLINER

and win

A COUNCIL HOUSE !
We've already given away hundreds of millions of pounds and thousands of dream homes, courtesy of our sponsor, The British Taxpayer..

And don't forget, we're now the fastest growing game on the planet.

Anyone can play, provided they don't already hold a valid British Passport, and you only need one word of English:

'ASYLUM'

Prizes include all-expenses-paid accommodation, cash benefits starting at £180 a week and a chance to earn thousands more begging, mugging, burgling and accosting drivers at traffic lights.
This competition is open to everyone buying a ticket or stowing away on one of our partner airlines, ferry companies or Euro star.

No application ever refused - reasonable or unreasonable. All you have to do is destroy all your papers and remember the magic password:

'ASYLUM'

A few years ago, 140 members of a Taliban family from Afghanistan were flown Goat Class from Kabul to our international gateway at Stansted where local law enforcement officers were on hand to fast-track them to their luxury £200-a-night rooms in the fabulous four star Hilton Hotel...  They joined tens of thousands of other lucky winners already staying in hotels all over Britain ......

Our most popular destinations also include the White Cliffs of Dover and the world famous Toddington Services area, in Historic Bedfordshire.

If you still don't understand the rules, don't forget, there's no need to phone a friend or ask the audience . .. .

Just apply for legal aid.

Hundreds of lawyers, social workers and counsellors are waiting to help - for FREE !
It won't cost you a penny. And . .. .
It could change your life forever.
So play today.

Iraqi terrorists, Afghan dissidents, Albanian gangsters, pro-Pinochet
activists, anti-Pinochet activists, Kosovan drug-smugglers, Tamil tigers,
bogus Bosnians, Rwandan mass murderers, Somali guerrillas...the list is endless EVERYONE IS WELCOME - INCLUDING ALL YOUR OWN WIVES AND CHILDREN

COME ON DOWN !

Get along to the airport !
Get along to the lorry park !
Get along to the ferry terminal !

Don't stop in Germany or France ! All European countries will willingly speed you on your way !

Come straight to Britain

And you are:

****  GUARANTEED  ****

to be one of tens of thousands of lucky winners in the easiest game on earth..

Everyone's a winner, when they play

'ASYLUM' 
PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO EVERY BRITISH TAXPAYER YOU KNOW

Comment: All of civilized Europe and part of the United States suffers from a plague of illegal immigrants that burden their welfare offices, make too much work for the police and take jobs the real citizens need. The solution is simple: Send them back where they came from, on their feet or in bags. BH