Tuesday, June 29, 2010

War champions on the job

After McChrystal: What Now? by Jim Lobe

"Led by Sen. John McCain and many of the same neoconservatives who championed the war in Iraq, hawks are calling on President Barack Obama to abandon his July 2011 timetable for beginning to withdraw U.S. combat troops in favor of an open-ended military commitment to achieve “victory” over the Taliban and al-Qaeda."

Bill

Friday, June 25, 2010

5 Basic Reasons the US Doesn't Need to Be in Afghanistan

After the McChrystal Affair, Let's Talk About the 5 Basic Reasons the US Doesn't Need to Be in Afghanistan By Malou Innocent

This article - and others on this subject - point to the foolishness of the Afghanistan invasion and occupation.

At this point, only a fool would think we're winning anything over there.

What none of these articles dare to say, however, is despite all of the compelling reasons we shouldn't be there, why we are there.

The people behind the scenes who pull the strings of our military invasion of the Middle East - the Zionists embedded in Washington, Wall Street and - foremost - our information supply - are using Afghanistan as a parking lot for our troops until they either get or can fabricate a reason for the next phase of their war.

The one thing - the only thing - they wouldn't tolerate is the withdrawal of our troops from the Middle East, because it would leave their beloved Israel surrounded by enemies intent on it's destruction. True or not, it's what they believe. Have you ever heard the term "self-fulling prophecy"? It's where something is predicted, and the act of predicting it helps to make it happen.

Personally, I gave up on Israel a long time ago. I've called it a failure and I believe it's a major albatross around America's neck. My sympathies are far greater for the Palestinians, and I think nowadays many Americans finally see it this way too, despite the propaganda machine's mastery of the psychology of persuasion (and the polls that measure it's success - comprende?).

We're not going to see the changes we desperately need until we change the basis of our information supply (to the Internet, obviously), and remove from the election process. These are giant tasks - but they will decide our fate.

I want to make one thought clear: I'm not against the Jewish people, it's Zionism that's killing us, literally.


Bill

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

McChrystal

I think McChrystal schemed to get fired.

Why would he want it? I think it's because he sees his position as untenable, and that no matter what he does, it's downhill from here. He knows full well the lessons of history, even though too many Americans obviously don't.

He's washing his hands of it now, before it and his reputation start to tank.

He knows that being fired by Obama while still being respected by the public is a badge of honor that will be exploited by the Neocon-connected circuit, with speaking fees through the moon. With him, the propagandists get an ongoing series of fresh McChrystal stories to put in people's faces. And they just love splashing Irish names and faces on the military image.

Yup, going the circuit route will be a major win-win for both McChrystal and the Neocon gang, so long as he doesn't cross them. He may even hate this war, and he may well see it as unwinnable, but he's still a military man at heart, so if that's all he's called upon to be, I'm sure he'll be on Fox, MSNBC, CNN and the other propaganda channels telling us about some real exciting shit. Can you hear him now, yelling about how we should have done this or that to win the war?

But will he talk about the Big Picture, the invasion of the Middle East? Nope. That's not part of the deal. If he did that, he would be him crossing them. But we can expect some real tough talk on everything else. Real titillating stuff that keeps most people glued to the channel.

And Obama? The Neocon gang has little use for him, but so long as he stays the course and leaves their people in place and running things, it looks like they'll keep him on. But if he slips up by turning against them, by, for example, deciding to pull the military out of the Middle East altogether, then they'll pull out some of the Big Guns they're sitting on and fry him alive. Maybe they've got nothing on him, but I doubt it - he is, after all, still human. And we all make mistakes. What we don't realize - yet - is just how powerful computers, databases and networks really are. If we had the same access the Neocon gang has, we'd also be able to get that information. It's all there, in the "computer", for those with the correct access codes.

Obama is not a fool, but he thinks of himself as a realist, and he's bought lock, stock and barrel into the arguments that support that point of view.

But America was created by idealists, not realists. The realists wanted to stay with the King. The Bill of Rights wasn't crafted for the government's benefit, it was to limit their power.

Well, the Neocon gang sure found some clever ways around that (war on terrorism, war on drugs, invasion of Middle East, legislation that setup the Wall Street heist), didn't they?

Right now the propaganda machine has gotten people riveted on details and tactics, such as the McChrystal story - which other then something to talk about has no affect on us personally at all - it's just a propagandists tool, to puff something so much that people talk about it.

And we - we continue to send our family, friends and neighbors to go and happily kill, die, maim and destroy for the cause.

Stop and think! Really think about it. What are we really doing over there?

I'll tell you what we're doing: we're serving the Neocon gang's agenda, and their propaganda machine has way too many people hypnotized. Can you hear Goebbels chuckling from his grave?



Bill

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"Afghanistan is not in our vital interest – there's nothing for us there."



Some quotes below from The Runaway General By Michael Hastings in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

The quotes are below, and there are more to be found in Huffington Post articles, such as this one

The most interesting part of all this is that it's a discussion of tactics, but whenever the matter of strategy comes up, nobody seems to know - while all the time it's very obvious: our military is in Afghanistan precisely because the people who really pull the strings - the Neocon gang and their handlers in AIPAC and Tel Aviv, the people who brought us the military invasion of the Middle East in the first place, will not permit our troops to come home, because when they are pulled out, they wouldn't go back - and that will leave our "friend" Israel without the military muscle it needs to establish authority in the region. So our troops are parked in Afghanistan until the Next Big War, which is waiting to be sparked by the gang. That is, NOBODY thinks Afghanistan is a war that can be won (as this article points out several times), yet NOBODY is looking at the big picture of why we're really there in the first place.

""Afghanistan is not in our vital interest – there's nothing for us there." says Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer who has extensive experience in the region.

...

"They are trying to manipulate perceptions because there is no definition of victory – because victory is not even defined or recognizable," says Celeste Ward

...

After nine years of war, the Taliban simply remains too strongly entrenched for the U.S. military to openly attack. The very people that COIN seeks to win over – the Afghan people – do not want us there. Our supposed ally, President Karzai, used his influence to delay the offensive, and the massive influx of aid championed by McChrystal is likely only to make things worse. "Throwing money at the problem exacerbates the problem," says Andrew Wilder, an expert at Tufts University who has studied the effect of aid in southern Afghanistan. "A tsunami of cash fuels corruption, delegitimizes the government and creates an environment where we're picking winners and losers" – a process that fuels resentment and hostility among the civilian population. So far, counterinsurgency has succeeded only in creating a never-ending demand for the primary product supplied by the military: perpetual war. There is a reason that President Obama studiously avoids using the word "victory" when he talks about Afghanistan. Winning, it would seem, is not really possible. Not even with Stanley McChrystal in charge. "


Bill

Sunday, June 20, 2010

So sick of bad news!




I follow the news, like many people, because we live in extremely difficult times, and knowledge sharing is all we have to try and repair our seriously, if not mortally, wounded country.

Once again, today I observe that most of the big stories are bad news stories. We've got at least a half million people at war in at least two foreign countries, neither of which we can win in any meaningful sense of the word. We and our children and their children are under a mountain of debt caused by some very crooked people, so many of our good jobs have moved overseas, government authority over our lives has vastly increased as our civil liberties are significantly decreasing. People who can't even spell the word privacy will soon learn the full meaning of the word.

The list goes on. Here's a particularly well written report published today on Alternet Are We Going Down Like the Soviets? By Tom Engelhardt

It all so sickening.

What SHOULD we be reading about?

Where's the project to take the money out of politics?
Where's the amendment protecting our privacy?
Why haven't the people who lied to us to launch the invasion of Iraq been put on trial for war crimes?
Why haven't the people who robbed our tax money on trial for theft?
Where are the good jobs for Americans programs?
Where's the leadership for creating world class alternative energy sources?
Why aren't we using our computers and nurses for the majority of our health care needs?
Why isn't the body of American case law online for all to share?
Why can't we explore government spending of our tax money to the detail level?

Where are these and many other significant projects that people can imagine, designed to make the quality of our lives and the world around us better? Why is it the while the list of projects we should be doing are at a standstill, while the list of what we shouldn't be doing continues to grow?

I've been around 62 years, and since my childhood I have seen incredible advances in machines and technology. Since I've earned my living programming computers for the past 40 years, I'll claim enough insight to sit here and yell very loudly over what I see.

I became involved with computers because I realized their potential to change our lives for the better. But seeing what actually happened, and is happening at an alarming rate, is changing our lives alright, but not for the better at all. Instead they are being used to control us in ways that far too many people don't even realize is possible.

I see manufacturing plants run by robots, desktop computers more powerful then early mainframes, instant information, astonishing advances in all the sciences, and so on. But look at what happened, think about what could be happening, and not only feel the angst, but do something. Talk with your family and friends. Write blogs and articles, or responses. But don't just sit there and do nothing!


Bill

American Military Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan Now Exceed 500,000



American Military Casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan Now Exceed 500,000 by Matthew Nasuti

The title speaks for itself, as does the supporting data in the article.

Personal comment: I've lived with a hearing impairment from the Vietnam war. People just don't realize how loud explosions really are. Put it this way: if movie theaters duplicated the sound of real explosions, nobody would go to the movies (of course the same is true of sights and smells, but this is about hearing).


Bill

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Retirements: the party line versus the truth




The NY Times, using the typical clever wording we've become so accustomed to, has a front page story today entitled: "In Budget Crisis, States Take Aim at Pension Costs" By Mary Williams Walsh

The story lead says "Many states, acknowledging that they have promised pensions they cannot afford, are reining in benefits — even for people yet to be hired."

If you read the story, it goes on and on about cuts states are making and the hard times ahead. The gist is that *we* have a big problem because states can't afford our retirements.

Nowhere, as we've come to expect from one of the propaganda machine's largest speakers, the so-called "paper of record" is any mention of the fact that the people we trusted with our retirements found a way to squander our money for their wars and the Wall Street heist.


Bill

Friday, June 18, 2010

Turkey and the Neocons Posted




Turkey and the Neocons By Stephen M. Walt

"First, if this doesn't convince you that virtually all neoconservatives are deeply Israeli-centric, then nothing will. This affinity is hardly a secret; indeed, neocon pundit Max Boot once declared that support for Israel was a "key tenet" of neoconservatism. But the extent of their attachment to Israel is sometimes disguised by the claim that what they really care about is freedom and democracy, and therefore they support Israel simply because it is "the only democracy in the Middle East."

...

I hold the opposite view. I believe that the "special relationship" has become harmful to both countries, and that a more normal relationship would be better for both. Right now, the special relationship hurts the United States by fueling anti-Americanism throughout the region and making us look deeply hypocritical in the eyes of billions -- yes, billions -- of people. It also distorts our policy on a host of issues, such as non-proliferation, and makes it extremely difficult to use our influence to advance the cause of Middle East peace. President Obama's failures on this front -- despite his repeated pledges to do better--make this all-too-obvious. At the same time, this unusual relationship harms Israel by underwriting policies that have increased its isolation and that threaten its long-term future. It also makes it nearly impossible for U.S. leaders to voice even the mildest of criticisms when Israel acts foolishly, because to do so casts doubts about the merits of the special relationship and risks incurring the wrath of the various groups that exist to defend it. "



Bill

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Wikileak Case Echoes Pentagon Papers


Wikileak Case Echoes Pentagon Papers By Coleen Rowley and Robert Parry

"Though there are historic parallels between the actions of Manning today and those of Ellsberg in 1971, a major difference is the attitude of the mainstream U.S. news media, which then fought to publish Ellsberg’s secret history but now is behaving more like what former CIA analyst Ray McGovern calls the “fawning corporate media” or FCM.

In the Ellsberg case, the first Pentagon Papers article was published by the New York Times – and when President Richard Nixon blocked the Times from printing other stories – the Washington Post and 17 other newspapers picked up the torch and kept publishing articles based on Ellsberg’s material until Nixon’s obstruction was made meaningless, and ultimately was repudiated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Today, the major response of the Times, Post and other tribunes of the FCM has been to write articles disparaging Manning, while treating Lamo as something of a patriotic hero."

It doesn't take a heckova lot of study and thought to see how completely different the "news" handled Ellsberg then verus Manning today.

Where's the fault? What's the problem?

Think back to the drum up for the war, and who led the charge.


Bill

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Zachary Karabell on ‘Capitalism and the Jews’




Zachary Karabell on ‘Capitalism and the Jews’ by By Zachary Karabell

"Muller’s recent book is neither a polemic nor a setup for a bad lounge joke but is instead a compelling, sober essay about an elephant that has been sitting in the middle of Western history for the past two centuries at least: Jews have been inextricably woven into the history and evolution of capitalism.

...

Muller’s essays are compelling primarily as a work of history, a look at the links between the formative ideas of the modern world and the role of a small but disproportionately important minority in determining that trajectory."


Bill

Thursday, June 10, 2010

I love Helen Thomas!





As Israel Kills and Maims, Outrage is Directed at Helen Thomas by Alison Weir

"Whenever Israel commits yet another atrocity, its defenders are quick to redirect public attention away from the grisly crime scene.

..

One more obstacle to the Zionist juggernaut has just been removed."

Blacklisting Helen Thomas By Jonathan Cook

"In spite of an apology, the 89-year-old has been summarily retired by the Hearst newspaper group, dropped by her agent, spurned by the White House, and denounced by long-time friends and colleagues.

...

But the reaction to her latest remarks suggest that, if there is one topic in American public life on which the boundaries of what can and cannot be said are still tightly policed, it is Israel."

On the Vilification of Helen Thomas By Robert Scheer

"The media tirade against Helen Thomas is as illogical as it is hysterical. The few sentences uttered by her were, as she quickly acknowledged, wrong—deeply so, I would add. But they cannot justify the road-rage destruction of the dean of the Washington press corps. Suddenly this heroic woman who broke so many gender barriers and dared to challenge presidential arrogance was reduced to nothing more than the stereotypical anti-Israel Arab that it is so fashionable to hate."

Also see:

Helen Thomas: an Appreciation By Paul Craig Roberts

The Scourging of Helen Thomas By Ralph Nader

Helen Thomas' Watergate Scoop By Fred Gardner

Going After the Wrong People By Dave Lindorff

The Re-Education of Helen Thomas By Christopher Ketcham

Helen Thomas' Watergate Scoop By Fred Gardner

The list goes on and on, except of course if you look in the mainstream "news".


Bill

Comments in Chinese



From time to time (e.g. just now) I'm getting comments submitted that are written in what looks like Chinese. I routinely reject these submissions because I have no idea what they are saying, and for all I know could be some sort of attack.

Logically, if the reader is in fact commenting on a post, then he or she must have been able to read the post in the first place, which implies knowledge of the English language, so I do consider it reasonable to expect comments be written in English as well.

Nothing against Chinese or any other language - I wish I could learn them all.

Bill

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Trustworthy news websites




Here's a list of news oriented websites that I've grown to trust, alphabetically:

antiwar
alternet
commondreams
counterpunch
salon
truthdig

A common feature of these websites is that they aren't afraid of the Neocons. Extremely refreshing when compared to the propaganda machine's Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, The NY Times and virtually all of the mainstream players in America, and Hollywood.


Bill

U.S. debt




June 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.

"The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.

...

The U.S. debt has grown rapidly with the economic downturn and government spending for the Wall Street bailout, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the economic stimulus."

It boggles my mind that we Americans are behaving like sheep being shuttled to the economic slaughterhouse.

Is this not the definitive primrose path, covered with roses named patriotism and thorns named terrorism, and so on? After all these years it's veneer has worn thing and can be seen through by anyone who wishes to see it for the ugliness it really is, littered with the carnage of so many good people, our own and our so-called enemies, so many of whom had no clue we were going to kill them.

But their survivors sure know, now!

Does anyone really believe that we're killing only the bad guys? Does anyone really think our sons and daughters like killing? Does anyone a clue about how much hatred all of that killing has sown for us?

How many of we Americans know that we've been massively duped?

If you do understand, then you really should do something to wake people up. Anything will help. Talk with your family, your friends and anyone who will listen.

We need to start at the center of the problem, with the Neocon gang. If you are not aware of this gang, which is entirely possible if you've only been subject to the mainstream media, then please see this 9 minute video. If this whets your appetite for more information, I suggest googling "neocon video" because videos are much easier to digest, and there are some really good ones out there.

Their crimes are many, but at the top of the list are the most outrageous: hideously destroying our economy for their economic gain, and committing America to an eternal war that we cannot win.

The debt burden is staggering, but it has not hit with force yet. As with volcanoes and credit explosions, first there's the silent build-up, then comes the moment of truth, and then wham! The party is over, for the losers that is, which just happens to be most of us. Then, when our money is gone, we can all wish it back, but ask people in other civilizations who have taken a fall before us how that worked out for them.

And the Neocons and their rich friends, the most perverse situation of all: they win, no matter how badly we lose. With vast resources at their disposal, they'll weather any storm they create.

The magnitude of what this gang has done to us is yet to be understood - because it's not over. We're already at war in the Middle East longer then Vietnam, but it may as well be day 1, because in case you haven't noticed, we're not winning. But the commitment is complete and we're in it for the long haul.

Do you think they will eventually give up, and then we'll leave, as we from Vietnam? No, not this time. But to really, really understand this, you have to appreciate the motivation behind the military invasion of the Middle East in the first place. It was to establish military authority in the region, which suited this gang's stated interests perfectly. This IS their definition of winning the war: ongoing authority via ongoing military supremacy in the region.

There was no exit strategy for Iraq because there wasn't going to be an exit. Iraq was to serve as a springboard to defeat any other county that resisted authority. There was no plan B then, and there is no such plan today. "We" (America's military and tax money and reputation) are in it for the long haul, as in "they bet our farms".

If you don't accept this rationale, consider the implications of an American military pullout from the Middle East on Israel. We know from history - and even common sense - that once we pull out, we don't go back. That would leave Israel surrounds by enemies (now including, it seems, their friend Turkey). Given what they've pulled off so far, do yo think they would allow this to happen? Nope. Do they have the power in American media and politics to pull it off? They got this far without breaking a sweat.

If you've been informed by alternate news providers, and not just the Neocon propaganda machine, then you'll know that we're less close to winning today then ever before, mostly because the definition of winning is not being discussed (that' one of the things we don't talk about).

What matters to the Neocon gang is that the mission continue, and if you're paying attention, you'll see this is exactly what's happening. People elected Obama on a platform of a new leadership attitude. It didn't happen.Why? Because he never had the power to really change things in the first place. Meanwhile our kids keep killing and dying, and our economy is being sucked dry into chosen industries and a Mt Everest of debt.


Bill

Saturday, June 5, 2010

A Tea Party to Nowhere


A Tea Party to Nowhere By Philip Giraldi

If you're not clear on what the so-called "tea party" is all about, read this article.

Pariah Nation By Alexander Cockburn

"As the tv networks here give unlimited airtime to its apologists, the message rolls out that Israel is permitted every illegal act in the lexicon of international law, from acts of violence against a civilian population (the people of Gaza, starved under permanent blockade) to piracy on the high seas and the lethal attacks by Israeli commandos on the relief flotilla. The guiding purpose in this tsunami of drivel is that the viewers should be brainwashed into thinking Israel somehow has the right and the duty to act at will as the mad-dog of the planet."


Bill

Friday, June 4, 2010

Did a North Korean Torpedo Really Sink That South Korean Submarine?


Did a North Korean Torpedo Really Sink That South Korean Submarine? by Yoichi Shimatsu

I have zero trust and confidence in the mainstream media, but even I was taken in by the story that North Korea sank this ship.

On the subject of Big Lies, read this story

And Glenn Greenwald's How Israeli propaganda shaped U.S. media coverage of the flotilla attack . I don't normally watch mainstream "news" because I've learned to loathe it so, but yesterday I did take a look at MSNBC to see what "big issues" they are talking about, and it's all about the oil spill, and I didn't hear a word about the attack on the flotilla, as I've come to expect. It just stuns me that the "news" is so incredibly controlled.


Bill

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

An excellent and compelling college commencement address ...


An excellent and most compelling college commencement address - that never saw the light of day on a college campus - fortunately is available on the Internet.

The speech is "Living in the 51st State (of Denial)" by Tom Engelhardt

If you care at all about America, you really, really should read this speech. Tom captures the moment as few writers can.

He concludes that we must act. Each of us must do *something*. I'm trying, by reading and reporting some of the better articles I come across.

In my spare time I've been building a design for an Internet based election process that I'd like to actually create a prototype of at some point. It's just so completely obvious to me that the way to gut Washington is to vote them all out of office, and elect people WE actually select from the grass roots up, based on an agenda we also decide.

I have a conceptual Internet based system that will make this possible. Moreover, I fully expect, and very much want, competition. Let the best program win! I don't give a hoot if it's mine or someone else's, just that the job be done.

Just as Tom's speech wasn't delivered in a single university, I don't think a single university is working on a competitor for this concept. Now if I'm wrong, and there are all kinds of development going on in this area, wonderful! But if nothing is being done, now is the time to do it. My own work on this effort will proceed, but slowly because I've got numerous obligations (as do we all!), but I've been thinking about it for years, and being well thought-out is the most important part anyway.



Bill

Does Killing Terrorists Actually Prevent Terrorism?


From Newsweek: Does Killing Terrorists Actually Prevent Terrorism?

"More than eight years after the U.S. successfully invaded Afghanistan, and six months to the day after President Obama announced a troop surge to pacify the country, it doesn’t appear that selectively killing militants eliminates, or even necessarily reduces, the number of people seeking to do us harm. And that should come as no surprise. The logical fallacy underlying the Global War on Terror bears a striking resemblance to the misbegotten logic of the Iraq invasion: neither nuclear proliferation nor terrorism can be eradicated militarily. Sure, invading Iraq stopped Saddam Hussein from acquiring weapons of mass destruction, but it did not stop Iran and North Korea from pursuing them. The premise that, in former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton’s words, other rogue states would “draw the appropriate lesson” from Iraq’s fate and duly withdraw from pursuing weapons of mass destruction and threatening their neighbors has been disproved. If anything, the opposite has come to pass, as demonstrated by North Korea’s recent sinking of a South Korean vessel and Monday’s announcement that international nuclear inspectors found Iran has a stockpile of nuclear fuel sufficient to make two nuclear weapons. No matter how strong our military is, we cannot invade every hostile country that might seek nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, and suggesting that we pick off some just encourages the others to protect themselves by acquiring them."

Bill