Socialism: Child Gangs Fight For ‘Quality Garbage’ With Machetes In Venezuela

While many politicians and civilians in the United States focus on making the country a socialist regime, Venezuela’s children are forming gangs and using machetes to fight each other for “quality garbage” so they have something to eat.

Socialism is only good for those already at the very top.  It’s a very important lesson for anyone seeking to “remove the wealth” from the 1%.  Never assume that the rich will allow you vote their money away in the first place. The other issue most socialists forget that the 1% is made up the very wealthy politicians from both parties who will profit immensely from the implementation of socialism.  Of course, when that does happen children starve and become violent as a means to survive and have just one more meal.

The Miami Herald has detailed the lives of children forced to live under the harsh realities of socialism. Liliana, at the age of only 16, has become the mother figure for a gang of Venezuelan children and young adults called the Chacao, named after the neighborhood they’ve claimed as their territory. The 15 members, ranging in age from 10 to 23, work together to survive vicious fights for “quality” garbage in crumbling, shortage-plagued, socialist dystopia of Venezuela. Their weapons are knives and sticks and machetes. And their only prize is garbage that contains food scrapes barely good enough to eat.

Many of the children in the Chacao gang flock to a life of violence but a family-oriented one because there’s no other option if they want to eat.  There are at least 10 gangs in the capital of Caracas according to social workers and police estimate. “There were always children on the street in Venezuela but now we are seeing a new phenomenon — kids who get more food on the street than at their homes,” says Beatriz Tirado, who leads “Angeles de Calle,” or Street Angels, a non-governmental charity.

“Our kids are finding ways to survive because neither in their homes nor in their communities is there enough food,” explains social worker Roberto Patino, who has established 29 public diners all over the country to feed the massive numbers of hungry children. But Patino also bemoans that there are not enough resources to help the children get their lives back on track let alone feed them properly. For now, many have turned to trash bags as a source of nutrition.

But the gang life is dangerous for the children. Often, they venture into the more affluent neighborhoods of the politicians. One of those territories is Las Mercedes. It has high-end restaurants that attract the political elite Venezuelans. Because garbage bags there often contain leftovers and even untouched food, they are sought after by a number of the gangs. The clashes over bags of trash can be deadly.

The children often take to the consumption of street drugs at an early age as well.  They become criminals, tossing the law out the window to survive.  They steal, assault people, and use drugs like crack, sometimes smoked in makeshift pipes made from the parts of discarded plastic dolls, but for a very disturbing reason. “When you smoke you don’t feel hungry,” explains Patricio.

The few failures of capitalism are much preferable to the few success of socialism. Although one can argue that there haven’t been any successes with regards to socialism unless you count the lining of the pockets of the politicians who rule over everyone else.

Weapons in Space Race Warfare

“The eyes of the world now look into space, to the moon and to the planets beyond, and we have vowed that we shall not see it governed by a hostile flag of conquest, but by a banner of freedom and peace. We have vowed that we shall not see space filled with weapons of mass destruction, but with instruments of knowledge and understanding…. I do not say the we should or will go unprotected against the hostile misuse of space any more than we go unprotected against the hostile use of land or sea, but I do say that space can be explored and mastered without feeding the fires of war, without repeating the mistakes that man has made in extending his writ around this globe of ours.” John F. Kennedy, speech at Rice University, 1962

Noble ideals from an era wide-eyed with optimism and aspirations. President Kennedy’s assassination ended the age of naivety. Space exploration was always about domination through military strength and maintaining the high ground. The United States over the last decades achieves what it does best; spend more money. The black budgets that are buried deep within the bowls of the Pentagon do not fund a utopia. The threat of warfare on some level never vanishes. The expanse into the universe just allows infinite space to move around the instruments for a clash of rivals. While Space Wars Will Look Nothing Like Star Wars, the prospects of attaining celestial peace are nothing but a pipe dream.

“There’s this idea connected with space that it should be used for peaceful purposes,” says P.J. Blount, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Luxembourg and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Space Law. “And that idea extends a heightened status to space for states not to engage in these types of activities.”

That peaceful designation for outer space is based on the 1967 “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,” better known as the pithier “Outer Space Treaty.” It’s administered by the United Nations, and it states, among other things, that space is for peaceful uses only, and forbids placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit. It also forbids weapons of any sort on the moon. So far, the treaty has been upheld, in large part.”

REALLY ?

The record since the New Frontier details the same old adage since human nature does not change. No Treaty Will Stop Space Weapons, is inevitable.

“Space war concerns are turning toward the tactical. In a conventional shooting war, disabling U.S. sats blunts the precision weapons and navigation systems that enable the U.S. military to operate. You can see, then, why the Chinese and Russians are very interested in banning conventional weapons in space, but not so interested in banning weapons that could blind, kill, or disable satellites from Earth.”

This kind of thinking moves the debate into degrees and types of weapons that are now accepted as a given, especially since the ending of the cold war was just a temporary cooling of tensions. With the emergence of Red China into the supremacy race, the three way space weapons deployment chase heats up.

The U.S. military never misses an opportunity to pump up the fear factor to support the case for higher defense spending. CNBC gladly provides a forum to sell the Space arms race as Russia, China emerge as ‘rapidly growing threats’ to US.

“Navy Vice Admiral Charles Richard, deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command, warned in a speech at a CSIS space security conference about offensive space capabilities and weapons being developed by China and Russia.

“While we’re not at war in space, I don’t think we can say we are exactly at peace either,” the admiral said. “With rapidly growing threats to our space systems, as well as the threat of a degraded space environment, we must prepare for a conflict that extends into space.”

The military-industrial-establishment eagerly pushes their agenda for spending The Air Force’s space budget is up by 8 percent, even though the service is cutting procurement of space systems by more than a billion dollars. In order to defend this increase the following argument attempts to rationalize Space Warfare: Why The U.S. Is So Vulnerable, Despite SpaceX’s Wins.

“Russia and China are ramping up their offensive potential. And while the effects of space warfare on worldwide commerce would hurt the U.S. and its adversaries alike, the U.S. military’s unmatched global footprint and forward-deployed posture mean it is especially dependent on space-based assets.

So what happens if China and Russia use their space assets on a commercial satellite? Is that an act of war?

“That is a policy issue that is being actively discussed,” said Stephen Flanagan, a senior political analyst at Rand Corp.”

Ramping up the implied danger, the Scientific American account of War in Space May Be Closer Than Ever points to the rapid development of operational systems for satellite warfare.

“The US declassified details of its secret Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), a planned set of four satellites capable of monitoring the Earth’s high orbits and even rendezvousing with other satellites to inspect them up-close. The first two GSSAP spacecraft launched into orbit in July 2014.

“This used to be a black program—something that didn’t even officially exist,” Weeden says. “It was declassified to basically send a message saying, ‘Hey, if you’re doing something funky in and around the geosynchronous belt, we’re going to see.’” An interloper into geosynchronous orbit need not be an explosives-tipped missile to be a security risk—even sidling up to an adversary’s strategic satellites is considered a threat. Which is one reason that potential U.S. adversaries might be alarmed by the rendezvous capabilities of GSSAP and of the U.S. Air Force’s highly maneuverable X-37B robotic space planes.”

Never let an arms race get into the way of lowering the volume and taking a second look at the cosmic advantages of cooperating in the vast voids of outer space. Oh no, that unprotected risk that President Kennedy spoke about has been pursued in the quest for continuous weapon development. According to the account, Space Weapons in Development there are at least three laser systems being developed for either space-based or ground-based weapons; hydrogen fluoride laser, deuterium fluoride laser and chemical oxygen iodine laser.

“The former U.S. Space Command, which is now part of the U.S. Strategic Command as of June 2002, doesn’t hide the fact that it wants to establish U.S. supremacy in space. In its Vision for 2020 report, the Space Command points out that military forces have always evolved to protect national interests, both military and economic. The report suggests that space weapons must be developed to protect U.S. satellites, and other space vehicles, as other countries develop the ability to launch spacecraft into space. In 1997, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Space, Keith R. Hall, said, “With regard to space dominance, we have it, we like it and we’re going to keep it.”

Chronicles of modern warfare has shown that efforts to ban the weaponization of advanced levels of technological systems has been a failure since warmongering conflict just does not abide by the best of intentions. The long history of militarization of space is demonstrated by Space.com with their list of The Most Dangerous Space Weapons Ever.

Whatever category of cyber, kinetic or jamming weapons are on the horizon, the fact remains that the escalated space race is focused upon winning a warfare option. Well, none of us should be surprised. The planet is consumed with permanent war. The United States foreign policy establishment is scared about losing their empire. China wants to become the replacement imperium. And Russia is attempting to survive from the failures of their former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Instead of trust and verify, the battle cry is to destroy and eliminate your advocacies. Each have different priorities and tactics on just how to reach their goal of preeminence. What can be derived with certainty is that any conflict in space would never be confined to the exosphere. The fallout, nuke or non-nuclear need not be pulled into the global atmosphere because there are ample earth bound weapons to destroy the entire planet.

Space may be the refugee for communication satellites and world commerce, but The Next Frontier: Trump and Space Weapons, cites an option for a space based offensive weapon.

“One idea that has kicked around for decades is a system that would consist of a tungsten projectile and a navigation system. Upon command, these ‘rods from God’ as they are poetically called would re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and would strike a target, even one in a super hardened underground banker, at 36,000 feet per second, obliterating it.”

Somehow this just does not seem to be in keeping under a “banner of freedom and peace” or doing God’s work.

The post Weapons in Space Race Warfare appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.

SELCO: The Brutal Truth About Violence When the SHTF

This article was originally published by Daisy Luther at The Organic Prepper

Selco interviewed by Daisy Luther

Are you prepared for the extreme violence that is likely to come your way if the SHTF? No matter what your plan is, it’s entirely probable that at some point, you’ll be the victim of violence or have to perpetrate violence to survive. As always, Selco is our go-to guy on SHTF reality checks and this thought-provoking interview will shake you to your core.

If you don’t know Selco, he’s from Bosnia and he lived through a year in a city that was blockaded with no utilities, no deliveries of supplies, and no services. In his interviews, he shares what the scenarios the rest of us theorize about were REALLY like. He mentioned to me recently that most folks aren’t prepared for the violence that is part and parcel of a collapse, which brings us to today’s interview.

How prevalent was violence when the SHTF in Bosnia?

It was wartime and chaos, from all conflicts in those years in the Balkan region Bosnian conflict was most brutal because of multiple reasons, historical, political and other.

To simplify the explanation why violence was common and very brutal, you need to picture a situation where you are “bombarded” with huge amount of information (propaganda) which instills in you very strong feelings of fear and hate.

Out of fear and hate, violence grows easy and fast, and over the very short period of time you see how people around you (including you) do things that you could not imagine before.

I can say that violence was almost an everyday thing in the whole spectrum of different activities because it was a fight for survival.

Again, whenever (and wherever) you put people in a region without enough resources, you can expect violence.

We were living a normal life, and then suddenly we were thrown in a way of living where if you could not “negotiate” something with someone, you solve the problem by launching a rocket from an RPG through the window of his living room.

Hate stripped down the layers of humanity and suddenly it was “normal” to level an apartment building with people inside with shells from a tank or form private prisons with imprisoned civilians for slave work or sex slaves.

Nothing that I saw or read before could have prepared me for the level of violence and blindness to it, for the lives of kids, elders, civilians, and the innocent.

Again, the thing that is important for readers is that we were a modern society one day, and then in few weeks it turned into carnage.

Do not make the mistake of saying “it cannot happen here” because I made that mistake too.

Do not underestimate power of propaganda, fear, hate, and the lowest human instincts, no matter how modern and good your society is right now and how deeply you believe that “it can not happen here”.

You’ve mentioned warlords and gangs in several of your articles. Were they responsible for the majority of the violence or was it hungry families?

Fighting of the armies through the whole period of war brings violence in terms of constant shelling from a distance from different kind of weapons.

For example a few multiple rocket launchers (VBR) could bring in 30 seconds the destruction in an area of 3-4 apartment buildings, and being there in that moment and surviving it gives you a completely new view on life.

Snipers were a constant threat and over time you simply grow a way of living that you constant scan area in front of you where your next steps gonna be. Are you gonna be visible and from where? Etc.

Most brutal violence was actually lawlessness and complete lack of order between different factions and militias, so in some periods there were militias or gangs who simply ruled the cities or part of the city where they were absolutely masters of everything in terms of deciding of taking someone’s life.

In lawlessness, you as one person could be really small and not interesting, or join some bigger group of people to be stronger, some family or militia or gang.

An example of a gang would be group of people of some 300 or 500 people who “officially” were a unit or militia and operate for some faction, but in reality they operate mostly for themselves.

That included owning part of the black market, having prison (for forced labor or ransom), attacking people and houses for resources, smuggling people from dangerous areas.

Violence from those kinds of group was the most immediate violence, the most visible in terms of SHTF talking.

If those people came on your door you could obey, fight, or negotiate, but mostly you could not not ask for help from any kind of authority, because there was no real authority.

In any society, no matter where you are living, there are a great number of people who are waiting for the SHTF to go out and do violent things. Small time criminals or simply violent persons who are not openly violent because system is there to punish them for that. It is like that.

Some gang leaders that I knew were actually completely sick people with a strange type of charisma that makes people follow them, weird situations that can happen only in a real collapse.

They are people who just waited for their time to rise.

Those kinds of people together with criminal organization that are already there in any city in the world will be the backbone of SHTF gangs.

Who were the most likely victims?

A very simple answer would be that the most likely victims were people who had interesting things without enough defense.

But it was not always that simple.

For example one of the first houses that got raided in my neighborhood, right at the beginning of collapse while there was still some kind of order, was a rich family’s home.

They had a nice house with bars on the windows, a pretty good setup for defense, and they had enough people inside so they could give pretty good resistance to the mob.

But they got raided simply because they were known that they are rich, so they were attacked with enough force to be overwhelmed.

It was not only about how much manpower you had and how well-organized defense of your home was, it was also about how juicy a target you were.

If you are faced with 150 angry people attacking your home because they are sure you have good stuff inside your chances are low, no matter how good and tough you are.

People who were alone were a pretty easy target and old people without support of family or friends.

It was not always about killing someone or violence. For example, if you were alone and without resources but you had something else valuable like some kind of skill or knowledge you could easily be “recruited” for some faction or group, not by your will of course.

What were some ways to prevent yourself from becoming a victim of violence? How do you recommend that people prepare themselves for the possibility of violence?

It can be done in steps, or in layers.

Do not be interesting (or attract attention) when the SHTF.

This means a lot of things, for this article I can give a few examples with shortened explanations because it is a huge topic:

• Do not look like a prepper (before or after SHTF). There is no sense in announcing that you are prepping for EMP, civil collapse, apocalypse, or whatever. With that you are risking the probability that when the SHTF, people will remember that you have interesting things in your home


• Your home should look ordinary. For example, if you are living in the city on a street where all houses look similar, there is not  much sense in making your home look like a fortress. You’ll just attract attention.


• Your defense should be based on more subtle means. Some examples are having means to reinforce doors and windows quickly when you need it, or to reinforce them from inside. Make changes in your yard to funnel possible attackers where you want them to be (trees, fence, bush…). You can make your home look abandoned or already looted.

Think about what survival is!

Survival is about staying alive, it is not about being comfortable at the expense of losing your life.

I have seen many times people lose their lives simply because they were too attached to their belongings (house, car, land, goods…) so they simply did not want to leave something and run in a particular moment.

Everything can be earned and bought again except life.

Forget about statements like “I will defend it with my life” or “over my dead body” or similar because the real SHTF is usually not heroic or noble. It is hard and brutal. When you are gone you are gone and there might be nobody to take care of your family just because you have been stubborn or trusted in movies when it came to violence.

To rephrase it: Be ready to leave your home in a split second if that means you and your family will survive, no matter how many good things you have stored there.

Be mentally ready for violence

In a way, it is impossible to be ready for violence, especially widespread violence when the SHTF, but you can minimize shock when that happens with some things.

If you are not familiar with what violence is, you can try to get yourself close” to it today (in normal times). It can be done, for example, by doing some voluntary work for example in a local hospital, ER or similar… or simply by working with homeless people.

Sounds maybe strange but activities like this can get you a bit of a feeling of what it is all about, not to mention that you can learn some practical and useful skills for SHTF.

Have means and skills  (physically) to defend – or to do violence

No matter how old or young you are, your gender or religion I assure you that you are capable of doing violence. It is only a matter of the situation and how far you are going to be pushed.

It is not just “some people are capable of violence.” Everybody is capable. Not everybody enjoys doing it or is willing to do it so easily.

In today (normal times) you can learn some violence skills and you should do it, again no matter if you are a woman or old or young.

You should own a weapon and know how to use it. You should practice with it, or have at least some basic knowledge about hand-to-hand combat.

The worst case scenario is to have a weapon that you try for the first time when SHTF.

Be familiar with your means for defense, let your family members know what they need to do in case of attack of your home, have plan, and go through it.

Only through practice will you minimize chances for mistakes.

Use common sense

I know lot of survivalists almost dream about how they are going to use weapons against bad guys when SHTF, and that they will be something like super heroes from movies, saving innocents and killing villains.

Truth is that in a real collapse, a lot of things are kind of blurred and you are not sure who the bad guys are. Good guys turn out to be lunatic gang members who want to bring food to their kids.

There are no super heroes when SHTF, and if some of them show up they end up dead quickly.

There is only you and your skills and mindset and what you prepared.

Use  violence as a last resort because of the simple fact that by using violence you are risking of getting killed or hurt. Remember when SHTF there is maybe no doctor or hospital to take care of your wound.

It is a time when even a small cut can eventually kill you through infection and lack of proper care.

I’m a single mom with a household full of girls. In an SHTF situation, what would our best strategies be to remain safe?

Just like I have mentioned before, strategy is always same for any part of survival, and shooting from the rifle is pretty similar no matter are you man or woman.

Being single mom with household full of girls on first look make you as a ideal target in some situations, but we are talking here in prepper terms so there is no reason not to be perfectly well prepared as a single mom with girls.

But yes I admit it is not perfect situation, even if you are prepared well, some things are sure, you need to connect with other people even more.

House with couple of girls will always look like easy prey for some people.

It is like that.

Were people in the city safer than people in the country? Can you tell us more about rural living during this time?

In my case definitely no.

In the essence it always come to the resources and people.

City meant more people less resources, country (rural) meant less people more resources, and because that level of violence simply was lower. That was most important reason.

There are few more reasons why it was much better in the country.

People in the country (rural settings) were much more “connected to ground”  they were more tough if you like, they grew their own food, had cattle, lived more simple life prior SHTF and when everything collapsed they had less problems getting use to it.

Yes they also did not have electricity and phones, running water or connection to other places but they adapted easier to the new life because they had more useful skills then people in the city.

Life was harder for them too than prior to the collapse, but they had means to get resources: land, woods, river…

Another thing is that people in small rural communities “in the country” were more connected to each other, people knew their neighborhood and some things were easier to organize, like community security watch, help in case of diseases and similar.

What types of weapons did people have for self-defense?

It was different political system prior the collapse where it was not so usual to own a weapon legally. And to own one illegally could mean a lot of troubles.

Right prior to SHTF, it became possible to buy different weapons on the black market but still, a majority of people did not own weapons.

When it all collapsed, it was possible to get a weapon through trade.

Because of the military doctrine here prior to the collapse, we used “East Bloc” weapons. A favorite was AK-47 in all different kind of editions, or older weapons like M-48 rifle, SKS rifle, 22 and similar.

People used what they had, so in one period you would be lucky if you had any kind of pistol and knife.

Later through the different channels weapon become more available so people had them more. A lot of that was actually junk that some warlords somehow “imported”.

Weapons 50-60 years old without proper ammunition, or not in operating condition. A lot of people simply did not have a clue how to use any kind of weapon so a lot of accidental deaths happened.

I remember people storming abandoned army barracks that was mostly looted, but they found in one building a lot of RPGs while other part of the same building was burning.

Two guys were trying to figure out a single-use RPG, and while they were messing with it clearly not knowing how that thing worked, they accidentally armed it and launched a rocket that flew through the crowd, not hurting anyone and exploding in wall 100 meters from where they stood.

They were smiling, clearly happy because they thought they figured out how that thing worked.

What weapons do you suggest to have for SHTF?

It is a never-ending discussion and a favorite prepper topic, and I must say that whole discussion is overrated.

I have used them in a real situation, and tried and tested lot of different kind of weapons and what works for me may simply not work for you.

For example, here for me good choice is AK-47 rifle, maybe for you wherever you are it is very bad choice.

Good advice is : you need to have a weapon that most people have around you because of multiple reasons: spare parts, repairing, ammunition availability, possibility that you can pick that rifle from other people and you know how to use it.

What caliber and similar is a matter of discussion again. I am talking from the point of owning a rifle.

Another thing is that you need to know how that weapon works. Luckily, most of my readers live in an area where gun laws are great comparing to region where I am.

You have much more choices when it comes to owning a weapon and practicing with it. Use that.

And do not forget that using weapon in a real life situation is not like shooting at beer bottles with your friends after a barbecue.

In real life you might be in a situation to use a weapon while you are tired, dirty, and hungry and while someone is screaming next to you.

It is going to be maybe when you are not ready to do that, maybe in pitch dark, maybe after you have been awake for 48 hours.

At least think about that.

When should you use violence?

Contrary to some popular beliefs in the prepper community, the point is to use violence only as a last solution.

The reason is as I mentioned already, the risk that you can be hurt or killed too, but also once you do violence you change your own rules, or push it more forward, and it is easy to get lost in violence.

There are consequences to that, and you are not going to be the same person ever again.

Violence is a tool, not a toy. You need to know how to use it as best as possible, but also to avoid using it when it is not necessary.

It is a good idea to set up a clear set of rules (mentally too) when you are gonna use violence and to try to stick to it.

For example you will use weapon if someone tries to break your home and attack you, and you need to be ready to do that without hesitation.

What else should we know about post-collapse violence?

Think with your head and research.

One thing that is absolutely important when it comes to understanding how violent it is going to be and what can you expect in your own case of SHTF, is to understand how much media can influence people in making their decisions about violence.

In my case, the media built up situation where people feared so much from other people that they actually hated them. They hated them so much that they actually strip them down from humanity.

In a real-life example, it works in a way that people killed other people, including kids and women, because they hated them so much because media told them.

It may look ridiculous and not possible to you, and you might again think “that can not happen here” but please trust your own resources, look for independent information, not mainstream media, in order to get the right information about what is really happening in the beginning of collapse.

Do not be pulled into “popular opinion” just because the “man from TV” (whoever he might be) told you so.

It is easier today. Because of the internet, you have much more choices for correct information than in my time. But still be careful, you might find yourself rioting together with 500 people just because you trusted some media.

More from Selco 

• Selco: The Reality of Barter and Trade in an SHTF Economy


• Selco: Who Survives and Who Dies When the SHTF?


• Selco: How to Stay Warm During a Long-Term SHTF Situation


• Stories from an SHTF Christmas: An Interview with Selco


• Selco: What an “Average Day” Is REALLY Like When the SHTF

More information about Selco

Selco survived the Balkan war of the 90s in a city under siege, without electricity, running water, or food distribution.

In his online works, he gives an inside view of the reality of survival under the harshest conditions. He reviews what works and what doesn’t, tells you the hard lessons he learned, and shares how he prepares today.

He never stopped learning about survival and preparedness since the war. Regardless what happens, chances are you will never experience extreme situations like Selco did. But you have the chance to learn from him and how he faced death for months.

Real survival is not romantic or idealistic. It is brutal, hard and unfair. Let Selco take you into that world.

Read more of Selco’s articles here: https://shtfschool.com/blog/

And take advantage of a deep and profound insight into his knowledge and advice by signing up for the outstanding and unrivaled online course. More details here: https://shtfschool.com/survival-boot-camp/

Please feel free to share any information from this article in part or in full, giving credit to the author and including a link to The Organic Prepper and the following bio.

Daisy Luther is the author of The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide To Whole Food on a Half Price Budget.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

57 Years Ago Today, Eisenhower Predicted the Rise of the Military-Industrial Complex—He Was Right

Dwight Eisenhower predicted the very situation Americans face today that keeps us in a perpetual state of debt and war and he called it the military-industrial complex.

Conspiracy Theorists Were Right: Corporate Media Finally Forced to Admit America Armed ISIS

A new investigation has concluded that 97 percent of the weapons used by the Islamic State were supplied illegally by the U.S. and Saudi Arabia.

The TOP SECRET Microwave Missile That Could Take Out North Korea’s Nukes

The North Korean regime, run by dictator Kim Jong-Un, may be stopped before a war can even begin. The Air Force has a top-secret weapon that could annihilate the tyrannical country’s missiles, disabling them before they can even be launched.

The Air Force and other government agencies have been working on the weaponization of microwaves for over two decades. According to the Daily Mail, the White House has discussed using experimental microwave missiles against North Korea to disable any of Kim Jong-un’s nukes. The Air Force could use CHAMP (Counter-electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile Project) weapons to fry the electronics controlling Kim’s latest rockets, stopping them from being launched. The use of the CHAMP weapons, which are not yet operational, was discussed at a White House meeting on North Korea back in August, according to NBC News.

“These high-powered microwave signals are very effective at disrupting and possibly disabling electronic circuits,” said Mary Lou Robinson, who heads development of the weapons at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque, in an exclusive interview with NBC News. 

“Think about when you put something in your microwave that has metal on it,” said Senator Martin Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico. “You know how badly that goes? Imagine directing those microwaves at someone’s electronics.” Senator Heinrich, a member of the Armed Services Committee, began his career as an engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Albuquerque.

The Air Force Research Laboratory began the CHAMP back in 2009. In 2012, one of the weapons was tested in Utah against electronic equipment that was set up to mirror the capabilities of Iran and North Korea. The weapon managed to wipe out everything inside the first building it targeted, including the camera recording the test, before going on to target five more buildings then crashing itself at a pre-determined site. This is, so far, the only declassified test of a microwave weapon.

Other tests are believed to have taken place since then to improve the weapon, including mounting it on a missile that is harder to detect and upping the power. A 2016 Air Force Research Laboratory document, seen by NBC News, says the low-flying missile is “capable of flying into a contested area and disabling an adversary’s electronic systems.”

“Command and control centers are filled with electronic infrastructure which is highly vulnerable to high powered microwaves,” said retired Lt. Gen. David Deptula, who ran the air wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and retired as the head of Air Force intelligence. Deptula said he believed the United States could use an HPM to disable a ballistic missile on a North Korean launch pad, and that there are many advantages to using microwave weapons in a North Korean scenario. They work in all weather, said Deptula, which helps in the Korean climate, and “they’re employed at the speed of light. You can’t get much faster than that in terms of achieving desired effects.”

If this technology can be used, it could be effective in the prevention of war.

How Fake Cops Got $1.2 Million in Real Weapons

 

By: The Marshall Project | 

A federal sting reveals lax oversight in the Defense Department’s gear giveaway program.

When you think of a federal sting operation involving weaponry and military gear, the Government Accountability Office doesn’t immediately jump to mind. The office is tasked with auditing other federal agencies to root out fraud and abuse, usually by asking questions and poring over paperwork.

This year, the agency went a little more cowboy. The GAO created a fictitious law enforcement agency — complete with a fake website and a bogus address that traced back to an empty lot — and applied for military-grade equipment from the Department of Defense.

And in less than a week, they got it.

A GAO report issued this week says the agency’s faux cops were able to obtain $1.2 million worth of military gear, including night-vision goggles, simulated M-16A2 rifles and pipe bomb equipment from the Defense Department’s 1033 program, which supplies state and local law enforcement with excess materiel. The rifles and bomb equipment could have been made functional with widely available parts, the report said.

“They never did any verification, like visit our ‘location,’ and most of it was by email,” said Zina Merritt, director of the GAO’s defense capabilities and management team, which ran the operation. “It was like getting stuff off of eBay.”

In its response to the sting, the Defense Department promised to tighten its verification procedures, including trying to visit the location of law enforcement agencies that apply and making sure agents picking up supplies have valid identification, the GAO report said. The department also promised to do an internal fraud assessment by April 2018.

A Defense Department spokesman declined to comment further.

The sting operation has its roots in the 2014 fatal police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. At the time, many were surprised to see law enforcement respond to protests with armored trucks, sniper rifles, tear-gas bombs and other weapons of war.

Reporting by The Marshall Project and others found that much of the equipment came from the obscure 1033 program, which dates back to the Clinton era. Any equipment the U.S. military was not using — including Humvees, grenades, scuba-diving gear and even marching-band instruments — was available to local cops who could demonstrate a need.

The program has transferred more than $6 billion worth of supplies to more than 8,600 law enforcement agencies since 1991.

After Ferguson, then-President Barack Obama issued an executive order prohibiting the military from giving away some equipment and deeming other equipment “controlled,” establishing strict oversight and training requirements for law enforcement agencies that wanted it. The order also required a Defense Department and Justice Department working group to ensure oversight.

But since President Donald Trump took office, the group has not met, according to the Constitution Project, a bipartisan thinktank that had been participating in the meetings. Trump has said that he will revoke Obama’s executive order, although he has not yet.

Congress ordered the GAO to look into the program last year. A survey of local law enforcement did not turn up any instances of outright abuse at the state level but did find one illegitimate agency that had applied as a federal entity and was approved for equipment, Merritt said.

That’s when the agency launched the sting. Contrary to its public image, GAO has snagged other agencies with undercover work in the past, including an investigation of the Affordable Care Act in which the agency submitted fictitious applications and was approved for subsidized healthcare coverage.

In this case, the GAO created the fake law enforcement agency — whose name the agency would not reveal — and claimed it did high-level security and counterterrorism work. Once approved, the agency easily obtained the items from a Defense Department warehouse of unused military goods.

Jim Pasco, executive director of the Fraternal Order of Police, which lists rescinding Obama’s executive order one of its top priorities for the Trump administration, said the possibility of fraud does not indict the whole program.

“It suggests only that the U.S. military is one of the world’s largest bureaucracies and as such is going to have some lapses in material control,” Pasco said. “Law enforcement is going to get that equipment and we’re going to use it, to protect both officers and civilians. And if we don’t get it free from the military, we’re going to have to buy it with taxpayer dollars.”

But to Madhuri Grewal, senior counsel for the Constitution Project, and other opponents of police militarization, the problem is more fundamental.

“There just aren’t many everyday policing uses for military equipment like this,” Grewal said. “The question is why can real law enforcement agencies get some of this stuff, let alone fake ones?”

Senator Corker Blocks Arms Sales to Gulf States Over Qatar Row

During his May visit to the Riyadh, Trump and the Saudi family dictatorship agreed to at least a $300 billion US arms sales deal with the kingdom over the next decade.

Because of the row between Riyadh, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt and Qatar, Senator Bob Corker (R. TN) blocked it until things are resolved, in a letter to Rex Tillerson, saying:

Saudi-led Gulf states “did not take advantage of the summit (with Trump) and instead chose to devolve into conflict…hurt(ing)” America’s regional agenda.

“(B)efore we provide any further clearances during the informal review period on sales of lethal military equipment to the GCC states, we need a better understanding of the path to resolve the current dispute and reunify the GCC.”

Major arms deals require preliminary approval by leaders of the House and Senate foreign relations committees – before the statuary 30-day congressional review process begins to approve or reject these deals.

Talks among the parties are deadlocked. Irreconcilable differences remain. A sweeping 13-point ultimatum by Saudi-led three Gulf states and Egypt would be unacceptable to any nation wishing to retain its sovereignty.

Qatar rejected them as “baseless and unacceptable.” On Tuesday, Riyadh said they’re “non-negotiable,” Saudi foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir, saying:

“We made our point. We took our steps and it’s up to the Qataris to amend their behavior, and once they do, things will be worked out, but if they don’t they will remain isolated. They know what they have to do.”

US efforts to resolve the row so far failed. Qatar has been blockaded for three weeks. According to UAE spokesman Omar Ghobash, Doha hasn’t “respond(ed) positively to what we sent.”

Asked if the row could escalate to military conflict, he said “(n)ot from our side…We’ll cut all our ties with Qatar, economic, political, and even social…”

A July 3 deadline for Qatar to accept unacceptable demands is days away. Asked what happens if things aren’t resolved by then, Ghobash said “we’d no longer be interested in bringing Qatar back into the Gulf and Arab fold.”

Days earlier, White House press secretary Sean Spicer called the spat “a family issue (to be) work(ed) out (among) themselves.”

Tillerson called demands on Qatar “very difficult to meet.” US arms sales to the Gulf States is big business.

According to the Congressional Research Service, during the four-year 2012 – 2015 period, Riyadh bought $17 billion worth of weapons and munitions, Qatar $9.9 billion, Kuwait $4.4 billion, the UAE $4.2 billion, Oman $900 million, and Bahrain $300 million.

These are billions of dollars of reasons alone why Washington will pressure all sides to resolve things.

Declassified Docs Suggest $1 BILLION in ‘Lost’ Pentagon Weapons Went to ISIS

After an audit from the Department of Defense revealed that the Pentagon couldn’t account for over $1 billion in weapons and equipment that was meant for fighters in Iraq, the question remains: Did ISIS gain $1 BILLION in weapons and equipment as a result?

The September 2016 audit was declassified after the human rights organization Amnesty International filed a Freedom of Information Act request. It revealed that the Pentagon “did not have accurate, up-to-date records on the quantity and location” of the majority of the equipment that was meant for the Iraqi Train & Equip Program.

The missing equipment came from the $1.6 billion budget Congress allocated for the program in 2015. The budget was approved in the name of fighting the Islamic State of Iraq & Syria—a group of militants that didn’t exist until nearly a decade after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.

It should be noted that a report from Amnesty International in December 2015 claimed that ISIS had an extensive arsenal consisting of the same U.S.-made weapons that were intended for its opposition—the Iraqi Army and “moderate rebel” groups in Syria.

Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s arms control and human rights researcher, acknowledged the troubling pattern that was once again reaffirmed in the latest audit.

“This audit provides a worrying insight into the US Army’s flawed—and potentially dangerous—system for controlling millions of dollars’ worth of arms transfers to a hugely volatile region,” Wilcken said. “It makes for especially sobering reading given the long history of leakage of US arms to multiple armed groups committing atrocities in Iraq, including the armed group calling itself the Islamic State.”

Amnesty also noted that the audit shed light on the Department of Defense’s failure to track the equipment after it was delivered to ensure that it arrived in the hands of the army, “despite the fact that the department’s Golden Sentry program is mandated to carry out post-delivery checks.”

The DoD audit found several serious shortcomings in how ITEF equipment was logged and monitored from the point of delivery onward, including: Fragmentary record-keeping in arms depots in Kuwait and Iraq. Information logged across multiple spreadsheets, databases and even on hand-written receipts; Large quantities of equipment manually entered into multiple spreadsheets, increasing the risk of human error; And Incomplete records meaning those responsible for the equipment were unable to ascertain its location or status.

While the report from Amnesty International seemed to cast the blame on the Iraqi Armed forces for failing to keep up with the equipment, Michel Chossudovsky from the Center for Global Research noted that the Pentagon has been intentionally channeling weapons “to jihadist armed groups as part of carefully designed military agenda with a view to destabilizing Iraq as a nation state.”

“Amply documented, the ISIS and other terror groups have been receiving weapons from both the US and its allies including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” Chossudovsky wrote. “And a significant part of the $1.6 billion has been used to finance weapons shipments to the ISIS, both directly as well as indirectly through third parties.”

As The Free Thought Project has reported, a declassified Pentagon report from 2012 “proved that the growth and expansion of ISIS was a direct result of arms being sent by the U.S. to anti-Assad Islamists, with the strategic U.S. intention of toppling the Assad regime in Syria.”

When these audits are finally declassified, and the information is released, it is often met with a media blackout by the mainstream, and the public is distracted with material nonsense.

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Given the fact that another $1 billion in weapons and equipment has seemingly vanished in the volatile region, it is all the more important to remember that while the Pentagon may never admit it, the idea that the U.S. would intentionally send weapons to militant groups, in order to influence the political climate in the region is much more than just a “conspiracy.” In fact, it is a well-documented phenomenon.

US Arms Pouring Into Syria

(image: Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda, via Associated Press)

Washington’s goal is fueling and continuing conflict, not ending it.

Arms and munitions for Kurdish YPG fighters and terrorists comprising the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces began arriving months earlier, more continuing to come.

Much of what’s supplied ends up in the hands of ISIS, al-Nusra and other terrorist groups. Washington’s aim is toppling Assad, destroying Syrian sovereignty, achieving another imperial trophy, no matter the human cost.

America’s Accountability Office reported at least $1 billion worth of arms deliveries to Syria and Iraq are unaccountable. Numerous airdrops supply terrorist fighters.

Turkish media reported convoys of trucks with US weapons and munitions poured into northern Syria, including heavy mortars and anti-tank missiles.

Pentagon claims about using these weapons to defeat ISIS are false. Washington supports the terrorist scourge it claims to oppose.

US arms shipments are part of an imperial scheme to oust Assad and destroy Syrian sovereignty, partitioning the country planned.

Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon lied, claiming weapons supplied are monitored to assure they’re used against ISIS.

Its fighters are used as imperial foot soldiers – heavily armed by Washington, NATO, Saudi Arabia, Israel and other regional rogue states.

Days earlier, Trump duplicitously wished Muslims a “joyful Ramadan” – lasting from May 27 – June 24.

“At its core, the spirit of Ramadan strengthens awareness of our shared obligation to reject violence, to pursue peace, and to give to those in need who are suffering from poverty or conflict,” Trump said, adding:

“I extend my best wishes to Muslims everywhere for a blessed month as you observe the Ramadan traditions of charity, fasting, and prayer. May God bless you and your families.”

His arms sale to Saudi Arabia is all about supporting terrorism, not combating it, assuring endless regional slaughter, destruction and turmoil.

Trump’s neocon-infested administration and despotic allies reject peace and stability. Conflicts rage with no prospects for ending them any time soon, the spirit of Ramadan violated year-round.

Huge US Arms Deal for Saudi Dictatorship

(image: stillnessinthestorm.com)

According to Reuters, the White House “is close to completing a series of arms deals for Saudi Arabia totaling more than $100 billion, a senior White House official said on Friday, a week ahead of President Donald Trump’s planned visit to Riyadh.”

The Saudi dictatorship is one of the world’s most ruthless, repressing its own people, terror-bombing Yemen, blockading its coastline to prevent vital humanitarian aid from reaching starving, ill and injured civilians.

According to an unnamed White House source, the arms deal could exceed an astonishing $300 billion over the next decade.

It has nothing to do with “boosting (the kingdom’s) defensive capabilities,” as Reuters reported – everything to do with enriching US war-profiteers, regardless of the cost in human lives and misery.

“We are in the final stages of a series of (arms) deals,” the US source said. America is the world’s leading merchant of death and destruction, arming Israel and other rogue states, waging war in multiple theaters, responsible for millions of casualties post-9/11 alone, escalating conflicts instead of ending them.

On May 19, Trump heads for Riyadh, the first stop on his foreign trip, the Saudi deal expected to be finalized ahead of his arrival.

America and Britain are Riyadh’s main arms and munitions suppliers. Trump deplorably calls selling destructive weapons a way to boost economic growth and create jobs.

According to Reuters, the Saudi deal includes arms, ships, missile defense and maritime security – “a very substantial commitment,” the US source said, adding:

It’s “intended to build capabilities for the threats they face” – despite Riyadh facing none. “It’s good for the American economy, but it will also be good in terms of building a capability that is appropriate for the challenges of the region. Israel would still maintain an edge.”

The region’s challenges alone include America’s presence, Israeli belligerence, brutal dictatorships like the Saudis, and terrorist groups they support.

Trump’s visit to Riyadh, Israel, Brussels to meet with NATO leaders, and Sicily for a G7 summit will do nothing to advance world peace and stability, everything to continue imperial wars.

North Korea Defector’s Urgent Warning: ‘World Should Be Ready’ For Nuclear Attack

WASHINGTON — North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un would not hesitate to use nuclear attack on the United States and other countries, according to a defector who formerly served as deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom.

“Once he sees that there is any kind of sign of a tank or an imminent threat from America, then he would use his nuclear weapons with ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile),” Thae Yong Ho told NBC anchorman Lester Holt. “Kim Jong Un is a man who can do anything beyond the normal imagination.”

Thae and his family defected to South Korea in August, becoming the highest-level defectors from North Korea in two decades. Thae risked his life to talk to Holt; Kim has demonstrated a willingness to murder his enemies.

“I am already a marked man,” Thae said. “Kim Jong Un wants to eliminate any person or any country which poses a threat to him. And I think I am really a great threat to him.

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“Kim Jong Un is a person who did not even hesitate to kill his uncle and a few weeks ago, even his half-brother,” Thae said. “So, he is a man who can do anything to remove [anyone in] his way.”

Others Agree

Thae is not the only one who believes North Korea is a grave threat. The commander of America’s Pacific Fleet is worried about the reclusive nation.

“They have the nuclear capability — they’ve demonstrated that,” Admiral Scott Swift told NBC News. “And then, where they’re going with the miniaturization of that, whether they can actually weaponize a missile, that’s what’s driving the current concern.”

North Korea has an estimated eight nuclear warheads, but no one knows if it has a working ICBM. An ICBM would be necessary to hit the United States from the Korean peninsula.

“It does feel more dangerous — I’ll give you three reasons,” retired Admiral James Stavridis told NBC News. “One is [Kim’s] own precarious situation in command of the nation. Number two is the instability in South Korea. We’ve just seen the South Korean president indicted, arrested, and incarcerated. And, number three, a new and more aggressive American foreign policy coming from Washington.”

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South Korean President Park Geun-hye was impeached over a corruption scandal last year and ousted from office during March of this year. Kim might see the constitutional crisis in South Korea as an opportunity to attack.

‘Only a Nuclear Weapon Can Guarantee His Rule’

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on March 17 said military action is on the table.

Kim thinks that possessing a nuclear weapon is the only to avoid the fate of tyrants like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi, Thae said.

“That’s why Kim Jong Un strongly believes that only a nuclear weapon can guarantee his rule,” Thae said.

Thae added, “If Kim Jong Un has nuclear weapons and ICBMs, he can do anything So, I think the world should be ready to deal with this kind of person.”

What strategy do you think the U.S. should pursue with North Korea? Share your thoughts in the section below:

Insider Reveals How DARPA Will Control Our Minds: “If Even 20% Of This Is True…”

This article was written and originally published by The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: Things are so far gone, that we have no idea. People have virtually no sense of how deeply we are being steered off the path. Our very opinions, the information we receive, and the way in which our brains determine the strength of our opinions is all being skewed by algorithms, and by deliberate manipulations.

Science fiction is behind the curve of what they are actually attempting right now. A few more years of censorship and editing of content through social media, and a few more years of total integration with technology, and humanity may no longer be recognizable. It certainly won’t be free unless some very raw facts are quickly faced and dealt with.

DARPA Insider Reveals the Coming Hive Mind Control Grid: “If Even 20% Of What This Guy Says Is True…”

by The Daily Sheeple

The video below features a keynote by Dr. Robert Duncan regarding what can only be described as our coming hive mind control grid. He isn’t just talking about advances in transhumanism, the singularity, or artificial intelligence. He’s talking about how to control the minds of everyone on the planet and evolving humanity in a technological sense… whether they like it or not.

Duncan professes with shame that he worked on “Voice of God” weapons for the US Department of Defense, weapons which can make people think they are hearing voices in their heads in an attempt to control them. He says such weapons were tested back during Desert Storm and were quite effective at getting Iraqi soldiers to lay down arms without a shot fired.

And that’s just what they had 20+ years ago. Can you imagine what they’re working on today?

Duncan also touches on Project Blue Beam, remote neural monitoring, smart dust, and electronic telepathy technology which uses extremely low frequency waves.

Despite attempting multiple times to put a “positive spin” on this information as he nervously delivers it, what this man is saying really can’t be spun in a positive way, not with these kinds of technology in the hands of the military-industrial complex President Eisenhower once gravely warned us about. Duncan notes scientists “are brainwashed into believing that everything we are doing is of benefit to mankind, but look who pays our bills? The military. It’s all for war, it’s all for control, for government control…”

If even 20% of what this guy has to say is true…

Just… you’ve got to see this for yourself.

This article was written and originally published by The Daily Sheeple.

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Trump To Approve Massive Weapons Sale To Saudi Arabia

February 9, 2017   |   admintam

(ANTIWAR) According to officials familiar with the process, President Trump is expected to quickly approve massive weapons sales to both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, deals which had been on hold over growing concerns about human rights abuses by both nations.

The White House did not discuss the matter directly, saying the final announcement isn’t made yet, but the reports say that a $300 million Saudi missile technology sale and a multi-billion dollar warplane deal for Bahrain are both expected to get imminent clearance from the administration.

Human rights groups had been attacking the Obama Administration for years over such sales, calls which grew with the Saudi war in Yemen and the huge civilian death toll that followed. In the final few months of his administration, Obama was slowing some of the sales.

The expectation now, however, is that the Trump Administration is interested in getting the large sales on the books quickly to talk up their ability to keep getting large weapons contracts for key US arms makers. This could force human rights groups trying to limit the use of US weapons in committing war crimes to start from square one with the new administraiton.

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This article (Trump To Approve Massive Weapons Sale To Saudi Arabia) by Jason Ditz, originally appeared on AntiWar.com and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, email edits@theantimedia.org.

Guns in Violin Case, Weapons Cache in D.C. Before Inauguration: “Is Someone Unleashing Chaos?”

This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

Editor’s Comment: Is this more evidence of foul play afoot in Washington, D.C. ahead of the inauguration and one of the most contentious transfers of power in American history? There is simply no way to know, but with so many protests planned, so many in the establishment opposed to the Trump presidency and so much to gain from civil unrest, there is every reasons to question whether or not security has been properly arranged at the capital, and whether or not someone is preparing to unleash total chaos from the inception of the next administration.

Although the inauguration will hopefully go off smoothly, and without a hitch, President-elect Trump has more enemies than he can count before he even takes office. There are enough bizarre and unexplained circumstances already unfolding to start a new chapter in the JFK assassination investigation – why would the national security structure allow such unstable conditions, unless they were hoping to profit from a beleaguered administration and an angry, outraged people.

That’s Strange: Weapons Caches Found Stashed in DC Days Before Inauguration

by Piper McGowan

Some lady out for a walk happened upon a couple of guns stashed in a violin case in the woods near the C&O Canal along the Potomac River in Washington, DC.

After the police were called in, more weapons caches were found, including long guns, pistols, and ammunition in pails and garbage bags tucked away in an area of the woods hikers aren’t known to frequent.

“At this point, we don’t know how they got there, why they’re here or when they got here,” police spokeswoman Sgt. Anna Rose told ABC News.

Could be nothing, but it seems like another red flag.

What is clear at this point is that inauguration day is only four days away and people are amped up like they think it’s going to be the film The Purge.

The radical left is threatening riots like this nation hasn’t seen in modern times. Organized protests to “shut it down!” will be held not just around the city or the country but the globe, with anti-Trump protesters holding press conferences to say they aren’t supportive of a peaceful transition of power.

In an unprecedented move, one of the top inauguration day security planners and head of the DC National Guard, was asked to step down immediately one minute after Trump is sworn in and right in the middle of the ceremony. Has that ever happened before? The Major General himself said it was “highly unusual” and he wasn’t given a reason for his sudden departure.

No matter what goes down, it is already shaping up to be one of the most bizarre transitions of power probably in the history of the nation.

Maybe these weapons caches found in DC are nothing, but when you throw it on the pile of red flags fluttering around this thing, it’s hard not to wonder if something bad is about to go down on Friday.

This article was written by Piper McGowan and originally published at The Daily Sheeple.

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Deputy Shot and Killed by Fellow Deputy While Having a Conversation on Weapon Safety

Fresno, CA — A 20-year veteran deputy of the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department was shot and killed Monday by his fellow officer. Officials immediately ruled it an accident and began the narrative that the gun somehow just went off on its own.

“We do not know yet the mechanics of how the weapon discharged,” Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said. “So far, we have absolutely no reason to believe this was anything more than a tragic accidental shooting.”

Deputy Sgt. Rod Lucas was having a conversation near the Fresno Yosemite International Airport about how to carry backup weapons when one deputy’s weapon was discharged striking Lucas in the chest.

Lucas was in the room with two other deputies, and, according to Mims, there was no dispute at the time — ironically, just a conversation about weapons safety.

“The detective had his weapon out. During this discussion, the detective’s weapon discharged,” the sheriff said. “Sgt. Lucas was struck by the bullet in his chest, and he dropped to the ground.”

According to FOX, Mims did not disclose the type of firearm involved in the incident, calling it “an improved secondary weapon for the detective.” She said all witnesses have been interviewed except for the detective, who was not identified, due to his mental state which she described as extremely upset.

“We’re giving him the time he needs,” said Mims, who declined to identify the detective by name. “We’re taking care of him.”

Imagine for a moment, that a non-cop ‘accidentally’ shot and killed another man. Would they be allowed this same opportunity to not be investigated? Would a person who just killed someone in a room be ‘taken care of’ if they simply used the excuse of the gun accidentally going off?

Sadly enough, this is the third such incident in only a week in which a cop’s firearm ‘accidentally discharged’ and put the lives of others in danger.

At a Halloween party over the weekend, a cop in North Carolina shot and severely injured her own daughter as she showed off her service weapon. She has not been charged.

Prior to that shooting, a cop in Ohio fired his weapon into a daycare center — while it was fully occupied.

Despite the officer clearly admitting to committing the misdemeanor offense of discharging a firearm within city limits, police have yet to charge him.

Imagine if the people in these incidents were not police officers. The double standard is glaring.

Aside from the above the law treatment of these officers, the excuse of the weapons accidentally discharging is nothing short of asinine.

Guns do not fire themselves.

Weapons companies spend a significant amount of time and money making sure their guns don’t simply ‘go off.’ While it is entirely possible for older single action revolvers, which required the hammer to be cocked, to go off when dropped, the idea of a modern pistol accidentally firing without someone pulling the trigger is simply absurd.

There are more guns than people in the United States. It is estimated that Americans own around 357 million firearms. If these weapons were so prone to accidentally firing, there would be a lot of dead Americans. However, that is clearly not the case.

The reality is that these cases involve police, who are entrusted by the public to responsibly carry weapons, failing miserably at their jobs. You could rest assured that if a mere citizen were to shoot and kill another person while ‘discussing backup weapons,’ they would be cast out by the anti-gun crowd and plastered across the mainstream media. They would also be in jail.

However, if your job is to carry a firearm for a living to ostensibly protect society and you kill your own colleague while doing this job — you are immediately presumed innocent and given special treatment.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter and now on Steemit