"US Has 'Effectively Nationalized' Home Mortgage Industry"
"The home mortgage sector in the world’s largest economy has been 'effectively nationalized,' says George Melloan, former deputy editor of the editorial page for The Wall Street Journal. ...'There are still lots of private banks and mortgage companies generating and servicing mortgages, so the government doesn’t ''own'' the whole industry. But the government (or the lucky half of the population who pay income taxes) now owns most of the risks,' he added. 'The moral is that government backing — implicit during the heyday of Fannie and Freddie and explicit today — leads to sloppy banking and ultimately to defaults,' Melloan wrote in The Journal. 'Taxpayers, with little knowledge of the commitments made on their behalf, become responsible for the losses.'"
(Source: Glenn J. Kalinoski, Thursday, 14 Mar 2013 12:00 PM, URL.)
FLASHBACK (Sept. 6, 2008):
Attention Opponents of a "Socialized America":
"Socialism" is actually ambiguous. (See Noam Chomsky, What Uncle Sam Really Wants [Berkeley, CA: Odonian P, 1992], pp. 91ff.)
For example, "socialism" can mean: "Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively...". Alternatively, it can designate: "Any of various theories or systems of social organization in which... a centralized government... plans and controls the economy." (Source)
"Nationalization" (definition) "Nationalization (British English spelling nationalisation) is the process of taking a private industry or private assets into public ownership by a national government or state." (Source)
But, for those who are laboring under the impression that the march to some form of "socialism" in the United States is the peculiar project of Democrats, Nota Bene:
First, Centralization and Federalization - both of the economy and of the political system more broadly - were the legacy of Republican President Abraham Lincoln, in the aftermath of the War between the States. Take just the economic angle. Lincoln issued the first paper currency, overturning the received view that the U.S. Constitution forbade any branch but the Legislature from authorizing any sort of monetary unit but metal coinage.
"A United States Note, also known as a Legal Tender Note...a form of fiat currency..., is a type of paper money that was issued from 1862 to 1971 in the U.S. ...They were known popularly as 'greenbacks' in their heyday... On January 16, 1862, in a private meeting with President Lincoln, Edmund Dick Taylor advised him to issue greenbacks as legal tender. Congressman and Buffalo banker Elbridge G. Spaulding prepared a bill, based on the Free Banking Law of New York, that eventually became the National Banking Act of 1863. ... hitherto the Constitution had been interpreted as not granting the government the power to issue a paper currency. 'The bill before us is a war measure, a measure of necessity, and not of choice,' Spaulding argued before the House... Despite strong opposition, President Lincoln signed the First Legal Tender Act,... enacted February 25, 1862, into law, authorizing the issuance of United States Notes as a legal tender—the paper currency soon to be known as 'greenbacks.'" (Source)
Second, it was Republican Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich, of Rhode Island, who helped to orchestrate the centralization and "[rebuilding of] the American financial system along Progressive lines through the institution of the federal income tax amendment and the Federal Reserve System"
(Source: URL. See also, e.g., G. Edward Griffin, The Creature from Jekyll Island: A
Second Look at the Federal Reserve [Westlake Village, CA: American
Media, 1994/2010].)
Third, the transition to overt government ownership of industry and banking has, in recent years, been conducted under the steerage of Republicans:
Stephen Labaton and Andrew Ross Sorkin, writing in the New York Times of September 6, 2008, state that: "Senior officials from the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve on Friday called in top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, and told them that the government was preparing to place the two companies under federal control, officials and company executives briefed on the discussions said. ..."
(Source: "U.S. Rescue Seen at Hand for 2 Mortgage Giants," URL.)
In this, Republican President George Walker Bush is merely continuing the practices of the likes of Republican Richard Milhous Nixon, who, by executive order, took the United States off of the gold standard and created the government-owned transportation corporation, Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation), both in 1971 (perhaps, at the behest of Republican financier, globalist, and meddler David Rockefeller and his ilk). (See, Griffin, op. cit., pp. 45 & 63 and URL.)
"...President George W. Bush was the largest social spender in history [at the time of article publication], according to a recent report by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. In his first term Bush increased discretionary spending 19 percent. During Bush's second term federal spending increased 49 percent. The Mercatus Center said Bush's spending made President Bill Clinton's administration look conservative. ..."
("Glenn Beck: Bush's Compassionate Conservatism Must 'Die Violent Death'," Monday, May 25, 2009 1:46 PM, Original URL, Cached URL.)
This is NOT to say that it is my view that the Democrats are "the answer" - far from it! After all, Democrat Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law. Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) confiscated the people's gold and instituted government subsidized social welfare programs. Democrat William Jefferson Clinton, of course, signed NAFTA into law; even though it was Republican George Herbert Walker Bush who had initially signed the agreement in December of 1992.
But, this last datum, mentioned above, illustrates my point: Both parties are apparently working towards and advancing the same sorts of policies, facilitating what one might variously term (non-collectivist) "socialism" or (corporatist) "fascism" depending upon the qualities of the policies that one is emphasizing. In my estimation, and as I have elsewhere attempted to partially document, both parties are working towards the destruction of the U.S. middle class; and both are working to increase the control of globalist corporations. Even if the "two parties" have different preferred TACTICS, they have the same broad objectives and STRATEGY.
According to Noam Chomsky, for instance, "...Clinton-style 'New Democrats'...[are,] in effect, moderate Republicans...".
(Source: "Democracy and Markets in the New World Order," Selections excerpted from Powers and Prospects, 1996, URL.)
In a now fairly infamous quotation, Carroll Quigley, the Georgetown University history professor whom Bill Clinton "named...as an important influence on his aspirations and political philosophy...", stated that:
"The argument that the two parties should represent opposed ideals and policies, one, perhaps, of the Right and the other of the Left, is a foolish idea acceptable only to doctrinaire and academic thinkers. Instead, the two parties should be almost identical, so that the American people can 'throw the rascals out' at any election without leading to any profound or extensive shifts in policy." (See a screen capture HERE.)
(Sources: URL & Tragedy and Hope [New York: Macmillan, 1966], pp. 1247-8.)
The shadow government - the Cryptocracy - has exponents in both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Iatrogenic Allegations
***
Obama has a "Plan For Curbing Gun Violence" and it makes mention of an alliance (of sorts) between government investigative types and medical professionals (Sources: 1, 2, & 3). The plan prompts careful readers to raise a number of questions, among them questions as to the extent of the role envisioned for doctors.
So, in the interest of adjudicating between the (polar extremes of) contrary opinions, I offer the following as a bit of historical context.
***
Beauty salon workers recruited as informants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071223/ap_on_re_us/salons_vs_abuse
Spy Grid Part Of Consumer Technology
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=8823
How Bankers Spy on You
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704865104575588803958385376.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth
What Retailers Know About Us
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110190/what-retailers-know-about-us?mod=bb-budgeting
Areva Adopts UWB-Location Tracking for Personnel Safety
http://www.rfidproductnews.com/reader/109/articles/index.php#msg4
Vast F.D.A. Effort Tracked E-Mails of Its Scientists
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/fda-surveillance-of-scientists-spread-to-outside-critics.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
"Telescreens are featured in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. They are television and security camera-like devices used by the ruling Party in Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescreen
How They're Watching You (Slideshow)
http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/21/privacy-surveillance-technology-oped-cx_res_1126privacy_slide_2.html
(Source)
CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/06/ukcrime1
CCTV doesn't keep us safe, yet the cameras are everywhere
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/26/politics.ukcrime
Chicago links school cameras to 911 center
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-daley-cameras-07mar07,1,2664278.story
US doles out millions for street cameras
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/08/12/us_doles_out_millions_for_street_cameras/
School Spies on Students at Home via Webcam
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/ap_onYes, They're Watching Every Movehttp://www.courant.com/news/local/columnists/hc-rgreen0122.artjan22,0,6653886.column?coll=hc_home_xpromo _hi_te/us_laptops_spying_on_students/print
Talking Camera Tackles City Crime: Baltimore's New Surveillance Cameras Will Scold Wrong-Doers
AP / CBS News | Nov. 17, 2005
BALTIMORE - The city's newest breed of surveillance camera will do more than keep an eye on vandals, litterbugs and other miscreants. The cameras will also give the crooks a talking-to. Baltimore's Board of Estimates has approved five talking cameras - armed with motion detectors, a bright flash and a recorded warning, as part of an effort to curb quality-of-life crimes, especially illegal dumping. When the solar-powered cameras detect motion, they will issue a scolding: "Stop. This is a restricted area. It is illegal to dump trash or spray graffiti here. We have just taken your photograph. We will use this photograph to prosecute you. Leave the area now." ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/17/tech/main1054526.shtml
Speed enforcement cameras
http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/06/24/madison/special_feature/doc4a422f098ce2d842549467.txt
New security camera can 'see' through clothes
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/16/camera.england/index.html
Scanners that see through clothing installed in US airports
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080610/ts_alt_afp/ustransportaviationsecurity
Lambert scanners pit security vs. privacy
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_bb009fc1-a12c-5de9-9d9b-f40e58461492.html
Surveillance Cameras Win Broad Support
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=3422372&page=2
New York to fight terrorism with more street-corner cameras
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1006/p02s10-usgn.html
Cleveland increasing surveillance cameras on trains, buses
http://www.wtte28.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.oh/3ed6fff3-www.wtte28.com.shtml
West Virginia: Bill Turns Traffic Cameras into Spy Cameras
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/22/2218.asp
Dallas To Increase Number Of Surveillance Cameras
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/17482352/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=news
DC's Video Surveillance System
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042502746_pf.html
(Source)
No [evidence] airport security makes flying safer:study
Maggie Fox | Eric Walsh, Ed. | Thu Dec 20 | Reuters
WASHINGTON - Airport security lines can annoy passengers, but there is no
evidence that they make flying any safer...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071221/us_nm/security_airports_dc
Amtrak riders to see more cops, face random bag searches
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_amtrak_riders_to_see_more_cops_face_rand.html
Have Cell Phones Become Personal Tracking Devices?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2019239,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo
Your cell phone is telling your secrets
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cell-phone-telling-secrets-040137177.html
Humans 'will be implanted with microchips'
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/735519/humans-will-be-implanted-with-microchips
U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students
http://www.naturalnews.com/023445.html
Texas school can force teenagers to wear locator chip: judge
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-school-force-teenager-wear-locator-chip-judge-021126100.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-usa-schools-privacy-idUSBRE90803J20130109
Judge: School can move girl in ID-tracking case
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-school-move-girl-id-tracking-case-224301429.html
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/judge-school-can-move-girl-id-tracking-case
All Airport Employees To Have Microchip Implants?
http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/rfid_all_airport_employees_to_have_microchip_implants.htm
Hospitals tagging babies with electronic chips
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59690
Tracking Children
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091004/ap_on_hi_te/us_kidnapped_girl_tracking_children
ACT to offer tracking of student performance from kindergarten on
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12545565-act-to-offer-tracking-of-student-performance-from-kindergarten-on
New car purchases starting in June will have a mandatory black box installed
http://www.examiner.com/finance-examiner-in-national/new-car-purchases-starting-june-will-have-a-mandatory-black-box-installed
The Biometric Cataloging of Americans at Home
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8312
Police Swabbing Mouths During Traffic Stops In Serial Killer Hunt
http://www.local6.com/news/15232197/detail.html
(Source)
U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html
Attorney General Secretly Granted Gov. Ability to Develop and Store Dossiers on Innocent Americans
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/gov-dossiers-on-us-citizens/
The Surveillance State Grows Another Tentacle
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/12/surveillance-state-grows-another-tentacle
DNA collection bill wins approval
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-dna0407,0,5838470.story
Clinton NSA Eavesdropped on U.S. Calls
"During the 1990's under President Clinton, the National Security Agency monitored
millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries
under a super secret program code-named Echelon. ... ...the NSA had been monitoring
private domestic telephone conversations on a much larger scale throughout the 1990s -
all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks. ..."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/18/221452.shtml
Bush order allows domestic spying
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/politics/15cnd-program.html
Bush order allows domestic spying
(Saturn-Chronos-"Father Time": Image source)
Obama has a "Plan For Curbing Gun Violence" and it makes mention of an alliance (of sorts) between government investigative types and medical professionals (Sources: 1, 2, & 3). The plan prompts careful readers to raise a number of questions, among them questions as to the extent of the role envisioned for doctors.
Doctors and other mental health professionals play an important role in protecting the safety of their patients and the broader community by reporting direct and credible threats of violence to the authorities. But there is public confusion about whether federal law prohibits such reports about threats of violence. The Department of Health and Human Services is issuing a letter to health care providers clarifying that no federal law prohibits these reports in any way. ... Doctors and other health care providers also need to be able to ask about firearms in their patients’ homes and safe storage of those firearms, especially if their patients show signs of certain mental illnesses or if they have a young child or mentally ill family member at home. Some have incorrectly claimed that language in the Affordable Care Act prohibits doctors from asking their patients about guns and gun safety. (Source: "Now is the Time," p. 9, emphasis added.)Several commentators have expressed concern. See, for example, here, here, and here. Others (see here) are ridiculing the worries as literally incredible. Antecedently, I am a bit wary of media "analyses" (for example, here).
So, in the interest of adjudicating between the (polar extremes of) contrary opinions, I offer the following as a bit of historical context.
***
"The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents
and taught to spy on them and report their deviations.
The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police.
It was a device by means of which everyone could be
surrounded night and day by informers who knew him intimately."
~ George Orwell, 1984
(Source)
Doctors and teachers to act as 'informers' to target violent offenders BEFORE they strike under controversial new 'Minority Report' plans
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=515688&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490
Firefighters asked to report people who express discontent with the government
http://rawstory.com//printstory.php?story=8415
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=515688&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490
Firefighters asked to report people who express discontent with the government
http://rawstory.com//printstory.php?story=8415
Business spies for FBI eyes
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2954.shtml
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2954.shtml
Beauty salon workers recruited as informants
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071223/ap_on_re_us/salons_vs_abuse
Spy Grid Part Of Consumer Technology
http://www.roguegovernment.com/news.php?id=8823
How Bankers Spy on You
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704865104575588803958385376.html?mod=WSJ_hp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsFifth
What Retailers Know About Us
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/110190/what-retailers-know-about-us?mod=bb-budgeting
Areva Adopts UWB-Location Tracking for Personnel Safety
http://www.rfidproductnews.com/reader/109/articles/index.php#msg4
Vast F.D.A. Effort Tracked E-Mails of Its Scientists
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/us/fda-surveillance-of-scientists-spread-to-outside-critics.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
"Telescreens are featured in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. They are television and security camera-like devices used by the ruling Party in Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telescreen
How They're Watching You (Slideshow)
http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/21/privacy-surveillance-technology-oped-cx_res_1126privacy_slide_2.html
CCTV boom has failed to slash crime, say police
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/06/ukcrime1
CCTV doesn't keep us safe, yet the cameras are everywhere
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/26/politics.ukcrime
Chicago links school cameras to 911 center
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/northwest/chi-daley-cameras-07mar07,1,2664278.story
US doles out millions for street cameras
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/08/12/us_doles_out_millions_for_street_cameras/
School Spies on Students at Home via Webcam
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/ap_onYes, They're Watching Every Movehttp://www.courant.com/news/local/columnists/hc-rgreen0122.artjan22,0,6653886.column?coll=hc_home_xpromo _hi_te/us_laptops_spying_on_students/print
Talking Camera Tackles City Crime: Baltimore's New Surveillance Cameras Will Scold Wrong-Doers
AP / CBS News | Nov. 17, 2005
BALTIMORE - The city's newest breed of surveillance camera will do more than keep an eye on vandals, litterbugs and other miscreants. The cameras will also give the crooks a talking-to. Baltimore's Board of Estimates has approved five talking cameras - armed with motion detectors, a bright flash and a recorded warning, as part of an effort to curb quality-of-life crimes, especially illegal dumping. When the solar-powered cameras detect motion, they will issue a scolding: "Stop. This is a restricted area. It is illegal to dump trash or spray graffiti here. We have just taken your photograph. We will use this photograph to prosecute you. Leave the area now." ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/17/tech/main1054526.shtml
Speed enforcement cameras
http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2009/06/24/madison/special_feature/doc4a422f098ce2d842549467.txt
New security camera can 'see' through clothes
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/16/camera.england/index.html
Scanners that see through clothing installed in US airports
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080610/ts_alt_afp/ustransportaviationsecurity
Lambert scanners pit security vs. privacy
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_bb009fc1-a12c-5de9-9d9b-f40e58461492.html
Surveillance Cameras Win Broad Support
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=3422372&page=2
New York to fight terrorism with more street-corner cameras
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1006/p02s10-usgn.html
Cleveland increasing surveillance cameras on trains, buses
http://www.wtte28.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.oh/3ed6fff3-www.wtte28.com.shtml
West Virginia: Bill Turns Traffic Cameras into Spy Cameras
http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/22/2218.asp
Dallas To Increase Number Of Surveillance Cameras
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/17482352/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=news
DC's Video Surveillance System
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042502746_pf.html
No [evidence] airport security makes flying safer:study
Maggie Fox | Eric Walsh, Ed. | Thu Dec 20 | Reuters
WASHINGTON - Airport security lines can annoy passengers, but there is no
evidence that they make flying any safer...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071221/us_nm/security_airports_dc
Amtrak riders to see more cops, face random bag searches
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/02/18/2008-02-18_amtrak_riders_to_see_more_cops_face_rand.html
Have Cell Phones Become Personal Tracking Devices?
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2019239,00.html?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo
Your cell phone is telling your secrets
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cell-phone-telling-secrets-040137177.html
Humans 'will be implanted with microchips'
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/735519/humans-will-be-implanted-with-microchips
U.S. School District to Begin Microchipping Students
http://www.naturalnews.com/023445.html
Texas school can force teenagers to wear locator chip: judge
http://news.yahoo.com/texas-school-force-teenager-wear-locator-chip-judge-021126100.html
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-usa-schools-privacy-idUSBRE90803J20130109
Judge: School can move girl in ID-tracking case
http://news.yahoo.com/judge-school-move-girl-id-tracking-case-224301429.html
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/judge-school-can-move-girl-id-tracking-case
All Airport Employees To Have Microchip Implants?
http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/rfid_all_airport_employees_to_have_microchip_implants.htm
Hospitals tagging babies with electronic chips
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59690
Tracking Children
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20091004/ap_on_hi_te/us_kidnapped_girl_tracking_children
ACT to offer tracking of student performance from kindergarten on
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/03/12545565-act-to-offer-tracking-of-student-performance-from-kindergarten-on
New car purchases starting in June will have a mandatory black box installed
http://www.examiner.com/finance-examiner-in-national/new-car-purchases-starting-june-will-have-a-mandatory-black-box-installed
The Biometric Cataloging of Americans at Home
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8312
Police Swabbing Mouths During Traffic Stops In Serial Killer Hunt
http://www.local6.com/news/15232197/detail.html
U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizen
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324478304578171623040640006.html
Attorney General Secretly Granted Gov. Ability to Develop and Store Dossiers on Innocent Americans
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/12/gov-dossiers-on-us-citizens/
The Surveillance State Grows Another Tentacle
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/12/surveillance-state-grows-another-tentacle
DNA collection bill wins approval
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/bal-dna0407,0,5838470.story
Clinton NSA Eavesdropped on U.S. Calls
"During the 1990's under President Clinton, the National Security Agency monitored
millions of private phone calls placed by U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries
under a super secret program code-named Echelon. ... ...the NSA had been monitoring
private domestic telephone conversations on a much larger scale throughout the 1990s -
all of it done without a court order, let alone a catalyst like the 9/11 attacks. ..."
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/12/18/221452.shtml
Bush order allows domestic spying
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/15/politics/15cnd-program.html
Bush order allows domestic spying
"Months after the Sept. 11 attacks, President Bush secretlyauthorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials. Under a presidential order signed in 2002, the intelligence agency has monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people inside the United States without warrants over the past three years..."
(JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU, New York Times, December 15, 2005)
Bush admits telecoms spied
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Oops_White_House_spokesman_admits_telecoms_0212.html
Bush orders NSA to snoop on US agencies
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/27/bush_nsa_internal/
Bush surveillance program was massive
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_go_co/us_domestic_surveillance/print
Dems muscle through surveillance bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorist_surveillance
Senate Considers Adding Universal Wiretapping Amendments to Telecom Act
http://www.infowars.com/?p=1587
Senate Passes Bill to Expand Government’s Spying Powers
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/washington/12cnd-fisa.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
House passes new surveillance law
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_go_co/terrorist_surveillance
Centers Tap Into Personal Databases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040103049_pf.html
Echelon spy network revealed:
Listening in to your phone calls and reading your emails
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/503224.stm
Britain, US in talks on international criminal database: police
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/pl_afp/usbritainaustraliacanadanewzealandpolicecrime
CIA plans massive expansion of spying on Americans
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_8753.shtml
FBI Keeps Watch on Activists
Antiwar, other groups are monitored to curb violence, not because of ideology, agency says.
DENVER - The FBI, while waging a highly publicized war against terrorism, has spent
resources gathering information on antiwar and environmental protesters and on
activists who feed vegetarian meals to the homeless, the agency's internal memos show. ...
(Nicholas Riccardi, LA Times, March 28 2006)
(Source)
ACLU Says FBI Spying on Religious, Protest Groups
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday accused the FBI and local
police of spying on political and faith-based groups and formally asked the government
for information about such FBI surveillance. ...
(JAMES RISEN and ERIC LICHTBLAU, New York Times, December 15, 2005)
Bush admits telecoms spied
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Oops_White_House_spokesman_admits_telecoms_0212.html
Bush orders NSA to snoop on US agencies
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/27/bush_nsa_internal/
Bush surveillance program was massive
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_go_co/us_domestic_surveillance/print
Dems muscle through surveillance bill
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071010/ap_on_go_pr_wh/terrorist_surveillance
Senate Considers Adding Universal Wiretapping Amendments to Telecom Act
http://www.infowars.com/?p=1587
Senate Passes Bill to Expand Government’s Spying Powers
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/12/washington/12cnd-fisa.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
House passes new surveillance law
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080620/ap_on_go_co/terrorist_surveillance
Centers Tap Into Personal Databases
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/01/AR2008040103049_pf.html
Echelon spy network revealed:
Listening in to your phone calls and reading your emails
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/503224.stm
Britain, US in talks on international criminal database: police
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080115/pl_afp/usbritainaustraliacanadanewzealandpolicecrime
CIA plans massive expansion of spying on Americans
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/printer_8753.shtml
FBI Keeps Watch on Activists
Antiwar, other groups are monitored to curb violence, not because of ideology, agency says.
DENVER - The FBI, while waging a highly publicized war against terrorism, has spent
resources gathering information on antiwar and environmental protesters and on
activists who feed vegetarian meals to the homeless, the agency's internal memos show. ...
(Nicholas Riccardi, LA Times, March 28 2006)
ACLU Says FBI Spying on Religious, Protest Groups
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday accused the FBI and local
police of spying on political and faith-based groups and formally asked the government
for information about such FBI surveillance. ...
(Reuters, December 2, 2004)
FBI wants instant access to British identity data
http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,2241005,00.html
Pentagon closes controversial intelligence unit
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/_Pentagon_closes_controversial_intelligence_unit_0804.html
Pentagon will buy satellites to do more spying
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/spy_satellites
High-resolution satellite launched in California
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080907/ap_on_sc/satellite_launch
FBI's GPS tracking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_tracking_warrants
Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/whistleblower-f.html
Feds want to require visitors' fingerprints
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/border_security
NSA Found Improperly Spying on Americans
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/15/justice-dept-nsa-improperly-spied-americans/
NSA just one of many federal agencies spying on Americans
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7904.shtml
TSA wants more information
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-25686330
(Source)
TSA plan to gather more data protested
FBI wants instant access to British identity data
http://www.guardian.co.uk/humanrights/story/0,,2241005,00.html
Pentagon closes controversial intelligence unit
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/_Pentagon_closes_controversial_intelligence_unit_0804.html
Pentagon will buy satellites to do more spying
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080701/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/spy_satellites
High-resolution satellite launched in California
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080907/ap_on_sc/satellite_launch
FBI's GPS tracking
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110303/ap_on_re_us/us_gps_tracking_warrants
Whistle-Blower: Feds Have a Backdoor Into Wireless Carrier
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/whistleblower-f.html
Feds want to require visitors' fingerprints
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080422/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/border_security
NSA Found Improperly Spying on Americans
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/15/justice-dept-nsa-improperly-spied-americans/
NSA just one of many federal agencies spying on Americans
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7904.shtml
TSA wants more information
http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-25686330
TSA plan to gather more data protested
"...may be more likely to experience delays,
be subjected to additional screening (or) be denied transport..."
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-11-29-secure-flights_N.htm
Government ... to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/analysis-new-la.html
Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-near-you/
NASA: Secret shuttle launch (X-37B spy vehicle)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1211/Secret-shuttle-launch-US-military-s-X-37B-to-spy-on-Middle-East
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/atlas-5-rocket-launches-cape-canaveral/nTSTR/
(Source)
How Technology Can Help Trim Auto Insurance
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2007-11-29-secure-flights_N.htm
Government ... to Turn Internet and Phone Systems into Permanent Spying Architecture
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/analysis-new-la.html
Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/feb/7/coming-to-a-sky-near-you/
NASA: Secret shuttle launch (X-37B spy vehicle)
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1211/Secret-shuttle-launch-US-military-s-X-37B-to-spy-on-Middle-East
http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/atlas-5-rocket-launches-cape-canaveral/nTSTR/
How Technology Can Help Trim Auto Insurance
M.P. McQueen | provided by The Wall Street Journal | Saturday, June 28, 2008
"Drivers who participate in these plans have devices installed in their cars that, depending on the technology used, can track the number of miles driven, the speed at which cars are driven and even how often and how hard the brakes are used. By allowing their habits behind the wheel to be monitored, drivers get lower insurance rates -- or pay higher premiums if they're lead-footed road hogs."
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/105317/How-Technology-Can-Help-Trim-Auto-Insurance
High-tech gear disables car if borrower misses payment
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080331/tc_usatoday/hightechgeardisablescarifborrowermissespayment
Woman loses benefits over Facebook pics
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091122/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_facebook_insurance/print
Four states adopt 'no-smiles' policy for driver's licenses
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-25-licenses_N.htm
Wiretapping focus shifts to email, as firms move data overseas
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Wiretapping_focus_shifts_to_email_0307.html
AT&T and Other I.S.P.s May Be Getting Ready to Filter
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/att-and-other-isps-may-be-getting-ready-to-filter/index.html
RIAA chief calls for copyright filters on PCs: By deception or force if necessary
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/08/riaa_wants_filters_for_end_users/
Google Says Privacy Doesn't Exist, Get Used To Everyone Knowing Everything About You
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/07/google_says_pri.html;jsessionid=1WGWHXPQ2N2R0QSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN
Microsoft's Censor-Bot
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5006025.ece?Submitted=true
(Source)
Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102270_pf.html
Tax collectors now hitting social networks to track deadbeats
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/148083
Tennessee Woman Arrested for Facebook 'Poke'
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/tennessee-woman-arrested-facebook-poke/story?id=8807685
US drafting plan to allow government access to any email or Web search
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_drafting_plan_to_allow_government_0114.html
CIA is watching tweets, Facebook
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/cia-is-watching-tweets-facebook/2011/11/04/gIQAvyyllM_blog.html
Facebook: The New Look of Surveillance
"Drivers who participate in these plans have devices installed in their cars that, depending on the technology used, can track the number of miles driven, the speed at which cars are driven and even how often and how hard the brakes are used. By allowing their habits behind the wheel to be monitored, drivers get lower insurance rates -- or pay higher premiums if they're lead-footed road hogs."
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/105317/How-Technology-Can-Help-Trim-Auto-Insurance
High-tech gear disables car if borrower misses payment
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20080331/tc_usatoday/hightechgeardisablescarifborrowermissespayment
Woman loses benefits over Facebook pics
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091122/ap_on_re_ca/cn_canada_facebook_insurance/print
Four states adopt 'no-smiles' policy for driver's licenses
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-05-25-licenses_N.htm
Wiretapping focus shifts to email, as firms move data overseas
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Wiretapping_focus_shifts_to_email_0307.html
AT&T and Other I.S.P.s May Be Getting Ready to Filter
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/att-and-other-isps-may-be-getting-ready-to-filter/index.html
RIAA chief calls for copyright filters on PCs: By deception or force if necessary
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/08/riaa_wants_filters_for_end_users/
Google Says Privacy Doesn't Exist, Get Used To Everyone Knowing Everything About You
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/07/google_says_pri.html;jsessionid=1WGWHXPQ2N2R0QSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN
Microsoft's Censor-Bot
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5006025.ece?Submitted=true
Some Web Firms Say They Track Behavior Without Explicit Consent
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/11/AR2008081102270_pf.html
Tax collectors now hitting social networks to track deadbeats
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/148083
Tennessee Woman Arrested for Facebook 'Poke'
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AheadoftheCurve/tennessee-woman-arrested-facebook-poke/story?id=8807685
US drafting plan to allow government access to any email or Web search
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_drafting_plan_to_allow_government_0114.html
CIA is watching tweets, Facebook
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/cia-is-watching-tweets-facebook/2011/11/04/gIQAvyyllM_blog.html
Facebook: The New Look of Surveillance
http://www.alternet.org/story/72556/
Facebook founder called trusting users dumb f*cks
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/
Calls for police oversight of online networking
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/47022377.html?cmpid=15585797
Is Twitter a Criminal Accomplice?
http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/06/17/is-twitter-a-criminal-accomplice
The government is reading your tweets
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/09/opinion/obeidallah-social-media/index.html
NYPD Battles Twitter for Identity of User
http://news.yahoo.com/nypd-battles-twitter-identity-user-promising-violence-just-144157398--abc-news-topstories.html
U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/nations-spies-w.html
U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/exclusive-us-spies-buy-stake-in-twitter-blog-monitoring-firm/
Printer dots raise privacy concerns
Facebook founder called trusting users dumb f*cks
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/
Calls for police oversight of online networking
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/47022377.html?cmpid=15585797
Is Twitter a Criminal Accomplice?
http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/06/17/is-twitter-a-criminal-accomplice
The government is reading your tweets
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/09/opinion/obeidallah-social-media/index.html
NYPD Battles Twitter for Identity of User
http://news.yahoo.com/nypd-battles-twitter-identity-user-promising-violence-just-144157398--abc-news-topstories.html
U.S. Spies Want to Find Terrorists in World of Warcraft
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/nations-spies-w.html
U.S. Spies Buy Stake in Firm That Monitors Blogs, Tweets
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2009/10/exclusive-us-spies-buy-stake-in-twitter-blog-monitoring-firm/
Printer dots raise privacy concerns
Thomas Frank | USA TODAY
"More manufacturers are outfitting greater numbers of laser printers with technology that leaves microscopic yellow dots on each printed page to identify the printer's serial number — and ultimately, you, says the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading watchdogs of electronic privacy."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2008-07-13-printer_N.htm?se=yahoorefer
No such thing as "deleted" on the Internet
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/142366
Federal Agents Urged to 'Friend' People on Social Networks, Memo Reveals
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/10/13/government-spying-social-networks/?test=latestnews
Break the law and your new 'friend' may be the FBI
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100316/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_feds_on_facebook/print
FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
http://www.news.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
Remote activation of webcams
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10457737-238.html
"...a website that tracks users' online activities..."
http://news.yahoo.com/friend-md-man-held-shooting-plot-gentle-giant-154103620.html
###
"More manufacturers are outfitting greater numbers of laser printers with technology that leaves microscopic yellow dots on each printed page to identify the printer's serial number — and ultimately, you, says the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the leading watchdogs of electronic privacy."
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2008-07-13-printer_N.htm?se=yahoorefer
No such thing as "deleted" on the Internet
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/142366
Federal Agents Urged to 'Friend' People on Social Networks, Memo Reveals
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/10/13/government-spying-social-networks/?test=latestnews
Break the law and your new 'friend' may be the FBI
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100316/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_feds_on_facebook/print
FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
http://www.news.com/FBI-taps-cell-phone-mic-as-eavesdropping-tool/2100-1029_3-6140191.html
Remote activation of webcams
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10457737-238.html
"...a website that tracks users' online activities..."
http://news.yahoo.com/friend-md-man-held-shooting-plot-gentle-giant-154103620.html
Monday, November 19, 2012
Code Name: "Jericho"
***
Much is being made of the so-called Palestinian "rocket attacks" on the Israelis. The Huffington Post, for instance, writes that: "Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people..." (Source). The article goes on to quote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as stating: "No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation..." (Ibid.). Fox News describes the situation as one that forces "...Israel [to fend] off relentless rocket attacks from Gaza..." (Source). The rhetoric is fairly typical.
The "Israeli Defense Force" (IDF) has widely disseminated a slickly produced cartoon purporting to depict the effective range of the "Fajr 5 - The Hamas Rocket that Threatens Millions of Israelis". This animated short film can be viewed on numerous websites (see, e.g., here and here). Along with the video, the IDF also updated its map (see above) representing the maximum range potentials for the various Palestinian rockets.
Absent from such pictures of the Palestinian "threat" is any commensurate portrayal of Israeli capabilities. For example (and most obviously), while the IDF "Rocket Threat" diagram shows how deeply into Israel Palestinian rockets can penetrate, the question is never raised as to how far into Gaza Israeli missiles can reach. Of course, the reason for this is that the question is ridiculous. The Israelis can strike any point in Gaza (or any of the Occupied Territories) effortlessly and at will. The effective range of Israeli ballistic missiles is counted in hundreds and thousands of kilometers, as opposed to the tens of kilometers applicable to Palestinian equipment.* Using an online map, a child's compass, and a few crayons, I have attempted to make salient the contrasting ranges (see above).
Range is not the only neglected contrast, however. A cursory Google search will quickly reveal several images that show the physical dimensions of the Palestinian rockets. The "Grad" rocket stands above the little cartoon person and is listed as having a diameter of "122 mm".
As a first pass, we can compare the "Grad" against the Aerotech "Mirage" model rocket. The "Mirage's" length and diameter are given as "87" (221cm)" and "2.6" (6.7cm)", respectively. Hence, the "Mirage" is in the vicinity of the "Grad" in terms of length, but with about half the girth. (Additionally, the "Mirage," being after all a model rocket, is much lighter.)
As a second pass, we should now compare the entire Hamas rocket arsenal against the Israeli "Jericho" ("Shavit"). (The "Jericho"/"Shavit" arguably bear a similar relationship to one another as did the U.S. "Atlas," "Saturn," and "Titan" rockets. One military weapon history forum poster commented that "Saturn could have served as an ICBM ... just as Atlas and Titan both served as ICBMs and as space-launch rockets.") Besides a size disparity between Palestinian and Israeli rockets that is too obvious to warrant elaboration, it is also worth mentioning that the "Jericho-2 reportedly uses terminal guidance similar to the radar guidance in the American Pershing-2 missile, which would increase the missile's accuracy" (Source). By contrast, the "Qassam...rocket lacks a guidance system and is very inaccurate" (Source) and even the much ballyhooed "Fajr 5...rockets lack the precision of a guided missile. 'Fajr 5 is a rocket rather than a missile. It is not guided as such. That is how we differentiate it,' said Gareth Jennings, managing editor of IHS Jane's Missiles and Rockets" (Source). Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is reported as stating that: "None of the [Palestinian] rockets has any form of terminal guidance and lack accuracy" (Ibid.)
I hasten to add that this lack of guidance for Palestinian rockets does not necessarily mean that those rockets pose no danger whatsoever. For instance, it is quite true that a person could be badly injured or killed if directly impacted by a "Fajr 5." Even the comparatively miniscule "Qassam" rocket could kill a person by blunt force trauma if that rocket were, for example, to strike a person on the head as it fell to the ground. However, for the record, it is certainly worth noting that the Israeli missile capabilities are light years ahead of Palestinian efforts which are very plausibly construed as a sort of "guerilla" model rocketry.
If this appraisal seems unfair, I submit that one ought to examine the available evidence. (Admittedly, this is difficult because the Israelis are allowed both to conduct their weapons developments in virtual secrecy and, ostensibly when it suits their purposes, to prohibit reporters from entering Occupied zones.) One useful place to start such an investigation might be to draw a contrast of some of the relevant damage capabilities.
PBS displayed an image of Israelis taking "cover" during an imminent or occurring "rocket attack." I note both the semi-hunkered posture of the individual on small hill as well as the children sort of "duck-and-covering" at the hill's foot and I wonder: How would Palestinians fare against Israeli weapons with these tactics? A glance at the rubble in the image one above seems to give the obvious answer: Not well.
It may also be instructive to compare launch apparatuses. Many of the Palestinian rockets are manually launched. Larger rockets plausibly are set off from stationary tripod or mobile-mounted units.
Israeli launch equipment is military grade and much more sophisticated. As of this writing, an example "Jericho"/"Shavit" launch can be viewed, here. And, of course, this barely scratches the surface of the Israel's weapons capabilities - capabilities that include functional nuclear warheads. (See, e.g., here, here, here, and here.)
Yet another apparently relevant metric is the pertinent "allotments" for military expenditures. Something was said, above (and parenthetically), about the price tag for the Israeli "Iron Dome" anti-rocket missile system. In general, CIA's publication titled "The World Factbook" gives Israel's "Military expenditures" as "7.3% of GDP (2006)" (Source). Presently (that is, the most up-to-date number for 2011), Google, via the World Bank, gives "Israel's GDP" as "$242.93 Billion". Wikipedia gives it (again, currently) as between "$235.446 billion" and "$245.266 billion" (although, technically, the difference is accounted for in terms of the difference between "nominal" and "purchasing power parity" measures. Cf. Here.) The World Bank number for 2006 is roughly $145.48 Billion. In 2006, in-house Israeli military spending would have totaled around $10.6 Billion dollars. Holding the 7.3% rate fixed, current spending would be on the order of $17.73 Billion. Wikipedia gives the current number as $15.2 Billion. Neither "Palestine" nor "Occupied Territories" (including "Gaza" and "West Bank") appear to be listed by Wikipedia. Under "Gaza Strip" and "West Bank," the CIA's Factbook has "NA" for the category of "Military expenditures" (Sources: 1 & 2). In fact, "International aid of at least $1.14 billion" was required in the Occupied Territories of "West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004" in order to "[prevent] the complete collapse of the economy..." (Source).
In this brief overview I have tried to cast a comparison and contrast in terms of dollars and equipment. Other, more detailed studies have also included what I have neglected, namely, the more important category of the loss of human life. (For an introduction, see: here, here, here, here, here, and here.) But by virtually any reasonable standard, the Palestinians are out-gunned, out-spent, and without any sustained and meaningful support. And they live, after all, in Occupied Territories. As the Fox News article quoted in the introductory paragraph an anonymous poster, "What is happening in Palestine is oppression...They have no navy, no army, or air force. There is no 'war' in Gaza" (Source). As Michael Hoffman once put it (paraphrase), the heavy-handed military Israeli "retaliation" to Palestinian violence (which amounts, really, to collective punishment) is about as justified as would be a President-ordered U.S. military strike of Compton and Watts in response to gang violence. As was partially illustrated in the case of Apartheid South Africa, the Geneva Conventions do not foreclose on the possibility, justly, of "...peoples...fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination..." (Source).
* "Jericho is a general designation given to the Israeli ballistic missiles. ... Jericho I was first publicly identified as an operational short-range ballistic missile system in late 1971. It was 13.4 metres (44 ft) long, 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in) in diameter, weighing 6.5 tonnes (14,000 lb). It had a range of 500 km (310 mi) and a CEP of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and it could carry a payload estimated at 400 kilograms (880 lb). It was intended to carry a nuclear warhead. ... However, due to Israel's ambiguity over its nuclear weapons program, the missile is classified as a ballistic missile. ... The Jericho II is 14.0 m long and 1.56 m wide, with a reported launch weight of 26,000 kg (although an alternative launch weight of 21,935 kg has been suggested). It has a 1,000 kg payload, capable of carrying a considerable amount of high explosives or a 1 MT yield nuclear warhead. ... The Jericho II forms the basis of the three-stage, 23 ton Shavit NEXT satellite launcher, first launched in 1988 from Palmachim. From the performance of Shavit it has been estimated that as a ballistic missile it has a maximum range of about 7,800 km with a 500 kg payload. ... It is estimated that the Jericho III is an ICBM which entered service in 2008. The Jericho III is believed to have a three-stage solid propellant and a payload of 1,000 to 1,300 kg. It is possible for the missile to be equipped with a single 750 kg nuclear warhead or two or three low yield MIRV warheads. It has an estimated launch weight of 30,000 kg and a length of 15.5 m with a width of 1.56 m. It may be similar to an upgraded and re-designed Shavit space launch vehicle, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. It probably has longer first and second-stage motors. It is estimated that it has a range of 4,800 to 11,500 km [7] (2,982 to 7,180 miles)." (Source)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the name "Jericho":
"Jericho ... is a Palestinian city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank. ... The city was occupied by Jordan from 1948 to 1967, and has been held under Israeli occupation since 1967; administrative control was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1994..." (Source).
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor claims that "Jericho (Yeriho)...[is t]he lowest (258 m below sea-level) and the oldest town on earth...Jericho opens many windows on the past..." (The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide [Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998], p. 288). Interestingly, the layout of Jericho apparently resembles a "theatre" (see image, above; from: Supra., p. 290).
"The Mount of Temptation is said to be the hill in the Judean Desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:8). ... It is generally identified with Mount Quarantania, a mountain approximately 366 m (1 200 feet) high, located about 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of the West Bank town of Jericho. According to the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia, Quarantania is 'a limestone peak on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho'. It is mentioned in a poem of the Temptation event by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. See Christus: A Mystery (I:1:2 Mount Quarantania). Atop the mount is the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation or 'Qarantal'. Above Qarantal, on top of the cliff, is a wall, that sits on the ruins of the Hasmonean (later Herodian) fortress, Dok – Dagon" (Source).
In Talmudic Judaism, "Jericho" is a paradigmatic Ir Ha-Niddahat, that is, a "'subverted' or "apostate' city" ("...an extreme example of the Herem..."); "The destruction of Jericho and the ban against its rebuilding (Josh. 6:26) were taken as the model" (L.I.R., "Ir Ha-Niddahat," Encyclopaedia Judaica [Jerusalem: Keter, 1972], Vol. 8, p. 1470). (For more information, see: Michael Hoffman, Judaism Discovered.)
"Herem" has a dual-meaning. On the one hand, it could designate something that "is proscribed because it is an abomination to God," while on the other hand it could pick out something that is actually "consecrated to Him" (H.H.C., "Herem," Encyclopaedia Judaica, op. cit., p. 343). It derives from an Aramaic word meaning at once "be forbidden, become sacred" and having associations with both with "holy precinct[s]" (haram) and "women's quarters" (harim, ibid.; cf.: harem). In any case, an "[e]xceptionally severe" example of a herem was the one pertaining to Jericho: "animals as well as human beings were put to the sword, the city was burned down, its spoliation banned, and its silver, gold, copper, and iron vessels dedicated to the sanctuary treasury (Josh. 6:17ff.)" (Ibid).
In the 2008 movie, Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) tests his new "Jericho missile" in Afghanistan only to discover later that a key Stark Industries executive and friend, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is in league with "terrorists" calling themselves the "Ten Rings" (see here).
Finally, "Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States" (Source; cf. here).
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"And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be
the man before the LORD, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho:
he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his
youngest son shall he set up the gates of it." ~ Joshua 6:26 (KJV)
Much is being made of the so-called Palestinian "rocket attacks" on the Israelis. The Huffington Post, for instance, writes that: "Palestinian militants barraged Israel with nearly 150 rockets on Thursday, killing three people..." (Source). The article goes on to quote Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as stating: "No government would tolerate a situation where nearly a fifth of its people live under a constant barrage of rockets and missile fire, and Israel will not tolerate this situation..." (Ibid.). Fox News describes the situation as one that forces "...Israel [to fend] off relentless rocket attacks from Gaza..." (Source). The rhetoric is fairly typical.
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The "Israeli Defense Force" (IDF) has widely disseminated a slickly produced cartoon purporting to depict the effective range of the "Fajr 5 - The Hamas Rocket that Threatens Millions of Israelis". This animated short film can be viewed on numerous websites (see, e.g., here and here). Along with the video, the IDF also updated its map (see above) representing the maximum range potentials for the various Palestinian rockets.
(Estimated ranges for Israel's "Jericho" missiles (1 &2); Edited image; Original map source)
Absent from such pictures of the Palestinian "threat" is any commensurate portrayal of Israeli capabilities. For example (and most obviously), while the IDF "Rocket Threat" diagram shows how deeply into Israel Palestinian rockets can penetrate, the question is never raised as to how far into Gaza Israeli missiles can reach. Of course, the reason for this is that the question is ridiculous. The Israelis can strike any point in Gaza (or any of the Occupied Territories) effortlessly and at will. The effective range of Israeli ballistic missiles is counted in hundreds and thousands of kilometers, as opposed to the tens of kilometers applicable to Palestinian equipment.* Using an online map, a child's compass, and a few crayons, I have attempted to make salient the contrasting ranges (see above).
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Range is not the only neglected contrast, however. A cursory Google search will quickly reveal several images that show the physical dimensions of the Palestinian rockets. The "Grad" rocket stands above the little cartoon person and is listed as having a diameter of "122 mm".
(Source)
As a first pass, we can compare the "Grad" against the Aerotech "Mirage" model rocket. The "Mirage's" length and diameter are given as "87" (221cm)" and "2.6" (6.7cm)", respectively. Hence, the "Mirage" is in the vicinity of the "Grad" in terms of length, but with about half the girth. (Additionally, the "Mirage," being after all a model rocket, is much lighter.)
(Note that "...the Jericho-2 is a Shavit minus the upper stage, which is replaced by a warhead" [Source: "Israel: How Far Can Its Missiles Fly?" The Risk Report, 1 (June 1995) 5, qtd. at: "Israel," The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) website, URL]; Image source)
As a second pass, we should now compare the entire Hamas rocket arsenal against the Israeli "Jericho" ("Shavit"). (The "Jericho"/"Shavit" arguably bear a similar relationship to one another as did the U.S. "Atlas," "Saturn," and "Titan" rockets. One military weapon history forum poster commented that "Saturn could have served as an ICBM ... just as Atlas and Titan both served as ICBMs and as space-launch rockets.") Besides a size disparity between Palestinian and Israeli rockets that is too obvious to warrant elaboration, it is also worth mentioning that the "Jericho-2 reportedly uses terminal guidance similar to the radar guidance in the American Pershing-2 missile, which would increase the missile's accuracy" (Source). By contrast, the "Qassam...rocket lacks a guidance system and is very inaccurate" (Source) and even the much ballyhooed "Fajr 5...rockets lack the precision of a guided missile. 'Fajr 5 is a rocket rather than a missile. It is not guided as such. That is how we differentiate it,' said Gareth Jennings, managing editor of IHS Jane's Missiles and Rockets" (Source). Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) is reported as stating that: "None of the [Palestinian] rockets has any form of terminal guidance and lack accuracy" (Ibid.)
("Qassam" after impact; Source)
(Some of the rockets that have been recovered in Israel; Source)
I hasten to add that this lack of guidance for Palestinian rockets does not necessarily mean that those rockets pose no danger whatsoever. For instance, it is quite true that a person could be badly injured or killed if directly impacted by a "Fajr 5." Even the comparatively miniscule "Qassam" rocket could kill a person by blunt force trauma if that rocket were, for example, to strike a person on the head as it fell to the ground. However, for the record, it is certainly worth noting that the Israeli missile capabilities are light years ahead of Palestinian efforts which are very plausibly construed as a sort of "guerilla" model rocketry.
(Impact crater of a "Qassam" rocket. Note the cracked asphalt and black discoloration on the street. Image source)
(Impact crater of an unspecified Israeli rocket. Note that the damage is much more extensive and that, post-impact, the culprit rocket is unavailable for inspection. Image source)
(Structural damage from a Palestinian rocket: "An Israeli police officer stands inside a damaged house after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza Strip landed in Ashkelon, southern Israel, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012." Sources: 1 & 2)
(Structural damage from an Israeli missile: "Palestinians walk through the debris after an Israeli air strike on building in Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012." Sources: 1 & 2)
If this appraisal seems unfair, I submit that one ought to examine the available evidence. (Admittedly, this is difficult because the Israelis are allowed both to conduct their weapons developments in virtual secrecy and, ostensibly when it suits their purposes, to prohibit reporters from entering Occupied zones.) One useful place to start such an investigation might be to draw a contrast of some of the relevant damage capabilities.
(Source)
PBS displayed an image of Israelis taking "cover" during an imminent or occurring "rocket attack." I note both the semi-hunkered posture of the individual on small hill as well as the children sort of "duck-and-covering" at the hill's foot and I wonder: How would Palestinians fare against Israeli weapons with these tactics? A glance at the rubble in the image one above seems to give the obvious answer: Not well.
(The smallest, "Qassam"-style, rockets are likely shoulder launched; Image source)
(Stationary launchers; Image source)
(It seems reasonable to assume that the larger Palestinian "Grad" and "Fajr 5" rockets are launched something like the rocket shown here. Image source)
It may also be instructive to compare launch apparatuses. Many of the Palestinian rockets are manually launched. Larger rockets plausibly are set off from stationary tripod or mobile-mounted units.
("Iron Dome": "Israeli defense forces say their anti-rocket interceptor system has taken down most of the rockets fired at the country." Source Of course, the Israelis have better equipment in part because they possess two separate-but-related advantages over the Palestinians: U.S. support and money. To take just one example: "[E]ach interceptor missile costs $40,000 to $50,000...About three years ago, Israel received $204 million from the United States to help pay for the country’s third through sixth mobile units. In February, Israel again approached the Obama administration for urgent support for four more batteries. They received $70 million immediately, and an additional $610 million has been pledged over the next three years, according to a senior official in Israel’s missile defense organization." Source)
("Arrow" - one of many "joint U.S.-Israel Arrow Weapon System[s]": "The Arrow program is a joint venture by the Missile Defense Agency and the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The Arrow system is intended to provide Israel a contingency missile defense capability and provide the U.S. technical benefits." Sources: 1 & 2)
Israeli launch equipment is military grade and much more sophisticated. As of this writing, an example "Jericho"/"Shavit" launch can be viewed, here. And, of course, this barely scratches the surface of the Israel's weapons capabilities - capabilities that include functional nuclear warheads. (See, e.g., here, here, here, and here.)
(Estimated military expenditures: Israel versus Palestine. Graph created by me, here.)
Yet another apparently relevant metric is the pertinent "allotments" for military expenditures. Something was said, above (and parenthetically), about the price tag for the Israeli "Iron Dome" anti-rocket missile system. In general, CIA's publication titled "The World Factbook" gives Israel's "Military expenditures" as "7.3% of GDP (2006)" (Source). Presently (that is, the most up-to-date number for 2011), Google, via the World Bank, gives "Israel's GDP" as "$242.93 Billion". Wikipedia gives it (again, currently) as between "$235.446 billion" and "$245.266 billion" (although, technically, the difference is accounted for in terms of the difference between "nominal" and "purchasing power parity" measures. Cf. Here.) The World Bank number for 2006 is roughly $145.48 Billion. In 2006, in-house Israeli military spending would have totaled around $10.6 Billion dollars. Holding the 7.3% rate fixed, current spending would be on the order of $17.73 Billion. Wikipedia gives the current number as $15.2 Billion. Neither "Palestine" nor "Occupied Territories" (including "Gaza" and "West Bank") appear to be listed by Wikipedia. Under "Gaza Strip" and "West Bank," the CIA's Factbook has "NA" for the category of "Military expenditures" (Sources: 1 & 2). In fact, "International aid of at least $1.14 billion" was required in the Occupied Territories of "West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2004" in order to "[prevent] the complete collapse of the economy..." (Source).
(Israel has even repeatedly hindered humanitarian aid from reaching the Occupied Territories; cf. here and, more recently, here. Image source.)
In this brief overview I have tried to cast a comparison and contrast in terms of dollars and equipment. Other, more detailed studies have also included what I have neglected, namely, the more important category of the loss of human life. (For an introduction, see: here, here, here, here, here, and here.) But by virtually any reasonable standard, the Palestinians are out-gunned, out-spent, and without any sustained and meaningful support. And they live, after all, in Occupied Territories. As the Fox News article quoted in the introductory paragraph an anonymous poster, "What is happening in Palestine is oppression...They have no navy, no army, or air force. There is no 'war' in Gaza" (Source). As Michael Hoffman once put it (paraphrase), the heavy-handed military Israeli "retaliation" to Palestinian violence (which amounts, really, to collective punishment) is about as justified as would be a President-ordered U.S. military strike of Compton and Watts in response to gang violence. As was partially illustrated in the case of Apartheid South Africa, the Geneva Conventions do not foreclose on the possibility, justly, of "...peoples...fighting against colonial domination and alien occupation and against racist regimes in the exercise of their right of self-determination..." (Source).
* "Jericho is a general designation given to the Israeli ballistic missiles. ... Jericho I was first publicly identified as an operational short-range ballistic missile system in late 1971. It was 13.4 metres (44 ft) long, 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in) in diameter, weighing 6.5 tonnes (14,000 lb). It had a range of 500 km (310 mi) and a CEP of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and it could carry a payload estimated at 400 kilograms (880 lb). It was intended to carry a nuclear warhead. ... However, due to Israel's ambiguity over its nuclear weapons program, the missile is classified as a ballistic missile. ... The Jericho II is 14.0 m long and 1.56 m wide, with a reported launch weight of 26,000 kg (although an alternative launch weight of 21,935 kg has been suggested). It has a 1,000 kg payload, capable of carrying a considerable amount of high explosives or a 1 MT yield nuclear warhead. ... The Jericho II forms the basis of the three-stage, 23 ton Shavit NEXT satellite launcher, first launched in 1988 from Palmachim. From the performance of Shavit it has been estimated that as a ballistic missile it has a maximum range of about 7,800 km with a 500 kg payload. ... It is estimated that the Jericho III is an ICBM which entered service in 2008. The Jericho III is believed to have a three-stage solid propellant and a payload of 1,000 to 1,300 kg. It is possible for the missile to be equipped with a single 750 kg nuclear warhead or two or three low yield MIRV warheads. It has an estimated launch weight of 30,000 kg and a length of 15.5 m with a width of 1.56 m. It may be similar to an upgraded and re-designed Shavit space launch vehicle, produced by Israel Aerospace Industries. It probably has longer first and second-stage motors. It is estimated that it has a range of 4,800 to 11,500 km [7] (2,982 to 7,180 miles)." (Source)
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On the name "Jericho":
(Source)
"Jericho ... is a Palestinian city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank. ... The city was occupied by Jordan from 1948 to 1967, and has been held under Israeli occupation since 1967; administrative control was handed over to the Palestinian Authority in 1994..." (Source).
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor claims that "Jericho (Yeriho)...[is t]he lowest (258 m below sea-level) and the oldest town on earth...Jericho opens many windows on the past..." (The Holy Land: An Oxford Archaeological Guide [Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998], p. 288). Interestingly, the layout of Jericho apparently resembles a "theatre" (see image, above; from: Supra., p. 290).
(The "Mount of Temptation," Jericho; image source)
"The Mount of Temptation is said to be the hill in the Judean Desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:8). ... It is generally identified with Mount Quarantania, a mountain approximately 366 m (1 200 feet) high, located about 11 km (6.8 mi) north-west of the West Bank town of Jericho. According to the public domain Catholic Encyclopedia, Quarantania is 'a limestone peak on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho'. It is mentioned in a poem of the Temptation event by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. See Christus: A Mystery (I:1:2 Mount Quarantania). Atop the mount is the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Temptation or 'Qarantal'. Above Qarantal, on top of the cliff, is a wall, that sits on the ruins of the Hasmonean (later Herodian) fortress, Dok – Dagon" (Source).
(Source)
In Talmudic Judaism, "Jericho" is a paradigmatic Ir Ha-Niddahat, that is, a "'subverted' or "apostate' city" ("...an extreme example of the Herem..."); "The destruction of Jericho and the ban against its rebuilding (Josh. 6:26) were taken as the model" (L.I.R., "Ir Ha-Niddahat," Encyclopaedia Judaica [Jerusalem: Keter, 1972], Vol. 8, p. 1470). (For more information, see: Michael Hoffman, Judaism Discovered.)
"Herem" has a dual-meaning. On the one hand, it could designate something that "is proscribed because it is an abomination to God," while on the other hand it could pick out something that is actually "consecrated to Him" (H.H.C., "Herem," Encyclopaedia Judaica, op. cit., p. 343). It derives from an Aramaic word meaning at once "be forbidden, become sacred" and having associations with both with "holy precinct[s]" (haram) and "women's quarters" (harim, ibid.; cf.: harem). In any case, an "[e]xceptionally severe" example of a herem was the one pertaining to Jericho: "animals as well as human beings were put to the sword, the city was burned down, its spoliation banned, and its silver, gold, copper, and iron vessels dedicated to the sanctuary treasury (Josh. 6:17ff.)" (Ibid).
(Source)
In the 2008 movie, Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) tests his new "Jericho missile" in Afghanistan only to discover later that a key Stark Industries executive and friend, Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is in league with "terrorists" calling themselves the "Ten Rings" (see here).
(Source)
Finally, "Jericho is an American action/drama series that centers on the residents of the fictional town of Jericho, Kansas, in the aftermath of nuclear attacks on 23 major cities in the contiguous United States" (Source; cf. here).
(Source)
Essentially, then, the Israelis seem to have named a keystone of their missile arsenal after an ancient Palestinian town that, according to Judaism, can be wiped out with impunity since it is under a "curse." And yet, few people are remarking on this. I suppose no one would really notice if Hamas were firing off rockets with names like "Tel Aviv," "Jerusalem," or "Brooklyn."
(Source)
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