Free Republic

The Black Hawk military helicopter involved in Wednesday’s midair collision in Washingon, DC, was training to evacuate government officials in the case of a catastrophic event when it crashed into an American Airlines regional passenger plane – and was involved with a catastrophe of its own. Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff for the Army’s aviation directorate, told reporters on Thursday the pilots were training for a scenario when “something really bad happens in this area, and we need to move our senior leaders.” That evacuation would be part of what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described as “a continuity of government...

The US Army helicopter involved in Wednesday's midair collision with American Airlines flight 5342 had been practicing for the event of an attack on the capital. Officials have confirmed that the three soldiers, who all perished, had been rehearsing a plan that involves the evacuation of the White House when their Black Hawk collided with the passenger jet just before 9pm on Wednesday night. Defense sources confirmed the nature of the training exercise to CBS News, after internet sleuths had floated a theory online that it was doing exactly what sources say. Theorists had flooded social media with claims that...

YouTube video post: "Exercise" at the Capitol for continuity of government. A readiness exercise was conducted at the US Capitol tonight with 12 helicopters landing on the West Front of the US Capitol, and of course, I was there

Over the past 15 years, members of Congress have survived two near-deadly shootings, a train crash with dozens of them on board, and a Capitol riot that had hundreds of lawmakers fearing for their lives.Despite those incidents, the institution is wholly unprepared for a catastrophic event that kills or incapacitates multiple members — even if that hypothetical tragedy results in a major power shift: changing which party holds the majority in the House or Senate. (snip) Right now, the main idea to address the issue is a constitutional amendment that would require members of the House to submit a list...

The largest undercover force the world has ever known is the one created by the Pentagon over the past decade. Some 60,000 people now belong to this secret army, many working under masked identities and in low profile, all part of a broad program called "signature reduction." The force, more than ten times the size of the clandestine elements of the CIA, carries out domestic and foreign assignments, both in military uniforms and under civilian cover, in real life and online, sometimes hiding in private businesses and consultancies, some of them household name companies.

“Behind the ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government, owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people.” ― Theodore Roosevelt America’s next president will inherit more than a bitterly divided nation teetering on the brink of financial catastrophe when he or she assumes office. He will also inherit a shadow government, one that is fully operational and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country. To be precise, however, the future president will actually inherit not one but two shadow governments. The first shadow government, referred to as COG or continuity of government, is made...

Are Emergency Plans Meant Only for Nuclear War the Real Justification for Spying? To understand the scope and extent of government spying on all Americans – and the reasons for such spying – you have to understand what has happened to our Constitutional form of government since 9/11. State of Emergency The United States has been in a declared state of emergency from September 2001, to the present. Specifically, on September 11, 2001, the government declared a state of emergency. That declared state of emergency was formally put in writing on 9/14/2001: A national emergency exists by reason of the...

* "The age of peaceful protest is over. If you go to a peaceful demonstration you risk losing your hearing to this LRAD which is a monster. In 1984 Orwell didn't have the imagination to foresee some of the things that we now have in place here." * "Continuity of Government." COG -- It is a plan for the temporary suspension of the Constitution. It was implemented for the first time before 10am on the morning of September 11th... Obama renewed this plan just last month. And this is why the 9/11 report cant find some of the answers and...

August 30, 2007 PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command along with U.S. Pacific Command, the Department of Homeland Security as well as local, state and other federal responders will exercise their response abilities against a variety of potential threats during Exercise Vigilant Shield ‘08, a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff-designated, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM)-sponsored, and U.S. Joint Forces Command-supported Department of Defense exercise for homeland defense and defense support of civil authorities missions. VS-08 will be conducted concurrent with Top Officials 4...

This is Mimi, the first cat to give birth to puppies, her owner claims. Brazilian Cassia Aparecida de Souza, 18, says three of the cat’s six offspring, which were born three months after Mimi mated with a neighbour’s dog, have canine traits. A geneticist from the Passo Fundo University plans to take blood samples from the animals to verify the claim.

The good news about nuclear destruction Posted: August 24, 20061:00 a.m. Eastern By Shane Connor What possible good news could there ever be about nuclear destruction coming to America, whether it is dirty bombs, terrorist nukes or ICBMs from afar? In a word, they are all survivable for the vast majority of American families, if they know what to do beforehand and have made even the most modest preparations. Tragically, though, most Americans today won't give much credence to this good news, much less seek out such vital life-saving instruction, as they have been jaded by our culture's pervasive myths...

Lights! Camera! Retake! (Filed: 13/04/2003) The Honda Accord campaign launched last week looks certain to become an advertising legend. Quentin Letts goes behind the scenes Six hundred and six takes it took, and if they had been forced to do a 607th it is probable, if not downright certain, that one of the film crew would have snapped and gone mad.On the first 605 occasions something small, usually infuriatingly minute, went just slightly awry and the whole delicate arrangement was wrecked. A drop too much oil there, or here maybe one ball-bearing too many giving a fraction too much impetus...

Regionalism - dealing with public policy issues on a level that goes beyond city or county boundaries but is smaller than the state as a whole - gained an official toehold in the 1960s and 1970s with the reorganization of major state agencies along regional lines and the creation of multi-jurisdictional umbrella organizations ... (snip) Regional "councils of governments" that had hitherto been mere gatherers of information and debating forums began exerting some real influence, especially in the transportation field and thus indirectly on land use patterns. As they did, local politicians began jockeying for influence within those COGs, as...

Elect, Never Appoint U.S. Representatives On June 20, 2003, we issued the following alert: "The clock is ticking. A well-orchestrated, well-financed campaign to quickly amend the Constitution is underway. A proposed constitutional amendment would take away your right to vote for your U.S. representative. We can't and won't stand by and let our republic be gutted by this amendment." This alert was in response to the "Continuity of Government" (COG) report made public on June 4, 2003. The report calls for a constitutional amendment that would allow for the appointment of members of the U.S. House of Representatives under vaguely...

FORT HUACHUCA - A new high-technology life began for this Southeastern Arizona Army post when the Electronic Proving Ground came here and re-activated the fort on Feb. 1, 1954. A half-century later, much of the post's missions are in the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, the military's C4ISR arena. EPG is still the major leader in the testing and developing of critical systems for the Army and all of the nation's armed services. Col. Jerome Payne sits at the EPG's helm. And he is the only soldier now with the organization, that includes 130 civil service employees...