eric peters makes a clear case that we, the people, are slaves, and he provides evidence;

Are you more likely to be injured in a car crash because you weren’t wearing a seat belt – or because you were?

Both are possibilities – and sometimes, actualities.

An unbuckled driver might be hurled out of the vehicle and crushed by it (this happened to someone I know). But he could also be trapped inside the vehicle and burnt to death (or drowned) because rescuers couldn’t reach him in time to cut him free.

But the proper question isn’t which is more likely to happen but rather, who has the right to decide which of these two risks alarms them more.

Is it ourselves? Or is it someone else?

The government asserts – via laws and men with guns – its power to make that decision (and many others) on our behalf and contrary to our own preferences. This is a pretty outrageous thing, when you think about it a little bit.

More than outrageous.........https://www.theburningplatform.com/2019/11/14/the-big-plantation/

life in the empire gets more curious every day;

Havre, MT —  Ana Suda and Martha “Mimi” Hernandez are both U.S. born citizens who grew up in Texas and California respectively. But their lifelong citizenship and complete lack of criminal record would have no bearing on a US Border patrol agent hell bent on taking ‘dangerous’ Spanish speaking women off the streets of Havre, Montana. Since that fateful day on which these women were detained for speaking Spanish, Suda says her life has become a nightmare.

As TFTP reported at the time, the incident happened on May 18, 2018, as Suda and Hernandez stood in line at a local grocery store. The two ladies were having a friendly conversation—in Spanish—an entirely legal and common activity which takes place in most grocery stores everyday in this country. However, the Border Patrol Agent in line behind them, saw their conversation as nefarious. He just knew they were evil criminal scum.

As the two innocent US citizens checked out at the register, this “hero” public servant demanded to know where they were born. Remember, they had done nothing wrong and were simply speaking Spanish. Still, Suda and Hernandez complied and told the officer they were born in Texas and California. But he did not believe them.

The agent then demanded the two women hand over their driver’s licenses which were apparently not enough to get them immediately on their way. The two innocent US citizens were then held against their will—otherwise known as kidnapping—by US Border Patrol Agents who completely humiliated them in front of their friends and neighbors.

“After Mimi and I told the officer that we were born in the U.S.,” Suda explained. “he demanded that we show identification. I didn’t feel like I could say no since he was in uniform and armed. We gave him our Montana driver’s licenses and then followed him outside into the store’s parking lot as directed. ”..........https://thefreethoughtproject.com/innocent-mothers-detained-speaking-spanish/

this is funny and sad at the same time; you can be arrested for eating at a subway station but not for leaving the previously enjoyed food remnants at the same place. public eating a crime but public crapping ignored. that's what 'our' county has come to;

The director of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) has hit out at the firm’s general manager, branding his apology to a man handcuffed for eating a sandwich on a station platform as ‘humiliating’.

Transit cops in the Bay Area were filmed handcuffing 31-year-old Steve Foster for eating a sandwich while waiting to board a subway at Pleasant Hill Station in Walnut Creek, California, on Monday last week.

An officer was seen in the video appearing to grab Foster, who is black, holding onto his rucksack as the passenger pleaded to be let go.

After public outrage was sparked when a clip of the incident went viral online, BART General Manager Robert Powers issued an apology to Foster, insisting ‘Enforcement of infractions, such as eating and drinking inside our paid area, should not be used to prevent us from delivering on our mission to provide safe, reliable, and clean transportation.’

‘I apologize to Mr. Foster, our riders, employees, and the public who have had an emotional reaction to the video,’  Powers continued.

However, on Tuesday, BART Director Debora Allen voiced outrage over the incident once more – but this time the scorn was aimed at Powers, rather than the officer.

‘I think that our police officer, in this case, acted exactly the way he is expected to. To uphold the law. The whole thing has been rather humiliating to our police force that our General Manager reacted this way,’ said BART Director Debora Allen

The Police Union also issued a statement in defense of the officer, who they said acted calmly and professionally when he advised Foster of ‘the prohibition against eating in the paid area of the station.’

‘Unfortunately Foster immediately became hostile and belligerent,’ the Union continued.

Foster, however, remains adamant that the officer overreacted and has also rejected Foster’s apology as he explores his legal options.

And a number of ‘eat-in’ protests have been scheduled for this weekend in solidarity with Foster, who many believe was wrongfully detained.

One Facebook event encouraging a ‘McMuffin eat-in’ is titled: ‘Eat a McMuffin on BART: They Can’t Stop Us All.’..........https://www.amren.com/news/2019/11/bart-director-slams-the-transport-companys-general-manager-for-apologizing-to-black-man-arrested-for-eating-a-sandwich-on-california-train-platform/

here is evidence that the 'thin blue line' is about as corrupt as can be and will stay that way for the foreseeable future, unless something is done by a lot of us, though i can't imagine what that will be;

Baton Rouge, LA — A mother has been grieving the loss of her baby for nearly two years after an off-duty cop—recklessly driving 94 mph—smashed into her car, killing her daughter and injuring all the other occupants. Now, after this officer took the life of her child, prosecutors announced that officer Christopher Manuel won’t receive so much as a speeding ticket for driving nearly twice the posted speed limit and killing a baby. 

This case has been tainted from the start. As TFTP reported last year, instead of arresting the cop, the officer’s brothers in blue arrested the mother. Brittany Stephens, 20, was arrested last February on charges of homicide—in spite of the fact that the officer caused the deadly crash. According to police, Stephens did not have the straps at the correct level in the car seat and the seat was improperly secured—something parents across the country are likely ‘guilty’ of—so she was deemed responsible for her daughter’s death.

Police said the “lack of securing the seat to the vehicle and the loose straps are a contributing factor in the death” of the child and “show gross negligence” on the mother’s part, according to the Advocate.

What’s more, Stephens was not the driver of the vehicle. However, she told police that she was the one who strapped in her daughter, so she was the one facing charges in her death.

Stephens—whose baby’s life was ended by a reckless cop—was booked into the Baton Rouge prison last year on one count of negligent homicide and a seat belt violation while the cop who killed her baby walked.

According to the report, three other adults were in the car and were all cited as well.

Officer Manuel was never brought to jail and never cited.

At the time, the case garnered national attention because the mother was arrested instead of the cop. Yes, she was at fault for improperly putting her child in the car seat. However, had Manuel not been driving nearly twice the posted speed limit, the child would have been fine.

What’s more, Manuel is still a cop and will likely go back to regular duty. As the Advocate reports:......https://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/no-charges-not-even-a-ticket-for-off-duty-cop-driving-94-mph-before-crash-that-killed-a-baby/257282

more excellent stuff about ukraine and the empire, including video. we have no business there and should be gone tomorrow from what is essentially a russian family squabble;

For centuries and still today, Russia and large parts of Ukraine have had much in common—a long territorial border; a shared history; ethnic, linguistic, and other cultural affinities; intimate personal relations; substantial economic trade; and more. Even after the years of escalating conflict between Kiev and Moscow since 2014, many Russians and Ukrainians still think of themselves in familial ways. The United States has almost none of these commonalities with Ukraine.

Which is also to say that Ukraine is not “a vital US national interest,” as most leaders of both parties, Republican and Democrat alike, and much of the US media now declare. On the other hand, Ukraine is a vital Russian interest by any geopolitical or simply human reckoning.

Why, then, is Washington so deeply involved in Ukraine? (The proposed nearly $400 million in US military aid to Kiev would mean, of course, even more intrusive involvement.) And why is Ukraine so deeply involved in Washington, in a different way, that it has become a pretext for attempts to impeach President Donald Trump?

The short but essential answer is Washington’s decision, taken by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, to expand NATO eastward from Germany and eventually to Ukraine itself. Ever since, both Democrats and Republicans have insisted that Ukraine is a “vital US national interest.” Those of us who opposed that folly warned it would lead to dangerous conflicts with Moscow, conceivably even war. Imagine Washington’s reaction, we pointed out, if Russian military bases began to appear on Canada’s or Mexico’s borders with America. We were not wrong: An estimated 13,000 souls have already died in the Ukrainian-Russian war in the Donbass and some 2 million people have been displaced..........http://www.unz.com/scohen/why-are-we-in-ukraine/

buchanan makes some excellent points about the empire's involvement in ukraine;

On hearing the State Department’s George Kent and William Taylor describe President Donald Trump’s withholding of military aid to Ukraine, The New York Times summarized and solemnly endorsed their testimony:

“What clearly concerned both witnesses wasn’t simply the abuse of power by the President, but the harm it inflicted on Ukraine, a critical ally, under constant assault by Russian forces.”

“‘Even as we sit here today, the Russians are attacking Ukrainian soldiers in their own country, and have been for four years,’ Taylor said. ‘I saw this on the front line last week; the day I was there a Ukrainian soldier was killed and four more wounded.'”

Kent compared Ukrainian resistance to Russia’s intervention on the side of the Donbass secessionists to “our own Minutemen in 1776.”

“More than 13,000 Ukrainians have died on Ukrainian soil defending their territorial integrity and sovereignty from Russian aggression. … American support in Ukraine’s own de facto war of independence has been critical.”

Kent went on:.........https://www.lewrockwell.com/2019/11/patrick-j-buchanan/when-did-ukraine-become-a-critical-ally/

i have a very low opinion of trump and the rethuglicans, but as pcr points out, and for good reason, i have an even lower opinion of the dumocorps;

The Democrats Have the Country on a Slippery Slope

Paul Craig Roberts

The fake “whistleblower’s name— Eric Ciamerella—has been known for a long time, but not officially. Now it is official. Senator Rand Paul has officially released his name. Funny, isn’t it, that only the Republicans want Ciamerella to testify. The Democrats won’t hear of it. https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rand-paul-drops-c-word-names-whistleblower-demands-testimony?utm_campaign=&utm_content=ZeroHedge%3A+The+Durden+Dispatch&utm_medium=email&utm_source=zh_newsletter

If the American people are paying attention, the Democrats are in trouble. When Russiagate fizzled out on them, Adam Schiff (D,CA) orchestrated a fake “whistleblower” who the Democrats cannot risk putting on the stand to testify. The Democrats’ focus shifted to sleazy State Department types who could offer nothing but second or third hand hearsay followed by a hearsay second telephone call that cannot be confirmed.

Why are the Democrats out on a limb like this? They can rely on the presstitutes to cover up for them in every respect and to continue to repeat endlessly without any verification their charges against Trump, but after going through the hoax of Russiagate are the American people stupid enough to fall for the replacement hoax?

Some analysts believe that the House Democrats are using the so-called impeachment not to produce any evidence, as they have none, but to gin up hatred of Trump especially among the youth who are known to want to be included in whatever is cool. The Democrats’ project is to make hating Trump cool and to convince young people to base their vote on being cool and hating Trump...........https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2019/11/14/the-democrats-have-the-country-on-a-slippery-slope/