more wars in more places... 10/30/2017 0 Comments   'bringing them back home' by E.L. Christianson Jr. To maintain an army, one needs a minimum size of population from which to fill those army uniforms and to stand on the front lines of battle.  When the United States ended the 'draft', we cut the available 'man' power by a substantial amount. Until 1973, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the United States military that could not be filled with volunteers.  Even with the end of the draft, the Selective Service System remains in place as a back-up. All male civilians between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register so that a draft can be readily activated if deemed necessary. The draft was never popular. ​ African-Americans protested the system. The Nation of Islam was opposed and many Black Muslims were jailed for refusing the draft.  Their leader, Elijah Muhammed was sentenced to 5 years in prison for inciting draft resistance (think of Muhammad Ali). Organized draft resistance also developed in the Japanese American internment camps.  Why would minorities fight for people's rights 'over there' when they didn't have those rights for themselves, here? ​Richard Nixon promised to end the draft as a method of defeating the anti-Vietnam war movement. He thought youths of affluent families would stop protesting against the war if they themselves didn't have to serve. To keep up with the front-line needs of the military, the Pentagon opened front-line combat roles to women. Also, the pentagon intentionally targets recruitment for low socioeconomic neighborhoods and makes enlistment look especially attractive to those who don't have opportunities in the shrinking United States workforce.  Because of this the U.S. military is disproportionally men and women of color from poverty backgrounds. The truth about the problem of maintaining an army is that we have 'solved that problem' by shifting almost all industrial and manufacturing jobs out of this country.   In the 'real' world of employment ...the vast preponderance of job openings these days consists of low-skill, hourly wage work with high turnover - and no benefits.  As a result of a very poor national economy, military service seems like a 'good' choice. We have somewhere around 1.5 million people actively on duty in the United States military.  With that number of people, it is important to keep them busy - give them something to do.  The common denominator among all of those people is that they have been trained in some aspect of fighting a war - whether actively firing a gun at other human beings, or providing support for those who are actively firing a gun at other human beings. As a nation, we seem dedicated to making sure that we provide a war to keep all of these trained, armed people busy at their activities.  That our educational system hasn't taught us much about the world or the people of the world makes it difficult for the average citizen to even know where in the world we are currently slaughtering people.  And, to our corporate dominated government system, it really doesn't matter where these wars are located.   As of May 2013 the United States was Currently Fighting 74 Different Wars… Wars That It Will Publicly Admit  - And Many More Covert Wars Without Congressional Oversight… And Certainly Without Public Knowledge.  And, what for?  In many of these countries we aren't even stealing their resources.  The important point is simply to have more wars in more places, it's our entire economy, the totality of our national budget. ​Plus, for the poor, join the army, "it's the best job in town", and that's the truth !!! Rank is no protection from death: U.S. Army Major General Harold Greene, at 55, is the highest-ranking fatality in the war in Afghanistan. His body was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, including a caisson, two escort platoons, casket team, firing party, colors team, and a caparisoned horse. The American War Machine Is Already on the Death March Across the African Continent The root causes of the conflicts are the same as elsewhere: environmental destruction, joblessness, war. from AlterNet By Vijay Prashad On October 4th, US military personnel were on their way back to their forward operating base in Niger. They had been on a reconnaissance mission to the village of Tongo Tongo, near Niger’s border with Mali. US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford says that fifty ISIS fighters ambushed them. The soldiers did not call for air support for the first hour, said General Dunford, thinking perhaps that they could handle the attack. By the time the drones came along with French fighter aircraft, ISIS had disappeared. Tongo Tongo is in the middle of a belt that is ground zero for the illicit trade that defines the Sahara. West of Tongo Tongo is Gao (Mali) and to its east is Agadez (Niger). These are the main ports for South American cocaine, flown in on various kinds of aircraft (Air Cocaine, as they are called) and then driven across the Sahara Desert in trucks to be taken by small boats across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe. Evidence of the cocaine trade is everywhere – whether in Gao’s neighborhood known as Cocaine Bougou or in the nickname of one of the leading chiefs in Agadez – Cherif Ould Abidine – known as Cherif or Mr. Cocaine. Cocaine is one dramatic commodity. There are others: refugees and guns. This belt of towns just below the Sahara played a historic role as caravanserais for the old trades in gold, salt and weaponry. The creation of nation-states closed off some of these routes. In particular, Libya – under the previous regime of Muammar Gaddafi – largely shut down the illicit commerce from Mali and Niger. NATO’s war against Libya, which created chaos in that country, opened these routes up. Fleets of white Toyota trucks arrived in the desert to carry refugees and drugs to Europe and to bring weapons into central and western Africa. The trucks run from Agadez to Sabha (Libya) before they find their way to the port cities. There are several kinds of refugees – the adventurers (les aventuriers), many single young men who are leaving behind deserts of opportunity for Europe, and war refugees. Both are desperate, fodder in the hands of the smugglers who must get them – and the drugs – across the forbidding sands. Firmly opposed to the refugee traffic across the Mediterranean, the European Union (EU) has joined hands with governments in Niger and elsewhere to make this southern border of the Sahara their frontier. Niger passed a draconian law in 2015 against smuggling. The EU provided funds to Niger’s military and police, which have started an all-out war against the smugglers. In 2016, Niger arrested over a hundred smugglers and confiscated their vehicles. People in towns like Agadez, a World Heritage site for its beautiful red buildings, say openly that they are vulnerable to extremist groups. There are many to chose from – al-Qaeda in southern Mali and southern Algeria, ISIS in southern Libya and Boko Haram in northern Nigeria and into areas near Lake Chad. No wonder that the United States calls the belt from Mali through Niger the ‘ring of insecurity.’ It is notable that the pressure on the traffickers has not decreased the terrible situation for the refugees and the ‘adventurers.’ They continue to come for reasons that have nothing to do with an open border or a closed border. But the new military presence has meant – as the International Organisation of Migration says – that the smugglers are abandoning the refugees at the first sign of trouble in the dangerous desert. The United Nations has rescued over a thousand abandoned refugees and many hundreds are said to have died along this route. The Nigerien Red Cross says that one group of forty refugees died in May when their truck broke down. It is legible to believe that the death count will never really be known as the European border moves south, from the northern edge of the Mediterranean to the southern edge of the Sahara. Five hours drive north of Agadez is the town of Arlit, one of the key sources of uranium. Readers might remember that the United States had accused Saddam Hussein’s government of procuring yellowcake uranium from Niger. This turned out to be a hoax, uncovered by Ambassador Joe Wilson when he went to Niger and met its former Prime Minister Ibrahim Assane Mayaki. The accusation against Iraq was false, but the Arlit mines are real. The town is a fortress of European mining companies, from Niger’s own government company to a series of French firms, most prominently Areva. The road out of Arlit is known as Uranium Highway. It is this road that was used by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb when it came and kidnapped five French employees of an Areva mine in 2010. The Areva mines were also attacked by a car bomb in 2013. French Special Forces operate to protect these mines and the close to two thousand Europeans who live in this uranium town. ‘One of every three light bulbs is lit thanks to Nigerien uranium,’ noted Oxfam in 2013. It is too precious for the French to be ignored. That is why France’s Operation Barkhane runs from across the Sahel, from Mauritania at one end to Chad at the other. It has its headquarters in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena. The French are not alone. The Americans not only have thousands of troops across Africa, but also have many bases. The most public base is in Djibouti (Camp Lemonier), but there are also bases in Ethiopia and Kenya as well as forward operating positions across the Sahel. The United States is also building a massive base at the cost of $100 million in Agadez. Air Base 201 will be mainly a drone base, with the MQ9 Reapers flown out of Agadez to collect intelligence in this resource-rich and poverty-stricken area. This base is being constructed in plain sight. It is, therefore, surprising to hear Senator Lindsey Graham – who is on the Committee on Armed Services – say, ‘I didn’t know there were 1000 troops in Niger.’ He meant US troops. There has been no evidence presented to the public that those who killed the US forces near Tongo Tongo were from ISIS. Privately US intelligence officials say that this is a guess. They are not sure about the combatants. In fact, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) official concur, saying that it is ‘inappropriate’ to speculate about the incident and those who attacked the US forces. There is a particularly dangerous soup at work here. Certainly extremist groups operate in the region, such as the militants who freed over a hundred prisoners from a prison in Mopti (in central Niger). The dreadful desiccation of the Sahel has produced various feuds amongst herder communities in eastern Niger, where these have morphed into ethnic conflicts (and where certain groups – such as the Mohamid and Peuls – have used the opportunity to accuse the Boudouma of being, therefore, part of Boko Haram). Such opportunism was frequently used in Afghanistan, where tribes used American airpower to settle scores with their old adversaries (to blame someone for being Taliban was sufficient to call in an air strike). The root causes of the conflicts are the same as elsewhere: environmental destruction, joblessness, war and the commodities (such as Cocaine and Uranium) that are essential to the West. None of this will be addressed. More troops will arrive in Niger. More destruction will follow. More sorrow. More anger. More war. There will be no interest in the newly formed North African Network for Food Sovereignty (formed in Tunis on July 5th) and in its sensible charter of demands. Nor will there be any reflection on the assassination of hope for the Sahel, when Thomas Sankara – president of Burkina Faso – was killed thirty years ago on October 15th. ‘We must dare to invent the future’, said Sankara. What is before us from the American and French Special Forces and the militaries of Niger and Chad is not the future. It is wretched. ​ Vijay Prashad is the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books (leftword.com) and the Director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is the author of 20 books, the most recent being The Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution(University of California Press, 2016). His columns appear at AlterNet every Wednesday.

just 'giving up' is one of the options...

10/29/2017

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They didn't give up, and they understood the probable consequences of their actions, and took their action with joyful hearts and were fully prepared to accept those consequences. Supposed justice was “blind” to the wrong things in this case, and every other case of this kind. The judge’s intention by giving such long prison terms for such minor offenses was to dissuade others from doing the 'right' thing. We should all 'do the right thing'. Remember that the jails aren't big enough to hold all of us...Read More at the end of this blog...

by E.L. Christianson Jr.

Just lie down and die.  Concede defeat. Surrender.

Under present circumstances, it appears that there are no 'good' options - no 'real' choices.  The corporate run free enterprise system has taken over completely and we can only 'go along' to see where it takes us.  We can easily see where we are headed.  Environmental degradation is progressing at alarming rates and the list of projected extinctions of species grows with each new study.  As global warming proceeds at accelerated speed, our own extinction is a distinct possibility - and is extremely likely.  From almost every angle, it seems to already be 'too late' to take corrective action of any kind.

And, that just brings us back to the starting conclusion... yield, submit, 'raise the white flag'...

So, in the face of 'no hope', we could embark on the impossible.  We could aim to make 'our dreams come true'.  That we are destined to fail shouldn't be a factor in our decision because failure is already the only outcome we can see in front of us.  "Damned if we do & damned if we don't" presents us with doing as the best path forward.  Let's collectively do it.  

Doing 'it' requires recognizing our goals as a society and gathering ourselves together and moving directly toward those goals.

As the most inequitable society in the modern industrialized world, seeking equality is the most natural thing for us to pursue.  The divide between rich and poor in this nation is inexcusable in the first place and, when we stop to think about it, only exists this way because we have permitted it.  

We voted for the wrong people while knowing it was against our own self interest.  We failed to group ourselves together for the strength of our collective energy.  We turned the other way when the injustice was effecting 'someone else'.  We avoided facing the distress of others because we were focused on 'getting ahead' for ourselves.  We stepped past poor people seeking assistance with an attitude of distain as the media has directed us to do.  When dead soldiers were returned from some far off battlefield, we weren't concerned since it wasn't our own child that had been killed.

It is almost like we have been on drugs for a very long time.   Comatose describes the nature of our society.  And now we look up and realize that the 'game' is just about over - and we have lost.  But, fortunately, there may still be a few seconds left on the 'play clock'.  We may be able to pull off a 'hail Mary' with our last effort.  Or, we could just lay down and die.

To achieve our stated goal of reversing the inequity that dominates our country today, we want to understand the actions that have produced our current situation.  Recognizing and understanding are our primary tools.

History is a surprisingly good friend.  And as we look at our own history, we can see that we have squandered everything in our national quest for 'world empire'.  Our military surrounds the entire planet.  Our military budget spends our every penny.  We've got to change that.  We absolutely must bring home those overseas troops (who haven't been able to win a war, anyhow) and we absolutely must transform military spending into social spending.

We actually have the resources necessary to do the job.  We simply need to re-prioritize.  With whatever time is left, we need to collect ourselves into groups large enough to withstand the assault that we know will be directed at us for wanting to change directions.  As large as the prison system is, it is not large enough to contain all of us.  As brutal as 'law enforcement' is, even they are not capable of 'gunning down' all of us.  We must stand together.  We know what it is that we want.

We will no longer tolerate the total control of all of our wealth by a tiny number of corrupt people who have installed themselves at the top.  We will no longer dedicate all of our resources to murdering random populations around the world.  First and foremost, we will eliminate poverty and suffering right here at home.  Education, healthcare, housing, and nutrition will become the focus of our efforts.  We will transform our swords into plows.  

Perhaps we will surprise ourselves and find some level of success - it's possible, and that's the truth !!!

civil disobedience is essentially our only tool...

​          How Can We Turn Military Spending Into
a Budget for the People?

from Truth Out by Frida Berrigan, Waging Nonviolence

One year of military spending could hire every unemployed person in the United States and put them to work in a high paid infrastructure rebuilding job. 

Connecticut is the only state in the union that does not have a budget, and the state's bills are being paid in emergency supplementals -- or going past due. The state is budget-less, so my town of New London -- one of its smaller urban communities -- doesn't have a budget either. That means a hiring freeze at our local schools, budget cuts and tax increases from City Council, the farmer's markets not accepting senior citizen vouchers this summer, the downtown library cutting its hours, a smaller pool of money to pay for the heating needs of low-income people this winter and several other important city-funded offerings.

So far, this belt tightening has resulted in longer lines at the food pantries and an added weight of stress to already vulnerable and burdened people. Eventually, if it goes on long enough, the people impacted by these cuts -- and the bigger ones on the horizon -- will look across our river to the big industrial facilities that mar our otherwise beautiful view. The General Dynamics Electric Boat corporation isn't tightening its belt or trimming its excess or trying to make more with less. It just got a $5 billion contract to build a new class of nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarines.

Have you been worried about the United States not having enough nuclear submarines? Me neither. But Electric Boat is booming. The same can be said for most of the bad old military-industrial complex. President Trump's 2018 budget is a brutal behemoth that proposes giving more than $700 billion to the military -- a lot of it going right into the very pockets of the military-industrial complex.

That would be bad enough, but the problem isn't that we are spending more on the military -- it's that it comes at the expense of just about every social good imaginable. Over the next decade, the Republican-held White House and Congress are planning over $5 trillion in cuts to the safety net.

Comparisons to the military budget abound: We spend more than the next seven nations combined; one year of military spending could hire every unemployed person in the United States and put them to work in a high paid infrastructure rebuilding job; if you took the military budget in $100 bills it would circle the equator 500 times. (OK, I made that last one up.) But here is one that is pretty profound: According to the math of Alex Emmons, a reporter for The Intercept, just the increase to the military budget from 2017 to 2018 ($80 billion) that the Senate approved would be enough to make "public colleges and universities in America tuition free."

Let's pause here. The budget situation in Connecticut is so severe that one version of the budget being promoted by state Republicans would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding for the University of Connecticut system. University representatives and Democratic leaders responded by saying that such cuts would essentially shutter institutions where lower-income, first generation students seek higher education. Why cry poverty when there are billions that could be gleaned out of the military-industrial complex?

Getting there is the hard part, but -- thanks to the People's Budget  -- we have a map to follow.

More than 100 representatives voted for the People's Budget earlier this month, which limits investment in the military and pumps money into jobs, education, health care and climate resiliency. Of course, the resolution was not binding and was voted down by the House. Nevertheless, the ideas in the People's Budget provide a clear, concise plan for mobilizing the significant resources of the United States in the service of its people -- which is kind of how it is supposed to be, right?

The document comes courtesy of the Congressional Progressive Caucus -- they compile it every year -- but it is more than a Washington effort. The breadth of organizational support for the People's Budget is impressive: from Planned Parenthood to Network: The Catholic Social Justice Lobby to VoteVets to Peace Action to dozens of other organizations representing the interests of hundreds of thousands of people, all setting aside policy differences to work together to achieve a different kind of national security.

Their aims include a $2 trillion investment in America's energy, water and transportation systems; higher taxes on Wall Street firms and corporations that offshore jobs; a minimum wage hike and stronger union rights; auditing the Pentagon budget; and making debt-free college "a reality for all students."

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the People's Budget would add 2.4 million jobs and increase GDP by 2 percent in the near term. And when it turns its attention to the military, the Progressive Caucus' budget "prohibits any expansion of US combat troops in Syria, prohibits an increase in defense spending and slashes wasteful Pentagon spending."

Peace Action senior director for policy and political affairs Paul Kawika Martin sees something fundamentally hopeful in this annual process. "Every year, it gets better," he said in a recent interview. "More Democrats vote for the People's Budget and we push the party closer to representing our ideals."
Up against the Pentagon's pervasive reach and endless resources -- not to mention the military-industrial complex's practice of strategically citing its manufacturing in key congressional districts and spending millions on lobbying every year -- this has to count as real progress.

Still, it can't just happen inside the Beltway. The People's Budget also provides an opportunity to organize locally and to ask the questions: What is security? How much should it cost? Is it walls? Impregnable borders? Militarized police forces? Pervasive surveillance? Guns? Or is it local autonomy, affordable housing, accessible medical care, livable wages, truly representative government, and a sense of well-being that doesn't cost a lot, but sure is priceless? With the war in Afghanistan entering its 17th year, swaths of our country digging out of damage from fires and hurricanes, and communities trying to find sanity in the wake of another mass shooting, it is a critical question.

Frida Berrigan serves on the board of The War Resisters League, a 90-year-old pacifist organization, and helped to found Witness Against Torture, a nonviolent direct action group focused on shutting down Guantánamo and ending torture. She long served as a researcher at the New America Foundation's Arms and Security Initiative in New York City, writing and speaking on the topic of militarism. She writes the "Little Insurrections" blog for Waging Nonviolence.

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“YOU CAN JAIL THE RESISTERS BUT NOT THE RESISTANCE.”​
Read More about those who were jailed for 'doing the right thing'.  We all need to get involved and to act - while there still may be time enough to make a difference.  And many thanks to these 3 heroes who stood up for all of the rest of us.  Let's learn to stand up for ourselves.

strong feelings with no outlet... 10/28/2017 0 Comments   WHILE acknowledging the difference between a pilot and the relationship to passengers as Compared to national leaders and the relationship to citizens --- BUT, things can get to be sooo bad that... and if we are going to crash anyhow ??? (cartoon by Will McPhail‏ @NewYorker) by E.L. Christianson Jr. Virtually everything that is going on in this country today produces strong feelings.  We all have the sense that things are going 'wacko'.  Regardless of our particular social standing or our personal political views, 'things' are seen as going downhill, fast.  The rich can't grab more wealth for themselves quickly enough to satisfy their greed, and the poor can't comprehend a system that gives more and more to the wealthy while leaving the poor completely destitute.  Those in the middle are frustrated as they see the middle shrinking all around them and they fear the threat of personal destitution for themselves.  But, that's all about money.  The national 'wacko' experience goes far beyond 'just money'. Justice, as we witness in daily news reports, does not exist in this country or in the world.  Certainly the legal system is not concerned with ideas of justice.  The rich & powerful interpret the laws any way that is convenient for them at any given moment.  The poor are victimized by every part of the system of 'law enforcement'. Our corrupt hypocritical leadership professes 'Christian Values' to make us compliant to their rule. In their own lives they act out the very worst characteristics imaginable and are completely 'anti-Christian' in everything they do.  And, they pretend other religions (Islam) are bad. We see all of this and we march and protest to no avail.  We register to vote even knowing that the system is totally rigged against democracy - and yet we line-up at the voting booth as if we believed things could be changed by the casting of our ballot.  We know better, but as if in a trance, we go ahead with the process, anyhow. We see our capitalist system failing us everywhere we look.  Education is denied us on a public scale thereby limiting our options in the world.  The only 'jobs' readily available are in the military. ​ Trump said of the young husband and father killed in Niger that he "knew what he signed up for".  Almost certainly, he did not. For one thing, nobody can figure out why we have troops in Niger (as well as in virtually every other country in the world).  Regarding the death of this young man (only one of the 4 U.S. soldiers killed in this event), the system had doomed him from the beginning.  His under-funded ghetto neighborhood high school, Carol City High School, hadn't prepared him for anything beyond working at a Walmart in Pembroke Pines, where co-workers said he was known as "produce boy".  Married to his childhood sweetheart who will deliver his 3rd child soon, it is likely he felt that 'what he was signing up for' was a better job, with 'healthcare benefits'. And his is only one of the millions of sad stories of Americans.  We look around trying to think of a way to make improvements and we find none.  War and greed dominate our country so thoroughly that, as a mental break from one reality we shift our focus to other realities.  Turning from massive tax breaks for the wealthy, we notice a sex scandal and we temporarily review the long history of sex scandals.  Turning from financial cuts to social programs to which we all depend, we cheer for some sports event or dull our perceptions in a movie theater.  Turning away from the disaster of global warming and climate change, we argue among ourselves about Democrats vs Republicans as if there were differences between them and, as if it mattered if there were. "Our goose is cooked" and we know it.  Nevertheless, we hope for, we wish for... and we aren't even sure what goals there are to which we should aspire.   The media allows us to know that we are unhappy with congress.  Nobody expects any type of improvement to be forthcoming from congress, or from any other level of government.  We fully expect the 'police state' to expand and limit whatever freedoms we pretend to have. All of this produces strong internal feelings.  Frustration seems to be our lot.  Our national mood is one of depression.  Even 'good ideas' don't offer anything in the way of encouragement.  We look at 'good ideas' with the attitude of "what's the use?", and that's the truth !!! The 5 Traps Used to Shut Down and Limit Human Consciousness from Waking Times by Sigmund Fraud The human condition at present is one of slavery, a new kind of slavery, where bondage is psychological and spiritual rather than physical. Human consciousness is the target in a broad war of control where people willingly acquiesce to social conditions which clearly fail to serve their best interests, even doing them harm. We accept the status quo of warfare, fear, environmental destruction, greed, corruption, poisoned health and false scarcity because we’ve been herded into traps which hold us hostage with false beliefs and the appearance of comfort. In reality, though, breaking through these traps would allow us to apply the principles of peace, sustainability, exploration, acceptance and progress to improving the human condition. Firstly, though, we have to see and acknowledge the boundaries of the prison we are in. “There’s five essential boxes for human consciousness, there’s five things that shut human consciousness down. Five models that attempt to keep people rigidly inside of their walls. And if you’re inside these boxes, you’re not going to expand your awareness to understand the actual truth of what’s going on in our world.” ~Mark Passio 1. Politics “If anybody identifies with left or right, conservative Republican, liberal Democrat, etc…” ~Mark Passio The self-identification with a particular political party is one of the most divisive states of consciousness there is in our world today. This is clearly evident in the quality and character of public discourse and how it merges with financial interests to create stress, pressure and conflict at every level of society. 2. Religion The major cultural religions of the world are perhaps the greatest trap for human consciousness ever devised and put to use as a means of controlling people. This has been corrupting the world and killing people for thousands of years. The acceptance of the possibility of a better existence after death is an excuse to ignore the quality of life one is living in this existence, and is used as an excuse to participate in wickedness. We of course see how this paradigm is being used against us today to create a major riff among the people of the earth as global leaders push for a new religious war pitting Islam against Christianity. No one can win if this battle is allowed to escalate. 3. Scientism “Not what I call real science, but what I call ultra rigid skepticism in the form of quote/unquote science, that’s peddled for modern science in today’s world.” ~Mark Passio Science has become a religion of sorts, where ideas are vetted in a strange process of study mixed with peer review, mixed with corporate and monetary influence, mixed with egos. In this paradigm, there is no room for ideas which challenge long-held assumptions and theories about the world, stifling human progress. Rebel researchers like Graham Hancock and Rupert Sheldrake, are examples of how interesting ideas about where the human is coming from and where it is headed are shut down by the rigid thinking of a scientific world which pushes wholesale skepticism as affable quality. “Science places itself on a pedestal and assures everyone it has dispassionately arrived at its conclusions. Meanwhile, however, it is full of assumptions, denials and limitations, and makes the serious mistake of presenting its theories as facts. The errors of mainstream science are gladly seized upon by technocrats, eager to use science and technology to further their own ambitions of control… ~Makia Freeman ​ 4. The New Age Movement Another box for human consciousness which is relatively new in our world is the New Age Movement, which abandons genuine science in favor of feel good platitudes which keep people sidelined from taking action and fully participating in our world. It is a unique, open source belief system which It’s tenets are described by the following 10 bullets here: 1. Ignore the “Negative” 2. Never Get Angry 3. It’s All One, So it’s All Good 4. You Can Never Really Know 5. Accept Injustice, Never Resist 6. A Watered-Down Law of Attraction 7. Turning the Other Cheek (it evens out the scars!) 8. Chaos Should Be Feared 9. We Must Feel Good all the Time 10. Truth Doesn’t Need to be Defended ~Mark Passio 5. The Monetary System – The General Belief in MoneyThis is the greatest trap of all, enslaving nearly everyone on our planet. At the root of this deception is the general belief in money, that is, in the belief that money has more value than life itself and is therefore more precious than anything life has to offer. Because of this, countless schemes, scams, fiat systems, debt-enslavement programs, frauds, and thefts are able to syphon the energy and time of human beings, leading us nowhere but to our own ruin. The monetary system we have today operates in this way, with a tiny ruling elite having devised and now controlling an international system of manipulation which gives unlimited power to those who create money without having to produce anything of actual value. Final ThoughtsIt is impossible to understand the conflict, chaos and division in our world without understanding the ways in which human consciousness is limited, corralled and enslaved by these paradigms. At this point in the age of communication, however, it takes a certain willfulness to continue to operate within these five boxes. “It’s much easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled — such is the nature of confirmation bias and other psychological tools of manipulation. Breaking free of the ancient, historical ‘constant’ of mind control is an ongoing process of waking up out of a state of denial. Spiritual emergence and awakening involves a physiological break from the consensus social agreements of our planetary cultures.” ~Karlos Kukuburra ​ Sigmund Fraud is a survivor of modern psychiatry and a dedicated mental activist. He is a staff writer for WakingTimes.com where he indulges in the possibility of a massive shift towards a more psychologically aware future for humankind. it would appear that it is time for some sort of change --- almost any change, since we are drowning anyhow !!!

official corruption, right out there in the open...

10/27/2017

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Cocky enough and conceited enough to not be concerned with 'appearances'.  Just do it and to hell with anybody who asks questions.  Wipe the record clean and destroy any evidence that may or may not have existed about how they stole a 'supposed election' - as if it mattered.  Actually, it didn't really matter because the democracy part of that 'supposed election' had already been eliminated in advance - and the wealthy elite were being represented on the ballot, anyhow.

But, the citizens should at least sit up and take notice.  Take notice.  All pretending is gone.  We compare favorably with the worst evil 'dictatorship' in the entire world.  The news will continue to impress us with some leader in some country who rigged an election and then brutally forced the populace into submission while piling up huge sums of money in a private bank account.

And, all the while, right here under our very noses it is exactly the same.  We usually look the other way.  The government and the media divert our attention with all manner of trickery.  They deceive us with lies about various events in the world.  They hide the truth about what is going on here at home.

But, that all seems to be in the past.  Currently, they feel no need to hide what happens in this country.  It has been moving in that direction over the last few decades.  The banksters robbed us blind and the government convinced us that the proper thing to do in response was to give them more money.  We all witnessed it.

The political system threw Bernie out of the election cycle in spite of his desirability among 'the people' while advancing arguably the two worst choices available in the tightly controlled 'two party' system.  Everyone in the nation knows that everyone in the nation opposes the actions of congress, but so what?

Those in charge, the oligarchy, the wealthy elite simply do not care about the people of this country or of any other country.  Money defines their only aspirations.  

The cost for hiding their true goals was too high.  Creating constant deceptions was expensive in terms of time and energy and money.  They seem to have dropped the pretense and are now going for 'it' without even a hint of creativity... just blatant greed.

We can't avoid seeing what is happening because it is right out there in the open for all to see.  Even the stupid among us can understand what is going on at this point.  

The Georgia system of elections, as only one example among the many, was never intended to be fair or verifiable.  Georgia's AccuVote touchscreen voting machines don't give voters a receipt.  Nobody can say for sure whether or not they voted, even after standing in line and going through the process of 'touching the screen'.   In addition, the machines are known by all to be easily manipulated by 'hacking' so that, even with a receipt, nobody can say for certain that the machine recorded the vote intended by the voting citizen or recorded the outcome that was predetermined by those in control.

The results of the Georgia election cannot be trusted.  But, taking no chances, those in control decided to remove any and all evidence about anything and everything by erasing all data from the computers that held all of the information - and that takes care of that.

And, if you don't like it, don't bother to come to government held public meetings to complain or to ask question or even to discuss the issue.  On the other side of the country (Los Angeles) they know how to handle people who show up for 'public meetings'.  Those who escape being shot dead by the Los Angeles Police Department (the highest number of 'officer involved killings' in the nation - 2 years in a row) are arrested for speaking at public meetings if they speak for 20 seconds more than the time allotted to them speak.  

​The ACLU of Southern California is fighting an ordinance that could make it even harder for residents to speak out—especially those who dissent against the practices of the LAPD. If passed, the ordinance will make it "an arrestable offense to violate any posted rules of public facilities” and would empower law enforcement to make criminal trespass charges, tighten restrictions on speaking time and shut down criticism at meetings.

Video shows a person, 81 years old, speaking at a meeting in 2016, before being forcibly removed from the room, while onlookers yell at the police to let him go.

In another incident, ​an LAPD spokesman explained that the woman "was removed from the room by officers and later arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest.”  According to the ACLU, she “was arrested for speaking 20 seconds over the 2-minute public comment limit.”

And you might be wondering, 'in what country are these things taking place'?  In the past, the oligarchy would want you to believe these actions describe events in some small, undeveloped third world dictatorship.  But, today, they don't bother with the pretense.  Because of their arrogance, it is all right out here in the open.  This is the United States of America, and that's the truth !!!

screw the American people...

10/26/2017

0 Comments

 

the wealthy are too greedy & selfish to look beyond stealing another dollar today -- AND they ignore the future they are leaving to their heirs --BUT they will leave lots of dollars which their heirs can't eat, drink or breathe.. 

by E.L. Christianson Jr.

At one time, not all that long ago, the greedy thieves operating as congress attempted to hide their outrageously immoral activities behind deceptive allusions about patriotism and freedom and other 'high' sounding words and phrases.  Now, they just let it all hang out there for everyone to see in all of its naked awfulness.  The motto of the moment is 'get all you can now' since they realize that they have led us to a point in time where there is not much time left.  "Get it while you can" is the current catch-word.  Having ignored global warming and climate change for the last few decades, they know the horrible outcomes awaiting humanity just around the corner, and at this point, pretense simply slows the process of snatching up those last few dollars.

"Damn the poor" isn't exactly shouted from the rooftops, but it is stated in plain unmistakable terms.  Hypocrisy no longer serves a purpose.  All of those fake platitudes about democracy and individual rights are now cast aside in this last minute stampeed for plunder.  Trillions of dollars for the very wealthy and 'damn the poor' is right out there in the open.  

It hardly matters whether or not they are re-elected because they plan to get 'theirs', now.  Besides, their actions have assured that there is not much of a future for the rest of us, so, what's the value of pretending at this point?  What the hell, let's just drop some nuclear bombs and be done with it!  

While, it is easy to accept this attitude toward the poor and minorities and those in 3rd world countries, it is strange to believe this is the attitude toward their own children and grandchildren whose future has been destroyed along with the future of us all.  

And the separation of 'party' in the voting for this particular budget deceives one into believing that the two parties differ... they do not.  Republicans could not have gotten to this vote without the compliance of Democrats.  What happens on the floor of congress is a stage show, an act.  

And yet, the truth is right there in front of us all - easy to see.  Congress wants to give penny possible to the wealthy elite who control them, regardless of the costs, and 'screw the American people', and that's the truth !!!

Republican House Members Just Voted to Destroy the Safety Net and
​Deliver a Trillion-Dollar Tax Cut to the Rich

from Common Dreams by Jake Johnson

The GOP-controlled House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a Senate-approved budget resolution that moves Republicans one step closer to their ultimate goal of delivering massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans and imposing "grotesque" and "heartless" cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other life-saving safety net programs.

"The representatives who just chose the bank accounts of their donors over the health and wellbeing of their constituents should be ashamed."
—Morris Pearl, Patriotic Millionaires

The final vote tally was 216-212, with 20 Republicans defecting from their party. No Democrats backed the measure.

Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness, called the GOP budget an "immoral calamity" in a statement following Thursday's vote.

"The Republicans in the House have just advanced an immoral tax plan that will have disastrous real-world consequences for many millions of Americans," Clemente said. "It's a calamity of their own making, and voters will remember it."

Despite insistence from President Donald Trump and the GOP that their budget is pro-working class, analysis after analysis has shown that their proposals would in fact raise taxes on many middle class families while sending an enormous windfall—$1.5 trillion over the next decade—to the top one percent.

Meanwhile, notes Vox's Dylan Matthews, "the federal welfare state would be rolled back in just about every dimension."

"All non-Medicare health programs would see a cut of $1.3 trillion, or nearly 30 percent, by 2027," Matthews adds. "Medicare would be cut too, to the tune of $473 billion. There is $1 trillion over 10 years in mystery cuts to mandatory programs, cuts that would in practice almost certainly hurt programs for the poor."

Morris Pearl, chair of the Patriotic Millionaires, said in a statement Thursday that "[t]he representatives who just chose the bank accounts of their donors over the health and wellbeing of their constituents should be ashamed."

"Two hundred sixteen members of the House just voted to hurt millions of vulnerable Americans, including many of their own constituents, just to give millionaires like me a massive, unnecessary tax break," Pearl added. "The American people don't want a $1.5 trillion cut to Medicare and Medicaid and they don't want a huge tax cut for the rich, but wealthy donors do."

Proving Pearl's point, both the billionaire U.S. President Donald Trump and the Koch Brothers-backed Freedom Works celebrated the resolution's passage.
​
"On to tax reform!" declared FreedomWorks in a statement. And Trump, who personally stands to make millions for he and and his family if the GOP tax plan ultimately goes through, tweeted: "Big news—Budget just passed."

the 'left'... 10/25/2017 0 Comments   by E.L. Christianson Jr. The left side of the political spectrum supports social equality.  It concerns itself with those in society who are disadvantaged relative to others in the society.  The belief system on the left sees unjustified inequalities in the society and works to reduce and/or abolished those inequalities. History is important and is always interesting.  The political terms "Left" and "Right" were coined during the French Revolution which sparked the American Revolution and followed it by only a few years (1789–1799). It identified the seating arrangement in the Estates General in France.  Those who sat on the left were in opposition to the French monarchy and supported revolution.  Those on the right were supportive of the traditional institutions of the Old Regime.  All of that sounds familiar when one examines the political systems of the United States.  With some shifting of positions over the decades, we have modern day Republicans and Democrats - right and left.    Except that today, both parties, Democrats and Republicans have come to support the traditional institutions of Wealth & Power, as did the 'founding fathers'.  Today, there are no substantial differences between the Democratic party and the Repubican party.  Their position on any issue, whether foreign or domestic, is essentially the same. People apparently still remember previous claims about differences between the parties.  Although those claims are more myth than fact, people still respond as if the pretended concepts were facts - they are not.  It has been a long decline. That decline can be attributed mostly to the 'left' losing in the propaganda battles as the American public has become brainwashed concerning what things are 'good for the country'. Actually, the 'left' was always 'right' leaning and rejecting of 'social equality'.  One clear example is that the Democrats, before world war 2, discriminated against African Americans in the Social Security Act of 1935.  It was designed in such a way that it would exclude farmworkers and domestic workers - jobs that were heavily occupied by African Americans.  The 'law', signed by Roosevelt excluded 65 percent of African Americans in this entire country and a much higher percentage were ineligible in the 'south'.  Social Security was supposed to benefit people who were in poverty - as long as they weren't African American. And in continuation, Democrats after world war 2 were dominated by 'Dixiecrats' who stood against extending civil rights.  The theoretical concept of social equality has always been too far to the left of the 'left'. The 'union movement' is another example of the 'left' falling along the wayside.  Today's ​workforce represents unionization at the lowest point in a century.  Just over 10% of workers now belong to a union, and the largest share of those are in the public sector.  In the private sector, unionization is just over 5% compared to 35% during the 1950s when America actually was great - at least in industrial and economic terms. The truth is that when unions are stronger the economy does better.   Unions create economic demand by raising wages for both members and non-members, thereby putting more purchasing power to work which creates more jobs.  When unions are weak, the opposite takes place.  In the past, these were points of contention in congressional debates.  But, as unions have been 'busted', the debates are unnecessary.  The 'right' won that argument. Nowhere are the propaganda wars more evident than the successful brainwashing of the American people against the concept of 'socialism' - in the American culture, the very word conjures up thoughts of 'evil'.  Americans have been duped into thinking that anything that opposes free enterprise is automatically in opposition to liberty, equality, and personal freedoms. ​ Quite to the contrary, we have the benefits of socialism throughout our country - police, fire, courts, libraries, and other municipal services that enables our country to function are all 'socialized'.  Additionally, we have roads, bridges, air ports, the post office, schools and other examples of collectively supporting those items that benefit us all. In actual fact, it is 'free enterprise' that threatens our freedoms.  Private schools, private mail service and private toll roads are a small sampling of our immediate future.  As more and more of our resources fall prey to free enterprise, we witness a more unequal distribution of everything in this country. Those who are interested in the common good and living in a society that benefits the masses of people need to understand the confusion that has overtaken our politics.  "Socialism" is not a bad word. The 'right wing' has become so dominate, so obsessed with greed and selfishness that they have largely given up on pretense.  Currently, the 'right' has openly sought to dismantle every aspect of our society that operates for the common good.  The 2 biggest items 'in the news' right now are eliminating public healthcare and giving huge tax breaks to the wealthy.  The 'right' is in control and is pushing hard against the public good with these 2 issues. On the positive side (if there is a positive side) the average voter can now easily see what's coming.  The eyes of the public are being slowly opened to the truth as the 'right' brutally oversteps all bounds of decency.  There will be a backlash as there was in France. Democrats are still, at this moment, on the 'right wing' of American culture.  At a recent meeting in Las Vegas, the Democratic establishment showed that it remains committed to wealth and power.  At that meeting, those to the 'left' within the party were pushed aside.  Specifically, the party moved to make sure that the “Sanders wing” of the Party and Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison were 'under control' of the establishment. As the Democrats are failing and as the people have few if any choices that benefit the populace as a whole, things will change.  Universal healthcare looks to be much closer now that Republicans have focused on destruction of public healthcare in total.  The people will rise up in their own self defense. People must rise up, otherwise, the 'left' has no political standing in this country, and that's the truth !!!