First it was ruthless snow (in the winter), then we got a port blockade (caused by well-paid US workers demanding even more), and now, unveiling the last pillar of the holy trifecta of economic disappointment scapegoats, earlier today the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, aka the "De(r)partment of Fear", Jeh Johnson said that in a video the Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group al Shabaab called for attacks on US shopping malls, specifically citing the Minnesota mall, and that the agency is taking this threat against the Mall of America “very seriously” and that people should be “particularly careful” when visiting the mall in Minnesota. It was unclear just how being "careful" would protect one from ad hoc explosive detonations and other mass murder event, but that's a bridge the Department of Fear will cross when it gets to it.
[4]
As cited by Politico [5], "What we’re telling the public in general is you’ve got to be vigilant,” Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We’ve just revamped our ‘If You See, Say Something’ campaign at the Super Bowl … Americans should still feel that they are free to associate, they are free to go to public gatherings. But it’s critical that we have public awareness and public participation in our efforts.”
In other words, don't be too scared. Just scared "enough."
“Anytime a terrorist organization calls for an attack on a specific place, we’ve got to take that seriously,” he explained, “So, through our intelligence bulletins, through working with state and local law enforcement, through working with the FBI, we take this kind of thing very seriously.”
What he really means is that the Q1 retail season - following the disaster that was the 2014 Holiday spending season as confirmed by the worst clip of retail sales data since Lehman - is an absolute disaster, and since one has to "explain" why plunging gas prices are not doing anything to boost consumer spending contrary to months of propaganda bombardment, spending that is so very critical 70% of the US economy that 7 years after Lehman still refuses to return to normal, it is time to whip out the "terrorism threat." Because who in their right minds would go shopping when some Nairboi terrorist group threatens to blow up the mecca of US spending, right?
In a statement, the Minnesota mall said, “Mall of America is aware of the threatening video that was released, which included mention and images of the mall. We take any potential threat seriously and respond appropriately. We have implemented extra security precautions, some maybe noticeable to guests and others won’t.”
Johnson said that kind of enhanced security is typical of “the environment we’re in, frankly.”
Just what environment is that?
The threat reflects “reflects the new phase we’ve evolved to in the global terrorist threat in that you have groups such as al Shabaab and ISIL publicly calling for independent actors in their homelands to carry out attacks,” he said.
“We’re in a new phase in that these groups are relying more and more on independent actors to become inspired, drawn to the cause … carrying out small scale attacks on their own, through their effective use of the Internet,” Johnson added. “So, that’s why it’s critical that we work in the communities where these groups might be able to recruit, to help develop the counter-narrative, to build trust with law enforcement, with Homeland Security, with state and local law enforcement.”
And... the punchline: "The new threat is all the more reason why Congress should fully fund the Department of Homeland Security, he said."
Ah yes, the only solution to the biggest government ever is to make it... even bigger. Because all those threats posted on YouTube clips: why somebody has to protect America's innocent, spending spree warriors.
Finally, jsut to make sure it wasn't only the US superstate that gets even bigger, the "threat" also involved Canada and the UK: according to the BBC [6], "the group urged followers to carry out attacks on shopping centres in the US, Canada and the UK."
Because it there is no crisis that should go to waste, the next best thing is to make one up. And speaking of global crisis, it is about time the NSA and CIA jointly put together yet another masterpiece YouTube false flag video implication Syria's as Assad in some horrific crime, thereby unleashing the final step of "Project ISIS" - the full takeover of Syria, and with it the proportional Russian response.
