- Religion, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.
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Liberty is hunted around the globe: What Snowden taught us about American freedom
Saturday, 13 July 2013 08:14
Earlier this month, as Americans celebrated our Independence Day holiday, the true scope of American independence became visible. The revelations of Edward Snowden, and the elite reaction to those revelations show that Americans are not a truly free and independent people, our major media are not free or independent, and neither are the supposedly sovereign nations of Europe free or independent states.
The American people fully recognize the threat that the U.S. security state poses to American liberty; according to a national Quinnipiac Poll released this week, 55% of Americans consider Edward Snowden a whistleblower, not a traitor.
Yet who will protect this whistleblower, deemed a traitor by Pennsylvania Avenue, and a hero by most Americans?
Not the mainstream media of the United States, which has shamefully defended the security state and used character-assassination to shift attention away from the NSA scandal. The self-proclaimed progressive network, MSNBC, has described Snowden as a “punk” and a “coward.” Considering their coverage of this scandal, it is now clear that the word “coward” better describes MSNBC and the rest of the media elite in this country. As media critic Jeff Cohen has asked, would U.S. media act any less independently if it were state controlled?
Nor will the heads of state of Europe protect the whistleblower, who shout objections to the news that they themselves were victims of U.S. spy operations, even while denying asylum to the person who made public this news. While we applaud the actions of the Venezuelan government in offering asylum to Snowden, we find the posture of Europe disturbing, and agree with former German federal minister Jürgen Trittin that his nation, with its harsh history of state surveillance, should today be “among the first to offer [Snowden] refuge.” read more
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.
Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" Holmes asked.
Watson pondered for a minute. "Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three. Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke.
"Watson, you idiot. Somebody has stolen our tent!"
Man has responsibility; not power.
Anonymous
Today a former US Treasury Official told King World News that the U.S. Federal Reserve is facing collapse, and is completely trapped at this point. Dr. Paul Craig Roberts also warned that the Fed is continuing to interfere in the gold market as they desperately attempt to implement a new global plan scheme to protect the dollar. Below is what Dr. Roberts had to say in this powerful interview. read more
Making good
Repairing things is about more than thrift. It is about creating something bold and original
Internet Control Is Here – Prepare Accordingly
By Zen Gardner on Jul 13, 2013 05:55 pmby Zen Gardner The shutdown and “cleansing” of the internet is clearly at hand. They’ve been “forecasting” these moves a long time as they’ve jockeyed their justifications into place. Hate to sound so matter of fact, but our lifeline is communication. They know that and and want to kill it. Obamarama bo bama skat dancer ...
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What I am looking at is this: right now no one can stand-up for themselves anymore. The constant need for that mob mentality that leads the individual into obscurity. When one can stand up when no one else is standing.....that is leadership, fearless maybe. Standing up for what is right is not always the safest path for self preservation. The assassination of truth and insted go after character, standard practice in ancient and modern politic, nothing new here, then there are those you love, both know and unknown, expoxe or flip, [they] know, via data mining, the weak points in the political armor. Whomtogoafter................
Bring it ..........we got as much on each and every one of you..........can use your own tools to google map to you house(is it drone proof?), current local, of all friendz and famz you may have known , your car, like Hastings, , security jujitsu..powerful shit. fuck with the bull you get the horns.......myself need do nothing but hide and watch
A Roy
this particular piece received 2 million, yes, two million global hits!!...a few more than my local news source, about 1,992,000 or so more. gannet wishes, larry fishes. this one....even more.Arundhati Roy……
The trouble is that once America goes off to war, it can't very well return without having fought one. If it doesn't find its enemy, for the sake of the enraged folks back home, it will have to manufacture one. Once war begins, it will develop a momentum, a logic and a justification of its own, and we'll lose sight of why it's being fought in the first place. The Algebra of Infinite Justice September 29, 2001.
Where there is oppression, it will always be challenged by those of us who will challenge it with greater intensity, you know? So that's why I don't believe that there can ever be peace without justice, you know? The two go together. And there cannot be peace in the world with full-spectrum dominance or, you know, nuclear warfare or any of those things. They won't help, because always there will be people who demand dignity, who demand justice, who demand their rights.
She goes on to say "Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead."
If we have a McCarthy like era targeted at the media, audio visual, news print photo editors, could get messy, considering all the lies and incompetence. Like I said before…this gross breach of public trust cannot easily be repaired. I have nothing to hide, but am bound by conscience to speak out when I witness something unjust, and certainly not knowingly or fraudulently finance some dubious enterprise…
To advocate withholding almost thousand year old magna carta rights? Attention media…did you really think the public was that stupid? Just remember, none of us are as stupid as all of us without your (mainstream media’s) help…you might want to report information as fact before someone comes for you and you have no oracle to speak.
“…It explicitly protected certain rights of the King's subjects, whether free or fettered — most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment. The magna is the historical default document for handling humans when one kingdom or city state conquers or surrenders another.”
As far as I know, as long as there is a monarchy, then it is still on the books and in full effect, to this day, in both England and whales. I thought ours, the us constitution and the bill of rights, was even better at protecting humans. At least more humane, advanced further than medieval Spain.Justice for Dead Journalists | War on Iraq | AlterNet Justice for Dead Journalists
By Amy Goodman, King Features Syndicate. Posted May 15, 2008.This is why I am ashamed of my government, because this does not represent me, the is not what my own government taught me. Yes, I was mad when I realized I had been duped by the people I trusted……but I can get over that. What I cannot let go of is the fact I can no longer trust my government to tell me the truth. That is what makes me want to rebel, this is where I have a problem controlling my passions, when I see cover-up and collusion by institutions I plead my loyalties, was willing to bleed and die for those ideals.(my guess is the pharma industry has a pill for truth long developed by now, negating the need for torture! Which is more profitable?, the rack or the apothecary? KBR…Kellogg-brown-root or ely lilly, s.c Johnson, dow?)
A military whistle-blower has come forward with information that contradicts the government's official story about the deaths of two journalists.
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.".... Marcus Tullius Cicero
The Communist regime of the Soviet Union has been considered to be evil by a number of western liberal democracies, especially under the rule of Joseph Stalin for its mass persecutions of political opponents, religious, and cultural minorities (e.g. the Cossacks). Also the political writings of Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince often used by Hitler and Mussolini, are considered to be a source of evil in politics, as they often speak of ignoring accepted morals for the pursuit of ultimate power, as "the ends justifies the means".
Machiavelli favored a prince creating a climate of fear in order to rule a population, rather than relying on popular support. Machiavelli supports the use of deception and manipulation as means to increase a prince's personal power. The following statements in The Prince on how to gain control of a principality show little concern for traditional moral and ethical considerations.
Will history add George W. Bush to the list? ...the ends justifies the means... The world consists mainly of vulgar people and the few who are honorable can safely be ignored when so many vulgar rally around the prince….' '…..Benefits must be conferred gradually so they are appreciated more thoroughly and harm should be inflicted all at once. Both harm and benefits should not serve as quick solutions to problems. Force is the most effective and efficient means to do something and the virtuous prince will employ its leverage. History marches on….truth is truth, a duck is……..to deliberately lose a trick; a cunning action or plan that is intended to cheat or deceive.
The liberal left or the religious right are not off the hook…..Authoritarian, totalitarian, and elements of religious fundamentalism regimes tend to hold a common view that liberal-democratic regimes are evil and blame liberal democracy for high crime rates, profiteering, corporate crime, materialist individualism replacing common bonds of similar people, destruction of culture and its replacement with sleaze. All of which, the regimes claim will result in the destruction of humanity if liberal democracy is not restrained. Therefore, liberal democracy provides the ideal environment for corruption to thrive, greed at all levels of society becomes to rule rather the exception. In other words, we become so open-minded our brains fall out, leaving a fertile breeding ground for state sponsored exploitation of the masses. This is why the u.s. constitution is so important. The constitution protects 'we the people' from our own government. The bill or rights is the guarantee.
Machiavelli wrote: "...there will be traits considered good that, if followed, will lead to ruin, while other traits, considered vices which if practiced achieve security and well being for the Prince," (dub'ya) truth is truth. A duck is….is found all over the world, with the exception of Antarctica, but the prince doesn't care, for that reason we should send him there. History marches on….
The international relations theories of neo-conservatism (neocon), advise politicians to explicitly disavow absolute moral and ethical considerations in international politics in favor of a focus on self-interest, political survival, and power politics, which they hold to be more accurate in explaining a world they view as explicitly amoral and dangerous. Neocons usually justify their perspectives by laying claim to a "higher moral duty" specific to political leaders, under which the greatest evil is seen to be the failure of the state to protect itself and its citizens, not protecting the citizens from the state. Truth is truth, a duck is…. what ever the state labels it. History marches on……
There is a back door to circumvent free speech and the original ideals America was founded on. Dumb down America by omission of certain schools of thought, thereby limiting critical thinking to only the facts presented and imbedded in the education system as a whole. One of the best tools is to limit the information being taught in public schools is not to teach it to the teachers to teach. Every generation is gradually being short changed. I clipped the next piece a couple of years ago to research, some of the items may be dated. I have added to it from things I have found, reading a few books, rereading history, hundreds of hours on the internet, but things have only gotten worse.
I found this trend startling and set out to disprove, I could not, I have now not only confirmed this downward spiral, it is one of the main reasons I have become so political to do my part to reverse this national (international?) conspiracy.
Just because we are told America is number one does not make it so. This is why I stress independent thinking and common sense (rational thought), and the need to become better informed in all areas. Like I said before above: we have become so open-minded that our brain fell out, and developed and an appetite for destruction of the truth. Go look for yourself like I did, a caveat: government statistical data is not a reliable source, tends to only report the positive, withholding negative data is the norm because of political and bureaucratic job security.
Truth is truth, a duck is a….what's a duck? What's that quacking nose? A duck is what politicians do to avoid answering tough questions, avoid lying or telling the truth, whatever is convenient to conceal or promote hidden agendas, dedicated to self service. History marches on….
credit steve ventura....for education work, all verifiable data. my vetting process is much simpler, does what i see match what i hear against what i know? truth somewhere there?Statistics on American education tell a dreadful story. No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an "empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable.
We're No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in: the story of an advanced technological society slipping back to a state of ignorance and superstition. If that sentence seems extreme, consider these facts:
The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
"The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).
Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
"The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D) expenditures; and new capital raised" (The European Dream, p.70).
"Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).
Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be anymore.
The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less.
"The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.) That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11."U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).
The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2006).
"Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The European Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time. Economic slavery.
"Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European Dream, p.69).
"Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list" (The European Dream, p.68).
The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).
U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14, 2004). Since 04, who knows? Government data lag time 2 years, estimates range from 3 to 7 million jobs, depends which duck is quacking, today 07 estimates are conservative. This includes jobs created minus jobs lost, the trend is about 2 million net loss per year and dropping, that is jobs lost increasing. Accurate data impossible to confirm. Shush, don't tell nobody, might create a panic. 17 million illegals just might have jobs here, ya think? Most of them pay federal income tax, is I should say the tax is deducted from their paychecks most of the money stays with the employer who knows the undocumented worker will not file for refunds with the feds, and actively reminds Pedro to do so risks deportation by the la migra offeciosos. Por qua? No la guardia, see.Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005). Does not count illegals and those that quit looking, also day labor, nor those working for cash, drug trade, e.g.
Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt. (That's why we talk nice to them.) "By helping keep mortgage rates from rising, China has come to play an enormous and little-noticed role in sustaining the American housing boom" (NYT, Dec. 4, 2004). Read that twice. We owe our housing boom (bust today) to China, because they want us to keep buying all that stuff they manufacture. American poison toys, conspiracy? To narrow trade gap, who knows, more to the point who's not telling? Wal-Mart toys Chinese lead, ignorant children, stupid adults: connection or coincidence?
Sometime in the next 10 years Brazil will probably pass the U.S. as the world's largest agricultural producer. Brazil is now the world's largest exporter of chickens, orange juice, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Last year, Brazil passed the U.S. as the world's largest beef producer. (Hear that, you poor deluded cowboys?) As a result, while we bear record trade deficits, Brazil boasts a $30 billion trade surplus (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). Rainforest is the planets lungs, declining at 10%(?) annually feeding fat Americans.
As of last June, the U.S. imported more food than it exported (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). Relabeled and sent back as u.s. relief aid, you think I'm kidding. Go look. Product of china, labeled u. n for relief not to be sold. I have got a feeling the food stuff is relabeled again and sold back to us, that one boat load of rice has been around the world ten times, meanwhile fewer hungry, less humans, bigger banks, morbidly obese Americans.
Bush: 62,027,582 votes. Kerry: 59,026,003 votes. Number of eligible voters who didn't show up: 79,279,000 (NYT, Dec. 26, 2004). That's more than a third. Way more. If more than a third of Iraqis don't show for their election, no country in the world will think that election legitimate. Al Gore won the last one here. Us *plebs still lost. *….common people of ancient Rome: the ordinary citizens of ancient Rome, as distinct from the (re)patricians, wealthyOne-third of all U.S. children are born out of wedlock. One-half of all U.S. children will live in a one-parent house (CNN, Dec. 10, 2004).
"Americans are now spending more money on gambling than on movies, videos, DVDs, music, and books combined" (The European Dream, p.28). Future native American survival.
"Nearly one out of four Americans believe that using violence to get what they want is acceptable" (The European Dream, p.32) that one already got his that way.
Forty-three percent of Americans think torture is sometimes justified, according to a PEW Poll (Associated Press, Aug. 19, 2004). As long as it's not themselves,100% agree torture hurts.
"Nearly 900,000 children were abused or neglected in 2002, the last year for which such data are available" (USA Today, Dec. 21, 2004). These are only what's reported to social services. Dead ones don't count, 70% plus of incarcerated adults where also neglected or abused. Psychological abuse accounts for 80% of mental illness, including addictions. Allowing children to be raised by schools and television is abuse and the root cause to me.
"The International Association of Chiefs of Police said that cuts by the Bush administration in federal aid to local police agencies have left the nation more vulnerable than ever" (USA Today, Nov. 17, 2004). The plan is working.
No. 1? In most important categories we're not even in the Top 10 anymore. Not even close.
The USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion. Denial
The United States once ranked first in the world in high school graduation rates. We have slipped to 17th (the New York Times, Feb. 1).
Respect for the free exchange of ideas is dimming among our young. USA Today, Jan. 31: "One in three United States high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more thought the government should approve newspaper stories before people read them." Which means that our Bill of Rights often is taught poorly or not at all--a very dangerous sign for the future of our liberties.
The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). Those who can read and don't are equal to the man that cannot read.
We rank 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). Accounts for acceptance of the 38% tax rate, that's means you only get to keep 62 dollars for every $100 you earn. If you tithe faithfully you get to keep$56 gross dollars or $52 net to buy food, shelter, clothes, heat, electric, petrol, insurance, health care…add sales tax….wondering why you can't save anything or seem to get ahead? If you forgot to vote, that's ok they assume you don't mind the taxes then.
"Our students, a new report has found, are lagging far behind the pace set by scientific whiz kids in Europe and Asia, and the number of Americans choosing science as a career continues to dwindle" (Los Angeles Times, quoted in The Week, Jan. 14).
Thomas L. Friedman reports "a mounting crisis" (NYT, Dec. 5, 2004). "Because of the steady erosion of science, math, and engineering education in U.S. high schools, our Cold War generation of American scientists is not being fully replenished. We've been filling the gap with Indian, Chinese, and other immigrating brain-power. But...many of those foreign engineers are not coming here anymore." He adds that many who had emigrated here have recently chosen to leave, and there aren't enough Americans with sufficient knowledge to replace them. The Chinese lead toy generation.
The Christian right's influence in Congress is no doubt the source of headlines like this: "Money to Fix Space Telescope May Be Cut by House" (NYT, Jan. 23). The Hubble is our most successful space project to date. The Hubble "established the age of the universe at 13 billion years.... Every week, the Hubble transmits about 120 gigabytes of data...the equivalent of 36,500 feet of books on a shelf. More than 2,600 scientific papers based on these findings have been published so far" (The Week, Jan. 21).
Hostility to science exists at the highest levels of our government. "With rising intensity, scientists in and out of government have criticized the Bush administration, saying it has selected or suppressed research findings to suit preset policies, skewed advisory panels or ignored unwelcome advice, and quashed discussion within federal research agencies" (NYT, Oct. 19, 2006).
These stats combine to paint the portrait of a poorly educated people seeking to compensate for their ignorance with beliefs that spread such ignorance further--while the rest of the developed world laughs in pity or contempt, and leaves us behind.
I believe one cannot claim to be a cultured human being without knowledge of the great religions, their histories, and scriptures. The Bible hit America's shores 300 years before the Constitution and no one unfamiliar with the Bible can claim to understand America (which disqualifies many so-called intellectuals). The great religions should be required study in every high school and college, if only because there is no greater historical force than religious passion. But religion should be taught as religion, not as science. Interesting to note the last pope, John Paul II, held the position that creation and evolution do not conflict with current Catholic doctrine.
Makes no difference to me when we got here only what we can do to stay here and advance our society. How to keep adapting to our changing environment with a moral compass pointing toward goodness, the light, away from darkness and ignorance. Hostility to science is spreading, like an infection, to history...
The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, by Thomas Woods Jr., "is being snapped up on college campuses and helped along by plugs on Fox News... Was No. 8 on the New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list." The book features far-right revisions of the Civil War, the Marshall Plan, Jim Crow, and the New Deal . It is "one of a wave of books like this." They include Michelle Malkin's In Defense of Internment, which claims that the World War II internment of California's Japanese-Americans was justified and benign; also, a booklet used in a North Carolina school called Southern Slavery: As It Was, claiming slavery to have been "a relationship based upon mutual affection and confidence." This isn't history. This is propaganda. You don't justify old internment camps unless you hope to build new ones. That's how I found that list from the friends of liberty website, newly built idle camps waiting to be housed, no one told me I had to go find the truth.
The teaching of history is usually slanted one way or another, but not long ago the blatant distortion of science would have been unimaginable. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Maoist China excluded or distorted whole branches of science that conflicted with their ideologies; not long ago no thinking person imagined it could happen here. But it is happening. On a massive scale. From the highest levels of government to the littlest rural school. Power-savvy factions are spreading an easy-to-digest but ultimately fatal ignorance. Poorly educated, well-intentioned, fearful people, craving order in a chaotic world, are eating it up. They're no more or less stupid than the well-informed, but they haven't the resources for research and they've no body of knowledge by which to weigh what they're told. The poorly skilled and scantily educated have nothing to judge information by except whether it satisfies their emotions. If it makes them less afraid, it must be right.
Sam Adams, like many of our founders, believed democracy would flourish "as long as education was extended to the masses." An ignorant people cannot remain a free people.
keep fighting the good fight, with your minds as weapons!!
...............................kosmicdebris.....................................................................
Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable..JFK
Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association. April, 27 1961. John F Kennedy. "The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control…."(we all know what happened the day the music died November 22, 1963……bye, bye American pie.
While we Americans enjoy our self indulgent lifestyles, oblivious to the consequences, the rest of the world is telling us we are going to get what we deserve. All my life I have been a optimist and refused to entertain the thought that our government could be working against our best interests. I set out to prove the dissenters wrong, that America is great and the gloom and doom people were just misinformed(lying). After
These comments were gleaned from different sites around the country and the world.
The People speak….
…….Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and then Iran? I reckon there is a limit to what the huge, decent majority of the world's Muslims will take. A strike like this wouldn't guarantee oil supplies, but it would assure eternal Muslim hatred of the west. Cruel, unnecessary and a damned stupid idea.
…….Maybe there will be an outside chance that when an order to war is issued it will be ignored. On the other hand maybe we need to get the war started so that the next civilization can start over. It would seem that we are a failed species and are incapable of making the proper connections to live within our environmental limits.
……….Of course they will attack Iran. They will also ignore Museums and head right to the oil fields to protect goo as they did in Iraq.
Incidents such as the flying of LIVE nuclear weapons over the US are staged to get us used to the idea that these weapons may be used. Can't wait for the fallout. Its obvious that the end of easily obtained Oil is coming. Bush will have to move to an island to be safe after his pres-dent-cy is over, if ever. He and the heartless one truly are Devils.
…….I am nearly overwhelmed by feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. No one outside of the neocons and Christian millenialists want a war with Iran, yet no one with any power seems capable or even interested in preventing it. I have yet to hear a Democrat stand up in Congress to demand that the President obtain Congressional approval before starting such a war, nor have I heard any threats of impeachment if he proceeds without it.
…….Anyone who thinks that the United States is still a democracy needs to be shaken vigorously until he comes to his senses.
…….Hey, here is a chilling thought: what if Bush declares martial law in the middle of his next self-manufactured crisis and suspends the constitution? Voila, it's not longer an election year and he can have all the power he wants. Can't happen here you say … that is exactly why it CAN happen here; too many people are complacent with this power grabbing, lying, duplicious administration. We get the government we deserve if we are not willing to stand up and do something before it's too late. Don't count on those spineless democrats. The window for political solutions in this nation is rapidly closing, leave us with only a revolutionary one. God help us all.
……It appears to me that the elite of both parties running the US Government apparently have decided that the American people will refuse to tolerate the inevitable decline in our quality of life and national power as the oil starts to run out. They are certain that it will cost them their power and wealth, so they want to defend that with all of their power.
Of course, many of us already understand the implications of Peak Oil and want to start working on preparing for the post-petroleum world now. That is not in the elite's interest, so they will fight it tooth and nail.
Therefore, they will continue to invade until the entire Middle East is either under US control or the whole thing blows up in their faces and into a shooting war: World War III. This, of course plays into the hands of the military-industrial complex, as well as the easily manipulated far Right Fundamentalists with their fears/hopes of Armageddon. Remember, their sick theology "predicts" this, so they will be cheering loudly as the blood gets deeper and deeper.
……I think that this situation may already be far outside the control of the American electorate, even if they knew what all of this really means.
As far as where the US would get the troops, it is already well-established that the US has been quietly arranging for a new draft for a few years now. A long bombing campaign gives them time to hurry a bunch of cannon fodder through basic training and into place. Remember, we have about 2 years of Dubya's administration left to go. That's ample time to do this if they start soon. Thus, no matter who is voted in after Dubya will face a fait accompli. The US will "own" 60% of the remaining oil in the world, and the US Dollar will be secured as the only currency for petroleum, thus securing its position and stability.
……The Democrats understand Peak Oil as well as the Republicans do, which is why they will make lots of noise but will be 'unable' to stop the current push towards war with Iran by the Republicans. They can 'blame' it all on the Republicans if they are elected, and if they lose there will BE no blame. Of course, many involved are in effect neck deep in what is essentially treason, but they think that they won't be caught or punished.
……..I believe Americans who oppose illegal, immoral and unethical actions, resulting in the murder of tens of thousands of innocent people, should start bringing this government to a halt. We should 1. refuse to pay taxes, 2. take to the streets in mass protest, 3. block access to US government buildings, especially those relating to war…how long are we going to tolerate this evil? The Democrats are worthless. We elected them IN January to end the war and they are more agreeable than the Republicans in handing Bush on a silver platter anything he wants.
1. The boundaries that we see on world maps marking the territories of countries are just what we see: lines on a piece of paper. Iranians are not confined to lines drawn by European powers decades ago. Iranians live not only in Iran but also, en masse, in all the countries in the region. Certain parts of Iran's neighbors even speak dialects of Farsi. So if the United States bombs Iran, since there is no way they have any intentions of invading, they would be declaring war on parts of every country surrounding Iran. This would mean that the United States would be at war with every country in the region since civil war would breakout in all the US installed puppet regimes. This could explain why the United States has created a new map of the middle east..
2. Not only are Iranians spread out in the region, they are also living, en masse, in the rest of the world. The Iranian Diaspora Population map shows that approximately 2.5 million live in the US alone, 700,000 in the Canada, 300,000 in the UK, and 2 million in India. If a war breakouts between the US and Iran then what transpired with the internment of Japanese Americans and Canadians during World War II will become a distant memory and a travesty that will be repeated. Unfortunately it appears that the United States is prepared for this scenario, since it has already built 800 FEMA prison camps which are fully operational and ready to receive prisoners.
3. Iran could stop exporting oil and/or "get tough and close down all oil-tanker traffic that comes within range of (its) missiles–which would mean little or no oil from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or the smaller Gulf states". This is a very likely scenario, but what exactly does this "global oil rationing, industrial shutdowns, and the end of the present economic era" mean? One way to fully understand the impact of such an event is to look at Africa. The population of Africa at the present is approximately 1 billion. According to a recent presentation at a United Nations conference, it is estimated that "nearly 75% of the continent could come to rely on some sort of food aid by 2025". If there is "global oil rationing" then it is safe to assume that feeding Africans would become a low priority operation for the rest of the world. This would mean that 750 million people could starve to death in Africa.
4. Just to put things into perspective, making sure that it is fully understood what the impact of an attack on Iran really means, consider this. The United States has already stated that they will use nuclear weapons in an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran. Since the creation of the atomic bomb, it has been accepted that once nuclear weapons are used again in any war, then they will continue to be used until there is no one left to kill. As the saying goes, you do not bring a knife to a gunfight, so once a nuclear weapon has been used on any country then that country and its people have a right to use unclear weapons in retaliation. Albert Einstein once said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones". I personally hope that we will not fulfill Einstein's prophecy.
WW3 Has Already Started or: 18 Ways To Stop The Bomb
It was reported that on January 7 2007, an Israeli attack squadron comprising of three IAF F-16s, each carrying "conventional munitions—as well as a single 20-kiloton nuclear bomb" on a bombing raid to Iran were turned back by "U.S. planes under threat of missile interception."
On August 27 2007, MIT Institute Professor Noam Chomsky, a world renowned American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer, published an essay on ZNet entitled: Cold War II. In this article, Chomsky concludes that Washington's intentions to install a "missile defense system" in Europe "ratchets the threat of war a few notches higher, in the Middle East and elsewhere, with incalculable consequences, and the potential for a terminal nuclear war. The immediate fear is that by accident or design, Washington's war planners or their Israeli surrogate might decide to escalate their Cold War II into a hot one – in this case a real hot war." To put it more simply, Chomsky is predicting Nuclear War. Terminal Nuclear War. The End Game.
Two articles this month, one by Project Censored award winning writer Dave Lindorff entitled "Was That Nuclear-Armed B-52 Flight Destined for Iran?", and the other by Dr. Michael Salla, an international politics scholar, entitled "Was a Covert Attempt to Bomb Iran with Nuclear Weapons foiled by a Military Leak?", are both reporting that the recent B-52 Incident in the United States was an attempt to start Nuclear War with Iran. For those unfamiliar with the story, "A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with six nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation."
Both, Dave Lindorff and Dr. Michael Salla, are reporting that Vice President Cheney was behind the incident. The same person who believes that "the US should not be pursuing a diplomatic path with Iran", but rather should "establish the policy and pathway to bombing Iran."
We have been lucky, according to Dr. Michael Salla, "the world has been spared a devastating nuclear war by courageous American airmen who revealed the true contents of an otherwise routine B-52 landing at Barksdale, AFB headed for a covert nuclear mission to the Middle East." However, this appears to be just the beginning.
The people in the United States administration are planning on attacking Iran, and they are doing everything in their power to do so. When Noam Chomsky, who is known for his ability to present an unbiased perspective by using the Scientific Method, is stating that we are close to a "Terminal Nuclear War", as in terminal cancer, we must take heed.
Why would the most distinguished linguists of all time and a world-renowned historian delve into the field of soothsaying, predicting a dismal radioactive future for us all? This seems to be absurd, until we fully grasp the implications of what the news reports linked above are stating.
We, as a world community, have come close to destroying ourselves. We are in trouble when Albert Einstein, one of the scientists "instrumental in facilitating" the development of the Atomic Bomb states: "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones", while the people in control of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world are stating that "all options on the table".
When every leading political figures in the United States is stating that "all options are on the table", then it is likely that nuclear weapons will be used when the United States bombs Iran "back to the stone age" as it threatened to do to a nuclear Pakistan.
Consider this: Technology is developing in such a way that it is becoming easier and simpler to create. From growing food, to making babies, to developing weapons: we are able to make them faster and better. In time, one society will always catch-up with its predecessor, especially in their
technological abilities. Hence those that have at the present must be wise enough to share what is needed with those that require, and cautious enough not to flaunt or misuse things that others desire.
For us to be able to prevent this nuclear Armageddon that the United States proposes we must be as diligent as those who propose it. If they are intend on using all options to contain Iran, then we must consider all options to contain them. The first step in resisting is to educate ourselves and those that follow us. War is no longer an option if humanity is to survive.
Below are some suggestions and resources to help in bringing about a positive change:
1. Spend time with who and what you love. Surrounding ourselves with love should help us to remember the beauty of life.
2. Learn to filter and recognize propaganda. It is corporations that profit from wars, not individuals. Always apply the filter: 'Ownership determines content.' "If we accept that it is desirable for individuals to practice moral agency as fully as possible, then we should seek to create a different kind of media system."
3. Your body, your voice, your mind, and your spirit are required at peace rallies for us to reach critical mass. Additional information at the following news sources: CODEPINK: Women for Peace, Raging Grannies, ANSWER Coalition, Stop War, United for Peace, Move On, Anti War, Common Dreams, bellaciao, PEJ News, OpEd News, Information Liberation , Project Censored , Information Clearing House , Global Research , Prison Planet , The Raw Story , Gush Shalom, and Truthout.
4. Stop watching corporate news on TV, they do not provide information, just propaganda. Frequent legitimate unbiased news sources such as: The Real News Network, Democracy Now!, International News Net, Sub Media TV, Free Speech TV, Link TV, and Alternative Radio: Audio Energy of Democracy.
5. Stop supporting corporate education and entertainment. Learn about your rights, how society functions, what we have done, and are doing to each other and the planet. Watch and learn from movies and documentaries such as: Earthlings, America: Freedom to Fascism, Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre, Chemtrail: Aerosol Crimes, The Oil Factor: Behind the War on Terror, The Future of Food , Liquid Crystal Vision, Marcus Garvey: Look for me in the Whirlwind, The Doomsday Code, Iraq For Sale, Plan Colombia, The Revolution will Not be Televised, Freedom Downtime: The Story of Kevin Mitnick, Zeitgeist, and Loose Change.
6. Learn about the financial institutions that have been established to profit from the ultimate consuming machine known as war. Watch and share: ZEITGEIST, The Movie: Part 3 of 3 (47:05), and the animated Money As Debt (47:07).
7. Stop supporting mass media that has been the voice of government and corporate propaganda and the driving force behind the recruitment, promotion, and continuation of the war agenda. Begin to acquire your news from actual people blogging and reporting on the true nature of life. News blogs such as: What Really Happened, Ya Ya Canada, Dahr Jamail's MidEast Dispatches, Desert Peace, Daily Kos, plus countless others available on the Internet.
8. Write, call, and personally contact your representatives in government, demanding that they begin to represent you and your family, not corporate money. Realize that most of our representatives have not even begun to grasp the "terminal" path that we are on.
9. Not only should you be consuming less and locally, but also producing locally. Corporations over the years have destroyed the infrastructure of local economies, but it is time for us to rebuild. Additional information at Post Carbon Institute, People and Planet , BALLE, 100 Mile diet and numerous other sources available on the Internet.
10. Reduce your dependency on oil by using public transportation and or alternative means of transportation. See Critical Mass for additional information.
11. Downsize your car and/or convert to hybrid transportation. The sooner you do this the better. This will not only save you money on fuel, it will also allow you to sell your large gas-guzzler before the rise in fuel prices reduces the value of your car to nothing. And you better hurry, because the waiting lists for hybrid cars are long and used models are selling for more then the new cars.
12. If you are working for an organization which is actively supporting war then try to find a different occupation which does not require of you to promote the destruction of humanity.
13. Begin to invest in yourself instead of Stock markets who launder money while profiting from war.
14. Begin to work with nature and not against it by learning about natural resources available in your area. Additional information at: World Changing, Planet Friendly network, and NI Business Info.
15. Make healthy eating choices. Studies have found that most bankruptcies are due to medical bills, and since the passing of the Bankruptcy Bill you will no longer be cleared of your debts if you declare bankruptcy in the US, which means that you will become a slave to the banking institutions. This will take away your freedom and force you to abide by their agendas, the main agenda of which is war.
16. Support artists against the war and boycott those that support the war. There are many who have officially spoken out against the war and are proactive in their attempts to bring us peace. Google your favorites see where they stand….morals or money?
17. Participate in civil disobedience. Peace organizers are now advocating "people in the antiwar movement to move from protesting to performing acts of civil disobedience that 'get in the way of the war machine.'"
18. Understand that we are one people occupying one planet, and that we are and will be held accountable for the actions of our governments. Learn about our history by reading books such as: Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace, A People's History of the United States, Hegemony or Survival, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, Mass Psychology of Fascism [PDF] , Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope, The Shock Doctrine, Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, and War Is a Racket written by America's most decorated general US Marine Corp Major General Smedley Butler. (I have tried to make sure the links listed work, the dancing frog phenomena may apply and prevent some from working so Google the subject being careful to screen the source. I encourage everyone not to take my work or word go look for yourself…… independently.)
In short, we must face problems which do not lend themselves to easy or quick or permanent solutions. And we must face the fact that the United States is neither omnipotent nor omniscient, that we are only six percent of the world's population, that we cannot impose our will upon the other ninety-four percent of mankind, that we cannot right every wrong or reverse each adversity, and that therefore there cannot be an American solution to every world problem. JFK…Speech at the University of Washington, Seattle, 16 November 1961.
………………………Kosmicdebris/choycho
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