Thread: Rule by Fiat

The truth about Executive Order #13603

September 19, 2012 By Michael Dorstewitz 9 Comments


Although my friends lovingly describe me on occasion as a “right-wing nut,” I’m neither an alarmist nor a conspiracy theorist. I get plenty of emails and see a lot of posts on the Internet that would send shivers down your spine and make you want to stock up on ammunition.- Not me. I know that the majority of it is balderdash and not worth my time.

Something new is afoot, though, that’s worth investigating — Executive Order 13603. Actually, it’s not all that new. President Obama signed it on March 16 of this year.

The order throws all notions of personal responsibility out the window, and it does so in a way that sets the principles of property ownership and all rights attributed to ownership on its head.

A month and a half after the order was signed, it was reported and discussed at length by Jim Powell in a Forbes magazine op-ed. Although Forbes may lean a tad to the right, it’s nurtured a well-deserved reputation for honesty and integrity since its beginnings in 1917.

According to Forbes, the order provides that, in a national emergency, the government may take over and administer “all forms of energy.” Note that it doesn’t distinguish energy manufactured by a public utility from that produced by a homeowner from a diesel, solar or wind generator.

The order also grants the federal government authority to take over “all forms of civil transportation.” The order’s use of the term “civil transportation” rather than “public transportation” is disturbing. If you own some form of transportation — be it a watercraft, aircraft or a motor vehicle — and the government wants it, it gets it.

“All commodities and products that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals,” as well as “all usable water from all sources” also come within the order’s purview. Again, it doesn’t distinguish between public and private property. Private farms, ranches, water wells and cisterns seem to be covered.

The order covers “health resources – drugs, biological products, medical devices, materials, facilities, health supplies, services and equipment.” Great. Now that the government can lay claim to your food and water, it can now abscond with your air if you require a personal oxygen supply for your survival.

The power to engage in military conscription is an integral part of the order.

Just as ominous as the power this order grants the federal government in times of national emergency is the power it affords the government to determine what constitutes a national emergency.

The order is reminiscent of a similar series of orders signed by John F. Kennedy on emergency preparedness. In essence, during times of national emergency, it gave the federal government authority to take over, well, everything.

Ironically, it was later repealed by Richard M. Nixon, someone few look to as a champion of human rights.

Speaking for myself, a week doesn’t pass without someone complaining about the National Defense Authorization Act. As far as I can tell, the act, which was passed by Congress in open session, does not grant the military the power to take any action whatsoever against American citizens. This was confirmed and has been reiterated numerous times by U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Jupiter.

Rather than being an act of a full Congress, however, Executive Order 13603 was signed by just one person — the president. It was signed without the benefit of lively, open and unfettered debate. So much for the idea of transparency being the hallmark of the Obama administration.

Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney often says that his first act upon assuming office will be to rescind Obamacare, or at least exempt the states from it. I hope his second act will be to tear up Executive Order 13603.

There’s no question but that the notion of property ownership is polar opposite to government takeover of property and redistribution of wealth. The following recording from a speech the president made at Loyola University on Oct. 19, 1998 illustrates his thinking on that particular subject.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ge3aGJfDSg4

http://www.bizpacreview.com/the-trut...e-order-13603/


See also http://www.archives.gov/federal-regi...ders/2012.html National Defense Resources Preparedness




Executive orders may be issued at a moment’s notice and usually without notice to or knowledge of Congress. Executive Orders have survived various attempts by the court and Congress to overturn them or to prevent them. While they can be overturned by Congress, this is a rare event.

(For an excellent history of the use of the Executive Order and suppositions about the use of Executive Order 1360, see http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimpowel...and-our-lives/ )

So what is Executive Order 13603 (also known as National Defense Resources Preparedness)? Essentially, this executive order lists the various departments in charge of almost all of the things that we use for our daily lives and gives those departments the authority to take complete control of all resources associated with them. It also seems to make it possible for the government to seize personal property and industry in the event of some extreme emergency and allows for the president to create a state of Martial Law (a power which he already holds). Nevertheless, the fact that it claims authority over transportation, for example, (not just public transportation, but all transportation), it is theorized that this also means all private transportation; assuming your own private transportation is subject to this order, as well.

The salient question may, then be, why Executive Order 13603? In fact, this question brings about the entire controversy surrounding the order. This order is the result of a declaration that a state of emergency now exists (which has been the usual avenue for executive orders since Lincoln). There are at least two schools of thought regarding this particular executive order. One indicates that it means nothing more than previous orders and gives the president no more power than that of previous presidents and previous executive orders. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13603 If you read the “legalese” version, it is difficult to actually pick out anything particularly sinister in this executive order. Read the full copy of the order here. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Executive_Order_13603 .

However, many see this as a very ominous, potential abuse of power by the president and an attempt to prepare to take over every aspect of the lives of the citizens of the United States. It is, in fact, a possibility that such an action could take place under this executive order. If this is true, the natural question that follows is why does the president need this power?

Does this mean that the Executive Branch or our intelligence organizations are aware of some horrible World War -type action in our imminent future? Does this mean that the government is fully aware that our world economy is about to completely collapse in a sudden and crippling fashion and that wholesale social collapse will follow? Does it mean that ultra-conservative groups that believe the government is working against the citizens are prepared to launch a massive assault against the government? Does it mean that Obama truly intends the worst possible scenario for America and will use this power to make himself a Socialist Dictator? Does this mean that the President would go so far as to take control at the time of the election in order to stay in power (as some have suggested)? Does it mean the end of the United States, as we know it? Or does it, perhaps mean some other presently unconsidered option?

To be completely honest, I have no real knowledge about what the intention of this executive order is. Like all executive orders, they are suspiciously guarded, written and put into effect without any kind of discussion on the part of any other government body. Only, the President, the people who wrote the order and those closest to him know the real meaning behind this.

Prior to this information age, the content of such orders was seldom known by the public. The rest of us will know when and if it is used. If I have to choose a scenario from those listed above however, I choose the imminent economic collapse or perhaps the ever growing threat against the government by those who believe the government is working directly against the people with an extreme preference to the first.

The government has to know that the $16 trillion debt with $5 billion yearly interest combined with unfunded future indebtedness of $114 trillion additional debt for Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid is an absolutely unsustainable situation with no reasonable solution that will be palatable to an America which has grown accustomed to a welfare state. Add to the economic debt, the pervasive joblessness in America and around the world and you have “The Perfect Storm.”

http://www.theboldpursuit.com/jwts-j...der-13603.html

Even if you think Obama sets the sun and moon into motion... don't you think it is a bad idea to put this much "power" in one place ( imagine if this had been enacted by Bush ... )

http://polymontana.com/obama-set-to-...3-into-motion/

http://www.godlikeproductions.com/fo...age2031183/pg1

Homeland Security graduates first Corps of Obama’s Brown Shirts – Homeland Youth



It Makes Sense Blog October 7, 2012.

Vicksburg. The federal government calls them FEMA Corps. But they conjure up memories of the Hitler Youth of 1930’s Germany. Regardless of their name, the Dept of Homeland Security has just graduated its first classof 231 Homeland Youth. Kids, aged 18-24 and recruited from the President’s AmeriCorp volunteers, they represent the first wave of DHS’s youth corps, designed specifically to create a full time, paid, standing army of FEMA Youth across the country.

On September 13, 2012, the Department of Homeland Security graduated its first class of FEMA Corps first-responders. While the idea of having a volunteer force of tens of thousands of volunteers scattered across the country to aid in times of natural disasters sounds great, the detailsand timing of this new government army is somewhat curious, if not disturbing.

DHS raising an armed army

The first problem one finds with this ‘new army’ is the fact that they are mere children. Yes, 18 is generally the legal age a personcan sign a contract, join the military or be tried as an adult. But ask any parent – an 18, 20 or even a 24 year-old is still a naïve, readily-influenced kid.

The second problem with this announcement and program is its timing. Over the past two years, President Obama has signed a number of Executive Orders suspending all civil and Constitutional rights and turning over management of an America under Martial Law to FEMA. Also in that time, domestic federal agencies under DHS, including FEMA, have ordered billions of rounds of ammunition as well as the corresponding firearms. Admittedly, these new weapons and ammunition aren’t to be used in some far-off war or to fight forest fires in California, but right here on the streets of America.

Strange Armored Fighting Vehicles

Individuals around the US have begun reporting the site of strange, new, heavily-armed FEMA fighting vehicles. What would a disaster relief agency like FEMA need with 2,500 brand new GLS armored fighting vehicles? According to the agency’s own mandate, as well as President Obama’s recent Executive Order, the answer is ‘population control’ during a time of Martial Law.

DHS & FEMA armed fighting vehicles. Images courtesy of Rense.com.




One set of images made available by Rense.com ( http://rense.com/ ) shows trailer after trailer carrying these new DHS and FEMA armored fighting vehicles, complete with machine gun slots. They’re labeled with the usual backward American flag and the title, ‘Homeland Security’. Below that and the DHS logo, it also reads, ‘Immigration & Customs Enforcement’. Joining those markings, the black vehicles with white lettering also display ‘POLICE/RESCUE’ on one side and ‘Special Response Team’ on the other.

FEMA Corps

FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino gave the keynote address at the ‘Induction Ceremony’ for the inaugural class of FEMA Corps members. According to the DHS website, ‘Corps members assist with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities, providing support in areas ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovering centers to sharing valuable disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public.’

Serino describes what the first FEMA Corps class has accomplished so far, as well as where they’ll be going next:

‘Yesterday, we welcomed 231 energetic members into the first ever FEMA Corps class. The members just finished off their first month of training with our partners at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and are one step closer to working in the field on disaster response and recovery. They will now head to FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness to spend the next two weeks training in their FEMA position-specific roles. Once they complete both the CNCS and FEMA training, these 231 dedicated FEMA Corps members will be qualified to work in one of a variety of disaster related roles, ranging from Community Relations to Disaster Recovery Center support.’

A standing army

Unlike most local disaster response teams who are volunteers, training periodically and only showing up when there’s a disaster, the FEMA Corps will be a paid, full time, standing army of government youth. FEMA Deputy Administrator Sarino goes on to explain, ‘The new members, who range in age from 18-24 years old, will contribute to a dedicated, trained, and reliable disaster workforce by working full-time for ten months on federal disaster response and recovery efforts.’

In closing his announcement of the first graduating class of FEMA Corps Youth, Sarino describes his and the agency’s vision of the future, one where ‘FEMA Corps sets the foundation for a new generation of emergencymanagers’.

DHS arms itself

As we detailed in the August 28 Whiteout Press article ‘History of DHS Ammunition Purchases’, federal emergency management agencies are looking more and more like a military army every day. The federal government’s procurement website actually lists DHS’ requests for bids to supply it with ammunition and military weaponry. All of the orders listed in the above article, including the orders for hundreds of millions of rounds of ammunition, are publicly available at http://www.fbo.gov.

One look at a chart of DHS ammunition purchases over the past decade reveals a drastic spike in orders of bullets recently, totaling in the billions of rounds. Other charts available online show a similar drastic spike in the purchases of accompanying weaponry by the Department of Homeland Security.

What is the US federal government preparing for? And why does it feel it needs an army of brainwashed youth, millions of guns, thousands of armored fighting vehicles and literally billions of rounds of ammunition, just to provide relief to the American people during a natural disaster? Any historian will tell you it sounds more like the arming of the Hitler Youth than an army of first responders fighting forest fires and hurricanes.


http://itmakessenseblog.com/2012/10/...omeland-youth/


How many of these teams are on the East Coast following "Sandy" ??

What is the US federal government preparing for? And why does it feel it needs an army of brainwashed youth, millions of guns, thousands of armored fighting vehicles and literally billions of rounds of ammunition, just to provide relief to the American people during a natural disaster? Any historian will tell you it sounds more like the arming of the Hitler Youth than an army of first responders fighting forest fires and hurricanes.

It's preparing to fight an uprising.....

The NDAA Legalizes The Use Of Propaganda On The US Public
Michael Kelley|May 21, 2012, 5:11 PM

The newest version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes an amendment that would legalize the use of propaganda on the American public, reports Michael Hastings of BuzzFeed.

The amendment — proposed by Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) and Adam Smith (D-Wash.) and passed in the House last Friday afternoon — would effectively nullify the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which explicitly forbids information and psychological operations aimed at influencing U.S. public opinion.

Thornberry said that the current law “ties the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way,” according to Buzzfeed.

The vote came two days after a federal judged ruled that a counter-terrorism provision in the annual defense bill was unconstitutional.

Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who released a highly critical report regarding the distortion of truth by senior military officials in Iraq and Afghanistan, dedicated a section of his report to Information Operations (IO) and states that after Desert Storm the military wanted to transform IO "into a core military competency on a par with air, ground, maritime and special operations."

Davis defines IO as "the integrated employment of electronic warfare (EW), computer network operations (CNO), psychological operations (PSYOP), military deception (MILDEC), and operations security (OPSEC), in concert with specified supporting and related capabilities, to influence, disrupt, corrupt or usurp adversarial human and automated decision making while protecting our own."

IO are primarily used to target foreign audiences, but Davis cites numerous senior leaders who want to "protect a key friendly center of gravity, to wit US national will" by repealing the Smith-Mundt Act to allow the direct deployment of these tactics on the American public.

Davis quotes Brigadier General Ralph O. Baker — the Pentagon officer responsible for the Department of Defense’s Joint Force Development (i.e. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) — who defines IO as activities undertaken to "shape the essential narrative of a conflict or situation and thus affect the attitudes and behaviors of the targeted audience" and equates descriptions of combat operations with standard marketing strategies:

For years, commercial advertisers have based their advertisement strategies on the premise that there is a positive correlation between the number of times a consumer is exposed to product advertisement and that consumer’s inclination to sample the new product. The very same principle applies to how we influence our target audiences when we conduct COIN.

Davis subsequently explains the "cumulative failure of our nation’s major media in every category" as they continually interviewed only those senior U.S. officials who had top-level access, even as the officials given that clearance were required to stick to "talking points" given to them by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

If the NDAA goes into effect in its current form, the State Department and Pentagon can bypass manipulating mainstream media outlets and directly disseminate campaigns of misinformation to the U.S. public.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/ndaa-...#ixzz2E0e3QBr5

WOW. Coming next will be the authorization of subliminal messages to have us do whatever they want.

Me

“That there should be this lingering infestation of really corrupt people who sit trying to dismantle the wishes of the people, the mandate that has been given to Barack Obama, and I don’t know what more they want,” he said. “The only thing left for Barack Obama to do is to work like a third world dictator and just put all these guys in jail.”

~~ Harry Belafonte, MSNBC

So -- now disagreeing with the POTUS is a treasonous offense ?? Remember the 'good ole days" when dissent was "patriotic" ? Of course that was when Bush was in office .....


Harry Belafonte, MSNBC criticized over 'jailing Republicans' remarks
Published December 14, 2012

What do you do when it has been a while since you made headlines? If you are Harry Belafonte, apparently you say the president should jail Republicans.

The American singer-songwriter, once considered the “Kind of Calypso,” this week ignited outrage – and plenty of eye rolls – after speaking with MSNBC’s Al Sharpton and saying President Obama should rule like a third-world dictator and toss his GOP opponents behind bars.

“That there should be this lingering infestation of really corrupt people who sit trying to dismantle the wishes of the people, the mandate that has been given to Barack Obama, and I don’t know what more they want,” he said. “The only thing left for Barack Obama to do is to work like a third world dictator and just put all these guys in jail.”

Belafonte went on to claim that Republicans are "violating the American desire" by working to keep government limited, taxes low and the country solvent. Sharpton was clearly amused by the suggestion – and could be heard laughing in the background.

But some critics are far from amused.

“Harry Belafonte has a long career as singer, actor, civil rights crusader, and now, professional lefty nutball. He no longer is content to just abuse conservatives, now he wants to envision Obama as a third-world dictator and have his opponents jailed,” Dan Gainor, VP of Business & Culture at the Media Research Institute, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column.

Belafonte’s latest remarks have also drawn condemnation across the Twitterverse, including from former GOP Presidential hopeful, Herman Cain, who tweeted: “What’s up with these crazy liberals?”

“Every time Harry Belafonte is given a chance to speak, we are granted the opportunity to laugh at his incompetence,” tweeted one, while another called him a “total wackjob.” Another observed: “Don't know what's more disturbing, Harry Belafonte's statement or that @MSNBC thinks he's worth talking to.”

This is hardly the first time Belafonte ignited a media star with his anti-Republican remarks. In 2002, he began making heated comments against then-President George W. Bush and his administration.

“There is an old saying, in the days of slavery. There were those slaves who lived on the plantation, and there were those slaves who lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master, do exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him,” he said in an interview with a San Diego radio station, referring to a quote made by civil rights radical Malcolm X. “That gave you privilege. Colin Powell is committed to come into the house of the master, as long as he would serve the master, according to the master's purpose. And when Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture. And you don't hear much from those who live in the pasture.”

Powell later called the remarks "unfortunate" while Secretary of State Rice responded: "I don't need Harry Belafonte to tell me what it means to be black."

Some wonder why the mainstream media continues to provide a platform for Belafonte.

“In recent years, Belafonte has said that President George W. Bush as ‘the greatest terrorist in the world’ was ‘no better’ than Osama bin Laden,” Gainor added. “He has claimed the Tea Parties were ‘at the vanguard’ of ‘the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution.’ The equally bizarre hosts of MSNBC keep giving Belafonte a platform because they want to give such bizarre comments credibility. It's an embarrassment to a once-great man to have fallen so far.”

Reps for Belafonte and MSNBC did not respond to a request for further comment.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...#ixzz2F2qCoJbc

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment...#ixzz2F2YDia7z

Why all the cool kids are reading Executive Order 13423
By Lindsey M. Burke ~ Published December 27, 2012

A war of words is brewing. But this one doesn’t involve slinging insults. It’s a battle over what forms of writing – novels, poems, and non-fiction – will define English instruction for millions of American schoolchildren in the years to come. Sparking this war is the Common Core standards push – an effort to nationalize the standards and assessments upon which every public school in America would base its curriculum. The Obama administration has poured billions of dollars into the effort via federal “Race to the Top” grants.

As always when it comes to federal largesse, there are strings attached. And in this case, the push for Common Core standards is pulling the rug out from under classic literature. Literacy experts point out that The Common Core denigrates the value of teaching literature in the classroom. Instead, English teachers are being told that 50 percent of their course material must be derived from “informational texts.” (Actually, the informational text requirement starts at a “mere” 25 percent of reading material for kindergarteners. It rises to 70 percent for high school seniors.)

What, exactly, meets the definition of informational texts? Among those recommended on the national standards list we find The Federal Reserve Bank’s “FedViews,” “The Evolution of the Grocery Bag,” and “Health Care Costs in McAllen, Texas.” And, roll over “For Whom the Bell Tolls” it’s time to make way for that GSA classic: “Executive Order 13423: Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.”

Thus is the literary genius of Washington bureaucrats elevated over that of Hugo, Heller, and Huxley.

Eschewing great literature for ghastly technical reports doesn’t make much sense to those charged with getting young people to read—hopefully with some degree of enthusiasm. And there’s a total lack of research suggesting that education will be advanced by a forced march to Executive Orders. The University of Arkansas’ Sandra Stotsky argues that an emphasis on informational texts actually prevents children from acquiring “a rich understanding and use of the English language” and “may lead to a decreased capacity for analytical thinking.” Dry government documents such as those recommended in the Common Core’s are “hardly the kind of material to exhibit ambiguity, subtlety, and irony,” she observes.

Fiction authors try to describe phenomena in a way they haven’t been described before. They use figurative expression to convey abstract ideas. These are writers who create art and expression in a way that tackles difficult philosophical questions in a palpable format; in a way that gets to the root of all things. This is the kind of reflection that trains citizens capable of self-government.

Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, J.D. Salinger, Washington Irving, Edith Wharton, James Joyce, Sinclair Lewis – all achieved that complex goal. And all are absent from the Common Core list.

Granted, the list is a list of suggested material. But the requirement for teachers to derive more than half their assigned reading from informational texts is no mere suggestion. States have signed Memoranda of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Education agreeing to meet the requirement. Inevitably, teachers will have to jettison great literary works to ensure children consume the government’s minimum daily dose of executive orders.

No wonder columnist Alexandra Petri refers to the Common Core as “the great Purge of Literature.”

“Words in regulations and manuals,” she writes, “are words mangled and tortured and bent into unnatural positions, and the later you have to discover such cruelty, the better.” Indeed.

If the central planners make mistakes with Common Core, Dr. Jay Greene argues, they impose those mistakes on the entire nation—and such mistakes will be nearly impossible to correct. But the arguments over literature make it clear that even if we could correct mistakes, widespread, national consensus about what should be taught in every school in America will remain elusive.

More importantly, those decisions will be far removed from teachers and parents – the people who should have the most say in what children are taught.

The good news is: states can end this war of words. Instead of abdicating responsibility for standards and assessments—and ceding more control over education to Washington and national organizations—state leaders can extricate their teachers and students from this national standards boondoggle.

States and local school districts can have success improving their standards and assessments without surrendering control to Washington. At the same time, they should work to increase transparency about school outcomes to parents (for example, implementing a straightforward A-F grading scale for schools), provide flexibility for local school leaders, and advance systemic reforms that include school choice options for families. Those reforms will go a long way in improving academic outcomes while at the same time preserving local control of education.

But if states stay on the Common Core bandwagon, say goodbye to “1984,” “Animal Farm” and “Brave New World.” No need for kids to be reading those books, anyway. They’ll be living them.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/...#ixzz2GIX4mmjc