Chicago has been declared a "red zone" and the Red Cross has been told to prepare for evacuations. What happened to America?

Today's America is unrecognizable from the America of my boyhood. Freedom, these days, seems to be the furthest from anyone's mind. Self-governance? Nope. We want a leader. Self-sufficiency? Not a chance. We demand care from cradle to grave. Liberty? No thank you. We need authority. Independence? Nah. Safety.

Just look at what who we vote for today. Sure, Barack Obama is a socialist. But Mitt Romney is a socialist too (as is Santorum and Gingrich). Freedom? That's crazy! So the strange events taking place in America these days shouldn't surprise anyone. After all, this is what we get - what we deserve - when both the political left and right willingly submit to statism.

Federal agents to begin protecting 'Red Zone' for NATO next week

[E]xpect to see a showing of federal law enforcement in "battle" gear, weapons slung, in a highly visible effort to protect a perimeter that encompasses the federally operated buildings in the Loop.

Law enforcement has dubbed their efforts "Operation Red Zone." It's headed by the Federal Protective Service, which is working with state, federal and local law enforcement in anticipation of the NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20 and 21.

Even though the actual meetings for the summit will happen at McCormick Place, federal law enforcement is aiming to protect a vast area in the Loop where thousands of federal employees and dozens of government offices are located.

Evacuation?

Milwaukee Red Cross Told To Prep For Chicago Evacuation During NATO Summit

CBS 2 News has obtained a copy of a Red Cross e-mail sent to volunteers in the Milwaukee area.

It said the NATO summit "may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago."

According to a chapter spokesperson, the evacuation plan is not theirs alone.

"Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service," she said.

Every good police state has detention centers.

Yeah, detention centers.

Chicago NATO Summit, arrestees to Joliet, refugees to Milwaukee

[R]eports are emerging of plans to incarcerate large groups of demonstrators and ship them off to Joliet prison. While at the same time, Milwaukee officials have reportedly been warned to prepare for the possibility of massive numbers of refugees from Chicago.

Joliet prison - It was one of the most well-known prisons in America. Made famous by movies such as the Blues Brothers, with Joliet Jake Blues played by the legendary Chicago actor John Belushi, Joliet prison closed its doors for good in 2002. The large but aging prison facility had run its course, or has it?

In a report by the Chicago Sun Times, Cook County Sherriff Tom Dart is looking at Joliet prison as the answer for large-scale mass arrests due to protests of the May NATO Summit meeting.

Yeah, "land of the free" alright … Can someone say Camp FEMA?

What else is happening in our Welfare/Warfare/Security State? Let's see here … According to the Libertarian Review, the Minnesota National Guard, Unit 2-136 CAB/B Company is running "training exercises" in suburban neighborhoods - fully armed!

U.S. Troops In Neighborhood Streets Fully Armed

The photo shown above was taken by a subscriber in the city of Crookston, MN from the front porch of her suburban home. No, the men pictured aren't from the local high school’s J.R.O.T.C sqaud [sic] – they are in fact trained soldiers serving in the Minnessota [sic] National Guard, Unit 2-136 CAB / B Company. Now, I have never personally been to Crookston (although I'm sure it's lovely), but I'm relatively confident that they are located on domestic soil, and unless I am missing something, the citizens of Crookston weren't dealing with any natural disaster at the time this haunting snapshot into the coming police state was taken.

No, what was actually going on that morning was a "training exercise" involving a quiet neighborhood that probably isn't that different from your own. Being the patriot that she is, Maggie decided it might be a good idea to start asking some questions. Nothing too difficult, mainly just what the hell they were doing walking fully armed down a street regularly used to facilitate the innocent pastimes of all American kids.

Glancing at her briefly one Soldier responded, "Just training Ma'am. Joining up with another patrol at the rally point."

Not accepting this as a reasonable answer to her inquiry, Magge [sic] went on, "Oh, ok. What are you training on the streets of town for exactly?"

At that the young soldier replied, "To be honest ma'am, I don't know."

Hey, remember those Cold War Russians?

Report: U.S. and Russian Military to Engage in Anti-Terrorism Exercise on U.S. Soil

According to reports, the U.S. and Russian military will be engaging in an anti-terrorism exercise that will involve Russian paratroopers using U.S. weapons to "take and hold" the main facilities of the CIA and Denver International Airport in Colorado and the National Security Agency in Utah.

"The Russian soldiers are here as invited guests of the U.S. government; this is part of a formal bilateral exchange program between the U.S. and Russia that seeks to develop transparency and promote defense reform," Cmdr. Wendy L. Snyder, U.S. Defense Press Officer for policy, told The New American in an e-mail. "This is the first time that American and Russian special operations troops have participated in a bilateral exercise."

Hmmmm … "Russia's Pacific Fleet warships returned to Vladivostok on Thursday after participating in a joint naval exercise with China in the Yellow Sea." But wait, there's more!

The U.S. federal government is hooking up with China too.

State department and Pentagon officials, along with their Chinese counterparts, were involved in two war games last year that were designed to help prevent a sudden military escalation between the sides if either felt they were being targeted. Another session is planned for May.

And then there's this. Russia threatening preemptive war … against the United States!

Russia's most senior military officer said Thursday that Moscow would pre-emptively strike and destroy U.S.-led NATO missile defense sites in Eastern Europe if talks with Washington about the developing system continue to stall.

What a tangled web we weave. Anyway, back in the U.S.S.A. …

The "limited-government" Tea Party Caucus voted (71%) "to bring more government to the internet" in passing the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing And Protection Act (CISPA).

CISPA allows private companies to share (and view) our personal online communications "with each other and with the government in the name of cybersecurity" without any judicial oversight whatsoever. Well, they need something to do in their giant brand new spy center I suppose.

Big Brother is Watching

However, this bill is actually just one piece of architecture in a far vaster infrastructure that shares all of the apparent hallmarks of a Big Brother surveillance state.

As revealed recently by former National Security Agency (NSA) employee William Binney in a breathtaking interview with Democracy Now, communications and Internet companies are already being compelled to "share" extensive user data on U.S. citizens to the government, including to the NSA, under Section 215 of the U.S. Patriot Act.

Binney, who served as technical director of the agency's world geopolitical and military analysis reporting group, resigned in 2001 after nearly 40 years of service to his country over the government's use of a monitoring program that he in part helped to design.

Binney described the challenge the agency faced at the turn of the century in his interview, saying the NSA had an "inability to keep up with the rate of change."

That project, called Thin Thread, competed with an agency favorite, Trailblazer, that was designed to upgrade the NSA's capabilities to monitor worldwide communications in the digital age, as reported by the Baltimore Sun in 2006 — all begun under the Bush Administration.

Censoring dissent?

The Federal Restricted Buildings and Grounds Improvement Act of 2011 (H.R. 347) "effectively outlaws protests near people who are 'authorized' to be protected by the Secret Service."

How Big a Deal is H.R. 347, That "Criminalizing Protest" Bill?

The bill, H.R. 347, has been variously described as making the First Amendment illegal or criminalizing the Occupy protests.

The truth is more mundane, but the issues raised are still of major significance for the First Amendment.

It's important to note — contrary to some reports — that H.R. 347 doesn't create any new crimes, or directly apply to the Occupy protests. The bill slightly rewrites a short trespass law, originally passed in 1971 and amended a couple of times since, that covers areas subject to heightened Secret Service security measures.

Without getting too much into the weeds, most crimes require the government to prove a certain state of mind. Under the original language of the law, you had to act "willfully and knowingly" when committing the crime. In short, you had to know your conduct was illegal. Under H.R. 347, you will simply need to act "knowingly," which here would mean that you know you're in a restricted area, but not necessarily that you're committing a crime.

Any time the government lowers the intent requirement, it makes it easier for a prosecutor to prove her case, and it gives law enforcement more discretion when enforcing the law.

Also … it could be misused as part of a larger move by the Secret Service and others to suppress lawful protest by relegating it to particular locations at a public event.

Everyone's a suspect in the former "land of the free."

New DHS Report: If You Love "Individual Liberty" Or If You "Believe In Conspiracy Theories" You Are A Potential Terrorist

Do you love America? Are you against a one world economy and a one world government? Do you deeply love individual liberty? Do you believe in conspiracy theories? If you answered any of those questions affirmatively, then you are a potential terrorist according to a brand new Department of Homeland Security report that was just released in January 2012. The report is entitled "Hot Spots of Terrorism and Other Crimes in the United States, 1970 to 2008", and it was produced by the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" for the Department of Homeland Security … the most shocking part of this report is when it discusses the "ideological motivations" of potential terrorists. The report shamelessly attempts to portray red-blooded Americans that love liberty and that love their country as the enemy. Once upon a time, deeply patriotic Americans were considered to be the backbone of America, but today they are considered to be potential terrorists.

And this report is yet another example of how the definition of "terrorism" has changed. A decade ago, the entire focus of the "war on terror" was on radical Muslims and we were told that we had to send our boys and girls to the other side of the world to defeat them.

Well, in this new report there is barely any mention of Islam at all. Instead, the report identifies patriots, conspiracy theorists, evangelical Christians, anti-abortion activists, survivalists and those that are against globalism as the real threats.

Surveillance society? Or protecting us from those dastardly Canadians?

Homeland Security drones patrol Washington-B.C. border

In testimony before a U.S. Senate panel this week, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said northern border surveillance using unmanned aerial aircraft now expands from North Dakota to eastern Washington.

Since 2005, the Department of Homeland Security has deployed a handful of drones around the country, with some based in Arizona, Florida, North Dakota, and Texas -- with more planned for the future. Operations out of North Dakota first began in 2011.

The drones help both patrol and aid during natural disasters. For example, Gray said the Predators have mapped the flooded Red River Valley in the areas of North Dakota and Minnesota. The drones are equipped with cameras that can provide aerial pictures of disaster areas.

The drones also can be loaned to local agencies in cases of emergencies. In fiscal year 2011, CBP's drones contributed to the seizure of 7,600 pounds of narcotics and 75 arrests, Gray added.

Speaking of drones …

Drone Swarms are Here: 1 Minute to Midnight?

The algorithms that enable drone swarms is advancing EXTREMELY quickly. In the next couple of years, the number of advances in technology, deployments, use cases, and awareness of drones will be intense. In 5 years, they will be part of every day life. You will see them everywhere.

Not just one or two drones. SWARMS of drones. Tens. Hundreds. Thousands. Millions …

Maybe they're just trying to catch people engaging in the heinous act of collecting rainwater.

This was only a glimpse of what the New American Order looks like. Freedom? Liberty? Independence? Those things are so like yesterday. Authority, security and central planning are the new American way.

What happened to America?