TODAY'S TIPPING POINTS

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The Day Freedom Ends 12-02-14 International Man

Is The Day Coming Where This Looks Like A Typical City Police Force?

Casey Research's Jeff Thomas suggests that Americans should watch out for another 9/11 type of disaster event that helps the government to "justify" bringing more restrictions on people's freedom. It could include measures such as, but not limited to:

• No travel to other countries without written permission
• Confiscation of passports of all those who “may” have "enemy" contacts
• Freezing or confiscation of assets
• Dramatic expansion of police control
• Regular televised programs for citizens to report on the “suspicious” behavior of any other person

US boosts local policing efforts 12-02-14 FT $263m funding programme comes in aftermath of unrest in Ferguson

President Obama 'Fixes' Ferguson 12-01-14 Zero Hedge

Yep that should do it...

The White House explains...

White House Review: Federal Support for Local Law Enforcement Equipment Acquisition

Today, the White House released its review which provides details on the programs that have expanded over decades across multiple federal agencies that support the acquisition of equipment from the federal government to LEAs.  During the course of its review, the White House explored whether existing federal programs:

1. Provide LEAs with equipment that is appropriate to the needs of their communities,
2. Ensure that LEAs have adequate policies in place for the use of the equipment and that personnel are properly trained and certified to employ the equipment they obtain, and
3. Encourage LEAs to adopt organizational and operational practices and standards that prevent misuse/abuse of the equipment.

The report finds a lack of consistency in how federal programs are structured, implemented and audited, and informed by conversations with stakeholders, identifies four areas of further focus that could better ensure the appropriate use of federal programs to maximize the safety and security of police officers and the communities they serve: 

1. Local Community Engagement,
2. Federal Coordination and Oversight,
3. Training Requirements, and
4. The Community Policing Model.

Consistent with the recommendations in the report, the President instructed his staff to draft an Executive Order directing relevant agencies to work together and with law enforcement and civil rights and civil liberties organizations to develop specific recommendations within 120 days.  Some broad examples of what process improvements agencies might implement as a result of further collaborative review include:

• Develop a consistent list of controlled property allowable for acquisition by LEAs and ensure that all equipment on the list has a legitimate civilian law enforcement purpose.
• Require local civilian (non-police) review of and authorization for LEAs to request or acquire controlled equipment.
• Mandate that LEAs which participate in federal equipment programs receive necessary training and have policies in place that address appropriate use and employment of controlled equipment, as well as protection of civil rights and civil liberties.  Agencies should identify existing training opportunities and help LEAs avail themselves of those opportunities, including those offered by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the International Association of Law Enforcement Standards and Training.
• Require after-action analysis reports for significant incidents involving federally provided or federally-funded equipment.
• Harmonize federal programs so that they have consistent and transparent policies.
• Develop a database that includes information about controlled equipment purchased or acquired through Federal programs.

Task Force on 21st Century Policing

The President similarly instructed his team to draft an executive order creating a Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and announced that the Task Force will be chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who also serves as President of the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association, and Laurie Robinson, professor at George Mason University and former Assistant Attorney General for DOJ’s Office of Justice Programs.  The Task Force will include, among others, law enforcement representatives and community leaders and will operate in collaboration with Ron Davis, Director of DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office. The Task Force will build on the extensive research currently being conducted by COPS; will examine, among other issues, how to promote effective crime reduction while building public trust; and will be directed to prepare a report and recommendations within 90 days of its creation.

Community Policing Initiative

The President also proposes a three-year $263 million investment package that will increase use of body-worn cameras, expand training for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), add more resources for police department reform, and multiply the number of cities where DOJ facilitates community and local LEA engagement. As part of this initiative, a new Body Worn Camera Partnership Program would provide a 50 percent match to States/localities who purchase body worn cameras and requisite storage.  Overall, the proposed $75 million investment over three years could help purchase 50,000 body worn cameras. The initiative as a whole will help the federal government efforts to be a full partner with state and local LEAs in order to build and sustain trust between communities and those who serve and protect these communities.

*  *  *

So, a task force (aka Police Tzar) by Executive Order, more funding for local police equipment, and figure out how tomake gold from lead promote effective crime reduction while building public trust

In 1776, the Americans had a wonderful new idea for a republic in which each state (a common word for “country” in those days) would exist independently of the others, whilst a federal government would be in place to provide a few additional services, such as the creation of a common currency and joint protection from foreign invasion.

Unfortunately, those who sought to be all powerful were at work almost immediately, hoping to increase the power of the federal government to the point that the United States would be run as a conglomerate. By 1860, this had already reached the stage that the president denied the right of states to leave the Union.

The US later became the model for a new kind of empire. Until the 20th century, empires were often oppressive, with kings who ruled over a country and conquered other states. This was true right until the decline of the British Empire.

Since that time, the empire concept has not by any means gone away. It has just changed its marketing strategy. Today, the trend is toward collective unions patterned after the American model—the illusion that democracy is in full flower and that “the people” are in charge. This, of course, is Freedom in name alone. The propaganda soothes the more gullible of us into imagining that a modern empire is less oppressive than the empires of old.

The Rape of Liberty

Rights are regularly stripped away, generally to “protect the people from terrorism.” This has been most evident in the US, where, since 9/11, the country has devolved dramatically into a police state. (As second US President John Adams correctly stated, “Those who trade Liberty for Security have neither.”)

Those of us who are not US citizens tend to view the “Rape of Liberty” presently being carried out in much of the First World (and in the US in particular) the way we might watch a violent storm from the windows of our (hopefully) secure home, all the while hoping that the storm is not so strong as to destroy our home in the bargain.

We watch as, in recent years, rights are stripped away and the population is ordered to comply with a host of new restrictions that turn the citizenry into obedient cattle:

• Increasingly humiliating searches in order to be allowed to travel

• Passport confiscation from those whose tax payments “may be in question”

• Increasing restrictions on moving assets abroad

• Increasing taxation on moving assets abroad

• Increasing financial penalties for the renunciation of citizenship

• Increasing militarization of police

• Increasing indoctrination in the belief that powerful evil external forces are afoot that may destroy the country if they are not stopped by dramatic military action

This is, of course, a shortlist, and the reader can add many more without bothering to think very hard. But the list should serve as a reminder as to the direction in which the US is headed as a nation.

Americans are being taught to be in fear of some faceless outside force and told that they must be prepared to give up their principle freedoms in order to be safe. Above all, however, they must not decide to exit the US. Although the borders will open up for others to come in, they will close for those seeking to leave.

But surely, at some point, Americans will decide that too much liberty is being lost for the small increase in actual safety.

The Tipping Point

For those of us watching this charade from the outside, it is clear that, at some point, all the fear mongering by the US government will not be sufficient to justify the now-Hitleresque controls that are increasing each year. At some point, the government will need to provide justification—a demonstration that the threat is “for real.”

This will mean that an event that is sufficient to justify a sudden, dramatic increase in tyranny would be necessary. For the sake of argument, let’s say that an “attack” occurs on US soil—similar in nature to the 9/11 attack. The US government immediately announces who was responsible for the attack and that the US is now “at war” with that group or groups.

They state that their intelligence has identified several more planned attacks and that all of the US is in imminent danger. The unquestioned, most important consideration is that Americans be protected from possible attacks, and all other considerations must be “temporarily” sacrificed until the threat has been neutralised.

Such an event would allow for the tipping point—the effective lockdown of the country. Whilst there would be no “Berlin Wall,” there would be an “Iron Curtain.” The armoured vehicles, the automatic weaponry, the combat gear (right down to the bayonets) must already be in place nationwide, ready to be deployed. The old “serve and protect” training must be gone and “riot control” training must be fully in effect.

And as it happens, these preparations are in place.

Following such an event, it would be possible for the list above to change to the following one:

• No travel to other countries without written permission

• Confiscation of passports of all those who “may” have terrorist contacts

• Freezing of assets

• Confiscation of some assets (particularly in banks) until proof can be provided that these were obtained legally and taxes on them have been paid

• Renunciation of citizenship declared a terrorist act

• Presidential declaration that the US is a legal battleground and all constitutional rights are suspended until further notice

• Dramatic expansion of police control

• Regular televised indoctrination for citizens to report on the “suspicious” behaviour of any other person, including family members

Temporary Becomes Permanent

Sounds Orwellian. And of course, it is. It worked well for others (Messrs. Hitler and Stalin come to mind), and if a population is properly prepped (as Americans have been), it should be accepted. After all, it’s for the sake of safety and will only be temporary, right?

Possibly not. As Milton Friedman so correctly stated, “Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program.” So, if the above premise seems to the reader to be the logical outcome of the present direction of the government, what of the timing? Well, if we observe the rapidity at which the US is implementing its controls and we hazard a guess as to when they will become so overbearing that a dramatic event isnecessary before full lockdown can be implemented, the reader can make his own guess. A year? Two years? Longer?

And again, the US is only the most extreme country of the First World in this regard. The EU is not far behind in its increasing controls. And other countries in the former “free” world are instituting similar controls.

Should the reader be a citizen of one of these countries, he might wish to weigh his options. He may decide that it is hopeless to escape. Or he might decide that he needs to escape, but he still has time. Or he may decide to “git while the gittin’s good.”

If he settles on the third conclusion, he would be well advised to plan an exit soon. If not, he may well find he has left the move too late and has unwittingly chosen to remain.

Editor’s Note: It’s not all doom and gloom; the world is your oyster, and there are very attractive jurisdictions that are cause for optimism. That’s what International Man is all about—making the most of your personal freedom and financial opportunity around the world. The free IM Communiqué is a great place to start.