The Bush regime’s response to 9/11 and the Obama regime’s validation of this response have destroyed accountable democratic government in the United States. So much unaccountable power has been concentrated in the executive branch that the US Constitution is no longer an operable document.
Whether a person believes the official story of 9/11 which rests on unproven government assertions or believes the documented evidence provided by a large number of scientists, first responders, and structural engineers and architects, the result is the same. 9/11 was used to create an open-ended “war on terror” and a police state. It is extraordinary that so many Americans believe that “it can’t happen here” when it already has.
We have had a decade of highly visible evidence of the construction of a police state: the NDAAand Patriot Act illegal spying on Americans in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the initiation of wars of aggression–war crimes under the Nuremberg Standard–based on intentional lies, the Justice Department’s concocted legal memos justifying the executive branch’s violation of domestic and international laws against torture, the indefinite detention of US citizens in violation of the constitutionally protected rights of habeas corpus and due process, the use of secret evidence and secret “expert witnesses” who cannot be cross-examined against defendants in trials, the creation of military tribunals in order to evade federal courts, secret legal memos giving the president authority to launch preemptive cyber attacks on any country without providing evidence that the country constitutes a threat, and the Obama regime’s murder of US citizens without evidence or due process.
As if this were not enough, the Obama regime now creates new presidential powers by crafting secret laws, refusing to disclose the legal reasoning on which the asserted power rests. In other words, laws now originate in secret executive branch memos and not in acts of Congress. Congress? We don’t need no stinking Congress.
Despite laws protecting whistleblowers and the media and the US Military Code which requires soldiers to report war crimes, whistleblowers such as CIA agent John Kiriakou, Julian Assange, and soldiers such as Bradley Manning are persecuted and prosecuted for revealing US government crimes. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33804.htm The criminals go free, and those who report the crimes are punished.
The justification for the American police state is the “war on terror,” a hoax kept alive by the FBI’s “sting operations.” Normally speaking, a sting operation is when a policewoman poses as a prostitute in order to ensnare a “John,” or a police officer poses as a drug dealer or user in order to ensnare drug users or dealers. The FBI’s “sting operation” goes beyond these victimless crimes that fill up US prisons.
The FBI and CIA creates the plot and looks for a hapless or demented person or group, or for a Muslim enraged over the latest Washington insult to him and/or his religion. When the FBI locates its victim, its agents approach the selected perpetrator pretending to be Al-Qaeda or some such and ply the selected perpetrator with money, the promise of fame, or threats until the victim signs on to the FBI’s plot and is arrested.
, documents that the FBI has so far concocted 150 “terrorist plots” and that almost all of the other “terrorist cases” are cases unrelated to terrorism, such as immigration, with a terror charge tacked on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LpTOrNQ3G9Q#! The presstitute American media doesn’t ask why, if there is so much real terrorism requiring an American war against it, the FBI has to invent and solicit terrorist plots.
Neither does the media inquire how the Taliban, which resists the US invasion and attempted occupation of Afghanistan, fighting the US superpower to a standstill after 11 years, came to be designated as terrorists. Nor does the US presstitute media want to know how tribesmen in remote regions of Pakistan came to be designated as “terrorists” deserving of US drone attacks on the citizens, schools and medical clinics of a country with which the US is not at war.
Instead the media protects and perpetrates the hoax that has given America the police state. The American media has become Leni Riefenstahl, as has Hollywood with the anti-Muslim propaganda film, Zero Dark Thirty. This propaganda film is a hate crime that spreads Islamophobia. Nevertheless, the film is likely to win awards and to sink Americans into both tyranny and a hundred-year war in the name of fighting the Muslim threat.
Some Americans claim that we have had police states during other wartimes and that once the war on terror is won, the police state will be dismantled. Others claim that government will be judicious in its use of the power and that “if you are doing nothing wrong you have nothing to fear.”
These are reassurances from the deluded. The Bush/Obama police state is far more comprehensive than Lincoln’s, Wilson’s, or Roosevelt’s, and the war on terror is open-ended and is already three times longer than World War II. The Police State is acquiring “squatter’s rights.”
Moreover, the government needs the police state in order to protect itself from accountability for its crimes, lies, and squandering of taxpayers‘ money. New precedents for executive power have been created in conjunction with the Federalist Society which, independent of the war on terror, advocates the “unitary executive” theory, which claims the president has powers not subject to check by Congress and the Judiciary. In other words, the president is a dictator if he prefers to be.
The Obama regime is taking advantage of this Republican theory. The regime has used the Republican desire for a strong executive outside the traditional checks and balances together with the fear factor to complete the creation of the Bush/Cheney police state.
As Lawrence M. Stratton and Paul Craig Roberts documented in their book, The Tyranny Of Good Intentions, prior to 9/11 law as a shield of the people was already losing ground to law as a weapon in the hands of the government. If the government wanted to get you, there were few if any barriers to a defendant being framed and convicted, least of all a brainwashed jury fearful of crime.
I cannot say whether the US justice system has ever served justice better than it has served the ambition of prosecutors. Already in the 1930s and 1940s US Supreme Court Justice George Sutherland and US Attorney General Robert Jackson were warning against prosecutors who sacrifice “fair dealing to build up statistics of success.” Certainly it is difficult to find in the ranks of federal prosecutors today Jackson’s “prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility.”
Just consider the wrongful conviction of Alabama’s Democratic governor, Don Siegelman by what apparently was a Karl Rove plot to rid the South of Democratic governors. The “Democratic” Obama regime has not investigated this false prosecution or given clemency to its innocent own. Remember how quickly Bush removed the prison sentence of Cheney’s operative who revealed the name of a CIA undercover agent? The Democrats are a cowed and cowardly political party, fearful of justice, and as much a part of the corrupt police state as the Republicans.
Today the purpose of a prosecution is to serve the prosecutor’s career and that of the party that appoints him or her. A prosecutor’s career is served by high conviction rates, which require plea bargains in which the evidence against a defendant is never tested in court or before a jury, and by high profile cases, which can launch a prosecutor into a political career, as Rudy Giuliana achieved with his frame-up of Michael Milken.
Glenn Greenwald explained how Internet freedom advocate Aaron Swartz was driven to his death by the ambition of two federal prosecutors, US Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Assistant US Attorney Stephen Heymann, who had no aversion to destroying an innocent person with ridiculous and trumped-up charges in order to advance their careers. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/ortiz-heymann-swartz-accountability-abuse
It is rare for a prosecutor to suffer any consequence for bringing false charges, for consciously using and even paying for false evidence, and for lying to judge and jury. As prosecutors are rarely held accountable, they employ illegal and unethical methods and routinely abuse their power. As judges are mainly concerned with clearing their court dockets, justice is rarely served in America, which explains why the US has not only a larger percentage of its citizens in prison than any other country on earth, but also the largest absolute number of prisoners. The US actually has more of its citizens in prison than “authoritarian” China which has a population four times larger than the US. The US, possibly the greatest human rights abuser in history, is constantly bringing human rights charges against China. Where are the human rights charges against Washington?
In America the collapse of law has gone beyond corrupt prosecutors and their concocted false prosecutions. Unless it needs or desires a show trial, a police state does not need prosecutors and courts. By producing legal memos that the president can both throw people into prison without a trial and execute them without a trial simply by stating that some official in the executive branch thinks the person has a possible or potential connection to terrorism, tyranny’s friends in the Justice Department have dispensed with the need for courts, prosecutors and trials.The Bush/Obama regime has made the executive branch judge, juror, and executioner. All that is needed is an unproven assertion by some executive branch official. Here we have the epitome of evil.
Evidence is no longer required for the president of the US to imprison people for life or to deprive them of their life. A secret Justice Department memo has been leaked to NBC News that reveals the tyrannical reasoning that authorizes the executive branch to execute American citizens on the basis of belief alone without the requirement of evidence that they are terrorists or associated with terrorists.
In “freedom and democracy” America, innocent until proven guilty is no longer the operative legal principle. If the government says you are guilty, you are. Period. No evidence required for your termination. Even Stalin pretended to have evidence.
The United States government is working its way step by step toward the determination that any and every critic of the government is guilty of providing “aid and comfort” to Washington’s “terrorist enemies,” which includes the elected Hamas government in Gaza. The only critics exempted from this rule-in-the-making are the neoconservatives who criticize the US government for being too slow to throttle both its critics and “anti-Semites,” such as former US President Jimmy Carter, who criticize the Israeli government’s illegal appropriation of Palestinian lands. Most of Palestine has been stolen by Israel with Washington acquiesce and aid. Therefore, nothing is left for a “two-state solution.”
There is no doubt whatsoever that the Israeli government’s theft of Palestine is illegal; yet, Washington, on which Israel is totally dependent, does nothing about law. Law, we don’t need no stinking law.” Washington has might. Might is right. Get used to it.
Not only for Palestinians has law ceased to exist, but also for Americans, and for Washington’s NATO puppets in the UK and Europe, pitiful remnants of once great nations now complicit in Washington’s crimes against humanity. The Open Society Justice Initiative, a NGO based in New York, has issued a report that documents that 54 governments are involved in Washington’s rendition and torture program. Twenty-five of the governments that help Washington to kidnap, disappear, and torture people are European.
The opening decade of the 21st century has seen the destruction of all the law that was devised to protect the innocent and the vulnerable since the rise of the now defunct moral conscience of the West. The West’s moral conscience never applied outside of itself. What happened to people in Europe’s colonies and to native inhabitants of the US and Australia is a very different story.
Nevertheless, despite its lack of coverage to the powerless, the principle of the rule of law was a promising principle. Now America under Bush and Obama, two peas of the same pod, has abandoned the principle itself.
The Obama police state will be worse than the Bush/Cheney police state. Unlike conservatives who in times past were suspicious of government power, Obamabots believe that government power is a force for good if it is in the right hands. As Obama’s supporters see him as a member of an oppressed minority, they are confident that Obama will not misuse his power. This belief is akin to the belief that, as Jews suffered so much at the hands of Hitler, Israel would be fair to the Palestinians.
Glenn Greenwald writes that “the most extremist power any political leader can assert is the power to target his own citizens for execution without any charges or due process, far from any battlefield. The Obama administration has not only asserted exactly that power in theory, but has exercised it in practice.”
This is the power of a dictator. That Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi were said to have this power was part of their demonization as “brutal dictators,” a justification for overthrowing their governments and murdering the dictators and their supporters.
Ironic, isn’t it, that the president of the United States now murders his political opponents. How long before critics move from the no-fly list to the extermination list?
On the Wednesday, July 25th edition of the Alex Jones Show, Alex welcomes long-time returning guest, economist, and contributing writer Paul Craig Roberts to discuss the assault on gun rights in the aftermath of the Colorado shooting, the West’s unsuccessful efforts to muster support for Syrian intervention, and the impact the recent Libor scandal will have on world markets.
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Another sign of the time and a diminishment of freedom.
The National Defense Authorization Act of 2013 passed the Senate with a 98-0 vote. The NDAA is a huge federal law that among other things specifies the budget and expenditures for the Department of Defense.
In a nutshell, it’s the blueprint for Peacetime Martial Law and it gives the president the power to take just about anything deemed necessary for “National Defense”, whatever they decide that is. It’s peacetime, because as the title of the order says, it’s for “Preparedness”. A copy of the entire order follows the end of this story.
Under this order the heads of these cabinet level positions; Agriculture, Energy, Health and Human Services, Transportation, Defense and Commerce can take food, livestock, fertilizer, farm equipment, all forms of energy, water resources, all forms of civil transportation (meaning any vehicles, boats, planes), and any other materials, including construction materials from wherever they are available. This is probably why the government has been visiting farms with GPS devices, so they know exactly where to go when they turn this one on.
Just by reading through these quotes, you will have a very clear picture of what happened to America and how we got in this fix in the first place. [Quotes arranged in approximate chronological order.]
“The bank hath benefit of interest on all moneys which it creates out of nothing.” – William Paterson, founder of the Bank of England, 1694
de Tracy
“A theft of greater magnitude and still more ruinous, is the making of paper money; it is greater because in this money there is absolutely no real value; it is more ruinous because by its gradual depreciation during the time of its existence, it produces the effect which would be proration of the coins. All those iniquities are founded on the false idea the money is but a sign.”- Count Destutt de Tracy, 1754-1836
“If ever again our nation stumbles upon unfunded paper, it shall surely be like death to our body politic. This country will crash.”- George Washington, 1732-1799
Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild
“The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from its profits or so dependent on its favors, that there will be no opposition from that class.” . . . “Let me issue and control a nation’s money and I care not who writes the laws.” - Mayer Amschel Bauer Rothschild, 1744-1812
“All the perplexities, confusion and distresses in America arise not from defects in the constitution or confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, as much from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit, and circulation.” - John Adams, 1735-1826, letter to Thomas Jefferson.
Thomas Jefferson
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks…will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered…. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” . . . “Paper is poverty. It is the ghost of money and not money itself.”- Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826
“History records that the money changers have used every form of abuse, intrigue, deceit, and violent means possible to maintain their control over governments by controlling money and its issuance.” – James Madison, 1751-1836
Napoleon Bonaparte
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes… Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.” – Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769-1821, a sympathizer for the international bankers, turned against them in the last years of his rule.
“Nothing but widespread suffering will produce any effect on Congress… Our only safety is in pursuing a steady course of firm restriction – and I have no doubt that such a course will ultimately lead to restoration of the currency and the re-charter of the bank.” - Nicholas Biddle, (1786-1844), Banker and American financier
Andrew Jackson
[Speaking about international bankers] “You are a den of vipers! I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God I will rout you out. If the people only understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system, there would be a revolution before morning.” . . . “If congress has the right under the Constitution to issue paper money, it was given them to use themselves, not to be delegated to individuals or corporations.”- President Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many and various powerful interests, combined in one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in banks.” – John C. Calhoun, Vice President (1825-1832) and U.S. Senator, from a speech given on May 27, 1836
“The world is governed by very different personages from what is imagined by those who are not behind the scenes.” – “Coningsby, the New Generation”, Benjamin Disraeli, first Prime Minister of England, 1844
Daniel Webster
“Of all the contrivances for cheating the laboring classes of mankind, none has been more effective than that which deludes them with paper money.” . . . “We are in danger of being overwhelmed with irredeemable paper, mere paper, representing not gold nor silver; no sir, representing nothing but broken promises, bad faith, bankrupt corporations, cheated creditors and a ruined people.” – Daniel Webster, circa 1845, leading American statesman
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” – Economic Sophisms, Frederic Bastiat 1801-1850
I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe. – Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands, and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war.” – Abraham Lincoln – In a letter written to William Elkin, 1860
“The Government should create, issue, and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the Government and the buying power of consumers. By the adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity. ” – Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865
Asassination
“If this mischievous financial policy, which has its’ origins in North America, shall be endured down to a fixture, then that government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off its debt and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedence in the history of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.” – Editorial in the Times of London, 1862
“The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, and more selfish than bureaucracy.” – Abe Lincoln, 1864
Salmon P. Chase
“My agency, in promoting the passage of the National Banking Act was the greatest financial mistake in my life. It has built up a monopoly which affects every interest in the country.” – Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and Advisor to Lincoln, Salmon P. Chase, 1864
Otto von Bismarck
“The division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War by the high financial powers of Europe. These bankers were afraid that the United States, if they remained in one block and as one nation, would attain economic and financial independence, which would upset their financial domination over the world. The voice of the Rothschilds prevailed… Therefore they sent their emissaries into the field to exploit the question of slavery and to open an abyss between the two sections of the Union.” – Otto von Bismarck, German chancellor, 1865
“The death of Lincoln was a disaster for Christendom. There was no man in the United States great enough to wear his boots…I fear that foreign bankers with their craftiness and their torturous tricks will entirely control the exuberant riches of America, and use it systematically to corrupt modern civilization. They will not hesitate to plunge the whole of Christendom into wars and chaos in order that the earth shall become their (the bankers’) inheritance.” – Chancellor of Germany, Otto Von Bismarck, 1865
“I went to America in the winter of 1872-1873 to secure, if I could, the passage of a bill demonetizing silver. It was in the interest of those I represented – the governors of the Bank of England, to have it done. By 1873 gold coins were the only form of coin money.” – Earnest Seyd, Agent for the Bank of England, 1873
Baron Nathan Mayer de Rothschild
“I care not what puppet is placed upon the throne of England to rule the Empire on which the sun never sets. The man that controls Britain’s money supply controls the British Empire, and I control the British money supply.” Baron Nathan Mayer de Rothschild, 1840-1915
James Buel
“It is advisable to do all in your power to sustain such prominent daily and weekly newspapers, especially the Agricultural and Religious press, as will oppose the Greenback issue of paper money and that you will also withhold patronage from all applicants (for loans) who are not willing to oppose the government issue of money…To repel the act creating bank notes, or to restore to circulation the government issue of money will be to provide the people with money and will therefore seriously affect our individual profits as bankers and lenders. See your congressman at once and engage him to support us, that we may control legislation.” – James Buel, American Bankers Association, 1877
James Garfield
“Whoever controls the volume of money in any country is absolute master of all industry and commerce. And when you realize that the entire system is very easily controlled, one way or another by a few powerful men at the top, you will not have to be told how periods of inflation and depression originate.” – President James Garfield, 1881. He was assassinated just weeks after making this statement.
“We will answer their demand for a gold standard saying to them, ‘You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns; you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold’.” . . . “The money power denounces, as public enemies, all who question its methods or throw light upon its crimes.”- William Jennings Brian, 1896
William McAdoo
“The fact is that there is a serious danger of this country becoming a Pluto-democracy; that is, a sham republic with the real government in the hands of a small clique of enormously wealthy men, who speak through their money, and whose influence, even today, radiates to every corner of the United States.” – William McAdoo, 1912 – President Wilson’s national campaign vice-chairman, wrote in Crowded Years
A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. – President Woodrow Wilson , The New Freedom, 1913.
Woodrow Wilson
“I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world – no longer a Government of free opinion no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men…. Since I entered politics, I have chiefly had men’s views confided to me privately. Some of the biggest men in the U.S., in the field of commerce and manufacturing, are afraid of somebody, are afraid of something. They know that there is a power somewhere so organized, so subtle, so watchful, so interlocked, so complete, so pervasive, that they had better not speak above their breath when they speak in condemnation of it.” – The New Freedom, President Woodrow Wilson, 1913 (after signing into passage the Glass Owen Act of 1913 that established the Federal Reserve System)
American Bankers Assoc.–still at it in 2008
“On September 1st, 1894, we will not renew our loans under any consideration. On September 1st, we will demand our money. We will foreclose and become mortgagees in possession. We can take two-thirds of the farms west of the Mississippi as well, at our own price…Then the farmers will become tenants, as in England.” – 1891 American Bankers Association Memo, recorded as testimony in the Congressional Record, April 29th, 1913
“This act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the president signs this bill, the ‘invisible government’ by monetary power will be legalized. The people may not know it yet, but the day of reckoning is only a few years removed…The worst legislative crime of the ages is perpetrated by this banking bill.” – Rep. Charles Lindbergh Sr. (R, MN), father of the famed aviator, just prior to the passage of the Glass Owen Act that established the Federal Reserve System. (The bill was literally snuck through the congress on Dec. 22, 1913. Many senators had already left for the holidays after being reassured by the leadership that nothing would be done on the bill until after they returned from their Christmas recess the following January. All evidently believed that the congressional session had been legally retired for their customary holiday break, but this certainly could be construed as a ruse. And so it transpired that on December 22, 1913, under the shepherding of President Wilson and certain congressmen of both sides of the political spectrum, and with at least 27 Senators absent on holiday recess, the Federal Reserve Act passed. The bill provided for a privately owned central bank, disguised as the Federal Reserve System, to not only issue this nation’s currency but to charge interest against that currency. Today we owe our currant national debt to the bank corporations that privately own the Federal Reserve Bank, with the exception, that is, of the debt paper the Fed regularly sells to other nations like China. The Fed accepts dollar reserves from foreign customers and sells them US government bonds in return. This is how the Federal Government borrows from foreign lenders. Some even suggest this is why we are loosing control of our country.)
Charles Lindbergh Sr.
“To cause high prices all the Federal Reserve Board will do will be to lower the rediscount rate producing an expansion of credit and rising stock market, then when business men are adjusted to these conditions, it can check prosperity in mid career by raising the rate of interest. It can cause the pendulum of a rising and falling market to swing gently back and forth by slight changes in the discount rate, or cause violent fluctuations by greater rate variation and in either case, it will possess inside information as to financial conditions and advanced knowledge of the coming change, either up or down. This is the strangest and most dangerous advantage ever placed in the hands of a special privilege class by any government that ever existed. The system is private, conducted for the sole purpose of obtaining the greatest possible profits from the use of other peoples’ money. They know in advance when to create panics to their advantage, and they also know when to stop panic. Inflation and deflation work equally well for them when they control finance.” – Rep. Charles Lindbergh Sr. (R. MN), 1914
Lewis McFadden
“Every effort has been made by the Federal Reserve Board to conceal its power but the truth is the Federal Reserve Board has usurped the government of the United States. It controls everything here and it controls all our foreign relations. It makes and breaks governments at will. No man and no body of men is more entrenched in power than the arrogant credit monopoly which operates the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Reserve banks. These evil-doers have robbed this country of more than enough money to pay the national debt. What the Government has permitted the Federal Reserve Board to steal from the people should now be restored to the people.”- Rep. Lewis McFadden, (D PA) Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, 1914 (McFadden rose from office boy to become cashier and then President of the First National Bank in Canton Ohio. For 12 years he served as Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, making him one of the foremost financial authorities in America. He fought continuously for fiscal integrity and a return to constitutional government.)
“They have created a super state controlled by international bankers and international industrialists acting together to enslave the world for their own pleasure.” – Rep. Lewis McFadden, (D PA) Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, 1914
Oscar Callaway
“In March, 1915, the J.P. Morgan interests, the steel, shipbuilding, and powder interest, and their subsidiary organizations, got together 12 men high up in the newspaper world and employed them to select the most influential newspapers in the United States and sufficient number of them to control generally the policy of the daily press….They found it was only necessary to purchase the control of 25 of the greatest papers. “An agreement was reached; the policy of the papers was bought, to be paid for by the month; an editor was furnished for each paper to properly supervise and edit information regarding the questions of preparedness, militarism, financial policies, and other things of national and international nature considered vital to the interests of the purchasers.”- Oscar Callaway, U.S. Congressman, 1917
Theodore Roosevelt
“These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of the newspapers and the columns in those papers to club into submission or drive out of office officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government.” – Theodore Roosevelt as reported in the New York Times, March 27th, 1922
“This warning of Theodore Roosevelt has as much timelessness today, for the real menace to our republic is this invisible government which spreads its tentacles like a giant octopus and sprawls its slimy length over city, state and nation. It seizes in its long and powerful tentacles our executive officers, our legislative bodies, our schools, our courts, our newspapers and every agency created for the public protection…To depart from mere generalizations, let me say that at the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as the international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both parties, write political platforms, make cat’s-paws of party leaders, use the leading men of private organizations, and resort to every device to place in nomination for high public office only such candidates as will be amenable to the dictates of corrupt big business. These international bankers and Rockefeller-Standard Oil interests control the majority of newspapers and magazines in this country.” – John Hylan, Mayor of New York City, quoted in the New York Times, 1922
“The real menace of our Republic is the invisible government, which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy legs over our cities, states and nation… The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both parties, … and control the majority of the newspapers and magazines in this country. They use the columns of these papers to club into submission or drive out of office public officials who refuse to do the bidding of the powerful corrupt cliques which compose the invisible government. It operates under cover of a self-created screen [and] seizes our executive officers, legislative bodies, schools, courts, newspapers and every agency created for the public protection.” - New York City Mayor John F. Hylan, New York Times, March 26, 1922
“Capital must protect itself in every possible manner by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, bonds and mortgages must be foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through a process of law, the common people lose their homes they will become more docile and more easily governed through the influence of the strong arm of government, applied by a central power of wealth under control of leading financiers. This truth is well known among our principal men now engaged in forming an imperialism of Capital to govern the world. By dividing the voters through the political party system, we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance. Thus by discreet action we can secure for ourselves what has been so well planned and so successfully accomplished.” - USA Banker’s Magazine, August 25, 1924
Reginald McKenna
“I am afraid the ordinary citizen will not like to be told that the banks can, and do, create money…And they who control the credit of the nation direct the policy of Governments and hold in the hollow of their hands the destiny of the people.” ~ Reginald McKenna, former Chancellor of the Exchequer, January 24, 1924
Henry Ford
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.” - Henry Ford, circa 1925
“I see nothing in the present situation that is either menacing or warrants pessimism… I have every confidence that there will be a revival of activity in the spring, and that during this coming year the country will make steady progress.” —Andrew W. Mellon, December 1929, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
“Sell all of your stock now. Don’t ask any questions.” – Joseph P. Kennedy to his friend, father of Ed Kerrigan, 1929, (right before the crash. During the Great Depression, Joseph P. Kennedy’s worth grew from four million dollars in 1929 to over 100 million dollars in 1935. Apparently he had insider information and knew what the Federal Reserve intended to do.)
“The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is eager to enter into close relationship with the Bank for International Settlements….The conclusion is impossible to escape that the State and Treasury Departments are willing to pool the banking system of Europe and America, setting up a world financial power independent of and above the Government of the United States….The United States under present conditions will be transformed from the most active of manufacturing nations into a consuming and importing nation with a balance of trade against it.”- Rep. Louis McFadden – Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency quoted in the New York Times (June 1930)
Milton Friedman
“The Federal Reserve definitely caused the Great Depression by contracting Americas’ money supply by one third between 1929 and 1933.” – Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winning economist, Stanford University
Louis McFadden
“After WWI, Germany fell into the hands of the German International Bankers. Those bankers bought her and they now own her, lock, stock and barrel. They purchased her industries, they have mortgages on her soil, they control her production; they control all her public utilities. The International German Bankers have subsidized the present government of Germany and they have also supplied every dollar of the money Adolf Hitler has used in his lavish campaign to build up a threat to the government of Bruening. When Bruening fails to obey the orders of the German International Bankers, Hitler is brought forth to scare the Germans into submission. Through the Federal Reserve Board over thirty billions of dollars was pumped into Germany…You have all heard of the spending that has taken place in Germany…modernistic dwellings, her great planetariums, her gymnasiums, her swimming pools, her fine public highways, her perfect factories….All this was done with our money. All this was given to Germany through the Federal Reserve Board. The Federal Reserve Board has pumped so many billions of dollars into Germany that they dare not name the total.” – Rep. Lewis T. McFadden (D PA), Chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, 1931, (spoken before Congress eight years before Hitler invaded Poland and duly entered into the Congressional Record.) ((Rep. Louis T. McFadden (R. Pa.) rose from office boy to become cashier and then President of the First National Bank in Canton Ohio. For 12 years he served as Chairman of the Committee on Banking and Currency, making him one of the foremost financial authorities in America. He fought continuously for fiscal integrity and a return to constitutional government.)
“We have, in this country, one of the most corrupt institutions the world has ever known. I refer to the Federal Reserve Board. This evil institution has impoverished the people of the United States and has practically bankrupted our government. It has done this through the corrupt practices of the moneyed vultures who control it.” – Congressman Louis T. McFadden in 1932
“The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a letter written to Colonel House, l933 (Source: Letter to Col. Edward Mandell House (21 November 1933); as quoted in F.D.R.: His Personal Letters, 1928-1945, edited by Elliott Roosevelt (New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1950), pg. 373.)
Irving Fisher
“Thus, our national circulating medium is now at the mercy of loan transactions of banks, which lend, not money, but promises to supply money they do not possess.” – 100% Money, Irving Fisher, 1935, American economist
G. Edward Griffin
“Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, the (Rothschild) brothers conducted important transactions on behalf of the governments of England, France, Prussia, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Naples, Portugal, Brazil, various German states and smaller countries. They were the personal bankers of many of the crowned heads of Europe. They made large investments, through agents, in markets as distant as the United States, India, Cuba and Australia.” – G. Edward Griffin, American political commentator, writer and documentary filmmaker.
“By remaining behind the scenes, they (the Rothschilds) were able to avoid the brunt of public anger which was directed, instead, at the political figures which they largely controlled. This is a technique which has been practiced by financial manipulators ever since, and it is fully utilized by those who operate the Federal Reserve System today.” – G. Edward Griffin, (born November 1931), American political commentator, writer and documentary filmmaker.
“We are completely dependent on the commercial banks. Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit. If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve. We are absolutely without a permanent money system. When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless position is almost incredible, but there it is. It [the banking problem] is the most important subject intelligent persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it becomes widely understood and the defects are remedied very soon.” – Robert H. Hemphill, circa 1939, Credit Manager, Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta
“Money is the most important subject intellectual persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it is widely understood and its defects remedied very soon.” – Robert H. Hemphill, circa 1939, former credit manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Sir Josiah Stamp
“Bankers own the earth; take it away from them but leave them with the power to create credit; and, with a flick of a pen, they will create enough money to buy it back again… If you want to be slaves of bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, then let the bankers control money and control credit.”- Sir Josiah Stamp, Director, Bank of England, 1940
“You have to choose [as a voter] between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the Government. And, with due respect for these gentlemen, I advise you, as long as the Capitalist system lasts, to vote for gold.” – George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950
Wright Patman
“In the United States today, we have two governments. We have the duly constituted government and then we have and independent, uncontrolled and uncoordinated government in the Federal Reserve System operating the money powers which are reserved for Congress by the Constitution.” – Rep. Wright Patman, 1893-1976 (Congressman Wright Patman was Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency for 40 years. For 20 of those years, he introduced legislation to repeal the Federal Reserve Banking Act of 1913. )
“I am concerned for the security of our great nation; not so much because of any threat from without, but because of the insidious forces working from within.”- General Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964
“We shall have world government, whether or not we like it. The question is only whether world government will be achieved by consent or by conquest.” — James Warburg, son of CFR [Council on Foreign Relations] founder Paul Warburg, testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on February 17, 1950:
“Today the path to total dictatorship in the U.S. can be laid by strictly legal means… We have a well-organized political-action group in this country, determined to destroy our Constitution and establish a one-party state… It operates secretly, silently, continuously to transform our Government… This ruthless power-seeking elite is a disease of our century… This group…is answerable neither to the President, the Congress, nor the courts. It is practically irremovable.” – Senator William Jenner, 1954 speech
“The banks do create money. They have been doing it for a long time, but they didn’t quite realize it, and they did not admit it. Very few did. You will find it in all sorts of documents, financial textbooks, etc. But in the intervening years, and we must all be perfectly frank about these things, there has been a development of thought, until today I doubt very much whether you would get many prominent bankers to attempt to deny that banks create credit.”- H. W. White, 1955, Chairman of the Associated Banks of New Zealand, to the New Zealand Monetary Commission.
“The individual is handicapped by coming face-to-face with a conspiracy so monstrous he cannot believe it exists. The American mind simply has not come to a realization of the evil which has been introduced into our midst. It rejects even the assumption that human creatures could espouse a philosophy which must ultimately destroy all that is good and decent.” — J. Edgar Hoover, The Elks Magazine, 1956
“The Federal Reserve Bank is nothing but a banking fraud and an unlawful crime against civilization. Why? Because they “create” the money made out of nothing, and our Uncle Sap Government issues their “Federal Reserve Notes” and stamps our Government approval with NO obligation whatever from these Federal Reserve Banks, Individual Banks or National Banks, etc.”- American Mercury, H.L. Birum, Sr., August 1957
“The invisible Money Power is working to control and enslave mankind. It financed Communism, Fascism, Marxism, Zionism, Socialism. All of these are directed to making the United States a member of a World Government.”- American Mercury Magazine, December 1957
Barry Goldwater
“Most Americans have no real understanding of the operations of the international moneylenders… the accounts of the Federal Reserve have never been audited. It operates outside the control of Congress and … manipulates the credit of the United States”- Sen. Barry Goldwater, circa 1964
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead, 1964.
Carroll Quigley
“The powers of financial capitalism had (a) far-reaching aim, nothing less than to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the systems was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland; a private bank owned and controlled by the world’s central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank…sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the level of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world.”- Tragedy and Hope: A History of The World in Our Time, Professor Carroll Quigley of Georgetown University, 1966 (highly esteemed by his former student, William Jefferson Blythe Clinton)
Alan Greenspan
“[The] abandonment of the gold standard made it possible for the welfare statists to use the banking system as a means to an unlimited expansion of credit…. In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. There is no safe store of value. If there were, the government would have to make its holdings illegal, as was done in the case of gold…. The financial policy of the welfare state requires that there be no way for the owners of wealth to protect themselves…. [This] is the shabby secret of the welfare statist’s tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the ‘hidden’ confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.” – Alan Greenspan, in an article he wrote in 1966, before he became head of the Fed
Bill Moyers
“David Rockefeller is the most conspicuous representative today of the ruling class, a multinational fraternity of men who shape the global economy and manage the flow of its capital. Rockefeller was born to it, and he has made the most of it. But what some critics see as a vast international conspiracy, he considers a circumstance of life and just another day’s work… In the world of David Rockefeller it’s hard to tell where business ends and politics begins” – Bill Moyers, White House Press Secretary, July 8, 1965 – January 1967
“How pale is the art of sorcerers, witches, and conjurors when compared with that of the government’s Treasury Department!” . . . “The governments alone are responsible for the spread of the superstitious awe with which the common man looks upon every bit of paper upon which the treasury or agencies which it controls have printed the magical words legal tender.” – Ludwig von Mises, 1881-1973 Austrian economist, philosopher, and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement.
Curtis Dall
“The depression was the calculated ‘shearing’ of the public by the World Money powers, triggered by the planned sudden shortage of supply of call money in the New York money market….The One World Government leaders and their ever close bankers have now acquired full control of the money and credit machinery of the U.S. via the creation of the privately owned Federal Reserve Bank.” - “My Exploited Father-in-Law,” Curtis Dall, 1970, son-in-law to FDR
“Banks lend by creating credit. They create the means of payment out of nothing.” – Ralph M. Hawtrey, 1879-1975, former Secretary of Treasury, England.
“Every circulating FRN (Federal Reserve Note) represents a one dollar debt to the Federal Reserve System.” – Money Facts, circa 1970, House Banking and Currency Committee
“When you or I write a check there must be sufficient funds in our account to cover the check, but when the Federal Reserve writes a check there is no bank deposit on which that check is drawn. When the Federal Reserve writes a check, it is creating money.” – “Putting It Simply”, circa 1970, Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
John K. Galbraith
“The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled.” - “Money: Whence it came, where it went”, John K. Galbraith, 1975
“Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities, intrinsically; a ‘dollar’ bill is just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries.” – Modern Money Mechanics Workbook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1975
“The Rockefellers and their allies have, for at least fifty years, been carefully following a plan to use their economic power to gain political control of first America, and then the rest of the world. Do I mean conspiracy? Yes, I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent.” Congressman Larry P. McDonald, November 1975, from the introduction to a book titled The Rockefeller File.
Larry P. McDonald
“The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining super capitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control…. Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent.”- Congressman Larry P. McDonald, 1976, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that was shot down by the Soviets
John Danforth
“I have never seen more Senators express discontent with their jobs….I think the major cause is that, deep down in our hearts, we have been accomplices in doing something terrible and unforgivable to our wonderful country. Deep down in our heart, we know that we have given our children a legacy of bankruptcy. We have defrauded our country to get ourselves elected.”- Senator John Danforth, circa 1980
“There exists a shadowy government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself.” – Daniel K. Inouye, US Senator from Hawaii, testimony at the Iran Contra Hearings, 1986
“The study of money, above all other fields in economics, is one in which complexity is used to disguise truth or to evade truth, not to reveal it.” – John Kenneth Galbraith, circa 1990, one of America’s most famous economists
Eustace Mullins
“American history in the twentieth century has recorded the amazing achievements of the Federal Reserve bankers. First, the outbreak of World War I, which was made possible by the funds available from the new central bank of the United States. Second, the Agricultural Depression of 1920. Third, the Black Friday Crash on Wall Street of October, 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression. Fourth, World War II. Fifth, the conversion of the assets of the United States and its citizens from real property to paper assets from 1945 to the present, transforming a victorious America and foremost world power in 1945 to the world’s largest debtor nation in 1990. Today, this nation lies in economic ruins, devastated and destitute, in much the same dire straits in which Germany and Japan found themselves in 1945. Will Americans act to rebuild our nation, as Germany and Japan have done when they faced the identical conditions which we now face–or will we continue to be enslaved by the Babylonian debt money system which was set up by the Federal Reserve Act in 1913 to complete our total destruction? This is the only question which we have to answer, and we do not have much time left to answer it.” – Secrets of the Federal Reserve, Eustace Mullins, 1991
“The Federal Reserve System is not Federal; it has no reserves; and it is not a system at all, but rather, a criminal syndicate.” – Eustace Mullins, author of Secrets of the Federal Reserve, 1991
“In a small Swiss city sits an international organization so obscure and secretive….Control of the institution, the Bank for International Settlements, lies with some of the world’s most powerful and least visible men: the heads of 32 central banks, officials able to shift billions of dollars and alter the course of economies at the stroke of a pen.”- Keith Bradsher, New York Times, August 5, 1995
Henry Kissinger
“Who controls the money, controls the world.” – Henry Kissinger, circa 1995, Council on Foreign Relations
“Lord Rothschild had access to all manner of leaders and experts. He was responsible only to the Prime Minister and answerable to neither the electorate nor the civil service chiefs.”- Derek Wilson, circa 1995, leading biographer and author
Bob Chapman
“The dollar has clearly been abandoned and foreigners are starting to bail from dollar-denominated assets in droves. This is where bailouts, and the hyperinflationary destruction of the dollar that comes with them, are leading us, along with miniscule bond rates caused by continual flights to “security” as everyone flees in terror due to rapidly deteriorating market conditions caused by subprime fallout, over-leveraged speculation, fraudulent lending and borrowing, lack of oversight, transparency and confidence, frozen credit markets, an out-of-control money supply, profligate borrowing and spending, as well as an economy destroyed in less than two decades by globalization, free trade, off-shoring, outsourcing, unrestrained illegal immigration, insane wars for profit and the rampant inflation and unemployment that come from a completely, totally and malevolently mismanaged economy thanks to the reprobates and sociopaths that run the Fed and our government.” Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, 2008
Niall Ferguson
“From the earliest days, the Rothschilds appreciated the importance of proximity to politicians, the men who determined not only the extent of budget deficits but also the domestic and foreign policies…” -The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World, Niall Ferguson, 2008, Professor of History at Harvard University and William Ziegler Professor at Harvard Business School.
“Wake up you idiots! Whatever made you think paper was so valuable?” – Galapagos, Kurt Vonnegut, 2009
OAKLAND, Calif. – The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on proposed hazardous fire risk reduction projects in the San Francisco Bay Area, in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The DEIS has been published in the Federal Register and FEMA will host a final public meeting to hear public comments about the environmental impact statement this Saturday, May 18th.
Since 2005, the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), the City of Oakland, and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) have submitted a total of four grant applications to FEMA, through the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA), for federal financial assistance to implement hazardous fire risk reduction projects in the East Bay Hills of Alameda and Contra Costa counties and at the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline in Contra Costa County.
FEMA initiated, and this month, released a draft environmental impact statement that analyzes how the proposed and connected projects could impact the area and is seeking public comments on the draft environmental impact statement, currently available on the web.
The funding sought in the four grant applications could be provided under FEMA’s Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM) program and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). If awarded, up to $5.6 million of pre-disaster mitigation funding could be used by the grant subapplicants to implement hazardous risk reduction projects in the East Bay hills and in the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, bordering the San Francisco Bay, in the City of Richmond. FEMA will use the draft EIS, along with input from the public and other agencies, and in conjunction with other relevant materials, to reach a final decision on the submitted applications.
The East Bay Hills and the vicinity of Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline have a hot and dry fall season, wind-conducive topography, flammable vegetation, dense development, and limited accessibility for firefighting. The area is subject to hot, dry winds that can drive a wildfire from the regional parks and other open space areas into residential areas. These factors combine to create a substantial regional fire danger with most of the undeveloped areas in the East Bay Hills in a very severe fire hazard zone.
Hazardous fire risk reduction refers to long-term, cost-effective actions that reduce the risk of a hazardous wildfire, such as the massively destructive Oakland Hills fire of 1991. Historically, 15 major wildfires in the East Bay Hills have burned a total of almost 9,000 acres, destroyed approximately 4,000 homes, and killed 26 people. One of the fires, the 1923 Berkeley Fire, destroyed more than 550 homes in a few hours. A fire in 1970 consumed more than 200 acres and burned 37 homes. The 1991 Tunnel Fire killed 25 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes, and did an estimated $1.5 billion in damage.
Fire risk may be lowered by creating a fire break and reducing the amount of flammable trees, shrubs, and debris that can act as fuel during a wildfire. The proposed vegetation management work would primarily focus on reducing highly flammable, non-native invasive species.
Based on the wildfire hazard characteristics of the East Bay Hills and the Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline, FEMA has identified that a need exists to reduce hazardous fire risk to people and structures in these areas. FEMA is proposing to address this need by providing financial assistance to the sub-applicants — UCB, EBRPD, and Cal EMA, through the Pre-Disaster Mitigation program and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program | FEMA.gov
FEMA has to date hosted two public meetings on this issue and will host a final public meeting on Saturday, May 18th. The meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in the Claremont Middle School’s Gymnasium, 5750 College Avenue, Oakland, CA 94618.
The project website: http://ebheis.cdmims.com, and upcoming final public meeting will provide information on the draft EIS, which describes the proposed East Bay Hills hazardous fire risk reduction projects and potential environmental impacts on the natural, physical, and human environments in the project. The purpose of the meeting is to provide information on the draft EIS, to receive oral and written comments, and to allow the public, local businesses, associations, stakeholders, affected governmental agencies, and interested parties to speak directly with federal, state and local representatives regarding the draft EIS.
Written comments must be submitted or postmarked by midnight on June 17, 2013. Oral and written comments may be made at the public meetings. Written comments may also be submitted through the project website at http://ebheis.cdmims.com, via email at EBH-EIS-FEMA-RIX@fema.dhs.gov, or via mail to P.O. Box 72379, Oakland, CA 94612-8579.
The draft EIS is also available on the project website at http://ebheis.cdmims.com and at the following libraries: Oakland Main Library, Berkeley Main Library, San Leandro Main Library, Richmond Main Library, and Oakland Rockridge Library.
At the event in Golden Gate Park, FEMA honored PG&E and the Red Cross for their work getting communities ready any disaster. One of the things being handed out was a booklet entitled “Map Your Block” which talks about how important it is to get to know the people in your neighborhood, their expertise, or what equipment they might have that could be useful during a disaster.
Your child has been sentenced from 12-16 years to a re-education camp. No, we are not talking about a FEMA camp, but we may as well be.
Our Education system is rotten to the core, the Common Core, that is. Common Core is the latest of the educational fad programs which is supposedly designed to raise American school children’s academic performance. This program is insidious and bad for students and America at its core. This is a multi-part series which will examine the origins of this Common Core program, the stated goals behind the program, the real hidden agenda behind Common Core and most importantly, the threat that this program poses to our children and to the United States as whole.
One Fad After Another
Most any veteran teacher in the public school system will tell you that about every six to seven years, the American educational system embarks on the latest “miracle” designed to fix the low standardized test scores American students achieve in comparison to our international counterparts. Teachers have endured such educational faux pas from Goals 2000, to School to Work, to No Child Left Behind and now we are witnessing the latest in fad in American education, Common Core Standards.
Each one of the aforementioned program threw billions of taxpayer dollars down the toilet, while contributing to the dramatic decrease in student performance. For example, SAT Reading scores, for the high school class of 2012, reached a 40+ year low since the implementation of No Child Left Behind.
Everyone on these previous educational reform programs emanated from the United Nations organization, UNESCO. Everyone of these programs is a propaganda tool designed to dumb down our children and these programs are being remarkably effective to this end.
The Hidden Agenda Behind Common Core
The undeniable truth is that each of these United Nations inspired and failed educational programs have ulterior designs on what should be taught to our children. The undeniable fact is that the brainwashing of our children is the ultimate goal of Common Core.
Common Core is based upon social justice, arriving at knowledge and subsequent decision making through a spirit of collectivism and developing a communal agreement about the need to teach and to integrate into each classroom an underlying theme of sustainable development. These goals are not just going to be taught in specific Environmental Science courses, but these philosophies are to be implemented and taught in EACH and EVERY course that a child takes during their educational experiences beginning with pre-K and stretching to post graduate secondary education.
Agenda 21 Controls Your Child’s Mind
For the more aware of the readers, you surely recognize the terms, sustainable development, social justice and collectivism as staples of the philosophy which underlies Agenda 21.
Globalist and Eugenics proponent, Bill Gates, is one of the Founding Fathers of the Common Core movement and its copyright holders, NGA/CCSSO. Gates donated about $25 million dollars to promote his version of global education. Gates has made several donations to CCSSO to promote Common Core. In 2009, Gates made two separate donations of $9,961,842 and $3,185,750.cIn 2010, Gates donated $743,331 and in 2011, he contributed $9,388,911 . In 2008, Gates donated $2,259,780 to the National Governor’s Association (NGA) to develop and implement Common Core. The NGA is the conduit into America from the United Nations UNESCO, Education for All Agenda 21 version of globalist education being forced down the throats of our young people.
Gates is listed as partner with UNESCO/UN to fund ”Education For All,” which in turn was transferred to the NGA which changed the name to Common Core. In a key document, The Dakar Framework for Action: Education For All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments’ which identifies the goals for what became Common Core. The document speaks directly to the Agenda 21 educational ideals of collectivism, social justice, environmental justice and the espousing of the beliefs of the pseudoscience known as sustainable development.
Chapter 36
Chapter 36 of Agenda 21 Public Awareness and Training focuses on impressing upon every citizen on the planet, the indispensable need for achieving sustainable development. In plain language, Common Core is going into every country. The implementation names of this global education may vary, but the underlying Agenda 21 philosophies do not. Chapter 36 also states that the globalists plan to “reorient” worldwide education toward sustainable development. In future installments in this series, the weak academic standards of Common Core will be revealed. Reform of the nation’s standardized objectives is merely a smoke screen to the true intent of the program which is to for acceptance for Agenda 21 policies. Subsequently, the Agenda 21/UNESCO documents clearly state their intention to turn each student into a globalist who will accept smaller living space, residing in the stack and pack cities of the future, acceptance of drastic energy reduction and the loss of Constitutional liberties. The document goes on to say that “While basic education provides the underpinning for any environmental and development education, the latter needs to be incorporated as an essential part of learning. Both formal and non-formal education are indispensable to changing people’s attitudes so that they have the capacity to assess and address their sustainable development concerns. It is also critical for achieving environmental and ethical awareness, values and attitudes, skills and behaviour consistent with sustainable developmentand for effective public participation in decision-making. To be effective, environment and development education should deal with the dynamics of both the physical/biological and socio-economic environment and human (which may include spiritual) development, should be integrated in all disciplines, and should employ formal and non-formal methods.”
Please take note of reference to spiritual education. The implication is subtle, but undeniable. This phrase opens the door to the evisceration of the Christian religion. This phrase allows Common Core to propagandize school children into belittling the importance of Jesus Christ. And what will Christianity be replaced with? Anyone who has read the Agenda 21 documents in earnest, understands that the replacement for Christianity has been groomed for decades, and that replacement is the pagan religion called GAIA.
GAIA changes the Christian worldview significantly. Christians fundamentally believe that God gave dominion over the earth to man with the remainder of the hierarchy consisting of animal, fish, plants and finally, the earth. GAIA teachers that the earth reigns supreme followed by animal, fish, plants, and man in last place. This is a decidedly anti-human agenda. The undeniable conclusion is that your children will receive cleverly crafted lessons designed to lessen the appreciation for their own worth as a human being. This is the beginning of spiritual enslavement paradigm which will accompany the already implemented policies of economic enslavement presently being thrust upon the American people through the acquisition of massive debt created by the globalists.
When Common Core is fully implemented in 2015 and your child begins being assessed on thePARCC and Smarter Balanced assessments, your child will be an Agenda 21 globalist minion in training. This is not a warning about what will be, the enemy is inside the gates propagandizing your child.
Education Without Representation
The Common Core is an untested, federally promoted, unfunded experiment. The standards creators (NGA/CCSSO) have not set up a monitoring plan to test this national experiment, to see what, if any, unintended consequences the Common Core will have on our children. This is a game Russian Roulette being played on the socio-emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of our children’s development.
No teacher and no school board member was asked to contribute to the Common Core standards. Nor was any State Legislature involved in the creation of this monstrosity.
Under this plan, every teacher will teach the same material with the same teaching strategies as every other teacher. This is the 21st Century educational version of the Stepford Wives. The Tenth Amendment is dead and individual freedom is being stamped out.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, the more serious threats to our children’s educational futures, under this misguided plan, is laid out here on lisaleaks.
Its summary states: “In order to realize the world’s commitment to ensuring education for all by 2015, important innovations and reforms will be needed in the governance and financing of global education. In 2008, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama committed to making sure that every child has the chance to learn by creating a Global Fund for Education. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recently called for a new architecture of global cooperation… A new Global Fund for Education… must be capable of mobilizing the approximately $7 billion annually still needed to achieve education for all, while holding all stakeholders accountablefor achieving results with these resources. None of these objectives will be achieved without a major rethinking of the global education architecture and an evolution of current mechanisms for financing education… Achieving these two Millennium Development Goals, and the broader Education for All Goals… will require more capable international institutions.”
I have to ask three questions as I read this:
Since when do nations collectively finance global education?
Since when has the whole world agreed onwhat should be taught to the whole world?
Since when is the United States of America reduced to “accountable stakeholder” status over its own educational and financial decisionmaking?
So Obama created a global education fund, using U.S. taxpayer money. I don’t remember voting on this.
And Hilary Clinton is misusing the word “inclusiveness” to now mean “no more independent sovereignty for anyone.” Meanwhile, there’s a United Nations/UNESCO program called “Education For All” that involves the same ideas and the very same key people as “Common Core”. And there’s also an “Education, Public Awareness and Training” chapter in the U.N.’s Agenda 21 goals.
Both the U.N.’s educational goals (via UNESCO and “Education for All” ) and “Common Core” do sound very appealing on the surface. Each seeks to educate by teaching the exact same standards to all children (and adults) on a national or a global scale. But both supercede local control over what is taught to students, and both dismiss the validity and importance of the U.S. Constitution implicitly.
Common Core is the ‘new’ inventory and control system adopted by nearly every state in the US to fully implement Skinnerian Training. This system creates people who will go along to get along, who will be ‘good obedient citizens’. RESIST! TELL YOUR SCHOOL BOARD THAT YOU WANT OUT OF COMMON CORE. This is a top down federal/global system for pseudo-education and is a tremendous threat to our independence as individuals and as a nation.
For anyone who has been living under an education reform rock, know this: Gates is the single biggest promoter and funder of Common Core, bar none.) So, Fordham’s and Manhattan Institute’s writers should not be expected to be objective about Common Core.
The National Review writes that it is a ”right-of-center” organization, as if that claim is a “trust-me” pass. This is meaningless in Common Core land because, as Emmett McGroarty of the American Principles Project, has said, ”Opposition to Common Core cuts across the left-right spectrum. It gets back to who should control our children’s education — people in Indiana or people in Washington?”
But we should clarify that oodles of Democrats and Republicans sell or benefit from Common Core implementation. That is the top reason for the gold rush anxiety to promote the national standards. A secondary reason is lemminghood (misplaced and unproven trust).
Republican Jeb Bush is behind the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a nongovernmental group which pushes Common Core and is, of course, funded by Gates. Republican Rupert Murdoch owns not only Fox News, but also the common core implementation company Wireless Generation that’s creating common core testing technology. Democrat Bob Corcoran, President of GE Foundation (author of cap and trade and carbon footprint taxes to profit GE on green tech) and 49% owner of NBC also bribed the PTA to promote Common Core, and gave an additional $18 million to the states to push common core implementation. Corcoran was seen recently hobnobbing with Utah’s Republican Lt. Governor Greg Bell, business leaders in the Chamber of Commerce, and has testified in the education committee that the opponents of Common Core in Utah “are liars”. Meanwhile, Republican Todd Huston of Indiana got his largest campaign donation from David Coleman, common core ELA architect; then, after Huston was elected as an Indiana State Representative and placed on Indiana’s education committee, Coleman hired Huston to be on the College Board. They are both profiting from the alignment of and AP courses and alignment of the SAT to the Common Core. And of course, Huston’s listed on Jeb Bush’s controversial Foundation for Excellence in Education. Even my own Republican Governor Herbert of Utah serves on the elite executive committee of NGA, the Common Core founding group. He doesn’t make money this way, but he does make lots of corporations happy.
I could go on and on about the Common Core gold-and-glory rush. I have barely touched the countless Democrats who promote Common Core for gain. But I don’t want to be up all night.
So, on to the liberals and/or not-right wing radicals who oppose Common Core:
Still, political funders of the standards and corporations selling its implementation try to get away with marginalizing the opposition. But it can’t be done honestly. Because it’s not a fight between left and right.
This battle is between the collusion of corporate greed and political muscle versus the individual voter.
It’s a battle between the individual student, teacher, or parent– versus huge public/private partnerships. That’s the David and Goliath here.
Click to enlarge
The Common Core movement is not about what’s best for children. It’s about greed and political control. A simple test: if Common Core was about helping students achieve legitimate classical education, wouldn’t the Common Core experiment have been based on empirical study and solid educator backing?
Did the authors of the Hogwash article really not know that Common Core wasn’t based on anything like empirical data but simply fluffed up on empty promises and rhetoric, from the beginning.
Where’s the basis for what proponents call ”rigorous,” ”internationally competitive,” and “research-based?” Why won’t the proponents point to proof of “increased rigor” the way the opponents point to proof of increased dumbing down? We know they are fibbing because we know there is no empirical evidence for imposing this experiment on students in America. The emperor of Common Core is wearing no clothes.
The National Review authors insist that Common Core is not a stealth “leftist indoctrination” plot by the Obama administration. But that’s what it looks like when you study the reformers and what they create.
First, let’s look at the Common Core textbooks. Virtually every textbook company in America is aligning now with Common Core. (So even the states who rejected Common Core, and even private schools and home schools are in trouble; how will they find new textbooks that reflect Massachusetts-high standards?)
Pearson’s latest textbooks show extreme environmentalism and a global citizen creating agenda that marginalizes national constitutions and individual rights in favor of global collectivism. The biggest education sales company of all the Common Core textbook and technology sales monsters on the planet is Pearson, which is led by mad ”Deliverology” globalist Sir Michael Barber. Watch his speeches.
He doesn’t just lead Pearson, the company that is so huge it’s becoming an anti-trust issue. Sir Michael Barber also speaks glowingly of public private partnerships, of political “revolution,” ”global citizenship” and a need for having global data collection and one set of educational standards for the entire planet. He’s a political machine. Under his global common core, diversity, freedom and local control of education need not apply.
But they are wrong in saying that Common Core isn’t a road map to indoctrinating students into far left philosophy. Power players like Linda Darling-Hammond and Congressman Chaka Fattah ram socialism and redistribution down America’s throat in education policy, while Pearson pushes it in the curriculum.
Study her further here to learn the groups she works for, what’s in the books she writes, how many times she quoted herself in her report for the U.S. equity commission, and what she said in last summer’s speech to UNESCO about the need to take swimming pools away from students.
So yes, there is an undeniable socialism push in Common Core textbooks and in the Department of Education.
The National Review’s authors claim Common Core won’t “eliminate American children’s core knowledge base in English, language arts and history.” By cutting classic literature by 70% for high school seniors, they are absolutely doing exactly that. The article says that Common Core doesn’t mandate the slashing of literature. Maybe not. But the tests sure will.
Classic literature is sacred. Its removal from American schools is an affront to our humanity.
Common Core doesn’t mandate which books to cut; the National Review is correct on that point; but it does pressure English teachers to cut out large selections of great literature, somewhere. And not just a little bit. Tons!
Informational text belongs in other classes, not in English. To read boring, non-literary articles even if they are not all required to be Executive Orders, insulation manuals, or environmental studies (as the major portion of the English language curriculum) is to kill the love of reading.
What will the slashing do to the students’ appreciation for the beauty of the language, to the acquisition of rich vocabulary, to the appreciation for the battle between good and evil?
We become compassionate humans by receiving and passing on classic stories. Souls are enlarged by exposure to the characters, the imagery, the rich vocabulary, the poetic language and the endless forms of the battle between good and evil, that live in classic literature.
Classic stories create a love for books that cannot be acquired in any other way. Dickens, Shakespeare, Hugo, Orwell, Dostoevsky, Rand, Marquez, Cisneros, Faulkner, Fitzgerald– where would we be without the gifts of these great writers and their writings? Which ones will English teachers cut away first to make room for informational text?
The sly and subtle change will have the same effect on our children as if Common Core had mandated the destruction of a certain percentage of all classic literature.
How does it differ from book burning in its ultimate effects?
Cutting out basic math skills, such as being able to convert fractions to decimals, is criminal. Proponents call this learning “fewer but deeper” concepts. I call it a sin. Common Core also delays the age at which students should be able to work with certain algorithms, putting students years behind our mathematical competitors in Asia.
For specific curricular reviews of Common Core standards, read Dr. Sandra Stotsky’s and Dr. Ze’ev Wurman’s math and literature reviews in the appendix of the white paper by Pioneer Institute. (See exhibit A and exhibit B, page 24.)
The National Review claims that the standards “simply delineate what children should know at each grade level and describe the skills that they must acquire to stay on course toward college or career readiness” and claim they are not a ceiling but a floor. This is a lie. The standards are bound by a 15% rule; there’s no adding to them beyond 15%. That’s not a ceiling?
The article claims that ”college and career readiness” doesn’t necessarily mean Common Core. Well, it does, actually. The phrase has been defined on the ed. gov website as meaning sameness of standards to a significant number of states. I would give you a link but this week, so oddly, the Department of Education has removed most of its previous pages. You can see it reposted here:
The article insists that Common Core is not a curriculum; it’s up to school districts to choose curricula that comply with the standards. Sure. But as previously noted: 1) all the big textbook companies have aligned to Common Core. Where are the options? 2) Common core tests and the new accountability measures put on teachers who will lose their jobs if students don’t score well on Common Core tests will ensure that teachers will only teach Common Core standards. 3) Test writers are making model curriculum and it’s going to be for sale, for sure.
The article falsely claims that “curriculum experts began to devise” the standards. Not so: the architect of Common Core ELA standards (and current College Board president) is not, nor ever has been, an educator. In fact, that architect made the list of Top Ten Scariest People in Education Reform. A top curriculum professor has pointed out that the developers of Common Core never consulted with top curricular universities at all.
The article claims that states who have adopted Common Core could opt out, “and they shouldn’t lose a dime if they do” –but Title I monies have been threatened, and the No Child Left Behind waiver is temporary on conditions of following Common Core, and for those states who did get Race to the Top money (not my state, thank goodness) the money would have to be returned. Additionally, every state got ARRA stimulus money to build a federally interoperable State Longitudinal Database System. Do we want to give back millions and millions to ensure that we aren’t part of the de facto national database of children’s longitudinal school-collected, personally identifiable information?
The article states that the goal is to have children read challenging texts that will build their vocabulary and background knowledge. So then why not read more –not less– actual literature?
The article also leaves out any analysis of the illegality of Common Core. The arrangement appears to be illegal. Under the Constitution and under the General Educational Provisions Act (GEPA) the federal government is restricted from even supervising education.
GEPA states: “No provision of any applicable program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer, or employee of the United States to exercise any direction, supervision, or control over the curriculum, program of instruction, administration, or personnel of any educational institution, school, or school system, or over the selection of library resources, textbooks, or other printed or published instructional materials by any educational institution or school system…”
And for those still believing the federal government isn’t “exercising direction, supervision or control” of the school system, look at a few things.
2. The federal mandate that testing consoria must synchronize “across consortia,” that status updates and phone conferences must be made available to the Dept. of Education regularly, and that data collected must be shared with the federal government “on an ongoing basis”
3. The recent federal alteration of privacy laws that have taken away parental consent over student data collection.
Finally: the “most annoying manipulation tactic” award for the National Review Article is a tie between the last two sentences of the National Review article, which, combined, say, “Conservatives used to be in favor of holding students to high standards… aren’t they still?” Please.
Let’s rephrase it:
Americans used to be in favor of legitimate, nonexperimental standards for children that were unattached to corporate greed and that were constitutionally legal… Aren’t we still?
Our schools instill blind obedience to authority..
There are very few families that even think we have a problem with our schools.
Its summary states: “In order to realize the world’s commitment to ensuring education for all by 2015, important innovations and reforms will be needed in the governance and financing of global education. In 2008, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama committed to making sure that every child has the chance to learn by creating a Global Fund for Education. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has recently called for a new architecture of global cooperation… A new Global Fund for Education… must be capable of mobilizing the approximately $7 billion annually still needed to achieve education for all, while holding all stakeholders accountablefor achieving results with these resources. None of these objectives will be achieved without a major rethinking of the global education architecture and an evolution of current mechanisms for financing education… Achieving these two Millennium Development Goals, and the broader Education for All Goals… will require more capable international institutions.”
I have to ask three questions:
Since when do nations collectively finance global education?
Since when has the whole world agreed onwhat should be taught to the whole world?
Since when is the United States of America reduced to “accountable stakeholder” status over its own educational and financial decision-making?
So Obama created a global education fund, using U.S. taxpayer money. I don’t remember voting on this.
And Hilary Clinton is misusing the word “inclusiveness” to now mean “no more independent sovereignty for anyone.” Meanwhile, there’s a United Nations/UNESCO program called “Education For All” that involves the same ideas and the very same key people as “Common Core”. And there’s also an “Education, Public Awareness and Training” chapter in the U.N.’s Agenda 21 goals.
Both the U.N.’s educational goals (via UNESCO and “Education for All” ) and “Common Core” do sound very appealing on the surface. Each seeks to educate by teaching the exact same standards to all children (and adults) on a national or a global scale. But both supercede local control over what is taught to students, and both dismiss the validity and importance of the U.S. Constitution implicitly.
An interesting quiz was published at The Progressive… they challenge readers to test their public ed savvy. These are the last four questions and answers:
7. Common Core Standards were developed because
a) parents worry that US children score far below other countries on international tests.
b) teachers lack the skills to craft adequate curriculum and wanted help.
c) state departments of education asked for them.
d) of grass-roots concern that children need special tools to compete in the Global Economy.
e) the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation paid for them
8. Common Core Standards in literacy were written by
a) classroom teachers.
b) child psychologists.
c) university researchers.
d) business leaders.
e) a lawyer who specializes in “standards-driven reform” and someone whose background is in Management Consulting, who once tutored children while studying at Yale.
9. The new Common Core tests
a) let the teachers know exactly what each student needs to learn next.
b) give parents evidence teachers are doing their job.
c) ensure that standards are being met.
d) give principals a fair way to evaluate teachers.
e) make fiscal demands many districts cannot meet.
10. The new online feature of Common Core testing
a) will reduce administration costs.
b) will streamline student evaluation.
c) offers new opportunities for creativity.
d) will lead to more individualized learning.
e) means students will be tested many more times each year.
History of Southern Jewish Communities Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga sits in a bend of the Tennessee River, at a point where the ridges and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains flatten out into the Cumberland Plateau. The city’s location at this strategic geographic crossroads bestowed equal parts of good fortune and misery upon its residents, and the area bore witness to many of the nation’s great tragedies and triumphs.
The Cherokee Indians moved into the area in the late 1700s, and by the early 1800s built a settlement named Ross’s Landing. Following the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, Ross’s Landing served as one of the three primary “emigration depots,” where members of the Cherokee Nation were assembled prior to their forced march westward along the Trail of Tears. Rail transportation came to Chattanooga in the 1850s, and in the following decades the city emerged as a major transportation hub between the South, the Midwest and the Eastern Seaboard. Goods and travelers poured through the town, and large railroad yards grew to support the burgeoning traffic. But Chattanooga’s increasing prominence also rendered it a tactical priority for both the Union and Confederate armies soon after the commencement of hostilities. The opposing forces fought a number of battles for control of the town and the surrounding heights before the city finally fell into Union hands following General Grant’s victory in the Third Battle of Chattanooga in November of 1863.
Although there is some record of Jewish settlement in Chattanooga prior to the Civil War, the beginnings of the first Jewish community appeared in Chattanooga in the years following the war. Emigrants Fannie Schwartzenberg Bach and Jacob Bach arrived in Chattanooga in the 1860s from their home in Germany. The Bachs began holding services in their home in 1866, primarily for the Jewish soldiers who remained in Chattanooga following the conclusion of the war. Jacob Bach served as the congregation’s first lay rabbi, cantor, mohel, and shochet (ritual slaughterer).
In May of 1866, 21 young Jewish men organized a group named Chebra Gamilas Chaced, The Hebrew Benevolent Association, and received a formal state charter the following year. The group purchased a parcel of land for a cemetery at the corner of east Third and Collins Street for the sum of $225. In addition to providing a resting ground for Jewish community members, the association arranged for the bodies of Jewish soldiers fallen in the battles around Chattanooga to be exhumed and reburied in the new cemetery.
Many of the leaders of the Hebrew Benevolent Association went into the retail business, and some realized substantial profits during the Civil War and subsequent Reconstruction. Morris Bradt, one of the group’s founding members, emigrated from Prussia and settled with his wife Julia in Chattanooga in the 1860s after spending some time in Pennsylvania. By the time of the 1870 census, he was a successful merchant and among the larger property owners in the town. Joseph Spitzer, another founding member and emigrant from Hungary, arrived in Chattanooga after living a number of years in Pennsylvania. In Chattanooga, he established a successful lumber dealership that thrived during the post-war rebuilding years. By 1870 he and his wife Babhetta presided over a large household that included their five children, a live-in servant and three single Jewish boarders recently arrived in Chattanooga: Henry Deutsch, a 36 year old silversmith from Germany; 27 year old Samuel Geismar, a dry goods merchant from Baden; and George Schenk, a 27 year old Tailor from Prussia.
The fledgling congregation received a boost with the arrival of Rabbi E. K. Fischer in 1869. He served as a volunteer rabbi for the following two years, established a religious school, and oversaw the relocation of meetings to the Concordia Hall on Market Street. After Fischer stepped down in 1871 due to ill health, Dr. Marx Block assumed leadership of the congregation. Block, a druggist and wholesale merchant from Alsace-Lorraine, and his wife Delphine played a prominent role in early Chattanooga Jewish life. In 1877, Delphine organized the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society with a founding membership of 33 women.
As the congregation grew, so did the business successes of Chattanooga’s Jewish residents. In 1878, nineteen year-old Adolph Ochs borrowed $250 to purchase a controlling share in The Chattanooga Times, and ultimately built a newspaper publishing dynasty that extended far beyond Chattanooga and charted a new course for American journalism.
Ochs was born in 1858 to German immigrant parents Julius and Bertha Levy Ochs. The family lived in Cincinnati, but moved to Knoxville, Tennessee during the Civil War due to Bertha’s sympathies with the Confederacy. Julius supported the Union but even with their conflicting loyalties the family fared well in Tennessee, a border state where many residents harbored mixed allegiances. Adolph left school at a young age to work as a printer’s assistant at The Knoxville Chronicle and later at The Knoxville Tribune.
After purchasing his controlling interest in the struggling Chattanooga Times, Ochs rapidly restored the paper to solvency and success. Ochs ignored the common practice at the time of accepting payments to promote certain agendas or interests, instead declaring that “we shall conduct our business on business principles, neither seeking nor giving sops and donations.” By 1880 Ochs was able to buy out the remaining half interest, and brought his father Julius and two brothers, George and Milton, to help with the paper.
Ochs earned national recognition for his success in Chattanooga, and in 1896 he assumed control of the heavily debt-ridden New York Times. Ochs immediately set about differentiating the Times from the “yellow journalism” rags predominant in the city. In contrast, Ochs advertised his paper as “clean, dignified, trustworthy and impartial,” and adopting the motto of “all the news that’s fit to print.” By his third year at the helm, the Times was profitable and expanded rapidly in subsequent decades.
Even after his triumph at the New York Times, Ochs continued to publish his Chattanooga paper, and contributed generously to the city. Ochs helped build Chattanooga’s public library, as well as roads, hospitals, public parks and an opera house. In 1883 he married Effie Miriam Wise, daughter of Hebrew Union College and Union of American Hebrew Congregations founder Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise. The Hebrew Benevolent Association officially affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations the same year. In 1888, Harry Wise Sr., a son of Isaac Wise, also moved to Chattanooga, further cementing ties between the Chattanooga congregation and the Reform movement.
The congregation’s first temple, built in 1882, occupied a lot on Walnut Street near Fifth. The group formally adopted the name of “Mitzpah” (soon dropping the “t” to become “Mizpah”) in 1888. The Hebrew word “Mitzpah” literally translates to “overlook” or “lookout” and most likely refers to Lookout Mountain or the other elevations around Chattanooga. In 1904, they built a new synagogue on the corner of Lindsay and Oak Streets, which served the congregation for the next 24 years.
Beginning in the 1880s, increasing numbers of Jewish arrivals from Eastern Europe began to settle in the area, carrying with them aspirations for a better life and traditional Jewish beliefs. In 1880, twenty-eight year old Wolfe Brody and his wife Dora brought their family to Chattanooga from Poland, and encouraged others to settle in the city. Brody opened a clothing retail business, grew successful, and others soon followed his lead. Dora built the city’s first mikvah, or ritual bath, by digging a pit in her backyard and putting a wooden box inside. She also provided board for the numerous itinerant peddlers who returned to the city for the Sabbath and holidays.
Business networking brought a growing number of Eastern European Jews to Chattanooga. In the late 1880s, brothers Halman and Rueben Blumberg settled in Chattanooga and established a peddler’s supply business. The Blumbergs regularly traveled to New York to recruit new peddlers and ended up bringing approximately forty immigrants to the Chattanooga area. The Blumbergs paid the railroad fare from New York, supplied the peddlers with merchandise, and assisted them in establishing routes. By 1918, approximately 1,400 Jews lived in Chattanooga.
Wolfe and Dora Brody initially held Orthodox services at their home, and the peddlers and merchants returned from outlying areas every Friday to observe the Sabbath with the community. The group formally adopted the name of B’nai Zion in 1888 and rented a succession of halls and buildings for services. Mr. J Friedman conducted services and also served as cantor and shochet. For a number of years the congregation rented a building at 1027 Carter Street which was destroyed by fire in the 1890s. One of the congregants, L. Slabosky, rushed into the roaring flames to save the Torah scrolls. He escaped from the building with the salvaged scrolls, but soon collapsed from the smoke and the heat and never fully recovered from the fire. The congregation bought land for a cemetery in 1890 after Mizpah Congregation stopped accepting non-member burials. By 1902 many of the members were financially stable, and contributed funds to build a large Romanesque synagogue at the corner of Fourteenth and Carter streets. Despite his own ties to the Reform congregation, Adolph Ochs assisted their efforts with a large contribution.
During this period, a second Orthodox congregation formed in the city. In 1904, a small group began meeting in a rented space on Poplar Street, before moving into a building shared with the Workman’s Circle. The congregation, Shaari-Zion, persisted for approximately 40 years, many of them under the leadership of lay Rabbi Herschel Contor. In addition to his role at Shaari Zion, Contor supported his large family by working as a store clerk. In 1941, the congregation had 65 member families and its own cemetery.
The Jewish congregations in Chattanooga grew steadily through the first decades of the 20th century. In 1904, Mizpah built a large new temple on Linsday and Oak Streets, but within a short time the congregation outgrew this building as well, reaching a membership of 153 by the close of World War I. In 1924, Adolph Ochs pledged funds for a new structure, in memory of his parents. Planning quickly commenced, and the Julius and Bertha Ochs Memorial Temple opened in 1928 on McCallie Avenue. By the 1920s, B’nai Zion members began to move away from the Carter Street neighborhood, and also began to look for a new structure closer to the congregant’s homes. After a successful fundraising initiative, the group built a new synagogue on Vine Street in 1931.
During this period, both congregations experienced relatively high turnover among spiritual leaders. Rabbi Julian Miller served at Mizpah from 1907 through 1919, and was succeeded by Rabbi Abraham Holzberg and Rabbi Samuel Shillman. A revolving retinue of Rabbis led B’nai Zion for brief periods before the arrival of Rabbi Maisel, who led the congregation from 1921 through 1934.
Relations between the two congregations were frosty on occasion, but the differences softened over time. Elihu Winer grew up in the B’nai Zion congregation in the 1920s, and studied at Vanderbilt and Yale before pursuing a career as a playwright and screenwriter. In an article for Opinion magazine, he recalls that: “for decades there existed a sharp cleavage between the two groups, with one clinging to a recently acquired tradition of emancipation and enlightenment, the other clinging just as tenaciously to the older tradition of the synagogue.” But as the Eastern European Jews advanced financially and acclimated to American society, the groups began to mingle and participate in shared social functions.
Elihu recounts that an internal generational and ideological debate complicated B’nai Zion’s 1931 move to Vine Street. He writes: “the urge to … be modern, up-to-date, was very strong and caused many defections from the ranks of orthodoxy. The old men of the shule held fast to their heritage, and refused to yield at all in matters of ritual … and continued to guide their actions as if the younger generations didn’t exist.” The desire to build a new synagogue in the 1920s was a conscious effort to modernize the congregation in some respects. The new synagogue was to be “a new building … in a nicer section of the city, a house of worship that would compare favorably with the Temple. Eventually the older men realized that something had to be done if the youngsters were to be held in line. They agreed to build a new shule.”
By the early twentieth century, the Jewish community of Chattanooga supported a wide array of social clubs and activities. Early organizations included branches of B’nai Brith, Hadassah, he Chattanooga Farband, the Workman’s Circle, the YMHA (Young Men’s Hebrew Association), the Young Judea Club, Jewish Boy Scouts of America as well as men’s and women’s and children’s clubs affiliated with the congregations. By the early 1920s, Mizpah operated a Sunday School with 124 children. B’nai Zion organized a Religious School in 1934 with a beginning enrollment of 60 children.
Chattanoogan Harry Miller organized the Chattanooga Jewish Welfare Agency in 1931, supporting Jewish and public causes in Chattanooga and around the country. In 1938, the CJWA obtained a formal charter as the Chattanooga Jewish Federation. The Chattanooga Jewish Community Center was organized in 1944 and operated independently until merging with the Federation in 1993.
In the first half of the twentieth century Chattanooga emerged as a major center for manufacturing and industry, earning the city the nickname “The Dynamo of Dixie.” Jewish residents played a central role in the city’s economic growth, engaging in a wide variety of industries and businesses. Some worked in retail, building many of Chattanooga’s largest stores. In 1920, Abe and Lou Effron opened a large clothing store that soon occupied a three story building at the corner of Sixth and Market Streets. In 1921, Harry Miller, founder of the CJWA, opened The Vogue, a high-end ladies retail shop that operated for over half a century.
Others participated in the city’s thriving industries. In 1895 Robert Siskin and his wife Anna left their home in Lithuania, like many other immigrants, with no specific destination in mind. On the trip, a friend told him about opportunities in Chattanooga, and Siskin decided to travel with him to the area. Upon arrival, Siskin began working as a traveling peddler. He saved diligently, and in 1900 he and a partner opened a scrap metal business using $6 in startup capital and a rented lot. Siskin soon bought out his partner and renamed the business R.H. Siskin and Sons.
The business was modestly successful, and by 1910 the family still lived in a rented home and Robert still spent a good deal of time on the road seeking trade opportunities. Robert passed away in 1926, and left the business to his two sons Mose and Garrison, who successfully expanded the business. During World War II, the demand for scrap metal skyrocketed, and the Siskin operation grew. In 1949 the company moved beyond the scrap business, and began distributing new steel and other metal products. The company thrives today, and had net sales of over $159 million in 2003.
The Siskin brothers gave generously to the Chattanooga Jewish community and the general public. After recovering from a near fatal train accident in 1942, Garrison pledged to devote his substantial resources to helping others. The brothers established the Siskin Memorial Foundation in 1950, supporting a variety of local causes. In 1990, the foundation provided funding for Chattanooga’s Siskin Hospital for Physical Rehabilitation.
Despite the continued success of businesses such as the Siskin’s, the city of Chattanooga as well as its Jewish community began to decline in the post-war years. From a peak of 3800 in 1937, the Jewish population of Chattanooga slid over 40% to 2200 by 1948. The loss of manufacturing jobs shrunk the city’s economic base while the growth of suburban centers diminished the city’s population. The very same mountains of such strategic importance in earlier times captured the smog from the city’s industries, and by 1969 the federal government determined Chattanooga’s air to be the dirtiest in the nation.
Although the population declined to some degree, the Chattanooga Jewish community maintained a critical population mass and continued to support a full range of communal activities in the most war years, and even found new opportunities for growth. In the early 1960s, members of B’nai Zion changed the congregation’s affiliation from Orthodox to Modern Conservative and joined the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. The congregation also purchased an investment property on McBrien Road in Brainerd. After a number of years, the group built a new facility at the new site and moved in 1975. Mizpah Congregation continued to occupy the original 1928 Ochs building, albeit altered through the course of multiple renovations and additions.
Following B’nai Zion’s switch to Conservative Judaism, a small faction among the members decided to organize a separate Orthodox congregation. B’nai Zion member Morris Ellman led the organization of a new congregation named Beth Sholom. The group purchased a property on Pisgah Avenue in Brainerd. In 1977, the Beth Sholom building was bombed and completely destroyed by a notorious racist, anti-semite, and psychopath. The perpetrator was later apprehended and convicted in the bombing and other assaults, including shooting a man outside of a St. Louis synagogue in 1977. The indomitable Beth Sholom members rebuilt the same year. While the congregation has shrunk in recent years, the members of Beth Shalom continue to worship regularly in their synagogue.
A 2000 study of the Chattanooga Jewish community estimated the population at around 1400 members, a significant drop from its pre-World War II peak. Despite the diminished numbers, the remaining Jewish Chattanoogans continue to support a broad range of religious and communal functions. The city has recently embarked upon major revitalization campaigns aimed at improving the local environment and city infrastructure, and the Jewish residents of Chattanooga continue to play a vital role in the city’s economy and civic life.
From the practical point of view, it is obvious, whatever the case may be, that one hypothesis leads to the same consequences as the other. Politically and socially, Masonry and Judaism combine into one and the same campaign, against which it is good to fight, whether by doing so one fights simply a humanitarian, levelling utopianism, having its principle and its end in itself, or whether, on the other hand, one may by doing so paralyse one of the main instruments in the service of the occult will-to-power of a race which is not ours, and whose triumph, visible or invisible, could only mean the decline of the highest heritage of the best Indo-European civilisation. - Julius Evola (1898-1974)
The European view of the absurdity of Barack Obama, a Zionist warmonger, getting the Nobel Peace Prize by Roger Chappatte of Le Temps(Geneva)
“Paramount among the responsibilities of a free press is the duty to prevent any part of the government from deceiving the people and sending them off to distant lands to die of foreign fevers and foreign shot and shell.”
- Hugo Black, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1886-1971)
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
- U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
“The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.”
- Vladimir Lenin, founder of several newspapers and the Russian Communist Party (1870-1924)
“The press is not only free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy.”
- Benjamin Disraeli, first Jewish prime minister of Britain (1804-1881)
“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”
- Thomas Jefferson to John Norvell, 1807
“There are laws to protect the freedom of the press’s speech, but none that are worth anything to protect the people from the press.”
- Mark Twain, American author (1835-1910)
The false-flag terror attacks of 9-11 should serve as a giant red light for the American people. If the mass murder of thousands of our fellow citizens doesn’t shake us out of our political apathy, nothing will. The events of 9-11 and the criminal cover-up of the truth of what really happened that day are like the visible tip of a treacherous iceberg. The media cover-up of the real evidence of 9-11 provides us with the most obvious evidence that the United States is ruled by a very nasty crimocracy and their wholly-owned media.
The crimocracy that runs the U.S. government is evidently controlled by a Jewish secret society and is protected from exposure by the fact that the same secret society owns and controls the mass media: lock, stock, and barrel. This can be seen most clearly in how the mass media has completely avoided any discussion of the evidence that shows that 9-11 was an elaborate false-flag terror attack designed to kick-start the Zionist fraud known as the “War on Terror.” For example, to this day not a single mass media news outlet has even addressed the crucial discovery of chips of super-thermite in the dust of the pulverized World Trade Center. This shows that the owners of the controlled media are complicit in a massive criminal conspiracy to cover-up what really happened on 9-11.
As an independent journalist I have investigated 9-11 since the day of the attacks. Having discovered solid evidence of Israeli involvement in the terror attacks, I have investigated these leads for eight years and found that at every nodal point of the attacks and subsequent cover-up was a Zionist Jew in the key position of control. Michael Chertoff, for example, the son of a Israeli Mossad agent, supervised the non-investigation of 9-11 as the Assistant Attorney General of the U.S.
Michael Chertoff, the Israeli son of a Mossadnik, supervised the non-investigation of 9-11 and the confiscation and destruction of crucial evidence, such as the Thermite-melted steel columns of the World Trade Center.
My most unusual point-of-view concerning 9-11 has given me greater insight and a different perspective than any other journalist writing about this subject. I am the only American journalist to have suffered a brutal attack and torture with TASER by a three-man tactical squad of heavily-armed undercover police at his home and then forced to endure malicious prosecution, a form of pay-back from the criminals running the United States.
Christopher Bollyn suffered a broken elbow and malicious TASERing in a pre-planned assault by a special undercover police unit in August 2006. The controlled media avoided mentioning that Bollyn was a working journalist, something that would have been hard to finesse in a nation that supposedly respects the freedom of the press.
As Thomas Jefferson wrote about the misinformation in the press: “The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.” I am in such a situation. I am in the position to confront the media lies about 9-11 with the facts, which is the main reason I was brutally attacked by an undercover tactical police squad and subsequently fired as a journalist from a controlled paper in Washington, D.C.
I have been attacked by numerous Zionist-controlled media outlets, such as Rupert Murdoch’s FOX News, Gerald Levin’s CNN/TimeWarner, and Sam Zell’s Chicago Tribune. These Jewish media moguls are members of the Zionist secret society B’nai B’rith and are dedicated to defend and protect the state of Israel. Their ham-fisted attacks against me revealed their commitment to the Zionist agenda to protect the deception about 9-11.
Gerald Manuel Levin, a Zionist Freemason of the B’nai B’rith, took over CNN from Ted Turner, which was the last U.S. mass media news outlet in the hands of a non-Jew.
Gerald Levin, the head of CNN, sent a team to my home near Chicago to interview me about 9-11. I quickly saw that the CNN reporters had no interest in the evidence of 9-11 and only wanted to get footage of me that they could use to slander me as an anti-Semite. Their hit piece aired on CNN the day before my trial was supposed to begin in the court of Hyman I. Riebman, a Zionist judge in Cook County. Gerald Levin is a member of the Media Lodge of B’nai B’rith, a lodge of the Jewish secret society that is open only to Zionist Jews who have senior positions in the media world. This is the secret vehicle of the Zionist media conspiracy. When Levin’s son was murdered in 1997, Louise E. Dembeck, a veteran lawyer and executive with TimeWarner and then president of the “Music, Entertainment and Media Division of B’nai Brith”, published a note of condolence on the obituary page of the New York Times, the secret society’s controlled mouthpiece owned by the Sulzberger family of Lodge No. 1.
Louise E. Dembeck and her Israeli “kibbutznik” husband Giora Ne’eman had earlier been indicted of serious criminal fraud in New York City. I mention this because it illustrates the kind of craven and venal person who is attracted to such secret organizations in the first place. They dream of having wealth and power and see the B’nai B’rith as the vehicle to obtaining these things. Many members of B’nai B’rith, a secret society of Jewish freemasons dedicated to a foreign state, are high-level judges in the United States. The obvious conflict of interest that arises when one of the parties of a lawsuit is connected to the state of Israel, as in the 9-11 tort litigation, and the judge is a member of a Zionist secret society is never discussed in the controlled media. With their control of the press, courts, and government, the Elder of Zionof B’nai B’rith consider themselves to be invulnerable. They know that their 9-11 crimes will never be prosecuted in a system they control.
Sam Zell, a well-known Zionist criminal from Chicago, took over the Tribune Company – and quickly plundered it. Loaded down with debt, the Chicago Tribune is sinking like a weighted corpse in the Chicago River.
Sam Zell, the man who destroyed the Chicago Tribune (and L.A. Times, Hartford Courant, Newsday, WGN, etc.), recently left the CEO position of the Tribune company. The Tribune is now fighting for survival, weighed down with billions of dollars of debts loaded onto the company when it was turned private by Zell. Zell is, however, a well-known Zionist criminal from Chicago. Criminals like Zell have a known pattern of criminal behavior, which the Chicago Tribune knew all about. The Tribune covered the story in the late 1970s when Zell and three other lawyers were indicted for having participated in “serious and calculated fraud on the United States.” Zell was only able to avoid prison by co-operating with the prosecution – and sending Roger S. Baskes, his brother-in-law to jail. Zell, Baskes, and two others had concocted an elaborate scheme using shell companies in the Bahamas to hide some $700,000 from the government. Baskes was sent to jail for two years although I don’t know how long he actually stayed in jail. Baskes is the son of Mr. Irwin Baskes. His mother, Ella Rosenberg Baskes, was a vice president of the B’nai B’rith.
TV news you watch and newspapers you read are constantly filtered by organisations that want to make sure that you read and see the “right” reports. Don’t let yourself to be brainwashed by the zionist media corporation that control the major TV channels and newspapers.
In response to attacks on September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush issued Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 (HSPD-5) in February 2003. HSPD-5 called for a National Incident Management System (NIMS). NIMS provides the doctrine, concepts, principles, terminology, and organizational processes needed for effective, efficient, and collaborative incident management at all levels. NIMS can be organized along functional lines or jurisdictional lines. When organized functionally, responses are directed by subject matter experts. When organized jurisdictionally, NIMS is organized along local (municipality and county), state, regional, and federal jurisdictions. NIMS assumes that incidents are handled at the lowest jurisdictional level possible. The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the establishment of NIMS in March 2004.
The NIMS incident management structure has three components: the Incident Command System (ICS), interagency coordination systems, and public information system.
NIMS distinguishes between command authority and coordination authority. NIMS defines “command” as “the act of directing, ordering, or controlling by virtue of statutory, regulatory, or delegated authority.” NIMS defines “coordinate” as ” to advance systematically an analysis and exchange of information among principals who have a need to know certain information to carry out specific incident management responsibilities. Command authority is vested in the incident commander, whether a single incident commander or an area commander. Coordination authority is vested in coordinating officers, whether the state coordinating officer, the federal coordinating officer, or the defense coordinating officer. Each coordinating officer has the authority to make coordinating decisions within his or her jurisdiction whether federal, state, or local.
Furthermore, NIMS recognizes that each jurisdiction has authority within its boundaries and that each agency or functional expert, such as firefighters, law enforcement, medical personnel, or environmental protection personnel, has authority within its functional arena.
Section I: Executive Authorities
President. The President is the chief executive authority regarding incidents. Under the authority of the Stafford Act, he declares incidents to be disasters or emergencies. Under the authority of the National Response Plan (NRP), he declares incidents to be of national significance. Furthermore, he can delegate authority to others to act as executive agents in matters of incident response.
Secretary of Homeland Defense. The President directs the Secretary of Homeland Secretary to take direct responsibility for domestic emergencies.
Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) authorizes military support to civil authorities (MSCA), discussed in Chapter 3, for domestic incidents as directed by the President or when consistent with military readiness operations and appropriate under the circumstances and the law. In accordance with HSPD-5, the SECDEF retains command of military forces under MSCA. Only the SECDEF can authorize the deployment of forces for military assistance to civil authorities (MACA) missions. SECDEF will decide whether or not units will be armed when performing military support to civilian law enforcement agencies (MSCLEA) missions. In addition, SECDEF is the approval authority for any requests from lead federal agencies (LFAs) for potentially lethal support (i.e., lethal to the public, a member of law enforcement, or a service member).
Principal Federal Officer (PFO). The PFO is the federal official designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security to act as his/her representative locally to oversee, coordinate, and execute the Secretary’s incident management responsibilities under HSPD-5 for incidents of national significance. The PFO is usually, but not always, the federal coordinating officer, discussed below.
LFA. LFA is a term used by DOD, not DHS. The LFA is thefederal agency that leads and coordinates the overall federal response to an emergency. Designation and responsibilities of an LFA vary according to the type of emergency and the agency’s statutory authority.
DHS. For non-terrorist acts, the DHS is the LFA. DHS has authorized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to be its executive agent for domestic incident management. FEMA is discussed below.
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). If the incident is deemed a terrorist act, then the FBI is the LFA.
Incident specific LFA. When an incident-specific incident occurs, another deferral agency might be the LFA. For example, for an oil spill, the Environmental Protection Agency would be the LFA, or for a maritime security incident, the U.S. Coast Guard would be the LFA.
Governor. The state governor has the final commitment authority over state capabilities in any disaster response effort short of a federal response. Governors have the unique authority to issue a state emergency declaration, mobilize the state National Guard, and redirect state resources to emergency response.
A governor can request federal assistance from the President of the United States (POTUS) when state capabilities prove insufficient. This request brings the resources of the federal government to bear on the disaster and can involve DOD. Ultimately, all DOD support to disaster response is temporary with the end state being transfer of all emergency functions back to civilian authorities.
Lead State Agency. Just as a lead agency is designated at the federal level, so too a lead agency is designated at the state level. Lead state agencies might include:
State emergency management agency. Typically, states have established state emergency management agencies as executive agents to manage incident response.
State law enforcement agencies. These agencies can include investigative bureau personnel and state patrol officers (which in some states are distinctly different from state police officers.)
The National Guard. The National Guard could be the first military unit called when first responders exhaust organic capabilities, and the incident response is elevated to the state level. In this capacity the National Guard begins in a state active duty (SAD) status under the governor’s command. The National Guard provides support to the local incident commander but does not take charge of the response operation. Additionally, under provisions of regional Emergency Management Assistance a key element of National Guard involvement in disaster response is the acknowledgment that a National Guard Soldier operating in either a SAD or Title 32 status can exercise the same law enforcement authority as a State Police officer. The law enforcement environment can be complicated by the existence of multiple versions of rules for the use of force (RUF) (the more widely recognized term “rules of engagement” is not used during disaster response missions). Appendix 9 provides a more detailed discussion of disaster response law enforcement considerations, legal considerations, and a sample RUF card.
Emergency Management Assistance Compacts (EMACs) are legal agreements between two or more states designed to expedite interstate utilization of emergency response assets. EMACS enable National Guard personnel from other states to be deployed across state lines in a SAD status to assist in regional disaster response efforts.
The ICS defines the operating characteristics, interactive management components, and structure of incident management and emergency response organizations engaged throughout an incident’s the life cycle. Direct tactical and operational responsibility for conducting incident management activities rests with the incident commander.
The key feature of NIMS is the ICS. The ICS organization is unique but easy to understand. The ICS is the combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating with a common organization structure, designed to aid in the management of resources during incidents.
ICS organization has no correlation to the administrative structure of any single local, state, or federal agency or jurisdiction. This type of organization is deliberate to avoid the confusion over different position titles and organizational structures that has been a significant stumbling block to effective incident management. For example, someone who serves as a chief every day may not hold that title when deployed under an ICS structure.
Concepts of “command” and “unity of command” have distinct legal and cultural meanings for military forces and operations. For military forces, command runs from the President to the SECDEF to the commander of the combatant command to the commander of the forces. The “unified command” concept utilized by civil authorities is distinct from the military chain of command. NIMS acknowledges that incident command is exercised through chain of command, defined as an orderly line of authority within the ranks of the incident management organization. Incident command may be transferred from one commander to a succeeding one. Transfers of incident command must include a transfer of command briefing (which may be oral, written, or both). A transfer of command occurs when a more qualified person assumes command; the incident situation changes over time, resulting in a legal requirement to change command (e.g., multijurisdictional or interagency involvement; there is normal turnover of personnel on extended incidents; or the incident response is concluded and responsibility is transferred to the home agency.
Incident command is discussed below in terms of single incident command, area command, and unified command.
Single Incident Command
Incident commander
The incident commander has overall responsibility for managing the incident by objectives, planning strategies, and implementing tactics. The incident commander must be fully briefed and should have a written delegation of authority that authorizes him to make decisions. Initially, assigning tactical resources and overseeing operations will be under the direct supervision of the incident commander.
In addition to having overall responsibility for managing the entire incident, the incident commander is specifically responsible for ensuring incident safety, for providing information services to internal and external stakeholders, and for establishing and maintaining liaison with other agencies participating in the incident. The incident commander may appoint one or more deputies, if applicable, from the same agency or from other agencies or jurisdictions. Deputy incident commanders must be as qualified as the incident commander. Personnel assigned as deputies or section chiefs by the incident commander have the authority of their assigned positions, regardless of the rank they hold within their respective agencies.
As incidents expand or contract, change in jurisdiction or discipline, or become more or less complex, command may change to meet the needs of the incident.
Rank, grade, and seniority are not the factors used to select the incident commander. The incident commander is always a highly qualified individual trained to lead the incident response.
Formal transfer of command at an incident always requires a transfer of command briefing for the incoming incident commander and notification to all personnel that a change in command is taking place.
The incident command post
The incident command post (ICP) is a tactical-level, on-scene incident command and management organization established by the incident commander to direct all incident management operations and execute action plans. It quickly establishes working relationships with emergency management agency staffs at city and county levels to avoid redundant resource commitment and mitigate gaps in first response coverage. The ICP provides a standardized on-scene emergency management organization. The organization of the ICP is specifically designed to provide for the adoption of an integrated structure that reflects the complexity and demands of single or multiple incidents, without being hindered by jurisdictional boundaries. There is only one ICP per incident, regardless of how geographically large or multi jurisdictional it becomes.
Although the ICP might be initially established by local incident management personnel, its modular configuration allows it to integrate incident personnel, to incorporate additional agencies, or to adapt to multifunctional jurisdiction. Supporting agencies contribute to ICP operations through liaison officers (LNOs).
The ICP is action-oriented. The ICP’s flexible organization allows the incident commander and his subordinates a reasonable span of control, in addition to providing an integrated communication system, common terminology, and common naming conventions for incident personnel.
Basic staff functions
Every incident or event requires that, at a minimum, the following five management functions must be performed: incident command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. Regardless of the size of the incident, these five management functions still will apply.
Command: Has authority to make decisions; sets the incident objectives, strategies, and priorities; and has overall responsibility at the incident or event. Command is exercised by the incident commander.
Operations: Conducts tactical operations to carry out the plan. Develops the tactical objectives and organization, and directs all tactical resources.
Planning: Prepares and documents the incident action plan (IAP) to accomplish the objectives, collects and evaluates information, maintains resource status, and maintains documentation for incident records.
Logistics: Provides support, resources, and all other services needed to meet the operational objectives.
Finance/Administration: Monitors costs related to the incident. Provides accounting, procurement, time recording, and cost analyses.
For small incidents, the incident commander may perform all five management functions. In fact, the incident commander is the only position that is always staffed in ICS applications.
Basic staff organization
Large incidents or events may require that these functions be delegated to others who organize separate sections. As incidents grow, the incident commander may delegate authority for performance of certain activities to the command staff and the general staff. The incident commander will add positions only as needed.
Command staff: Depending upon the size and type of incident or event, it may be necessary for the incident commander to designate personnel to provide information, safety, and liaison services for the entire organization. In fact, the command bears a close resemblance to an Army commander’s personal staff. In ICS, these personnel make up the command staff and consist of the public information officer, who serves as the conduit for information to internal and external stakeholders, including the media or other organizations seeking information directly from the incident or event; the safety officer, who monitors safety conditions and develops measures for assuring the safety of all assigned personnel; the LNO, who serves as the primary contact for supporting agencies assisting at an incident. The command staff reports directly to the incident commander
General staff: As the magnitude of a domestic incident grows or as the response matures, the incident commander may expand his staff in order to delegate authority for the performance of the other management functions. Personnel who perform these additional management functions are designated as the general staff. The general staff is made up of four sections: operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. The general staff reports directly to the incident commander.
Section chiefs and deputies
The person in charge of each staff section is designated as a chief. Section chiefs have the ability to expand their section to meet the needs of the situation. Each of the section chiefs may have a deputy or more than one, if necessary. The deputy may assume responsibility for a specific portion of the primary position, work as relief, or be assigned other tasks. The deputy should always be as proficient as the person for whom he works. In large incidents, especially where multiple disciplines or jurisdictions are involved, the use of deputies from other organizations can greatly increase interagency coordination.
Operations section
Until operations is established as a separate section, the incident commander has direct control of tactical resources. The incident commander will determine the need for a separate operations section at an incident or event. When the incident commander activates an operations section, he assigns an individual as the operations section chief and delegates authority to him.
The operations section chief will develop and manage the operations section to accomplish the incident objectives set by the incident commander. The operations section chief is normally the person with the greatest technical and tactical expertise in dealing with the problem at hand.
The operations function does the tactical fieldwork; consequently, it receives the most incident resources. Often the most hazardous activities are carried out by operations personnel.
The operations section usually develops from the bottom up. The operations section will expand to include needed levels of supervision as more and more resources are deployed. To achieve this expansion and increased span of control, the operations section chief can divide the Operations Section into division, groups, branches, task forces, and strike teams. Figure 2-3 depicts how an operations section might be organized using a division and groups. Figure 2-4 depicts how an operations section might be organized using branches.
Divisions: Divisions are used to divide an incident geographically. The person in charge of each division is designated as a supervisor. The most common way to identify divisions is by using alphabet characters (a, b, c, etc.); other identifiers may be used as long as division identifiers are known by assigned responders.
Groups: Groups are used to describe functional areas of operation. The person in charge of each group is designated as a supervisor. The needs of an incident will determine the kind of group that is established. Groups are normally labeled according to the job that they are assigned (e.g., human services group, infrastructure support group, etc.). Groups will work wherever their assigned task is needed and are not limited geographically.
Divisions and Groups: Divisions and groups can be used together on an incident. Divisions and groups are at an equal level in the organization. One does not supervise the other. When a group is working within a division on a special assignment, division and group supervisors must closely coordinate their activities.
Figure 2-3
Branches: If the number of divisions or groups exceeds the span of control, it may be necessary to establish another level of organization within the operations section, called branches. The person in charge of each branch is designated as a director. Deputies directors may also be used at the branch level. Branches can be divided into groups or divisions or branches can be a combination of both. Very large incidents may be organized jurisdictionally (geographically) or functionally.
Figure 2-4
Task forces, strike teams, and singe resources: Task forces are a combination of mixed resources with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a leader. Task forces can be versatile combinations of resources, and their use is encouraged. The combining of resources into task forces allows for several resource elements to be managed under one individual’s supervision, thus lessening the span of control of the supervisor. Strike teams are a set number of resources of the same kind and type with common communications operating under the direct supervision of a strike team leader. Strike teams are highly effective management units. Knowing that all elements have the same capability and how many will be applied allows for better planning, ordering, utilization, and management. Single resources may be individuals, a piece of equipment and its personnel complement, or a crew or team of individuals with an identified supervisor that can be used at an incident.
Planning section
The incident commander will determine if there is a need for a planning section and designate a planning section chief. If no planning section is established, the incident commander will perform all planning functions. The planning section chief can activate additional staffing as needed.
The major activities of the planning section may include collecting, evaluating, and displaying incident intelligence and information; preparing and documenting IAPs; conducting long-range and/or contingency planning; developing plans for demobilization; maintaining incident documentation; and tracking resources assigned to the incident.
The planning section can be further divided into four units: resources, situation, documentation, demobilization. the Resources Unit conducts all check-in activities and maintains the status of all incident resources and plays a significant role in preparing the IAP. The Situation Unit collects and analyzes information on the current situation, prepares situation displays and situation summaries, and develops maps and projections. The documentation unit provides duplication services, including the IAP and maintains and archives all incident-related documentation. The demobilization unit assists in ensuring that resources are released from the incident in an orderly, safe, and cost-effective manner.
At some point, the operations section and the rest of the ICS organization will contract based on the achievement of tactical objectives. Demobilization planning begins upon activation of the first personnel and continues until the ICS organization ceases operation.
Technical specialists who provide special expertise useful in incident management and response may also be assigned to work in the planning section. Depending on the needs, technical specialists may also be assigned to other sections in the organization.
Logistics section
The incident commander will determine if there is a need for a logistics section at the incident, and designate an individual to fill the position of the logistics section chief. If no logistics section is established, the incident commander will perform all logistical functions. The size of the incident, complexity of support needs, and the incident length will determine whether a separate logistics section is established. Additional staffing is the responsibility of the logistics section chief.
The logistics section is responsible for all of the services and support needs, including ordering, obtaining, maintaining, and accounting for essential personnel, equipment, and supplies; providing communication planning and resources; setting up food services; setting up and maintaining incident facilities; providing support transportation; and providing medical services to incident personnel.
The logistics section can also be divided into unit. Not all units may be required and should be established based on need. There following six units are possible:
Communication unit: Prepares and implements the incident communication plan (ICS-205), distributes and maintains communications equipment, supervises the incident communications center, and establishes adequate communications over the incident.
Medical unit: Develops the medical plan (ICS-206), provides first aid and light medical treatment for personnel assigned to the incident, and prepares procedures for a major medical emergency.
Food unit: Supplies the food and potable water for all incident facilities and personnel, and obtains the necessary equipment and supplies to operate food service facilities at bases and camps.
Supply unit: Determines the type and amount of supplies needed to support the incident. The unit orders, receives, stores, and distributes supplies and services non expendable equipment. All resource orders are placed through the supply unit. The unit maintains inventory and accountability of supplies and equipment.
Facilities unit: Sets up and maintains required facilities to support the incident. Provides managers for the incident base and camps. Also responsible for facility security and facility maintenance services: sanitation, lighting, cleanup.
Ground support unit: Prepares The Transportation Plan. Arranges for, activates, and documents the fueling, maintenance, and repair of ground resources. Arranges for the transportation of personnel, supplies, food, and equipment.
Finance/Administration section
The incident commander will determine if there is a need for a finance/administration section at the incident and designate an individual to fill the position of the finance/administration section chief. If no Finance/administration section is established, the incident commander will perform all finance functions.
The finance/administration section is set up for any incident that requires incident-specific financial management. The finance/administration section is responsible for contract negotiation and monitoring, timekeeping, cost analysis, and compensation for injury or damage to property.
More and more, larger incidents are using a finance/administration section to monitor costs. smaller incidents may also require certain finance/administration support. For example, the incident commander may establish one or more units of the finance/administration section for such things as procuring special equipment, contracting with a vendor, or making cost estimates for alternative response strategies. The finance/administration section can also be divided into units. Not all units may be required and should be established based on need. There following four units are possible:
Procurement unit: Responsible for administering all financial matters pertaining to vendor contracts, leases, and fiscal agreements.
Time unit: Responsible for incident personnel time recording.
Cost unit: Collects all cost data, performs cost effectiveness analyses, provides cost estimates, and makes cost savings recommendations.
Compensation/Claims unit: Responsible for the overall management and direction of all administrative matters pertaining to compensation for injury and claims related activities kept for the incident.
Area Command
Area command is an echelon of command management organization between the ICP and the governmental agency executives. Area command does not replace an individual incident commander’s authority and responsibility, but does provide an intermediate dedicated level of command between incident commanders and agency administrators.
The area command’s purpose is to oversee the management of multiple incidents that are each being handled by an ICS organization or to oversee the management of a very large incident that has multiple incident management teams assigned to it.
Area command is used when there are a number of incidents generally in the same area and often of the same kind. For example, an area command might be established when there are hazardous material (HAZMAT) spills at two or more locations in proximity to one another. It is usually these kinds of incidents that may be vying for the same resources. When incidents are of different kinds and/or do not have similar resource demands, they would usually be handled as separate incidents or would be coordinated through an emergency operations center (EOC). If the incidents under the authority of the area command are multi jurisdictional, a unified area command should be established. This allows each jurisdiction to have representation in the area command. Unified commands are discussed below.
Area command is established by the agency executive. When area command is activated, an area commander will be designated and given appropriate delegated authority. The authority given to the area commander should be written as a Delegation of Authority statement. This will eliminate confusion and provide the area commander with authority to oversee the management of the incidents.
The most common situations in which area command has been used are for wild land fires. Area command was also used in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
If the incidents under the area command are in adjacent jurisdictions, then a unified area command should be established. The following could apply to either an area command or a unified area command.
Provide agency or jurisdictional authority for assigned incidents.
Ensure a clear understanding of agency expectations, intentions, and constraints related to the incident among incident commanders.
Establish critical resource use priorities between various incidents based on incident needs and agency policy and direction.
Ensure appropriate incident management team personnel assignments and organizations for the kind and complexity of the incidents involved.
Maintain contact with officials in charge, assisting and cooperating agencies, and other interested groups.
Coordinate the demobilization or reassignment of resources between assigned incidents.
Unified Command
A unified command is used for incidents involving multiple jurisdictions, a single jurisdiction with interagency involvement, or multiple jurisdictions with interagency involvement. Unified command allows agencies to work together effectively without affecting individual agency authority, responsibility, or accountability. Agencies work together through their designated incident commanders, called an agency incident commander, at a single ICP to establish a common set of objectives and strategies and a single IAP. In the final analysis, however, under a unified command, incident commanders representing agencies or jurisdictions share responsibility for the incident.
A unified command structure is an important element in multijurisdictional or interagency domestic incident management. In a unified command, there is a single incident commander; however, the incident commander is assisted by agency incident commanders. An agency incident commanders is an agency’s senior representative to the ICP. The agency represents a function, a subject matter expert. As such, each agency incident commander exercises authority over his agency personnel.
A unified command establishes a single command structure and provides guidelines to enable agencies with different legal, geographic, and functional responsibilities to coordinate, plan, and interact effectively. Such a command arrangement enables all responsible agencies to manage an incident together by establishing a common set of incident objectives and strategies. It allows incident commanders to make joint decisions by. It maintains unity of command and ensures each employee reports to only one supervisor.
Furthermore, the unified command overcomes much of the inefficiency and duplication of effort that can occur when agencies from different functional and geographic jurisdictions or agencies at different levels of government operate without a common system or organizational framework. It permits all agencies with jurisdictional authority or functional responsibility for any or all aspects of an incident and those able to provide specific resource support to contribute to the process of determining overall incident strategies, selecting objectives, and ensuring that joint tactical planning occurs.
Section III: Interagency Coordination Systems
Interagency coordination systems represent the second of the three NIMS components. As stated above, NIMS distinguishes between command authority and coordination authority. Command authority is vested in the incident commander, whether a single incident commander or an area commander, and is exercised through the ICS. Coordination authority is vested in coordinating officers, whether the federal coordinating officer (FCO), the state coordinating officer (SCO) or the defense coordinating officer (DCO). Each coordinating officer has the authority to make coordinating decisions within his or her jurisdiction, whether federal, state, or local. Sometimes coordinating officers are dual-hatted with command authority. For example, at the federal level, the federal coordinating officer might also be the principal federal officer empowered to act in behalf of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
When incidents cross functional or jurisdictional boundaries, a interagency coordinating entity may be used to facilitate incident management and policy coordination. Interagency coordinating entities are combinations of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications integrated into a common system with responsibility for coordinating and supporting domestic incident management. Interagency coordinating entities typically consist of principals or their designated representatives from organization and agencies with direct incident management responsibility or with significant incident management support or resource responsibilities.
The primary functions of interagency coordination systems are to support incident management policies and priorities; facilitate logistics support and resource tracking; inform resource allocation decision using incident management priorities; coordinate incident related information; and coordinate interagency and intergovernmental issues regarding incident management policies, priorities, and strategies. As stated above, direct tactical and operational responsibility for conducting incident management activities rests with the incident commander. Command authority does not reside in coordinating officers or coordinating entities although coordinating officers may be designated with command authority.
Interagency coordination systems consist of coordinating officers, emergency operations center, and coordinating entities.
Coordinating Officers
Typically, for any given incident, each political level of jurisdiction—state, federal, and defense—has a single coordinating officer. Each coordinating officer has a staff that assists him in his coordination responsibilities.
FCO: FEMA established the National FCO Program in 1999. Its purpose is to train a cadre of senior incident management personnel to be permanent full-time FCOs for major disaster operations. FCOs are assigned to both FEMA headquarters and regional offices. The FCO Program Director is located in the FEMA Headquarters Response and Recovery Directorate.The FCO is the federal officer appointed to manage federal response support activities related to Stafford Act disaster and emergencies. The FCO is responsible for coordinating the timely delivery of federal disaster assistance resources and programs to the affected state and local governments, individual victims, and private sector. The FCO works directly with the SCO. During an incident, he is located at the joint field office.Sometimes coordinating officers are dual-hatted with command authority. For example, at the federal level, the FCO might also be the PFO empowered to act in behalf of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
SCO: SCO is appointed by a governor to coordinate state response and recovery operations with the federal government. The SCO coordinates directly with the FCO and the DCO discussed below.
DCO: DCOs are active component officers in the grade of O-6 (or their Civil Service equivalents) who represent DOD at the Joint Field Office (JFO). The DCO is the single DOD point of contact at the JFO. DCOs are assigned one per FEMA regional office and are assisted by a staff of five called the Defense Coordinating Element.
LNO. The LNO is the point of contact for representatives of other governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and/or private entities. Representatives from assisting or cooperating agencies and organizations coordinate through the LNO. LNOs must have the authority to speak for their parent agencies or organizations on all matters.
Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs)
Normally, EOCs coordinate information and resources to support incident management activities. EOCs can be organized by function, such as fire, law enforcement, medical, or public works; by jurisdiction, such as municipal, state, regional, or national; or by a combination of both.
EOCs might be permanent organizations and facilities, or they might be established to meet temporary, short-term needs. When in a nonemergency configuration with minimal staffing, EOCs should still be able to perform the five emergency staff functions of command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. When activated for an incident, EOCs should also be able to perform the functions of coordination; communications; resources dispatch and tracking; and information collection, analysis, and dissemination. When fully-activated, EOCs are typically in support of a specific ICP.
EOCs are coordinating entities, not ICPs even though ICPs might perform EOC-like functions in small incidents or during the initial phase of a response to large, complex incidents.
Coordinating Entities
When incidents cross disciplinary or jurisdictional boundaries or involve complex incident management scenarios, a coordinating entity, such as an emergency management agency, may be used to facilitate incident management and policy coordination.
As stated above, coordinating entities typically consist of agency principals or their designees who have direct incident management responsibility or with significant incident management support or resource responsibilities. These entities are sometimes referred to as crisis action teams, policy committees, incident management groups, executive teams, or other similar terms. For example, the wild land fire community has such an entity, the Multiagency Coordination Group (MAC) Group. In some situations, EOCs may serve a dual function as a coordination entity.
Regardless of the term or organizational structure used, these entities typically provide strategic coordination during domestic incidents. Specifically, their principal functions and responsibilities include the following:
Ensuring that each agency involved in incident management activities is providing appropriate situational awareness and resource status information.
Establishing priorities between incidents and/or area commands in concert with the incident command or unified commands involved.
Acquiring and allocating resources required by incident management personnel in concert with the priorities established by the incident command or unified command.
Anticipating and identifying future resource requirements.
Coordinating and resolving policy issues arising from the incident(s).
Providing strategic coordination as required.
The most common coordinating entities are state emergency management agencies and FEMA.
Office of emergency services (OES). All states have a specific agency that coordinates emergency preparedness planning, conducts emergency preparedness training and exercises, and serves as the governor’s coordinating agency in an emergency. The titles of these offices vary from state to state, for example, Division of Emergency Government, Emergency Management Agency, Department of Public Safety, or Office of Emergency Preparedness. This handbook refers to this office using the generic term office of emergency services.Generally, the OES is either organized as a stand-alone office under the governor or aligned under TAG or the state police. It operates the state emergency operations center during a disaster or emergency and coordinates with federal officials for support if required.
FEMA. FEMA was formed in 1979 as an independent agency by executive order of the President. In March 2003, FEMA became part of DHS and is the DHS’s executive agent for emergency management. As such, FEMA is responsible for responding to, planning for, recovering from, and mitigating against disasters.
FEMA is organized into ten regions. The region becomes the focal point for organizing and coordinating state and federal emergency management.
Figure 2-5: Map of FEMA regions
Joint field office (JFO). The JFO is a temporary interagency coordination center established locally in the field. It provides a central location for coordination of federal, state, local, tribal, nongovernmental, and private-sector organizations with primary responsibility for threat response and incident support. The JFO enables the effective and efficient coordination of federal incident-related prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery actions. The JFO combines the traditional functions of the joint operations center, the FEMA disaster field officer, and the joint information center within a single federal facility. The JFO fully replaces the former DHS/Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)/FEMA Disaster Field Office (DFO).
The JFO uses an ICS structure as discussed in Chapter 3 to implement the five functions of command, operations, planning, logistics, and finance/administration. The JFO may also incorporate a sixth element focused on intelligence and information. This element may be included as a position in the coordination staff, a unit within the planning section, a branch within the operations section, or as a separate general staff section. The JFO differs from the ICP in that the JFO does not manage on-scene operations. Instead, the JFO focuses on providing support to on-scene efforts and conducting broader support operations that may extend beyond the incident site. The following personnel staff the JFO:
Emergency response team (ERT): Principal interagency group that staffs the JFO. Size and composition of the ERT is scalable depending on the scope and magnitude of the event.
Emergency response team-advanced (ERT-A): Deploys during the early stages of an incident to work directly with the state to obtain information on the impact of the event and to identify specific state requests for federal incident management assistance. Composed of program and support staff and representatives from selected ESF primary agencies. Coordinates for location of the JFO.
Emergency response team-national (ERT-N): Deploys for large-scale, high-impact events, or as required. Includes staff from DHS, EPR, FEMA, and other federal agencies as required. Three ERT-N teams available/on-call status on a one month rotating basis; a fourth standing team on call year-round exclusively to manage incidents in the National Capital region.
Federal incident response support team (FIRST): A forward component of an ERT-A. Designed to be a quick and readily deployable resource to support the federal response to incidents of national significance. Provides on-scene support to the local incident command or area command. Deploys within two hours of notification; required to be on-scene within twelve hours of notification.
Urban search and rescue teams: Specially-trained personnel equipped to conduct operational activities that include locating, extricating, and providing on-site medical treatment to victims trapped in collapsed structures.
Initial response resources (IRR): Capable of immediately providing incident victims the most urgently needed life-saving and life-sustaining resources. Resourced to support up to 30,000 victims for 72 hours. Provides an immediate federal presence and supplements state capabilities with concurrence of state leadership.
Figure 2-6: A sample JFO organization for natural disaster
Figure 2-7: A sample JFO organization for terrorist incidents
Section IV: Public Information Systems
Public Information Systems
Systems and protocols for communicating timely and accurate information to the public are critical during crisis or emergency situations. This section describes the principles, system components, and procedures needed to support effective emergency public information operations.
Public information officer (PIO). Under the ICS, the PIO is a key staff member supporting the incident command structure. The PIO represents and advises the incident command on all public information matters relating to the management of the incident. The PIO handles media and public inquiries; emergency public information and warnings; rumor monitoring and response; media monitoring; and other functions required to coordinate, clear with appropriate authorities, and disseminate accurate and timely information related to the incident, particularly regarding information on public health and safety and protection. The PIO is also responsible for coordinating public information at or near the incident site and serving as the on-scene link to the Joint Information System (JIS). The JIS In a large-scale operation, the on-scene PIO serves as a field PIO with links to the Joint Information Center (JIC).
JIS. The JIS integrates incident information and public affairs into a cohesive organization designed to provide consistent, coordinated, timely information during crisis or incident operations. The mission of the JIS is to provide a structure and system for developing and delivering coordinated interagency messages’ developing, recommending, and executing public information plans and strategies on behalf of the Incident Commander; advising the incident Commander concerning public affairs issues that could affect a response effort; and controlling rumors and inaccurate information that could undermine public confidence in the emergency response effort. The JIS provides the mechanism for integrating public information activities among JICs discussed below, across jurisdictions, and with private-sector and nongovernmental organizations. It includes the plans, protocols, and structures used to provide information to the public during incident operations and encompasses all public information operations related to an incident, including all federal, state, local, tribal and private organization PIOs, staff, and JICs established to support an incident.
JIC. The JIC is a facility established to coordinate all incident related public information activities. It is typically collocated with the federal, regional, state, or local EOCs and is the central point where public affairs professionals from organizations involved in incident management activities can collocate to perform critical emergency information, crisis communications, and public affairs functions. A single JIC location is preferable, but the system should be flexible and adaptable enough to accommodate multiple JIC locations when the circumstances of an incident require. Multiple JICs may be needed for a complex incident spanning a wide geographic area or multiple jurisdictions.
The JIC provides a location for organizations participating in the management of an incident to work together to ensure that timely, accurate, easy-to-understand, and consistent information is disseminated to the public. The JIC comprises representatives from each organization involved in the management of an incident. In large or complex incidents, particularly those involving complex medical and public health information requirements, JICs may be established at various levels of government. All JICs must communicate and coordinate with each other on an ongoing basis. Public awareness functions must also be coordinated with the information- and operational-security matters that are the responsibility of the information and intelligence function of the ICS, particularly when public awareness activities may affect information or operations security.
Incident commanders and interagency coordinating entities are responsible for establishing and overseeing JICs including processes for coordinating and clearing public communications. In unified commands, the departments, agencies, organizations, or jurisdictions that contribute to joint public information management do not lose their individual identities or responsibility for their own programs or policies. Rather, each entity contributes to the overall unified message.
NIMS identifies the requirements for a standardized framework for communications, information management, and information-sharing support at all levels of incident management.
* Incident management organizations must ensure that effective, interoperable communications processes, procedures, and systems exist across all agencies and jurisdictions.
Information management systems help ensure that information flows efficiently through a commonly accepted architecture
Effective information management enhances incident management and response by helping to ensure that decision-making is better informed.
Ongoing Management and Maintenance
DHS established the NIMS Integration Center to provide strategic direction and oversight in support of routine review and continual refinement of both the system and its components over the long term.
Command and Management Under NIMS – Summary of Lesson Content
Lesson Overview
Analysis of past responses indicates that the most common cause of response failure is poor management. Confusion about who’s in charge of what and when, together with unclear lines of authority, have been the greatest contributors to poor response.
The Command and Management Under NIMS—Part 1 lesson introduces you to identify the benefits of using ICS as the model incident management system. Incident Command and Management
NIMS employs two levels of incident management structures, depending on the nature of the incident.
* The Incident Command System (ICS) is a standard, on-scene, all-hazard ncident management system. ICS allows users to adopt an integrated organizational structure to match the needs of single or multiple incidents.
* Multiagency Coordination Systems are a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications integrated into a common framework for coordinating and supporting incident management.\NIMS requires that responses to all domestic incidents utilize a common management structure.
* The Incident Command System—or ICS—is a standard, on-scene, all-hazard incident management concept. ICS is a proven system that is used widely for incident management by firefighters, rescuers, emergency medical teams, and hazardous materials teams.
ICS represents organizational “best practices” and has become the standard for incident management across the country.
ICS is interdisciplinary and organizationally flexible to meet the needs of incidents of any kind, size, or level of complexity. Using ICS, personnel from a variety of agencies can meld rapidly into a common management structure.
ICS has been tested for more than 30 years and used for:
Planned events.
Fires, hazardous materials spills, and multicasualty incidents.
Multijurisdictional and multiagency disasters, such as earthquakes and winter storms.
Search and Rescue missions.
Biological outbreaks and disease containment.
“Real world events”
Acts of terrorism.
ICS helps all responders communicate and get what they need when they need it. ICS provides a safe, efficient, and cost-effective recovery strategy.
NIMS Stakeholders, based on guidance provided by the NIC, determine who should be trained and seek qualification for emergency management and incident response positions, based on their own plans, qualification, and credentialing policy. With consideration of the national training guidance published by the NIC, stakeholders develop a training plan for their personnel. These plans often have significant programmatic, schedule, and budget implications for the stakeholder.
For example, States may decide to develop their own training courses to suit their specific needs while still meeting the national training guidance.18
• Stakeholders execute the training plans, resulting in trained, qualified, and credentialed personnel.
• Training and experience for personnel qualification are acquired through course-based knowledge development; risk-free practical application, such as tabletop exercises and planned exercises; and on the job training, such as job shadowing, planned events, and IC experience during small incidents.
• Once trained, personnel will test and practice their skills during specific exercises and demonstrate their skills by effective management of and response to actual incidents.
• Exercise and mission/incident after-action reports should include an evaluation of the effectiveness and performance of incident-management personnel. Recommendations for improvements should be incorporated throughout the national coordination process for NIMS training to tailor stakeholder training plans as well as training and qualification of specific personnel, provide feedback to the national curriculum for NIMS and training courses, and perhaps suggest modifications of the NIMS, National Response Framework, and stakeholder plans.
NIMS Alerts
NIMS Alert 01-08: NIMS Communications and Information Management Standards [1/08] (PDF 33KB, TXT 1KB)
NG 0004: National Incident Management System (NIMS) Communications and Information Management Standards [1/08] (PDF 50KB, TXT 14KB)
SAFECOM is a communications program of the Department of Homeland Security. SAFECOM provides research, development, testing and evaluation, guidance, tools and templates on interoperable communications-related issues to local, tribal, state and federal emergency response agencies.
Following the domestic terrorist attacks in 1993, 1995, and 2001 and the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002, officials at all levels of government and in all types of communities have worked to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from a variety of threats to public safety. “Exercises play a crucial role in preparedness, providing opportunities for emergency responders and officials to practice and assess their collective capabilities.”
Since the initial versions of the HSEEP volumes were published, the homeland security community has experienced numerous changes, including the building of a new and cohesive Federal agency and the release and adoption of the National Response Plan (NRP), National Incident Management System (NIMS), National Preparedness Goal, Universal Task List (UTL), and Target Capabilities List (TCL) “Real World Events”exercises.
The need for advanced leadership training simulation
By Nicholas V. Iuppa (Belmont, CA), Andrew S. Gordon (Marina Del Rey, CA)
Recent United States Army studies have indicated that the leadership requirements of the modern war fighting force involve several significant differences from historical experience. Some factors of particular importance to the new generation of military leaders include: (i) the broad variety of people-centered, crisis-based military missions, including counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, operations in urban terrain and the newly emphasized homeland defense, in addition to more conventional warfare; (ii) the command of and dependence on a number of complex weapon, communication and intelligence systems involving advanced technology and specialized tasks; (iii) increased robotic and automated elements present on the battlefield; (iv) distributed forces at all echelons, requiring matching forms of distributed command; and (v) increased emphasis on collaboration in planning and operations.
The demographics of the military leadership corps is changing in several ways. Among the positive features of this change is a high level of sophistication and experience in computer use, including computer communication gaming and data acquisition. This means that modern training simulations should be as motivating and as well-implemented as commercial gaming and information products in order to capture and hold the attention of new military trainees.
There are currently highly developed aircraft, tank and other ground vehicle virtual simulators that realistically present military terrain and the movement of the vehicles within the terrain. Such simulators are very effective at teaching basic operational skills. Networks of virtual simulators, including SIMNET, CCTT and the CATT family, are also available to teach leader coordination of combined arms weapons systems during conventional and MOUT (Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain) warfare in highly lifelike settings. Likewise, constructive simulations such as BBS, Janus, WARSIM, WARSIM 2000 and others are very effective in focusing on the tactical aspects of leadership, i.e., representing movement of material, weapons and personnel particularly for higher echelon maneuvers.
But the same level of developmental effort has not been directed toward equally effective virtual and/or constructive simulators for training leadership and related cognitive skills in scenarios involving substantial human factor challenges. For example, driving a tank does not require the background knowledge, the collaboration or the complex political, diplomatic and psychological judgments that must be made in a difficult, people-centered crisis leadership situation. These judgments depend largely on the actual and estimated behavior of human participants, both friend and foe, in the crisis situation. Unfortunately, the complete modeling of complex human behavior is still beyond current technical capabilities.
As a result, these kinds of leadership skills have routinely been taught in the classroom through lectures and exercises featuring handouts and videotapes. It is possible for a good instructor to build the tension needed to approximate a leadership crisis, but sustaining the tension is difficult to accomplish. Showing the heartbreak of the crisis and the gut-wrenching decisions that must be made is not the strong suit of paper-and-pencil materials or low budget, home-grown videos.
Large classroom exercises such as “Army After Next” and “The Crisis Decision Exercise” at the National Defense University have attempted to give some sense of the leaders’ experience through week-long exercises that involve months of planning. These exercises are effective, but they cannot be distributed widely or easily recreated without significant effort. Also, they are not easy to update and modify, and they require a large contingent of designers and developers, as well as on-site operators, to run them after months of planning time.
Story-based simulations, on the other hand, increase participant attention and retention because story-based experiences are more involving and easier to remember. Participants are also able to build judgmental, cognitive and decision-making leadership skills because the simulations provide realistic context in which to model outstanding leadership behavior. Story-based simulations can teach innovation because they are able to challenge participants by providing dramatic encounters with unexpected events and possibilities. Also, story-based simulations overcome the limitations of current constructive and virtual simulations in modeling complex human behavior, which is an increasing aspect of today’s leadership challenges.
Crisis-based leadership training requires an awareness of human factors that has been especially difficult to teach through printed materials or the classroom. Giving complexity to an adversary’s personality or turning a political confrontation into a battle of wits and will (things that, in fact, represent much of today’s military decision making) are easier to discuss than to practice or simulate.
From a computational perspective, the term simulation is commonly used to refer to computational systems that compute subsequent states of a modeled environment by applying some transformational rules to the current model state. For example, weather simulations are computed in this manner–by first describing the current meteorological conditions and then applying knowledge about atmospheric conditions to make a prediction about what will happen in the future. Likewise, the U.S. military uses simulations to make predictions about the outcomes of battles and to give soldiers experience in simulations of potential future battles. The phrase `constructive simulations` has been used to describe simulations that compute subsequent states by applying transformational rules to the current state. Constructive simulations easily accommodate run-time interaction on the part of human participants. That is, at any moment in the simulation, a trainee can make a decision that changes the state of the modeled world and causes a change that will be propagated by transformational rules, and which may ultimately cause drastic changes in the final outcome of a simulated warfare environment.
The important disadvantage of the use of constructive simulations in military training is the surrender of pedagogical and dramatic control. While it may be desirable to use a simulation to provide pedagogically valuable experiences to trainees, there is little that an instructional designer can do to ensure that certain experiences will occur within the environment. As the trainees have free will and control over the course of the outcome of the simulation, it is impossible to ensure that a specific situation or set of situations will arise once the simulation has begun. The only direct control that instructional designers are given over the simulation is its starting state. Accordingly, there has been an increasing amount of interest in the notion of scenario development, where this has come to mean the specification of initial states for constructive simulations that are likely to lead to pedagogically valuable experiences for trainees.
While well-crafted initial states have a certain utility, particularly when training tactical skills for force-on-force warfare, other types of skill training suffer greatly due to the lack of pedagogical control. This is particularly true of military leadership skill training, where the lessons to be learned by trainees have less to do with timing and positioning of troops, and more to do with complex interrelationships among superior and subordinate officers and enlisted soldiers. In short, it is much easier to ensure that a tactical problem will arise given an initial simulation state than a leadership problem.
Given the autonomy of the actors’ characters in a storyline, the story composer is additionally faced with numerous critical problems: how can the composer prevent the actor from taking actions in the imagined world that will move the story in a completely unforeseen direction, or from taking actions that will derail the storyline entirely? How can the composer allow the actors to make critical decisions, devise creative plans, and explore different options without giving up the narrative control that is necessary to deliver a compelling experience? Also, in the case of interactive tutoring systems, how can the composer understand enough about the beliefs and abilities of the actors to create an experience that has some real educational value, i.e., that improves the quality of the decisions that they would make when faced with similar situations in the real world?
Therefore, what is needed is a method and apparatus for advanced leadership training simulation that allows the participants to make real-time critical decisions, devise creative plans and explore different options without relinquishing the composer’s narrative control and while allowing the composer to create an experience that improves the quality of leadership decision-making and delivers a compelling experience, preferably using story-driven simulation.
Story-driven simulation is a technology that expands on previous research efforts to create interactive experiences in virtual worlds where the outcomes are known and specified in advance by instructional designers (e.g., Cleave, 1997). This approach allows instructional designers to work with storyline writers to create a training experience that is dramatically engaging and includes a specific set of training experiences, but to do so in a manner that allows for a high degree of interactivity.
I had the pleasure of spending several hours with one of the lead “film directors” for the REALISTIC URBAN TRAINING CENTER.
We discussed how these “real world events” are literally “played out.”
Strategic Operations | Hyper Realistic Tactical Training
Vision
Strategic Operations, Inc. (STOPS) provides Hyper-Realistic™ training environments for military, law enforcement and other organizations, using state-of-the-art movie industry special effects, role players, proprietary techniques, training scenarios, facilities, mobile structures, sets, props, and equipment.
Experience
Since 2002 STOPS has provided pre-deployment training support to more than 450,000 military personnel (and still counting, every day) using our STOPS created Hyper-Realistic™ environments.
STOPS introduced “The Magic of Hollywood” to live military training by employing all the techniques of film and TV production integrated with military tactics, techniques, and procedures.
I had the pleasure of spending several hours with one of the lead “film directors” for the REALISTIC URBAN TRAINING CENTER.
We discussed how these “real world events” are literally “played out.”
“…The commander must set the conditions that will lead to the accomplishment of certain tasks. These tasks may include (but are not limited to) isolating the urban area; avoiding “template” planning and predictability; developing accurate situational awareness, including knowledge of the population; taking advantage of local expertise; and leading disciplined troops possessing necessary skills gained through realistic urban training and experience…” - Joint Publication 3-06, Joint Urban Operations
Hyper-Realistic™ Training Environments
Vision
Strategic Operations, Inc. (STOPS) provides Hyper-Realistic™ training environments for military, law enforcement and other organizations, using state-of-the-art movie industry special effects, role players, proprietary techniques, training scenarios, facilities, mobile structures, sets, props, and equipment.
Experience
Since 2002 STOPS has provided pre-deployment training support to more than 450,000 military personnel (and still counting, every day) using our STOPS created Hyper-Realistic™ environments.
STOPS introduced “The Magic of Hollywood” to live military training by employing all the techniques of film and TV production integrated with military tactics, techniques, and procedures.
“We were the first company to use military training actors – now called role players”
Advances in simulation have opened up new possibilities in many fields of instruction, but at the other end of the training spectrum there is reality-based training (RBT), which seeks to immerse trainees in convincing physical recreations of security or combat scenarios to encourage lightning-fast tactical decision-making.
“This is reducing the onset of post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders that are related to being in an area of conflict.”
Hollywood-style explosions and gunfire provide realistic approximations of their real-life counterparts, and some gruesome prosthetics work helps to inure soldiers to the horrors of the battlefield. RBT’s proponents argue that this method, used in conjunction with more traditional tuition, allows trainees to hone their skills in a realistic environment and even reduces incidences of post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders.
The HALO Corporation and its training partner Strategic Operations (STOPS) are two such proponents. Halo and STOPS, both based in San Diego, California, work on what they call “hyper-realistic” training programmes for armed forces, special forces, law enforcement and intelligence organisations in the US and around the world – STOPS alone has provided training support to more than 600,000 operators.
The companies recently participated in Halo’s Counter-Terrorism Summit, a massive event involving major demonstrations of RBT sessions, including a tongue-in-cheek “zombie apocalypse” scenario that grabbed widespread attention from mass media. We talked to Halo’s president Brad Barker and STOPS executive vice president Kit Lavell to discuss the advantages of immersive training and its place within the broader training landscape.
Chris Lo: What is your experience of delivering realistic training programmes?
Brad Barker: We have a wide range of clients from all over the world, including local, state and federal law enforcement, military and the intelligence community.
We identify what kind of training they’ve been undergoing recently, where they want to be and what they want that operator to possess as far as skill sets [go], and then we build a bridge between where they are now and where they want to be. That bridge is where we start to immerse them in an experiential type of training programme that is germane to what they do for a living.
STOPS uses state-of-the-art Hollywood battlefield special effects, combat wound effects, medical simulation systems such as the Cut Suit, role players, foreign language speakers, subject matter experts and immersive training scenarios to create training environments that are the most realistic in the industry.
We were the first company to use military training actors – now called role players – with detailed knowledge of the language, customs and culture of the Middle East, East Asia, south-east Asia, West Africa, Latin America and the Philippines.
We introduced Hollywood medical special effects to the military training world with makeup artists simulating combat wounds so realistically that many training participants thought the wounds were real and possibly caused by negligent discharges. Trainers frequently called “time out” in order to assess the situation. We’ve employed dozens of amputee actors in scenarios in which makeup artists fashioned realistic limbs which were then traumatically severed with STOPS battlefield effects.
CL: Is there evidence that immersive training leaves military personnel more ready to face the challenges of actualoperations?
BB: We’re creating an environment with actors and technology that allows the student to be completely immersed into a world that is not unlike where he or she is going to be deployed. The results are staggering, not only in their effectiveness but physiologically there’s a reduction in adrenaline, cortisol and other measurable biological and chemicals reactions that the body will exhibit when under tremendous stress.
With the help of Hollywood-style special effects you can really sell the scenario to the attendee or student. So this is reducing the onset of post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders that are related to being in an area of conflict and dealing with that trauma head-on. We call that stress inoculation.
KL: Researchers from the U.S. Naval Health Research Center recently studied Marines training in the Infantry Immersion Trainer. Naval Health researchers evaluated training participants for stress reactivity, mitigation and inoculation.
The researchers measured salivary cortisol and alpha amylase levels in Marines before and after immersion in this hyper-realistic environment. Preliminary results in this ongoing study found that the acute stress response to the IIT training was substantial. Salivary hormone levels also indicated that this type of training provided a stress inoculation effect.
CL: How do you think simulation matches up to RBT training in terms of effectiveness?
BB: With regard to technology training, there’s nothing better. If you are training a pilot on how to fly a UAV and his interface is digital, all you have to do is simulate that scenario – it’s just not connected to a real unmanned system. You have 100% efficacy there, if you do it enough.
But getting the guys in an immersive scenario, where the outcomes are hardly certain and they’re not clued in on what the opposition is going to do – this is where I see the world going.
It’s dramatically less expensive than spending a tonne of money on R2-D2 and C-3PO to train folks, but there are huge benefits to having the mature operator train the junior operator on historic methods of operation and then dusting that off and applying it to real-world counter-insurgencies or disaster response scenarios, based on emerging threats.
CL: With the high production values and slightly tongue-in-cheek sessions like the Counter-Terrorism Summit’s zombieapocalypse scenario, is there a danger that participants might find the training too ‘fun’ and miss out on the lessons tobe learned?
KL: The demonstration scenarios that STOPS provided at the Halo Summit were not to train participants, but rather to showcase how training could be conducted hyper-realistically.
“We know that those who plan to do us harm are using reality-based training – they are mining the internet for scenarios.”
The ‘zombie apocalypse’ scenario had a very serious purpose, to demonstrate the complexity of responding to a chemical / biological incident or event. Rather than using a specific political or geographic ‘bad guy,’ and because it was Halloween, ‘zombies’ provided a simple and benign adversary for the event.
The only real biological attack our nation has faced was the anthrax attack shortly after 9/11. Lessons learned after that tragedy showed just how vulnerable we are. A single person with a contagion could shut down an entire hospital without proper decontamination.
Training that integrates decontamination with medical response teams is vital – proper decontamination equipment and learning how to use it is a priority for first responders. These were elements of the scenario we demonstrated.
CL: With technology becoming so much more accessible, do you think realistic training is one thing that can’t bereplicated in by terrorists or other attackers?
BB: I think that unfortunately, we’re a little behind the game right now. We’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do, because we know that those who plan to do us harm are using reality-based training.
They are mining the internet for scenarios. They’re using the benefit of their research to develop scenarios based on what they see in the media.
So we have an obligation to do intelligence research and analysis on this exportation of terrorist methods, and then find out what the common threads are. If we can just get 80% of those methods and develop “hyper-realistic,” immersive training methodologies to prepare for them, then we’ve got something significant.
CL: How important is it that training acknowledges past events, for example Hurricane Katrina or the Mumbai attacks, toupdate best practices and avoid past mistakes?
BB: The big deal with Katrina was communications interoperability. Nobody knew what the heck was going on. No one knew what someone had or what someone needed during most of that event.
There was a whole lot of people starving over here, then two blocks over there was a whole bunch of food going bad and no one knew it was there. There was no communication, co-ordination or collaboration at any level, and in the gaps between those three Cs, people died.
Mumbai is another watershed moment, because that was the first time in history, in my view, where our opposition, the bad guys, were able to use technology as a force multiplier. They were able to co-ordinate that attack using technology that just ten years ago was only available to the most elite intelligence communities. In a decade, that stuff is available to a kid, oh and by the way it’s all in his pocket on his mobile device.
You need to have the maturity of the folks who have deployed previously so we don’t make the same mistakes again. What we’re trying to do is acknowledge the fact that we’re flawed, acknowledge the fact that we’re likely to make those same mistakes, but let’s not do it as frequently, shall we?
CL: How could training become even more immersive in the next five or ten years?
KL: The near future will bring greater realism in live training environments – the sights, the sounds, the smells, will increase in fidelity. Tracking of participants, results of engagements and after action review will become simpler, more streamlined and effective. Visual weapons effects both on participants and in the environment will become more realistic.
The number of combined live, virtual and constructive training events will increase and be networked geographically more frequently. Military training environments will become more realistic and will integrate training, often done with joint services, with test and evaluation of weapons systems, developmental testing, independent operational testing, independent evaluations, assessments and experiments of military equipment.
BB: If you look at a major flashpoint as the ‘bang’, we should start to focus on ‘left-of-bang’ and try to eliminate the threat while it’s in its planning stages. Because we know the bad guys are going to break the law before the bang – we know they are. If you can teach intelligence, special operations and law enforcement the methods of operation and what these perpetrators need to do to carry out their acts, if you teach them what to look for, they will go and find it. We know that. So let’s resource them there.
Now used as the foundational document across all the U.S. armed services for what is commonly dubbed military operations in urban terrain, Department of Defense Joint Publication 3-06 emphasizes the unique challenges presented by urban areas. In successfully meeting those myriad challenges the document points to the criticality of realistic urban training.
The desire to enhance the realism of urban training over the past decade is clearly evident in things like the proliferation of urban training infrastructures on military bases at home and abroad, the introduction of “hyper-realistic” training to the urban training environment, and technology developments that are already providing the benefits of greatly expanded urban training realism.
Urban Training Infrastructures
One excellent example of state-of the-art urban training infrastructures can be seen in the Combined Arms Military Operations in Urban Terrain training facility located at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twenty-nine Palms, Calif.
Completed in January 2011 by Allied Container Systems Inc., the facility is based on modified ISO shipping containers and includes a mixture of over 1,560 training facility buildings scattered across 274 acres of urban-depicted training space that is supported by a network of streets, courtyard walls, religious structures and village shanties.
“That’s the largest urban training facility that we have constructed,” said Greg Celesky, vice president of military programs at Allied Container Systems Inc. “But the amount of facilities that we have in place for the Department of Defense throughout the United States and [overseas] are tremendous. As just one example, our second largest site—and the first largest for the Army—is located at Fort McCoy, Wis., where we have a little over 1,000 structures.”
“When somebody hears the word ‘container,’ they think they are getting a corrugated 8-by-8-by-40 foot box from a shipping yard or off the back of a tractor trailer,” Celesky explained. “But it’s much more diversified than that. We use all new containers. We re-engineer and re-structure those containers to make it as realistic, sustainable and quality-proven as we possibly can. When we are done with a facility it doesn’t even look like a container anymore. It looks like an Afghan village. But it’s more than just Afghanistan. These are urban training solutions that meet the specific operational theater environment where they could be going to execute operations.”
Asked to summarize some of the elements that Allied Container Systems brings to their urban training solutions, Celesky highlighted the company’s desire to serve as a center of excellence in urban operations, demonstrated performance, and the subject matter expertise retained on its teams.
Asked to summarize some of the elements that Allied Container Systems brings to their urban training solutions, Celesky highlighted the company’s desire to serve as a center of excellence in urban operations, demonstrated performance, and the subject matter expertise retained on its teams.
“Quality and sustainability are the next critical things that we talk about,” he continued. “Because when you are putting a facility up like we did at Twenty-nine Palms or any of the Army installations, they have to be maintainable. It isn’t just ‘one stop and drop.’ Along with introducing the urban training complexes, installations are taking on the parallel challenge of sustaining those facilities. And that gets back to the quality of our products.”
As noted earlier, the requirements for realistic urban training stretch across the Department of Defense. Another recent program that highlights this span of requirements is the Counter-IED MOUT Training Complex Project by Air Force Special Operations Command. In July of this year, Falcon Containers announced their prime contract award to provide training systems and structures for this program at the 27th Special Operations Wing, Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.
Describing the company as “a leading provider of repurposed shipping containers,” Falcon Containers will be responsible for a MOUT training site development that will allow warfighters to perform full mission profiles, designed to defeat the tactical challenges of IEDs as well as the strategic challenges of defeating the network that emplaces the IEDs.
According to Kit Lavell, executive vice president for Strategic Operations Inc., the company entered the urban training arena from a San Diego television and movie production lot through “the creative genius” of producer Stu Segall. Following their introduction through a mutual friend, Lavell began pursuing the creation of a new business model for training.
“It was different from anything I had ever seen before, by taking … movie-making techniques and applying them to military and law enforcement training,” he recalled. “It would become a lot more interesting through the immersive experience.”
In addition to the sets and special effects, the company soon began utilizing “role players” from San Diego County, which boasts of the second largest Iraqi-American community and one of the larger Afghan-American communities in the country.
“I think we were one of the first companies to ever use role players from Southwest Asia to help provide the cultural and language experience during training,” he said. “We also were the first company ever to use ‘battlefield effects’ like you might see in movie demolitions.”
Emphasizing that everything in the military is fluid, dynamic and interactive, he said, “That’s where we apply the proprietary techniques to blend technologies in such a way that you can have movement all over in an immersive and ‘hyper-realistic’ environment. That’s what we brought to military training: an ability to create an immersive environment using all of these techniques but doing it in a safe way.”
He continued, “The other component to creating these immersive environments is to create a realistic looking environment. And we applied all of those techniques to make aMilitary Operations on Urban Terrain [MOUT] facility look extremely realistic. So we have applied a lot of those building construction techniques over the years and we have actually ‘transformed’ a lot of the MOUT facilities at installations across the country.”
Projects have included: a two-and-a-half year-long effort to rebuild and create villages across 1,001 square miles at the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Irwin, Calif.; re-do of the MOUT facilities at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) at Fort Polk, La.; a 2012 effort to transform MOUT facilities at Fort Bliss, Texas; and other MOUT facility efforts across the U.S. and Canada.
Lavell related the creation of urban training complexes out of ISO shipping containers to the 2003 timeframe, crediting the new process with “a way to quickly build facilities for training for the asymmetric threat that we were experiencing in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
“But that only went so far,” he said. “When you have hundreds of containers out there all painted tan they don’t look very realistic … So what we introduced was re-engineering of these by cutting them up, re-welding them, putting them together with structural components, and then ‘facade them’ on the inside and outside to make them look like construction techniques and materials that you would fine in the operational environment. So that’s what we did when we went through NTC and JRTC and Fort Bliss: We changed them to look realistic.”
This is a time lapse video of the Strategic Operations crew setting up one of their innovative portable buildings called an RHU, which stands for Relocatable Habitat Unit. This small 10′ by 8′ RHU has been “sceniced” using Hollywood movie-making techniques to look like an Afghan hut. Other configuration can be almost any size, including a 3 story model. These RHUs are used principally by the military for Strategic Operations’ Hyper-Realistic training in “villages” manned by actors dressed as enemy combatants and Afghan civilians. Special pyrotechnic special effects add to the realism, thereby preparing the military individuals for actual combat more effectively. See http://www.strategic-operations.com for more details.
“Basically the RHU is a ‘mobile MOUT’ facility,” he explained. “ISO containers are not really mobile. When you put them down you can’t move them around very easily. So we saw the RHU as the way to have a truly mobile hyper-realistic MOUT facility. We developed it so that each 4-by-8-foot panel weighs less than 100 pounds, and they fit together with a simple tool and latching system. You can build a multi-story with that tool and each piece looks on the outside and the inside like whatever building construction material or technique you want. We’ve even done them to look like bamboo.”
Bringing the Realism Home
It’s one thing to provide realistic urban training at one of the Army’s major combat training centers or other major installation, but it can be even more important when it’s incorporated into home station training.
That’s the assertion of Jim Yarbrough, brigadier general, U.S. Army (Ret.), and now senior director of integrated training and leader development solutions at General Dynamics Information Technology. Drawing on his extensive expertise, which includes serving as former commander of the Army’s JRTC, Yarbrough offered, “I would say that the Army leadership is encouraging commanders to achieve more at home station training before they deploy to the combat training centers.”
Yarbrough spotlighted GDIT’s “InForce” Tactical Instrumentation Suite for its tremendous potential contributions to the realism of the “live” element within the increasingly critical “live, virtual, constructive” training environments at unit home stations. Characterizing it as “a quantum improvement over what they could achieve previous to this technology,” he described InForce as “a series of tripod-mounted small surveillance cameras that can be placed anywhere you want in a remote training area.”
“InForce allows you to go anywhere that you want to go remotely,” he said. “And in a matter of hours you can set up those tripods—each has a hardened command module that then operates not only those cameras but also triggers the battlefield effects that come with InForce, including pyrotechnic exploding devices, a robust menu or sounds, smoke generators, a menu of concentrated smell generators, and the control of targetry.”
Along with the portability and impressive range of battlefield effects, additional benefits come from the rapid retrieval of captured superior video clips to facilitate learning during the after action review process.
“The utility goes back to the attributes,” Yarbrough added. “It gives you a much higher level of training effectiveness—we say that it gives you ‘CTC level effectiveness’ at home station. And we truly believe that Inforce is the future of instrumented urban operations training.”
Drawing on resources of our casting agency, co-located with the Stu Segall Productions TV / movie studio, Strategic Operations Inc. (STOPS) is able to provide hundreds of role players who serve as civilians on the battlefield (COB). Foreign language speakers (FLS) who know the language and customs from any area of the world play the roles of government officials, religious leaders, tribal elders, or interpreters. Role players with military experience, weapons training, and knowledge of insurgent tactics can make up a dedicated opposing force (OPFOR). STOPS also provides Category II and III role players for training exercises requiring security clearances.
To support Special Operations Training Exercises STOPS has created platoon-sized teams of role players with military backgrounds who are fully outfitted with uniforms, gear, weapons, vehicles, tents, and logistical support. Trained by STOPS to act as partner nation special operations units, they participate in training exercises where they interact with U.S. SpecOps forces. STOPS provides all role players with wardrobe, props, and vehicles to faithfully replicate any environment imaginable.
Rapid Prototyping / Research & Development
Thousands of military personnel have trained at Strategic Operations Inc. during which many lessons learned have been incorporated into the design of facilities and equipment. This fertile ground has also contributed to innovative research and development and rapid prototyping. Among the products developed are: Re-locatable Habitat Units (RHU), Ballistic Unmanned Ground Vehicle – Target (BUGV-Target), Get The Forces Off / On (GETFO) rapid egress system for troop-carrying military trucks, the Human Worn Partial Task Surgical Simulator (“Cut Suit”), special effects devices, props, and simulated weapons.
WE ARE CURRENTLY CASTING: AFRICAN (AMERICAN) FEMALE: 25-30 years old with dark skin. Tall, slender, very natural looking. No dyed hair, extensions, …
Stephen.Dunham
WE ARE CURRENTLY CASTING: AFRICAN (AMERICAN) FEMALE: 25-30 years old with dark skin. Tall, slender, very natural looking. No dyed hair, extensions, overdone make up, etc. Please submit most natural look – RECENT headshot AND 3/4 or full length photos. Pregnant is a plus! MONGOLIAN MALE (or SOUTH EAST ASIAN): 30-40 years old with very skinny frame and a mature look. Please submit RECENT headshot AND 3/4 or full length photos. SOUTH INDIAN FEMALE – CHILD: 7-11 years old with a small, skinny frame. Please submit RECENT headshot AND 3/4 or full length photos. SOUTH INDIAN MALE: 45-55 years old slightly weathered with a professional “Doctor’s demeanor”. Please submit RECENT headshot AND 3/4 or full length photos. Own a white Doctor’s coat with stethoscope is a plus! WHITE MALE: MID 30S, professional, clean cut, business casual. This is for a National Geographic Promo for a distinguished scientist who has developed a “health app” for under-developed areas Must be available for a one day shoot on May 2nd. Each actor would only need to donate about 2-4 hours and the rate is non-union $125 for the day It is for Albert Lin Scientist who has developed a “health app” If interested, please email vivsdcasting@gmail.com
Strategic Operations, Inc. (STOPS) provides Hyper-Realistic™ training environments for military, law enforcement and other organizations, using state-of-the-art movie industry special effects, role players, proprietary techniques, training scenarios, facilities, mobile structures, sets, props, and equipment.
HUMAN WORN PARTIAL TASK SURGICAL SIMULATOR (a.k.a. “Cut Suit”)
The Patent Pending “Cut Suit” is the most realistic way to simulate the look, feel, and smell effects of severe traumatic events on a live human while allowing medics, combat lifesavers, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, Airmen and civilian first responders to safely perform real procedures. From the point of injury (POI), where self-aid and buddy-aid are rendered, the Medic or Corpsman renders aid, CasEvac or MedEvac is performed, treatment en route, and transition of care to the shock / trauma team and surgical intervention.
Strategic Operations Helps Boston with Disaster Preparedness
May 3, 2013
Urban Shield has worked with Strategic Operations, a Hollywood effects company that also helps prepare army medics for the battlefield. (Their disaster scenario staff, Baker says, include an amputee.) With a generous helping of moulage, their drills aim to force officials to confront both the logistical and atmospheric challenges of a disaster.
Fort Bragg expects to stop using goats for trauma training as military moves to ban it
January 13, 2013
On average, soldiers on Fort Bragg slaughter 300 goats a month for medical trauma training meant to help save lives in battle. Animal activists say the animals are shot, stabbed, bludgeoned and blown up to simulate the types of injuries soldiers face.
“Hyper-realistic” training takes military learning out of the classroom and on to the battlefield using actors, Hollywood-style explosions and combat wound effects. Two experts in reality-based training discuss its benefits and how it fits into the broader training landscape.
“…The commander must set the conditions that will lead to the accomplishment of certain tasks. These tasks may include (but are not limited to) isolating the urban area;
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS, BSG PUT JOURNALISTS THROUGH NEW HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING
October 23, 2012
SAN DIEGO — October 11, 2012 — BSG, LLC and Strategic Operations (STOPS) have developed a joint venture to provide Hostile Environment Training for journalists
When noise from the explosion finally subsided, a Marine’s agonized cries pierced the dusty air. A corpsman sprinted to his side but was taken aback by what he saw…
DHS-HSEEP specific doctrinal or grant-related requirements, such as the need for terrorism-related scenarios, have been eliminated.
Federal Interagency, as well as several State and local “stakeholders, have been incorporated so the HSEEP Policy and Guidance is more applicable to all exercises, regardless of scope, scale, scenario, or sponsoring agency.”
Following the domestic terrorist attacks in 1993, 1995, and 2001 and the establishment of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002, officials at all levels of government and in all types of communities have worked to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from a variety of threats to public safety. “Exercises play a crucial role in preparedness, providing opportunities for emergency responders and officials to practice and assess their collective capabilities.”
Chattanooga sits in a bend of the Tennessee River, at a point where the ridges and valleys of the Appalachian Mountains flatten out into the Cumberland Plateau. The city’s location at this strategic geographic crossroads bestowed equal parts of good fortune and misery upon its residents, and the area bore witness to many of the nation’s great tragedies and triumphs.
Ochs was born in 1858 to German immigrant parents Julius and Bertha Levy Ochs. The family lived in Cincinnati, but moved to 
The congregation’s first temple, built in 1882, occupied a lot on Walnut Street near Fifth. The group formally adopted the name of “Mitzpah” (soon dropping the “t” to become “Mizpah”) in 1888. The Hebrew word “Mitzpah” literally translates to “overlook” or “lookout” and most likely refers to Lookout Mountain or the other elevations around Chattanooga. In 1904, they built a new synagogue on the corner of Lindsay and Oak Streets, which served the congregation for the next 24 years.
The Jewish congregations in Chattanooga grew steadily through the first decades of the 20th century. In 1904, Mizpah built a large new temple on Linsday and Oak Streets, but within a short time the congregation outgrew this building as well, reaching a membership of 153 by the close of World War I. In 1924, Adolph Ochs pledged funds for a new structure, in memory of his parents. Planning quickly commenced, and the Julius and Bertha Ochs Memorial Temple opened in 1928 on McCallie Avenue. By the 1920s, B’nai Zion members began to move away from the Carter Street neighborhood, and also began to look for a new structure closer to the congregant’s homes. After a successful fundraising initiative, the group built a new synagogue on Vine Street in 1931.
Relations between the two congregations were frosty on occasion, but the differences softened over time. Elihu Winer grew up in the B’nai Zion congregation in the 1920s, and studied at Vanderbilt and Yale before pursuing a career as a playwright and screenwriter. In an article for Opinion magazine, he recalls that: “for decades there existed a sharp cleavage between the two groups, with one clinging to a recently acquired tradition of emancipation and enlightenment, the other clinging just as tenaciously to the older tradition of the synagogue.” But as the Eastern European Jews advanced financially and acclimated to American society, the groups began to mingle and participate in shared social functions.
In the first half of the twentieth century Chattanooga emerged as a major center for manufacturing and industry, earning the city the nickname “The Dynamo of Dixie.” Jewish residents played a central role in the city’s economic growth, engaging in a wide variety of industries and businesses. Some worked in retail, building many of Chattanooga’s largest stores. In 1920, Abe and Lou Effron opened a large clothing store that soon occupied a three story building at the corner of Sixth and Market Streets. In 1921, Harry Miller, founder of the CJWA, opened The Vogue, a high-end ladies retail shop that operated for over half a century.
The business was modestly successful, and by 1910 the family still lived in a rented home and Robert still spent a good deal of time on the road seeking trade opportunities. Robert passed away in 1926, and left the business to his two sons Mose and Garrison, who successfully expanded the business. During World War II, the demand for scrap metal skyrocketed, and the Siskin operation grew. In 1949 the company moved beyond the scrap business, and began distributing new steel and other metal products. The company thrives today, and had net sales of over $159 million in 2003.
Although the population declined to some degree, the Chattanooga Jewish community maintained a critical population mass and continued to support a full range of communal activities in the most war years, and even found new opportunities for growth. In the early 1960s, members of B’nai Zion changed the congregation’s affiliation from Orthodox to Modern Conservative and joined the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. The congregation also purchased an investment property on McBrien Road in Brainerd. After a number of years, the group built a new facility at the new site and moved in 1975. Mizpah Congregation continued to occupy the original 1928 Ochs building, albeit altered through the course of multiple renovations and additions.
Thousands of military personnel have trained at Strategic Operations Inc. during which many lessons learned have been incorporated into the design of facilities and equipment. This fertile ground has also contributed to innovative research and development and rapid prototyping. Among the products developed are: Re-locatable Habitat Units (RHU), Ballistic Unmanned Ground Vehicle – Target (BUGV-Target), Get The Forces Off / On (GETFO) rapid egress system for troop-carrying military trucks, the Human Worn Partial Task Surgical Simulator (“Cut Suit”), special effects devices, props, and simulated weapons.
