activistpost--2020-09-07--Smart Meters Give Utilities Minute by Minute Home Energy Use Details. Denver Residents to Pay for Th

Smart Meters Give Utilities Minute by Minute Home Energy Use Details. Denver Residents to Pay for Them. You Probably Did Too

Millions of electric , gas , and water utility “ Smart ” Meters ( see 1 , 2 ) have been installed in the U.S .
If you don ’ t have them yet , it ’ s likely you will soon since millions more are being deployed despite all the problems associated with them including fires , explosions , vulnerability to cyberattacks , and much more .
They DO NOT save meaningful amounts of energy .
Adding insult to injury , most utility companies raise customer rates to pay for their installation and replacement .
Unlike original 1-way transmitting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ detailed customer usage data 24/7 .
Utilities collect and analyze this data so they can market more products and services to customers and/or sell data to 3rd parties .
Many Americans oppose this because it violates the right to privacy .
Ya think ?
Legislation was recently introduced in California to stop utilities from selling usage data to ICE .
Now Denver residents are facing a rate increase to replace 5 million “ Smart Meters ” with new ones .
‘ Smart ’ meters give Xcel a detailed peek into home energy use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Energy is seeking a $ 52.7 million rate hike on Colorado customers to replace some 5 million less-sophisticated automatic reading meters with “ smart ” Advanced Metering Infrastructure ( AMI ) electrical meters .
AMI meters can send sophisticated , detailed data of home electrical use to the company , giving Xcel the ability to peek into your home energy use on a minute-by-minute basis .
This in turn allows Xcel to create a system of tiered rates called time-of-use ( TOU ) that eliminates the consumer advantage and predictability of use averaging @ @ @ @ @ @ @ technically and financially .
As previously reported by Complete Colorado , the Attorney General ’ s Office of Consumer Council objected to a number of items in Xcel ’ s July 17 “ Advance Grid Rider ” request–which sought to end-run the public scrutiny usually required for rate hikes–including concerns about transparency , the appropriateness of bypassing usual rate case proceedings and an effort by Excel to essentially charge customers twice for the meter replacement .
In response the PUC sent the matter to an Administrative Law Judge on August 14 and suspended @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , until December 15 .
Xcel says , “ these meters will help you to understand what appliances are using the most energy , giving you transparency and more control over your energy use.
” “ AMI technology can provide usage data to both the utility and the consumer .
This capability , when combined with real-time prices , time-of-day , or other pricing options , gives consumers the information they need to alter their usage and , in some cases , lower their bills , ” says the U.S. Energy Information Administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cases ” is an important caveat .
Some smart meter energy customers have had the opposite experience and have been slammed with unexpected power bills .
In 2018 , After Duke Energy began installing smart meters in South Carolina , customers in the Upstate region reported a doubling , and even tripling , of electric bills , according to the Greenville News .
The spread of AMI metering is hardly unprecedented , nor are ratepayers likely to be able to prevent it .
The cards were stacked in favor of smart grid technology @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meters is in part due to federal mandates that promote smart grid projects including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 , Title XIII , which established a national policy for grid modernization .
As of 2018 the EIA says that there are more than 76.4 million residential AMI meters and more than 9.9 million commercial AMI meters already installed nationwide .
But advanced smart metering could give Xcel much more granular control over how you use electricity .
While Xcel says , “ These meters will not control your appliances or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” that may not always be the case .
The whole point of Internet of Things ( IoT ) consumer devices is connectivity and the creation of a “ Smart Home ” that integrates consumer control of home devices .
Thermostats , lighting control , entry control and surveillance are all areas of automation that have taken off commercially .
But power companies look at such technology as a means to control the costs of producing power by being able to control the consumption of electricity .
The goal of the smart @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to control peak electrical demand .
By controlling use of electricity , whether by pricing controls or direct demand-side management of your devices , Xcel doesn ’ t have to build as many peak-demand generating plants .
A group sued the City of Naperville , Illinois in federal court to prevent the city-owned utility from collecting such data , claiming it was a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure .
Law enforcement often requests power-usage data from power providers as part of investigations into things like illegal marijuana @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only by subpoena or a warrant issued by a judge , according to state law .
The U.S .
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the group in August , 2018 , saying that while it is true that the collection of energy-consumption data is indeed a government “ search ” for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment , it is not an unreasonable one , given the regulations the city has against the release of such data .
“ Residents certainly have a privacy interest in their energy-consumption data .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less invasive than the prototypical Fourth Amendment search of a home , ” the ruling says .
“ Critically , Naperville conducts the search with no prosecutorial intent .
Employees of the city ’ s public utility—not law enforcement—collect and review the data.
” Colorado has statutes that prohibit the unauthorized release of customer data , but which also allow customers to complete a waiver form if they want to give third parties access to that data , perhaps to provide smart home services .
That does not take into account any vulnerabilities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to access either the data or the meters themselves .
President Trump declared a national emergency over the threat of hacking in an executive order signed May 1 ordering enhanced efforts to secure the U.S. grid saying , “ The unrestricted foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security , foreign policy , and economy of the United States.
” The smart reader rollout is part of Xcel ’ s larger Colorado Energy Plan , a multi-billion-dollar scheme to replace fossil fuel electric generation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Meters are 2-way transmitting so they emit high levels of harmful RadioFrequency ( RF ) Radiation and other sources of Electromagnetic Radiation ( EMR ) ( also referred to as “ Electrosmog ” ) .
People worldwide have taken legal action against their utility companies because of health issues caused by these meters ( see 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) and also meter fires and explosions .
Legislation has been introduced and passed in some cities and states to stop installation ( see 1 , 2 ) and/or offer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out ” ( see 1 , 2 , 3 ) .
A documentary about “ Smart ” Meters reveals the many problems associated with these meters .
Some utilities aren ’ t calling them “ Smart ” anymore because of their bad reputation .
Activist Post reports regularly about “ Smart ” Meters and other unsafe technology .
For more information , visit our archives and the following websites : Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By B.N. Frank
Millions of electric, gas, and water utility “Smart” Meters (see 1, 2) have been installed in the U.S. If you don’t have them yet, it’s likely you will soon since millions more are being deployed despite all the problems associated with them including fires, explosions, vulnerability to cyberattacks, and much more. They DO NOT save meaningful amounts of energy. Adding insult to injury, most utility companies raise customer rates to pay for their installation and replacement.
Unlike original 1-way transmitting analog utility meters, these meters collect detailed customer usage data 24/7. Utilities collect and analyze this data so they can market more products and services to customers and/or sell data to 3rd parties. Many Americans oppose this because it violates the right to privacy. Ya think? Legislation was recently introduced in California to stop utilities from selling usage data to ICE. Now Denver residents are facing a rate increase to replace 5 million “Smart Meters” with new ones.
From Complete Colorado:
‘Smart’ meters give Xcel a detailed peek into home energy use; ratepayers to pick up tab
August 28, 2020
By Scott Weiser
DENVER–Xcel Energy is seeking a $52.7 million rate hike on Colorado customers to replace some 5 million less-sophisticated automatic reading meters with “smart” Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) electrical meters.
AMI meters can send sophisticated, detailed data of home electrical use to the company, giving Xcel the ability to peek into your home energy use on a minute-by-minute basis. This in turn allows Xcel to create a system of tiered rates called time-of-use (TOU) that eliminates the consumer advantage and predictability of use averaging, but which benefits the company both technically and financially.
As previously reported by Complete Colorado, the Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Council objected to a number of items in Xcel’s July 17 “Advance Grid Rider” request–which sought to end-run the public scrutiny usually required for rate hikes–including concerns about transparency, the appropriateness of bypassing usual rate case proceedings and an effort by Excel to essentially charge customers twice for the meter replacement.
In response the PUC sent the matter to an Administrative Law Judge on August 14 and suspended the proposed rate change for 120 days, until December 15.
Xcel says, “these meters will help you to understand what appliances are using the most energy, giving you transparency and more control over your energy use.”
“AMI technology can provide usage data to both the utility and the consumer. This capability, when combined with real-time prices, time-of-day, or other pricing options, gives consumers the information they need to alter their usage and, in some cases, lower their bills,” says the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“In some cases” is an important caveat. Some smart meter energy customers have had the opposite experience and have been slammed with unexpected power bills. In 2018, After Duke Energy began installing smart meters in South Carolina, customers in the Upstate region reported a doubling, and even tripling, of electric bills, according to the Greenville News.
The spread of AMI metering is hardly unprecedented, nor are ratepayers likely to be able to prevent it. The cards were stacked in favor of smart grid technology in 2007.
The switch-over to smart meters is in part due to federal mandates that promote smart grid projects including the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Title XIII, which established a national policy for grid modernization.
As of 2018 the EIA says that there are more than 76.4 million residential AMI meters and more than 9.9 million commercial AMI meters already installed nationwide.
But advanced smart metering could give Xcel much more granular control over how you use electricity. While Xcel says, “These meters will not control your appliances or other items in your home or business,” that may not always be the case.
The whole point of Internet of Things (IoT) consumer devices is connectivity and the creation of a “Smart Home” that integrates consumer control of home devices. Thermostats, lighting control, entry control and surveillance are all areas of automation that have taken off commercially.
But power companies look at such technology as a means to control the costs of producing power by being able to control the consumption of electricity.
The goal of the smart grid effort is to give Xcel tools to control peak electrical demand. By controlling use of electricity, whether by pricing controls or direct demand-side management of your devices, Xcel doesn’t have to build as many peak-demand generating plants.
This raises significant privacy concerns.
A group sued the City of Naperville, Illinois in federal court to prevent the city-owned utility from collecting such data, claiming it was a violation of their Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure.
Law enforcement often requests power-usage data from power providers as part of investigations into things like illegal marijuana grow houses. That information is released only by subpoena or a warrant issued by a judge, according to state law.
The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the group in August, 2018, saying that while it is true that the collection of energy-consumption data is indeed a government “search” for the purposes of the Fourth Amendment, it is not an unreasonable one, given the regulations the city has against the release of such data.
“Residents certainly have a privacy interest in their energy-consumption data. But its collection—even if routine and frequent—is far less invasive than the prototypical Fourth Amendment search of a home,” the ruling says. “Critically, Naperville conducts the search with no prosecutorial intent. Employees of the city’s public utility—not law enforcement—collect and review the data.”
Colorado has statutes that prohibit the unauthorized release of customer data, but which also allow customers to complete a waiver form if they want to give third parties access to that data, perhaps to provide smart home services.
That does not take into account any vulnerabilities that might allow hackers or foreign agents to access either the data or the meters themselves.
President Trump declared a national emergency over the threat of hacking in an executive order signed May 1 ordering enhanced efforts to secure the U.S. grid saying, “The unrestricted foreign supply of bulk-power system electric equipment constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States.”
The smart reader rollout is part of Xcel’s larger Colorado Energy Plan, a multi-billion-dollar scheme to replace fossil fuel electric generation with renewable energy sources.
“Smart” Meters are 2-way transmitting so they emit high levels of harmful RadioFrequency (RF) Radiation and other sources of Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) (also referred to as “Electrosmog”). People worldwide have taken legal action against their utility companies because of health issues caused by these meters (see 1, 2, 3, 4) and also meter fires and explosions.
Legislation has been introduced and passed in some cities and states to stop installation (see 1, 2) and/or offer customers the right to affordably “opt out” (see 1, 2, 3). A documentary about “Smart” Meters reveals the many problems associated with these meters. Some utilities aren’t calling them “Smart” anymore because of their bad reputation.
Activist Post reports regularly about “Smart” Meters and other unsafe technology. For more information, visit our archives and the following websites:
Become a Patron!
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE! Follow us on SoMee, HIVE, Parler, Flote, Minds, and Twitter.
Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


activistpost--2020-09-07--Gym Owners In San Fran Furious After Learning Government Gyms Have Been Open For Months

Shut down gym owners in San Francisco have developed serious “ roid rage ” after finding out this week that gyms inside of government buildings have been open for months while privately owned establishments have remained shut down , per the government ’ s orders .
Gyms for police officers , lawyers , bailiffs , paralegals and government employees have been open since July 1 , according to a new report from the Washington Examiner .
Dave Karraker , owner of MX3 Fitness in the Castro , commented : It just demonstrates that there seems to be some kind of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are allowed to do and what the residents of San Francisco are allowed to do .
What the city has unwillingly done is created this great case study that says that working out indoors is actually safe .
So , at this point , we ’ re just demanding that they allow us to have the same workout privileges for the citizens of San Francisco that the employees of San Francisco have .
This news comes just days after Nancy Pelosi was publicly ridiculed for getting her hair done , without a mask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been closed .
Public outrage about the hypocrisy reached peak levels , forcing Pelosi to make a public statement and face the media to “ explain.
” Pelosi began in typical politician manner by blaming someone else – the salon owner – for the so-called “ set-up ” and then “ apologized ” for being caught in a set-up… “ I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I ’ ve been to over the years many times , ” Pelosi told reporters on Wednesday .
“ When @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people one person at a time , I trusted that .
As it turns out , it was a setup.
“

By Tyler Durden
Shut down gym owners in San Francisco have developed serious “roid rage” after finding out this week that gyms inside of government buildings have been open for months while privately owned establishments have remained shut down, per the government’s orders.
Gyms for police officers, lawyers, bailiffs, paralegals and government employees have been open since July 1, according to a new report from the Washington Examiner.
Daniele Rabkin, of Crossfit Golden Gate stated:
It’s shocking, it’s infuriating. Even though they’re getting exposed, there are no repercussions, no ramifications? It’s shocking.
Dave Karraker, owner of MX3 Fitness in the Castro, commented:
It just demonstrates that there seems to be some kind of a double standard between what city employees are allowed to do and what the residents of San Francisco are allowed to do. What the city has unwillingly done is created this great case study that says that working out indoors is actually safe.
He continued:
So, at this point, we’re just demanding that they allow us to have the same workout privileges for the citizens of San Francisco that the employees of San Francisco have.
This news comes just days after Nancy Pelosi was publicly ridiculed for getting her hair done, without a mask, at a salon that would otherwise have been closed. Public outrage about the hypocrisy reached peak levels, forcing Pelosi to make a public statement and face the media to “explain.”
Pelosi began in typical politician manner by blaming someone else – the salon owner – for the so-called “set-up” and then “apologized” for being caught in a set-up…


activistpost--2020-09-07--Dozens of Cops, Judges, Prosecutors Present Letter to Congress to Legalize Marijuana, Expunge All Co

Dozens of Cops, Judges, Prosecutors Present Letter to Congress to Legalize Marijuana, Expunge All Convictions

The organization formerly known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition ( LEAP ) , now known as Law Enforcement Action Partnership , along with the National Black Police Association , and Fair and Just Prosecution have signed onto a revolutionary letter to Congress urging the federal government to legalize marijuana and expunge all past convictions relating to marijuana .
In addition to the three major groups signing on to the letter , dozens of current and former prosecutors , judges and police officers .
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison ( D ) also signed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ month and is addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer ( D-Md. )
.
It calls on House lawmakers to “ swiftly bring ” the bill , dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement ( MORE ) Act , to the floor for a vote this month .
The group accurately portrays the problem created by the war on marijuana and how it degrades trust in police .
A significant driver of public distrust in law enforcement is our focus on low-level marijuana arrests .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ system , we police are already met with animosity every day .
Our effectiveness and morale should not suffer unnecessarily .
If marijuana had never been criminalized , many more Americans would greet us with warmth and cooperation rather than fear and malice .
Without the trust of the people we serve , we lose a valuable crime-fighting resource .
When community members refuse to talk to us , fail to present evidence or even to report crime , our jobs become much more difficult .
Legalizing marijuana will help alleviate this tension @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shared priorities : responding to emergencies and curbing serious crime .
The resources used to enforce marijuana law violations could be shifted and used to more effectively tackle serious and violent crimes .
Americans were arrested for marijuana seven million times between 2001 and 2010 , the vast majority of which were just for possession .
Even as more states legalize marijuana , police made more than 663,000 marijuana arrests — 92 % of them for possession — last year alone .
Meanwhile , homicide and sex crimes units struggle to get evidence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that evidence sits in storage for years collecting dust , predators roam free to harm more innocent people .
This misallocation of resources is disgraceful .
By legalizing marijuana at the federal level , we will send a message to every police department in this country about our real priorities .
Our allegiance lies with crime survivors and would-be victims , not with marijuana prohibition .
By focusing on serious crime and creating safe neighborhoods — rather than arresting people for a drug most Americans think should be legal — we will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ back the trust of our communities Become an Activist Post Patron for $ 1 per month at Patreon .
This letter contains no new information .
However , the fact that it is receiving coverage in the mainstream and is directed at Congress is encouraging .
This conversation is long overdue and it needs to change now as the war on drugs fosters a violent and criminal society .
It should go further , however , and move to decriminalize all substances , not just marijuana .
As readers of TFTP know , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world .
It is estimated that victimless crime constitutes 86 % of the federal prison population .
That means the only reason that these individuals are incarcerated is because the state deemed their non-violent personal choices , “ illegal.
” The majority of that 86 % is for illegal drugs only .
Most of the people who are thrown in prison are non-violent .
However , when they are locked in cages with society ’ s worst and treated like cattle in a factory farm , they come out forever changed .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ environment , and they have the audacity to call this the “ justice system.
” This system — whether or not the right wants to admit it — disproportionately targets minorities , fostering a violent and tyrannical environment .
The research cited in the letter also points this fact out .
If you honestly believe that black lives matter , it is your duty to call for an end to the drug war .
Ending the drug war would have profound effects on police interactions in black communities .
No longer would cops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an attempt to catch black people with a substance deemed illegal by the state .
This would drastically reduce the amount of police interactions as a whole .
What ’ s more , as the letter points out , it would decrease crime by eliminating the monopoly on drug sales held by organized criminal gangs .
It would defund the gangs and remove much of the incentive to wage violence in their community .
To understand why this would have such a drastic effect , you have to realize that when the government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not remove the demand .
Instead , the state creates crime by pushing the sale and control of these substances into the illegal black markets — usually monopolized by gang members in poor communities .
All the while , demand remains constant .
Because this market is not regulated by free market principals , safety and child possession fall to the wayside .
The authors of the letter understand this and point out how legalization would curb this problem .
Regulation reduces youth access and keeps adult consumers safe .
Criminalizing marijuana has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where there are no regulations , product testing , etc .
Resourceful teenagers do not usually have trouble accessing marijuana when it is illegal .
Underground sellers do not have to obtain age verification before making a sale and may sell other far more dangerous substances .
Legalizing marijuana shrinks the size of the market available to teens , which simultaneously reduces their exposure to criminal activity in general .
A profitable underground market supports the high demand for marijuana , much as it did during the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ controlled ” substance is illusory ; where it is illegal , we have no control .
We can not ensure the purity of the product , require the use of childproof containers , or determine who can buy and sell it .
Over time , marijuana legalization will drive out the underground market , just as alcohol bootleggers disappeared after repealing alcohol prohibition .
Right now , the underground market still flourishes because marijuana is legal in some places and not others .
The most impactful way to take marijuana profits away @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is to regulate marijuana similarly to how we regulate alcohol and cigarettes .
The illegality of drug possession and use is what keeps the low-level users and dealers in and out of the court systems , and most of these people are poor black men .
Black people are more likely to receive a harsher punishment for the same drug crime as a white person .
This revolving door of creating and processing criminals fosters the phenomenon known as Recidivism which is the tendency of those who are processed into the system and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The War on Drugs takes good people and turns them into criminals every single minute of every single day .
The system is set up in such a way that it fans the flames of violent crime by essentially building a factory that turns out violent criminals .
The system knows this too !
As stated by the law enforcement experts in their letter , when drugs are legalized , gang violence drops — drastically .
Not only does it have a huge effect on the localized gangs in America , but the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violent foreign drug cartels too .
Until Americans educate themselves on the cause of this violence , uninformed and corrupt lawmakers will continue to focus on controlling the symptoms .
We will see more senseless killings and more innocent lives stripped of opportunity by getting entangled in the system .
We must end the drug war now .
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA .
This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world .
Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project .
Follow @ MattAgorist on Twitter , Steemit , and now on Minds .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE !
Follow us on SoMee , HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Counter Markets today .

By Matt Agorist
The organization formerly known as Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), now known as Law Enforcement Action Partnership, along with the National Black Police Association, and Fair and Just Prosecution have signed onto a revolutionary letter to Congress urging the federal government to legalize marijuana and expunge all past convictions relating to marijuana. In addition to the three major groups signing on to the letter, dozens of current and former prosecutors, judges and police officers. Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) also signed on.
I’m proud to join these law enforcement officials in saying we need to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs. We remain focused on combating violent crime, and the work we’ve done clearing cannabis records is opening doors for thousands and strengthening our communities. https://t.co/gRITyvZYDV — State’s Attorney Kim Foxx (@SAKimFoxx) August 19, 2020
The letter went out last month and is addressed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). It calls on House lawmakers to “swiftly bring” the bill, dubbed the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act, to the floor for a vote this month.
The group accurately portrays the problem created by the war on marijuana and how it degrades trust in police.
A significant driver of public distrust in law enforcement is our focus on low-level marijuana arrests. As the most visible part of the justice system, we police are already met with animosity every day. Our effectiveness and morale should not suffer unnecessarily. If marijuana had never been criminalized, many more Americans would greet us with warmth and cooperation rather than fear and malice. Without the trust of the people we serve, we lose a valuable crime-fighting resource. When community members refuse to talk to us, fail to present evidence or even to report crime, our jobs become much more difficult. Legalizing marijuana will help alleviate this tension and allow us to focus on our shared priorities: responding to emergencies and curbing serious crime. The resources used to enforce marijuana law violations could be shifted and used to more effectively tackle serious and violent crimes. Americans were arrested for marijuana seven
million times between 2001 and 2010, the vast majority of which were just for possession. Even as more states legalize marijuana, police made more than 663,000 marijuana arrests — 92% of them for possession — last year alone. Meanwhile, homicide and sex crimes units struggle to get evidence examined in a timely manner. While that evidence sits in storage for years collecting dust, predators roam free to harm more innocent people. This misallocation of resources is disgraceful. By legalizing marijuana at the federal level, we will send a message to every police department in this country about our real priorities. Our allegiance lies with crime survivors and would-be victims, not with marijuana prohibition. By focusing on serious crime and creating safe neighborhoods — rather than arresting people for a drug most Americans think should be legal — we will be able to solve more crimes and earn back the trust of our communities
Become an Activist Post Patron for $1 per month at Patreon.
This letter contains no new information. However, the fact that it is receiving coverage in the mainstream and is directed at Congress is encouraging. This conversation is long overdue and it needs to change now as the war on drugs fosters a violent and criminal society.
It should go further, however, and move to decriminalize all substances, not just marijuana.
As readers of TFTP know, America has the largest prison population in the world. It is estimated that victimless crime constitutes 86% of the federal prison population. That means the only reason that these individuals are incarcerated is because the state deemed their non-violent personal choices, “illegal.” The majority of that 86% is for illegal drugs only.
Most of the people who are thrown in prison are non-violent. However, when they are locked in cages with society’s worst and treated like cattle in a factory farm, they come out forever changed. America is breeding a torturous and violent environment, and they have the audacity to call this the “justice system.”
This system — whether or not the right wants to admit it — disproportionately targets minorities, fostering a violent and tyrannical environment. The research cited in the letter also points this fact out.
If you honestly believe that black lives matter, it is your duty to call for an end to the drug war. Ending the drug war would have profound effects on police interactions in black communities.
No longer would cops be able to launch fishing expeditions in an attempt to catch black people with a substance deemed illegal by the state. This would drastically reduce the amount of police interactions as a whole. What’s more, as the letter points out, it would decrease crime by eliminating the monopoly on drug sales held by organized criminal gangs. It would defund the gangs and remove much of the incentive to wage violence in their community.
To understand why this would have such a drastic effect, you have to realize that when the government makes certain substances illegal, it does not remove the demand. Instead, the state creates crime by pushing the sale and control of these substances into the illegal black markets — usually monopolized by gang members in poor communities. All the while, demand remains constant. Because this market is not regulated by free market principals, safety and child possession fall to the wayside. The authors of the letter understand this and point out how legalization would curb this problem.
Regulation reduces youth access and keeps adult consumers safe. Criminalizing marijuana has been a boon to the illegal market where there are no regulations, product testing, etc. Resourceful teenagers do not usually have trouble accessing marijuana when it is illegal. Underground sellers do not have to obtain age verification before making a sale and may sell other far more dangerous substances. Legalizing marijuana shrinks the size of the market available to teens, which simultaneously reduces their exposure to criminal activity in general. A profitable underground market supports the high demand for marijuana, much as it did during the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and ‘30s. Calling marijuana a “controlled” substance is illusory; where it is illegal, we have no control. We cannot ensure the purity of the product, require the use of childproof containers, or determine who can buy and sell it. Over time, marijuana legalization will drive out the underground market, just as alcohol bootleggers disappeared after repealing alcohol prohibition. Right now, the underground market still flourishes because marijuana is legal in some places and not others. The most impactful way to take marijuana profits away from criminal organizations and reduce youth access is to regulate marijuana similarly to how we regulate alcohol and cigarettes.
The illegality of drug possession and use is what keeps the low-level users and dealers in and out of the court systems, and most of these people are poor black men. Black people are more likely to receive a harsher punishment for the same drug crime as a white person.
This revolving door of creating and processing criminals fosters the phenomenon known as Recidivism which is the tendency of those who are processed into the system and the likelihood of future criminal behavior.
The War on Drugs takes good people and turns them into criminals every single minute of every single day. The system is set up in such a way that it fans the flames of violent crime by essentially building a factory that turns out violent criminals.
The system knows this too!
As stated by the law enforcement experts in their letter, when drugs are legalized, gang violence drops — drastically. Not only does it have a huge effect on the localized gangs in America, but the legalization of drugs is crippling to the violent foreign drug cartels too.
Until Americans educate themselves on the cause of this violence, uninformed and corrupt lawmakers will continue to focus on controlling the symptoms.
We will see more senseless killings and more innocent lives stripped of opportunity by getting entangled in the system. We must end the drug war now.
Source: The Free Thought Project
Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Minds.
Become a Patron!
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom HERE! Follow us on SoMee, HIVE, Parler, Flote, Minds, and Twitter.
Provide, Protect and Profit from what’s coming! Get a free issue of Counter Markets today.


activistpost--2020-09-07--A Record 52% Of Millennials Now Live With Their Parents, Highest Since Great Depression

Wall Street and the Trump administration have been in no rush to acknowledge the deep economic scarring from the virus-induced downturn that is set to prolong the recovery well into 2021 .
Readers , by now , understand the probabilities of a “ V-shaped ” recovery for the real economy for the remainder of 2020 are quickly fading .
Stories of permanent job loss and the collapse of small businesses are gaining traction in the mainstream press in Sept. as the stock market rolls over .
Another dose of economic reality could stun Americans as the total number of young @ @ @ @ @ @ @ levels not seen since the 1930s Great Depression .
A new report via Pew Research Center explains a record amount of young folks have moved back home because the virus pandemic has crippled their finances .
As of July , 52 % of millennials were living at home , up from 47 % in Feb. At least 2.6 million youngsters over the Feb. to July period returned home , pushing up the total to 26.2 million .
“ The number and share of young adults living with their parents grew across the board @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , men and women , and metropolitan and rural residents , as well as in all four main census regions .
Growth was sharpest for the youngest adults ( ages 18 to 24 ) and for White young adults , ” Pew said .
The share of young adults living with their parents broke out to new highs .
The previous record was set at 48 % in 1940 , according to Pew data , which was one year into World War II .
See : 177 Different Ways to Generate Extra Income @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was seen across all races , genders , and regions .
White millennials moved home at the fastest rate ( from 42 % in Feb. to 49 % in July ) , black youngsters ( 50 % to 55 % ) , Asians ( 46 % to 51 % ) , and Hispanic people ( 55 % to 58 % ) , all experienced noticeable increases .
This new living arrangement is set to damage the economy and result in a prolonged recovery .
But the trend of them returning home ( read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been underway for years , though the virus pandemic has only supercharged it .
The number of youngsters moving home is expected to rise through 2020 as the economic downturn shows no signs of abating as a double-dip recession due to a fiscal cliff looms .
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By Tyler Durden
Wall Street and the Trump administration have been in no rush to acknowledge the deep economic scarring from the virus-induced downturn that is set to prolong the recovery well into 2021. Readers, by now, understand the probabilities of a “V-shaped” recovery for the real economy for the remainder of 2020 are quickly fading.
Stories of permanent job loss and the collapse of small businesses are gaining traction in the mainstream press in Sept. as the stock market rolls over. Another dose of economic reality could stun Americans as the total number of young adults living at home has just surpassed levels not seen since the 1930s Great Depression.
A new report via Pew Research Center explains a record amount of young folks have moved back home because the virus pandemic has crippled their finances. As of July, 52% of millennials were living at home, up from 47% in Feb. At least 2.6 million youngsters over the Feb. to July period returned home, pushing up the total to 26.2 million.
“The number and share of young adults living with their parents grew across the board for all major racial and ethnic groups, men and women, and metropolitan and rural residents, as well as in all four main census regions. Growth was sharpest for the youngest adults (ages 18 to 24) and for White young adults,” Pew said.
The share of young adults living with their parents broke out to new highs. The previous record was set at 48% in 1940, according to Pew data, which was one year into World War II.
The increase of youngsters moving back home was seen across all races, genders, and regions. White millennials moved home at the fastest rate (from 42% in Feb. to 49% in July), black youngsters (50% to 55%), Asians (46% to 51%), and Hispanic people (55% to 58%), all experienced noticeable increases.
“Young adults have been particularly hard hit by this year’s pandemic and economic downturn, and have been more likely to move than other age groups,” the study added.
This new living arrangement is set to damage the economy and result in a prolonged recovery. But the trend of them returning home (read: here & here & here) has been underway for years, though the virus pandemic has only supercharged it.
The number of youngsters moving home is expected to rise through 2020 as the economic downturn shows no signs of abating as a double-dip recession due to a fiscal cliff looms.
Source: Zerohedge
Image: Pixabay
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activistpost--2020-09-08--Gym Owners In San Fran Furious After Learning Government Gyms Have Been Open For Months


activistpost--2020-09-08--Solar Panels Are Starting to Die = Millions More Metric Tons of E-Waste. Can We Change This?

Solar panels are already being blamed for significantly contributing to E-Waste .
Someday – if we ’ re lucky – all environmental and safety problems associated with solar technology will be fixed .
Until then – it wouldn ’ t be ecologically responsible to turn a blind eye to them .
Solar Panels Are Starting to Die .
Will We be Able to Recycle the E-Waste ?
Solar photovoltaic ( PV ) panels convert sunlight into energy and continue to play an essential role in the fight to stop the climate crisis .
As the pioneering panels of the early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ electronic lives , however , they are at risk of becoming the world ’ s next big wave of e-waste .
International Renewable Energy Agency ( IRENA ) , a leading energy agency , projected that up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have reached the end of their life by 2050 , resulting in about 6 million metric tons of new solar e-waste annually , reported Grist .
The IRENA report noted that since their debut , solar PV deployment has grown at “ unprecedented rates , ” with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( GW ) by the end of 2015 , with projections rising to 4,500 GW by 2050 .
Earth911 reported that solar is the fastest-growing energy source in the world .
According to recent research , wind and solar renewable energy technologies will soon be cheaper than coal globally .
This will drive even further deployment of solar panels .
The United States , China , India , Japan and Germany have planned for “ particularly high ” deployment , the IRENA report said .
As the global PV market continues to expand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can expect when the panels are decommissioned .
IRENA also analyzed the potential upside and value creation of proper end-of-life management of PV panels .
It noted that proper management could help shift the world to sustainable long-term development .
By 2030 and 2050 , respectively , the report projected : • Cumulative PV capacity to be 1,600 GW and 4,500 GW , • Cumulative PV waste to reach up to 8 million tonnes and 78 million tonnes , • Value creation to be $ 450 million and $ 15 billion in raw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ employment opportunities to arise from repair , reuse , recycling and treatment of PV panels , • Enough raw materials recovered to produce 60 million new panels ( equivalent to 18 GW ) and 2 billion new panels ( equivalent to 630 GW ) .
Current global panel recycling trends are not yet poised to capitalize on this environmental and economic opportunity .
According to Grist , while the E.U .
requires manufacturers to ensure panels are properly recycled , in the U.S. , there are no regulatory frameworks requiring the recycling of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In Japan , India and Australia , recycling requirements are being discussed .
Without robust recycling mandates , most of this toxic trash will be sent to landfills .
There , the valuable silver and silicone in solar panels will go to waste and toxic chemicals like lead can leach out .
Another current challenge is the cost of recycling , which currently far outweighs revenue from recycling and dumping costs .
“ We believe the big blind spot in the U.S. for recycling is that the cost far exceeds the revenue @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meng Tao told Grist .
“ It ’ s on the order of a 10-to-1 ratio.
” Tao estimated that PV recyclers today can get about $ 3 a panel from recovering the aluminum , copper and glass out of a 60-cell silicon panel , the news report said .
Sam Vanderhoof , CEO of Solar CowboyZ , one of the only U.S. companies dedicated to PV recycling , compared it to the cost of recycling that panel in the U.S. — between $ 12 and $ 25 — due to transportation costs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allow dumping charge less than $ 1 to toss the same panel into a solid waste landfill .
As a result , only about 10 percent of panels are currently recycled in the U.S. ; the rest go to the landfill or are shipped overseas to countries with more lax environmental rules , the news report said .
“ If we don ’ t mandate recycling , many of the modules will go to landfill , ” Tao told Grist .
Better design of panels to align with recycling capabilities could help increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recycling methods may more efficiently extract and purify valuable silver and silicone , helping to improve the cost/dump to revenue ratios , Grist reported .
Industry researchers are also brainstorming ways to repair and resell panels still in good condition and to repurpose old panels for things like e-bike charging stations and housing complexes , the news report found .
For the solar industry to substantially grow to meet global demands and to support a clean energy revolution , it will need supportive policies and regulations and a means to deal with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We need to face the fact that solar panels do fail over time , and there ’ s a lot of them out there , ” Vanderhoof told Grist .
“ And what do we do when they start to fail ?
It ’ s not right throwing that responsibility on the consumer , and that ’ s where we ’ re at right now.
” Activist Post reports regularly about unsafe technology .
For more information , visit our archives .
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Follow us on SoMee , HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By B.N. Frank
Solar panels are already being blamed for significantly contributing to E-Waste.
Someday – if we’re lucky – all environmental and safety problems associated with solar technology will be fixed. Until then – it wouldn’t be ecologically responsible to turn a blind eye to them.
From EcoWatch:
Solar Panels Are Starting to Die. Will We be Able to Recycle the E-Waste?
By Tiffany Duong
Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels convert sunlight into energy and continue to play an essential role in the fight to stop the climate crisis. As the pioneering panels of the early 2000s near the end of their 30-year electronic lives, however, they are at risk of becoming the world’s next big wave of e-waste.
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), a leading energy agency, projected that up to 78 million metric tons of solar panels will have reached the end of their life by 2050, resulting in about 6 million metric tons of new solar e-waste annually, reported Grist.
The IRENA report noted that since their debut, solar PV deployment has grown at “unprecedented rates,” with global installed PV capacity reaching 222 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2015, with projections rising to 4,500 GW by 2050. Earth911 reported that solar is the fastest-growing energy source in the world.
According to recent research, wind and solar renewable energy technologies will soon be cheaper than coal globally. This will drive even further deployment of solar panels. The United States, China, India, Japan and Germany have planned for “particularly high” deployment, the IRENA report said. As the global PV market continues to expand, so too will the e-waste we can expect when the panels are decommissioned.
IRENA also analyzed the potential upside and value creation of proper end-of-life management of PV panels. It noted that proper management could help shift the world to sustainable long-term development.
By 2030 and 2050, respectively, the report projected:
Cumulative PV capacity to be 1,600 GW and 4,500 GW,
Cumulative PV waste to reach up to 8 million tonnes and 78 million tonnes,
Value creation to be $450 million and $15 billion in raw materials recovery,
New industries and employment opportunities to arise from repair, reuse, recycling and treatment of PV panels,
Enough raw materials recovered to produce 60 million new panels (equivalent to 18 GW) and 2 billion new panels (equivalent to 630 GW).
Current global panel recycling trends are not yet poised to capitalize on this environmental and economic opportunity. According to Grist, while the E.U. requires manufacturers to ensure panels are properly recycled, in the U.S., there are no regulatory frameworks requiring the recycling of old panels, except for Washington state. In Japan, India and Australia, recycling requirements are being discussed. Without robust recycling mandates, most of this toxic trash will be sent to landfills.
There, the valuable silver and silicone in solar panels will go to waste and toxic chemicals like lead can leach out.
Another current challenge is the cost of recycling, which currently far outweighs revenue from recycling and dumping costs.
“We believe the big blind spot in the U.S. for recycling is that the cost far exceeds the revenue,” Arizona State University solar researcher Meng Tao told Grist. “It’s on the order of a 10-to-1 ratio.”


activistpost--2020-09-09--Mile Markers of Tyranny: Losing Our Freedoms on the Road from 9/11 to COVID-19

You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we ’ ve lost along the way .
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties , especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment .
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach , corruption and abuse .
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns , mask mandates , surveillance , snitch lines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for engaging in risky behavior , and veiled threats of forced vaccinations has merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles .
These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny .
Free speech , the right to protest , the right to challenge government wrongdoing , due process , a presumption of innocence , the right to self-defense , accountability and transparency in government , privacy , press , sovereignty , assembly , bodily integrity , representative government : all of these and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s ongoing war on the American people .
In the process , the American people have been treated like enemy combatants , to be spied on , tracked , scanned , frisked , searched , subjected to all manner of intrusions , intimidated , invaded , raided , manhandled , censored , silenced , shot at , locked up , denied due process , and killed .
What the past 20 years have proven is that the U.S. government poses a greater threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national security @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic .
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills , foreign wars , color-coded warnings , partisan politics , pandemic scares , and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda , sleight of hand , and obfuscation , we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “ government of the people , by the people , for the people ” —has become the enemy of the people .
Indeed , the U.S. government has grown so corrupt , greedy , power-hungry and tyrannical over the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy , and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy ( a government ruled by thieves ) and a kakistocracy ( a government run by unprincipled career politicians , corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens ) .
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny , in America today , the government does @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ We the people ” have been terrorized , traumatized , and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties .
The bogeyman ’ s names and faces have changed over time ( terrorism , the war on drugs , illegal immigration , a viral pandemic ) , but the end result remains the same : in the so-called name of national security , the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at , undermined , eroded , whittled down , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the White House , and the courts .
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago .
Sadly , most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights .
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution , post-9/11 and in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic .
The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind , assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government .
It also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as well as the right to worship and pray without interference .
In other words , Americans should not be silenced by the government .
To the founders , all of America was a free speech zone .
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment , the freedoms described therein are under constant assault .
Increasingly , Americans are being arrested and charged with bogus “ contempt of cop ” charges such as “ disrupting the peace ” or “ resisting arrest ” for daring to film police officers engaged in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers .
States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices .
Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless .
Protesters are being tear-gassed , beaten , arrested and forced into “ free speech zones.
” And under the guise of “ government speech , ” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum .
Activist Post Recommended Book : Snitch Culture : How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ears Of The State The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “ the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
” Essentially , this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government .
Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right , Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield .
As such , this amendment has been rendered null @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen ’ s home without “ the consent of the owner.
” With the police increasingly training like the military , acting like the military , and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams , military weapons , assault vehicles , etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil .
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence that you ’ re up to something criminal .
In other words , the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity .
Unfortunately , the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens , surveillance ( corporate and otherwise ) and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism , as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors .
The Fifth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tandem .
These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty , and government authorities can not deprive you of your life , your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge .
However , in the new suspect society in which we live , where surveillance is the norm , these fundamental principles have been upended .
Certainly , if the government can arbitrarily freeze , seize or lay claim to your property ( money , land or possessions ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have no true rights .
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial .
Yet when the populace has no idea of what ’ s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears .
However , as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize , the power of the jury to nullify the government ’ s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government that “ we the people ” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just .
The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment .
However , the Supreme Court ’ s determination that what constitutes “ cruel and unusual ” should be dependent on the “ evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society ” leaves us with little protection in the face of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people .
Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment .
However , it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “ important government interest ” in doing so .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution , that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local , state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington , DC , power elite—the president , Congress and the courts .
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost , it is simply this : our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government ’ s powers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by “ government , ” I ’ m not referring to the highly partisan , two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats .
Rather , I ’ m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized , militarized , entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself beyond the reach of the law and is unaffected by elections , unaltered by populist movements , and staffed by unelected officials who are , in essence , running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC , no matter who sits in the White House .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its corporate partners , views the citizenry as consumers and bits of data to be bought , sold and traded .
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy , especially in their own homes .
This is a government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public ’ s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “ unacceptable ” social behaviors .
This is a government that subjects its people to scans , searches , pat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and VIPR raids on so-called “ soft ” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad , Darth Vader look-alikes .
This is a government that uses fusion centers , which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal , state and local law enforcement , to track the citizenry ’ s movements , record their conversations , and catalogue their transactions .
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ innocence .
This is a government that treats its people like second-class citizens who have no rights , and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all who do not fit with the government ’ s plans for this country .
This is a government that uses free speech zones , roving bubble zones and trespass laws to silence , censor and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power .
The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and outright elimination include : hate speech , bullying speech , intolerant speech , conspiratorial speech , treasonous speech , threatening speech , incendiary speech , inflammatory speech , radical speech , anti-government speech , right-wing speech , left-wing speech , extremist speech , politically incorrect speech , etc .
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home , growing vegetables in their yard , and collecting rainwater .
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely .
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act , which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy .
This is a government that , in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country , has allowed the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s domestic police , equipping them with military weapons such as “ tens of thousands of machine guns ; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines ; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment ; and hundreds of silencers , armored cars and aircraft , ” in addition to armored vehicles , sound cannons and the like .
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way , or moving a certain way , or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret @ @ @ @ @ @ @ some trigger-centric fear in a police officer ’ s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety .
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes , while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor .
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States , paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and rifle through their belongings , all without a warrant .
Incredibly , nearly 66 % of Americans ( 2/3 of the U.S. population , 197.4 million people ) now live within that 100-mile-deep , Constitution-free zone .
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates , enforcing zero tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior , failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution , and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning , synthesizing and critical thinking .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the negative on every front : it ’ s spending far more than what it makes ( and takes from the American taxpayers ) and it is borrowing heavily ( from foreign governments and Social Security ) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad .
Meanwhile , the nation ’ s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads , water pipelines , ports , dams , bridges , airports and roads—is rapidly deteriorating .
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams , militarized police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shoot first and ask questions later—poses a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter .
There are now reportedly more bureaucratic ( non-military ) government agents armed with high-tech , deadly weapons than U.S. Marines .
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law , regardless of which party is in power .
This is a government that treats dissidents , whistleblowers and freedom fighters as enemies of the state .
This is a government—a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the reach of the military industrial complex .
This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest , the acquisition of greater wealth , scientific experimentation , and technological advances , all packaged in the guise of the greater good .
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them .
This is a government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What is this language of force ?
Militarized police .
Riot squads .
Camouflage gear .
Black uniforms .
Armored vehicles .
Mass arrests .
Pepper spray .
Tear gas .
Batons .
Strip searches .
Surveillance cameras .
Kevlar vests .
Drones .
Lethal weapons .
Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force .
Rubber bullets .
Water cannons .
Stun grenades .
Arrests of journalists .
Crowd control tactics .
Intimidation tactics .
Brutality .
Contempt of cop charges .
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of national security , national crises and national emergencies .
This is a government that exports violence worldwide , with one of this country ’ s most profitable exports being weapons .
Indeed , the United States , the world ’ s largest exporter of arms , has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad .
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a government that believes it has the authority to search , seize , strip , scan , spy on , probe , pat down , taser , and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation , the Constitution be damned .
In sum , this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry .
This is not a government that believes in , let alone upholds , freedom .
So where does that leave us ?
As always , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people.
” Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens .
It is there to protect , defend and even enhance our freedoms , not violate them .
Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable .
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words : “ We the people.
” In other words , we have the power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We are the masters and they are the servants .
We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America ’ s welfare , defense , liberty , laws and prosperity .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far .
Barely .
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized .
For instance , some argue that we need to make America great again .
I , for one , would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of .
His new book Battlefield America : The War on the American People is available at .
Whitehead can be contacted at [ email protected ] .
John W. Whitehead ’ s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge .
Please contact [ email protected ] to obtain reprint permission .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Send resources to the front lines of peace and freedom @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HIVE , Parler , Flote , Minds , and Twitter .
Provide , Protect and Profit from what ’ s coming !
Get a free issue of Counter Markets today .

By John W. Whitehead
“No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”—George Orwell
You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we’ve lost along the way.
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties, especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse.
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns, mask mandates, surveillance, snitch lines for Americans to report their fellow citizens for engaging in risky behavior, and veiled threats of forced vaccinations has merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles.
These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny.
Free speech, the right to protest, the right to challenge government wrongdoing, due process, a presumption of innocence, the right to self-defense, accountability and transparency in government, privacy, press, sovereignty, assembly, bodily integrity, representative government: all of these and more have become casualties in the government’s ongoing war on the American people. In the process, the American people have been treated like enemy combatants, to be spied on, tracked, scanned, frisked, searched, subjected to all manner of intrusions, intimidated, invaded, raided, manhandled, censored, silenced, shot at, locked up, denied due process, and killed.
What the past 20 years have proven is that the U.S. government poses a greater threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national security than any terrorist, foreign threat or pandemic.
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills, foreign wars, color-coded warnings, partisan politics, pandemic scares, and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda, sleight of hand, and obfuscation, we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”—has become the enemy of the people.
Indeed, the U.S. government has grown so corrupt, greedy, power-hungry and tyrannical over the course of the past 240-plus years that our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy, and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) and a kakistocracy (a government run by unprincipled career politicians, corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens).
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny, in America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned.
“We the people” have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties.
The bogeyman’s names and faces have changed over time (terrorism, the war on drugs, illegal immigration, a viral pandemic), but the end result remains the same: in the so-called name of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded with the support of Congress, the White House, and the courts.
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago. Sadly, most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights.
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution, post-9/11 and in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind, assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. It also protects the freedom of the media, as well as the right to worship and pray without interference. In other words, Americans should not be silenced by the government. To the founders, all of America was a free speech zone.
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault. Increasingly, Americans are being arrested and charged with bogus “contempt of cop” charges such as “disrupting the peace” or “resisting arrest” for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices. Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers. States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices. Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless. Protesters are being tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and forced into “free speech zones.” And under the guise of “government speech,” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum.
Activist Post Recommended Book: Snitch Culture: How Citizens Are Turned Into The Eyes And Ears Of The State
The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield. As such, this amendment has been rendered null and void.
The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” With the police increasingly training like the military, acting like the military, and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams, military weapons, assault vehicles, etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you, unless they have some evidence that you’re up to something criminal. In other words, the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens, surveillance (corporate and otherwise) and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism, as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors.
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in the new suspect society in which we live, where surveillance is the norm, these fundamental principles have been upended. Certainly, if the government can arbitrarily freeze, seize or lay claim to your property (money, land or possessions) under government asset forfeiture schemes, you have no true rights.
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears. However, as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize, the power of the jury to nullify the government’s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated. Jury nullification reminds the government that “we the people” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just.
The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” should be dependent on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment. However, it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “important government interest” in doing so.
As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress and the courts.
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.
Mind you, by “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, I’m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself beyond the reach of the law and is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House.
This is a government that, in conjunction with its corporate partners, views the citizenry as consumers and bits of data to be bought, sold and traded.
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy, especially in their own homes.
This is a government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public’s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “unacceptable” social behaviors.
This is a government that subjects its people to scans, searches, pat downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad, Darth Vader look-alikes.
This is a government that uses fusion centers, which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, to track the citizenry’s movements, record their conversations, and catalogue their transactions.
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty until or unless they can prove their innocence.
This is a government that treats its people like second-class citizens who have no rights, and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all who do not fit with the government’s plans for this country.
This is a government that uses free speech zones, roving bubble zones and trespass laws to silence, censor and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power. The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to censorship, surveillance, investigation, prosecution and outright elimination include: hate speech, bullying speech, intolerant speech, conspiratorial speech, treasonous speech, threatening speech, incendiary speech, inflammatory speech, radical speech, anti-government speech, right-wing speech, left-wing speech, extremist speech, politically incorrect speech, etc.
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home, growing vegetables in their yard, and collecting rainwater.
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely.
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act, which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy.
This is a government that, in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country, has allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police.
This is a government that has militarized American’s domestic police, equipping them with military weapons such as “tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft,” in addition to armored vehicles, sound cannons and the like.
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer’s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes, while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor.
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States, paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant. Incredibly, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within that 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates, enforcing zero tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior, failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution, and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning, synthesizing and critical thinking.
This is a government that is operating in the negative on every front: it’s spending far more than what it makes (and takes from the American taxpayers) and it is borrowing heavily (from foreign governments and Social Security) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad. Meanwhile, the nation’s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads, water pipelines, ports, dams, bridges, airports and roads—is rapidly deteriorating.
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams, militarized police, and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions later—poses a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter. There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines.
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law, regardless of which party is in power.
This is a government that treats dissidents, whistleblowers and freedom fighters as enemies of the state.
This is a government—a warring empire—that forces its taxpayers to pay for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the reach of the military industrial complex.
This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest, the acquisition of greater wealth, scientific experimentation, and technological advances, all packaged in the guise of the greater good.
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them.
This is a government that speaks in a language of force. What is this language of force? Militarized police. Riot squads. Camouflage gear. Black uniforms. Armored vehicles. Mass arrests. Pepper spray. Tear gas. Batons. Strip searches. Surveillance cameras. Kevlar vests. Drones. Lethal weapons. Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force. Rubber bullets. Water cannons. Stun grenades. Arrests of journalists. Crowd control tactics. Intimidation tactics. Brutality. Contempt of cop charges.
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security, national crises and national emergencies.
This is a government that exports violence worldwide, with one of this country’s most profitable exports being weapons. Indeed, the United States, the world’s largest exporter of arms, has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad.
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process.
This is a government that believes it has the authority to search, seize, strip, scan, spy on, probe, pat down, taser, and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation, the Constitution be damned.
In sum, this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry.
This is not a government that believes in, let alone upholds, freedom.
So where does that leave us?
As always, the first step begins with “we the people.”
Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. It is there to protect, defend and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them. Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable.
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.” In other words, we have the power to make and break the government. We are the masters and they are the servants. We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws and prosperity.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far. Barely.
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized. For instance, some argue that we need to make America great again. I, for one, would prefer to make America free again.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute . His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People is available at www.amazon.com . Whitehead can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
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John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact staff@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission.
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activistpost--2020-09-08--“Horrifically Catastrophic”: Report Finds So-Called US War On Terror Has Displaced As Many As 59 Mil

“Horrifically Catastrophic”: Report Finds So-Called US War On Terror Has Displaced As Many As 59 Million People

The ongoing U.S. “ war on terror ” has forcibly displaced as many as 59 million people from just eight countries in the Middle East , Africa , and Asia since 2001 , according to a new report published Tuesday by Brown University ’ s Costs of War Project .
The latest figure represents a dramatic increase from the Costs of War Project ’ s 2019 report , which estimated that 21 million people had been displaced internally or forced to flee their home countries due to violence inflicted or unleashed by U.S.-led wars over the past two decades .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the so-called war on terror at 801,000 and the price tag at $ 6.4 trillion .
The new report argues that “ wartime displacement ( alongside war deaths and injuries ) must be central to any analysis of the post-9/11 wars and their short- and long-term consequences.
” “ Displacement also must be central to any possible consideration of the future use of military force by the United States or others , ” the report states .
“ Ultimately , displacing 37 million—and perhaps as many as 59 million—raises the question of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ inflicted on those displaced.
” In addition to the tens of millions displaced by U.S. military actions in Afghanistan , Iraq , Pakistan , Yemen , Somalia , the Philippines , Libya , and Syria , the report notes that millions more have been displaced by “ smaller combat operations , including in : Burkina Faso , Cameroon , Central African Republic , Chad , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Mali , Niger , Saudi Arabia , and Tunisia.
” “ To put these figures in perspective , displacing 37 million people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents of the state of California or all the people in Texas and Virginia combined , ” the report says .
“ The figure is almost as large as the population of Canada .
In historical terms , 37 million displaced is more than those displaced by any other war or disaster since at least the start of the 20th century with the sole exception of World War II.
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David Vine , professor of anthropology at American University and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , told the New York Times that the findings show “ U.S .
involvement in these countries has been horrifically catastrophic , horrifically damaging in ways that I don ’ t think that most people in the United States , in many ways myself included , have grappled with or reckoned with in even the slightest terms.
” Matt Duss , foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) , demanded such a reckoning in a tweet responding to the Costs of War Project ’ s latest findings .
Jake Johnson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
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By Jake Johnson
The ongoing U.S. “war on terror” has forcibly displaced as many as 59 million people from just eight countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia since 2001, according to a new report published Tuesday by Brown University’s Costs of War Project.
Titled “Creating Refugees: Displacement Caused by the United States’ Post-9/11 Wars” (pdf), the new report conservatively estimates that at least 37 million people have “fled their homes in the eight most violent wars the U.S. military has launched or participated in since 2001.”
The latest figure represents a dramatic increase from the Costs of War Project’s 2019 report, which estimated that 21 million people had been displaced internally or forced to flee their home countries due to violence inflicted or unleashed by U.S.-led wars over the past two decades. That report also put the death toll of the so-called war on terror at 801,000 and the price tag at $6.4 trillion.
The new report argues that “wartime displacement (alongside war deaths and injuries) must be central to any analysis of the post-9/11 wars and their short- and long-term consequences.” “Displacement also must be central to any possible consideration of the future use of military force by the United States or others,” the report states. “Ultimately, displacing 37 million—and perhaps as many as 59 million—raises the question of who bears responsibility for repairing the damage inflicted on those displaced.”
In addition to the tens of millions displaced by U.S. military actions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, the Philippines, Libya, and Syria, the report notes that millions more have been displaced by “smaller combat operations, including in: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Niger, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.”
“To put these figures in perspective, displacing 37 million people is equivalent to removing nearly all the residents of the state of California or all the people in Texas and Virginia combined,” the report says. “The figure is almost as large as the population of Canada. In historical terms, 37 million displaced is more than those displaced by any other war or disaster since at least the start of the 20th century with the sole exception of World War II.” Become an Activist Post Patron for $1 per month at Patreon.
Kudos to @CostsOfWar & @QuincyInst boardmember Catherine Lutz for this crucial study. The blob assumes there's something fundamentally wrong with the Middle East. Few acknowledge America's role in the instability and refugee flows. It's massive…
https://t.co/5EGmqFUpBL — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) September 8, 2020
David Vine, professor of anthropology at American University and the lead author of the new report, told the New York Times that the findings show “U.S. involvement in these countries has been horrifically catastrophic, horrifically damaging in ways that I don’t think that most people in the United States, in many ways myself included, have grappled with or reckoned with in even the slightest terms.”
Matt Duss, foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), demanded such a reckoning in a tweet responding to the Costs of War Project’s latest findings.
“The scale of the disaster the United States has inflicted on the world—through three war on terror presidencies—is staggering,” wrote Duss. “We need a reckoning. We can’t simply move on.”
Jake Johnson is a staff writer for Common Dreams. Follow him on Twitter: @johnsonjakep
Sourced from Waking Times
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