Sunday, December 25, 2011

Christmas Day Two Years Later and the Current State of the U.S.

by Kurt Haskell

It has now been two years since the Underwear Bomber attack. Once again, Lori and I find ourselves reflecting during the holidays about what happened on Flight 253. The attack, which comprised only two minutes of our lives, continues to shape our thoughts and beliefs. Although the criminal case has ended (except for sentencing which will happen in January 2012), the laws of Michigan allow for a two year period statute of limitations in order for the injured to bring a civil lawsuit. The time period to file such a lawsuit lapses tomorrow. Lori and I have had the plan to file a civil suit at the conclusion of the criminal case, which ended in October 2011. The plan was for me to file the civil case on my own in order to keep her out of the inevitable attacks and aggravation that would come from such a suit. I have talked to several attorneys to represent me in such a case, but none of them were willing to take on the U.S. Government. I made the decision that I would represent myself in such a case. I have spent a great deal of time researching the suit and have worked on writing the complaint to initiate the case. Even though I have spent a great deal of time researching the civil case, I don't feel that I have spent enough time on the case. I have come to the conclusion that becoming involved in such a case would be an overwhelming constraint on my time. As I am a very busy attorney, this would be time that I don't have to give up. I have been willing to give up my nights and weekends in order to work on the case to further expose evidence to prove that the U.S. Government was behind the staged attack.

Over the past few weeks, I have reconsidered my decision to file a civil case, and I will instead, begrudgingly, let the statute of limitations lapse. There are several reasons I have reconsidered my decision. The purpose of my civil lawsuit would not have been to obtain compensation, but would have been to obtain further evidence that the U.S. Government perpetrated the attack. Personally, I don't need any further evidence to prove the matter to myself. I have laid out my case in numerous prior postings on this blog. I have convinced the vast majority of people that have chosen to look at all of the evidence that I've presented. I don't believe I can convince anyone else. Those that choose to deny the obvious will still not be convinced even if they watched the Schiphol airport video and audio showing what I have indicated. What then would be the purpose of my civil suit? I could possibly obtain further evidence, but that would only further convince those that already believe the U.S. Government is behind the attack. I also believe that obtaining such evidence would be nearly impossible. We now have a U.S. Government so drunk with its own power that it believes it is o.k. to kill U.S. citizens without a trial and/or to detain them forever without a hearing before a judge.



Would the U.S. Government willingly turn over evidence to me to show conclusively that it was behind the Underwear Bombing attack when it believes it can kill or detain American citizens indefinitely? Not a chance in hell. It is much more likely that the U.S. Government would declare me a person that "substantially aided" a terrorist under the new defense authorization bill and detain me indefinitely without a trial. However, that was not really a concern that led to my decision to not file a civil case. What did play a factor was the reaction, or lack thereof, of Americans in relation to the passing of this bill. Why are Americans not outraged and protesting by the millions in Washington over this law? It has just further confirmed to me that the vast majority of Americans just don't care what the U.S. Government does in relation to "terrorism". I can't tell you how many times people have told me that they are o.k. to let the U.S. Government do whatever it wants to do against terrorists in order to make them safe. I have news for these people, if there are terrorists everywhere; there is nothing that can be done to make you entirely safe. I live very close to the largest population of Muslims in the U.S. If terrorism were as bad as the U.S. Government makes it out to be, car and suicide bombings would occur in my area on a regular basis. The fact that they never occur is very telling. It is my belief that the war on terror is nothing but a fraudulent U.S. Government creation designed, in part, to take away all of the rights of Americans and to further enrich and consolidate the power of those in control.

Our Constitutional rights are currently under attack and are being rapidly taken away. In case you haven't been paying attention, the definition of "terrorist" is slowly changing to one that means "a person that doesn't agree with the U.S. Government". When those that have given away all of their rights to combat terrorism suddenly discover that they are in fact terrorists, it will be too late. If I filed and won my lawsuit and proved that the U.S. Government staged the Underwear Bomber attack, would these people care? No they wouldn't. Would it stop the U.S. Government's assault on our Constitutional Rights? No it wouldn't. Would anyone do anything if I was labeled a terrorist and detained indefinitely without a trial? Not a chance. These people comprise the vast majority of the American population. The corruption is so entrenched that 93 out of 100 senators voted for the recent law that allows for the indefinite detention of Americans without a trial. Can anyone think of any recent law that had that had such a vast majority of approval by both Democrats and Republicans? I can't think of any. The question I have is why would this bill obtain such vast approval? The answer to me is an obvious one. The U.S. as we know it is on the edge of complete collapse due to an out of control national debt. This collapse will lead to an economic collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a fun time. The National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility, an 18 member bi-partisan commission created by President Obama, recently indicated that the financial collapse will occur within two years.


Obviously, the vast majority of senators that voted in support of the authorization to detain Americans indefinitely are worried that Americans may turn their anger from a financial collapse onto their political representatives. The approval of such a law was made in order to protect the politicians themselves from unruly mobs of Americans that are angry from the financial collapse. These Americans will be the new "terrorists". The new "terrorists" will find indefinite “housing” in FEMA camps that are being built throughout the U.S.



What other explanation could there be for the large bipartisan support for such an unconstitutional law? There is none. It is also shocking that a president that is a supposed Constitutional law expert would approve of a law that is such a direct violation of the Constitution. This is the sad state of affairs that is prevalent in the U.S. today.

What also had an effect on my decision to not file a civil case was the indication by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility that the U.S. economy will collapse within the next two years. Lori and I have had a multi-year plan (Going back to 2006) to retire and move out of the U.S. Our current plan is to move abroad at the end of 2013. Apparently, according to the commission, this would coincide with the U.S. economic collapse. If I were to file a civil suit, the time and money I would need to put into such a case would delay our move out of the U.S. For obvious reasons, we don’t want to be in the U.S. when it collapses and definitely, don’t want to be considered “wealthy” when millions of out of control Americans look for scapegoats for their economic problems.

Make no mistake, my decision to not file a civil case was not due to intimidation. If it was, I never would have spoken out against the U.S. Government in the first place. My decision rests on two conditions that have become increasingly clear over the past two months:

1. The vast majority of Americans don’t care or will never believe that the U.S. Government is staging false terror attacks against its own citizens.

2. The U.S. is facing imminent economic collapse for which I need to devote as much time and save as much money as possible in order to financially prepare to leave the U.S. permanently.

On a side note, I saw that a fellow Underwear Bomber passenger has filed a civil suit.

Note that Mr. Maranga has sued the airline and not the U.S. Government agents that were behind the attack. I have spoken to Mr. Maranga on several occasions and he is not convinced that the U.S. Government was involved. Don’t expect anything earth shattering to come out of this lawsuit. I originally read this story on the Detroit Free Press website, which I have been unable to locate. The comments section of that article contains many posts attacking Mr. Maranga for wanting compensation for his emotional injuries. Such is the sad state of the mind of the standard American. By the way, in order to sue an airline for an injury received on an international flight, you must have a physical injury and not just emotional trauma. What is interesting to me is that the U.S. was responsible for this provision in the Montreal Convention (the current law on international airline travel). Most nations wanted passengers to be able to sue for strictly emotional injuries, but the U.S. wouldn’t allow it. As I didn’t suffer a physical injury, I am prohibited from suing the airline.

I know that many people will be disappointed in my decision to not sue the members of the U.S. Government that were behind the fraudulent, false, threat known as the Underwear Bomber attack. I understand your feelings. I don’t want to let it go myself, but I have to look at the reality of the situation. The vast majority of Americans are not willing to believe that their government is as corrupt and evil as it is. No significant change will occur until this changes, and likely, even then, won’t occur without an overthrow of the government. Such a time will not occur without prior significant financial hardship happening to the vast majority of Americans. That time is coming, but it is not yet here. A cost benefit analysis regarding the filing of a civil suit indicates that there is no real upside to filing such a case, but there is significant downside. Nonetheless, I will continue to speak out against the corrupt and fraudulent U.S. Government and will continue to support those Americans that are paying attention and want their country to return to the free country that it once was.

Happy Holidays to all.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Racquetball, Kate and land

So, just to update, I think we have decided against putting a bid in on the property. What's weird is, on paper, the place sounds perfect for us, and really, in person it was as well. But something is telling me not to put a bid in on it, like I have this feeling it's not the perfect fit. Kurt feels the same way, so we are holding off for now. I know we will just know when we find the perfect land/house, and I just do not think this is it. I think we are looking a little bit too early too, since we are still a couple years away from moving. I really don't want to buy and let something sit.

My amazing Kate Spade dress came in the mail! :). I can't believe the deal I got on it and I love it. REALLY high quality and well made, and super cute on. It's so detailed too, I don't even have to wear a necklace or any jewelry with it (besides my wedding ring). Wore it today to the office with my purple and white heels. Love. Yay Neiman Marcus clearance sales.

Had a KFASS dinner tonight, and it was nice to see the girls. I love having this group of girls who I can gossip with, who are in the same career as I am and just understand my job issues, etc.

I have had a bad headache for two days, which is super annoying. I think it's sinus related, the weather here had just been odd, with temps going up and down daily. Today, at one point, it was 53 degrees out! And this is weird since a couple days ago, it was in the 20s. My body hates drastic weather changes like that. I love the 53 degrees in December in Michigan, but my body is not doing well with that. I was proud of myself though, as even with a borderline migraine, I still biked over 11 miles on both days (which is about the only workout I can do with a bad headache).

So, we taught ourselves how to play racquetball this weekend and had a blast! We are just kinda learning at this point, but it seems like a great workout and is a lot of fun. I think we will be playing a lot now, at least on weekends. Here is me in my fancy goggles and racquet! Whoot.

Anyway, got to get to bed. Hope everyone is having a fab week!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

BRRRRRR


Was so happy Kurt got home! :). The pugs were as well. They seemed shocked when he walked in the door, as that is the longest the pugs and I have been at home without Kurt in 15 years!

Anyway, his trip was very busy, but went well. He got 6 veneers on his top teeth while there, in Tamarindo, at the only place he could find that could do the work that quickly. They turned out gorgeous. But, the main point of the trip was looking at the land in Bijagual. Bijagual is near Jaco, which like I have said before, is my fav city in the world. The piece of land we are looking at is 100 acres. Kurt hiked and saw a lot of it on horseback.



There was a portion of it that had been cleared at one point into 5 lots for houses (I think the owners were hoping to turn it into a small subdivision), and the rest of it is mostly primary and secondary rain forest, with some farm land as well. Which is pretty much what we want. Also, the land is part of some government program where we can have them come in and plant any kind of tree we want if we want to reforest any part of the cleared land. We would like to be somewhat self sufficient, so I would love lots of fruit trees for that purpose. I guess there are waterfalls and a lot of really pretty creeks and stuff on the land as well. Sounds pretty perfect. It is about 15 minutes from the ocean and another 10 minutes to Jaco. we are waiting on some other information on the property from our realtor, but it seems great (we would build a house on it, there is no house). Which is fine with me, since most costa rican houses I see are not really built in the style I would prefer. Jaco was having a huge surfing tourney while Kurt was there, and the reservation I made him at a room was not honored. So, he had to find another place, but found one pretty quickly. All went well with his flights, which I was happy about because I was worried about Kurt flying without me since he hates it. A lot of turbulence on one flight, and one small delay, but other than that, all was good.

We have, of course, been super busy since he got home.

We went today and bought racquets, balls, and goggles for playing racquetball at the gym. We are going to teach ourselves soon. I am hoping its a fun way to get cardio in to mix in with running, jumping rope and biking. I just can't make myself like running outdoors, so I am trying to make working out indoors more interesting. It has been under 30 degrees out here, and is crazy cold.

Friday, a Seattle based documentary writer met up with Kurt for most of the afternoon. I had lunch with him and he was a super nice guy, really interested in everything related to Flight 253 and the aftermath. I am curious to see how the film comes out. Anything we can do to open the American people's eyes to the lies and deceit going on behind the scenes, we will take part in.

I finally found a great red winter coat to buy on ideeli.com. Came in the mail today and thankfully, it fits perfectly. Yay. Marked WAY down too, which makes me happy. Kurt says it makes me look *skinny*, so I was even more happy after that! ;).




Also, got another scarf in the mail this week that I got an AMAZING deal on Shopbop.com this week. Scarf is adorable and super soft. I can tell Im cold lately since I am obsessed with scarves.



I started using the weight room part of the gym today. I have decided I want to tone up my arms more. I already see some muscle tone, but I want everything in my arms, chest, shoulders to be rock hard. So, gotta start lifting more. I am thankful for running though, as that in itself has really started the toning process. I need to buy a one piece swimsuit as well, as I want to start swimming in the pool at the gym, since I want to do a tri next summer.

Am counting down the days to Jamaica!!!!

Hope everyone is well!

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Update(s)

OK, don't even know where to start.

Well, Vegas for Thanksgiving 2011 was super fun! We flew out via Delta after work on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Flight was fine, no issues. Picked up our rental car at Alamo and we were off to the Palazzo. The Palazzo is part of the Venetian, just a newer tower they built. Anyway, I got the room at a discount through SniqueAway, an online travel site. The deal also included some coupons for the spa, restaurants, ice skating, etc., but we did not use any of the coupons. Anyway, all of the rooms a Palazzo are suites and super nice. We had a gorgeous view overlooking the entire strip, on the 43rd floor. Room 732 to be exact. Highly recommend that room, as it is away from the elevators and we barely saw another person on our floor while there. My fav part of the room was the remote controls that opened the curtains and shades. Anyway, the room had a separate sleeping area and sitting area, that had two couches, a desk, a frig, etc. The bathroom was huge and shower was nice. Also had a jet tub, which we did not use. Anyway, first night we simply stayed in, as we had eaten a sushi dinner at the airport in Detroit and were tired with the time difference.

Got up and used the hotel gym. There were two gyms we could use, either the one at Palazzo or Venetian (we only use the one at Palazzo the entire trip). I guess the one at Venetian was larger, but the one at Palazzo was plenty big enough for me since I only use the treadmill and bike generally. I worked out every day of the trip, which was good with all the crap we ate. :). After that, we headed out to play some poker. Had Thanksgiving dinner at the Mirage buffet, which was super good. We eat there almost every trip. Then, we saw Peepshow with Holly Madison at Planet Hollywood hotel. Loved the show. Was pleased that Madison was a huge part of the show, did not just make an appearance. Black Friday, I went shopping at my fav outlet mall out there, but did not end up buying anything, weirdly. Kurt watched football, then picked me up after several hours. We then played some more poker and just pretty much gambled the rest of the day. Saturday, Kurt spoke at a function for a friend of his in Vegas, then we had Mexican for lunch and got massages at a place I found online. Played some more poker, and went to dinner, then saw the Cirque Elvis show at Aria. Loved that show as well, but it was kinda more of a musical than your normal Cirque show. Sunday, I went shopping at Fashion Show mall and ended up getting some great deals on things. I bought an all sequined dress at the Limited to wear to a Xmas party, but ended up wearing it out that night in Vegas too. Perfect Vegas dress. Also got a dress for Jamaica there (one shoulder dress), and a cute skirt for work. I was psyched to find a bathing suit I have been coveting marked half off at Betsey Johnson, so I bought that, and I found two really high end bras marked down at Nordstrom's on clearance. Whoot. Went back to the room, and Kurt and I went to dinner, played poker, blackjack, relaxed. Monday, we headed to the airport and home. At the start of the trip, Kurt got plagued with the cold most of the office has had, so he was kinda out of it most of the trip. Boo.


Of course, as soon as we got home, I came down with what Kurt had. Boo. Got up in the morning to take a shower, and had no hot water. Why? Well, Kurt went down to look in the basement, and we had 6 inches of water throughout the basement. While we were gone, both sump pumps in the basement went out, and the water got so high it damaged both of our hot water tanks and almost ruined our furnace. So, Kurt had to stay home from work and call a plumber, who came out and pumped out our basement. Of course, they could not put in new hot water tanks right away. So, I had taken COLD showers all week, with the exception of the showers I took at the gym. UGH. SUCKS. I lost my voice an entire day this week which made working interesting, thank God I had no court that day.

Went to the downriver bar association Xmas party on Friday night. Both Shannon and Angie from the office came, and a lot of the KFASS girls and other lawyer peeps were there, so it was a lot of fun. We went out afterwards and ended up at the American Legion where we surprisingly had a lot of fun! :). Was much cheaper than a trendier place, that's for sure...........



**Judge McNally and I

Went to dinner on Saturday night with my Aunt at Crave. I had a Living Social deal that was about to expire, and I had to use it or lose it. Dinner was amazing, as usual. We split an appetizer of Spring Rolls and I think they were the best spring rolls I have ever had. Tonight, we had a late Thanksgiving dinner at Grama's, where we ordered in pizza and pasta from Buddy's. Food was good but not good for me. That's OK though. :). It was Thanksgiving, right?

Kurt took off to Costa Rica on Friday afternoon to look at some property that sounds awesome that our realtor emailed us about. I could not go as we are too busy with hearings at the office. Boo. He is also getting some dental work done while he is there (at an insane discount compared to the US). He saw the property today, but since we have not talked on the phone (just via text and facebook), I don't know a ton about it yet, but will keep everyone posted. Sounded like he liked the property though, and the dental work is going well. He got to explore the property by horseback today, and it is sunny and 85 degrees there, so needless to say, I am uber jealous right now! :).

Off to bed. Hope everyone has been doing well.