Thursday, December 30, 2010

Former Congressman Paul Findley on Push for Iran War

Former Congressman Paul Findley on Push for Iran War

Begins with ...

"Recently, Senator Lindsey Graham said America should take “bold action” to “deal with Iran.” Graham asserted that if President Obama “decides to be tough with Iran beyond sanctions, I think he is going to feel a lot of Republican support … Containment [of Iran] is off the table.”

At the same time, Senator Joe Lieberman claimed that “there is a base, a broad bipartisan base of support [for military action against Iran] if the Commander in Chief comes to a point where he thinks that’s necessary.”

This saber-rattling foreign policy talk is fueling the push for a military confrontation with Iran. And make no mistake about it, the Israel Lobby is manipulating U.S. opinion makers, government leaders, and the American public into believing that a military face-off with Iran is the U.S. national interest, and indeed necessary.

This war talk is reverberating despite the disastrous results of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, which was another agenda item of the Israel lobby.

...

War has always been a part of the Israel lobby’s strategy. Whether its own excursions into Lebanon or military actions by proxy—Iraq, Afghanistan, and perhaps now even Iran—the destabilization of the Middle East always seems to benefit Tel Aviv."


Bill

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The economy

111th Congress Added More Debt Than First 100 Congresses Combined: $10,429 Per Person in U.S.

"The federal government has accumulated more new debt--$3.22 trillion ($3,220,103,625,307.29)—during the tenure of the 111th Congress than it did during the first 100 Congresses combined.

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The total national debt of $13,858,529,371,601.09 (or $13.859 trillion), as recorded by the U.S. Treasury at the close of business on Dec. 22, now equals $44,886.57 for every man, woman and child in the United States.
"

Ex-Shell president sees $5 gas in 2012

2011 by Paul Craig Roberts

"The year 2011 will bring Americans a larger and more intrusive police state, more unemployment and home foreclosures, no economic recovery, more disregard by the U.S. government of U.S. law, international law, the Constitution, and truth, more suspicion and distrust from allies, more hostility from the rest of the world, and new heights of media sycophancy.

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The lawlessness of the U.S. government, which has been creeping up on us for decades, broke into a full gallop in the years of the Bush/Cheney/Obama regimes.

"


Bill

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Helping the Wounded

Helping the Wounded: Vets Deal With Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Homelessness, Homicide, Suicide, Brain Injuries, and PTSD
By Laurie Leitch and Elaine Miller-Karas

"Thousands and thousands of young men and women have been profoundly wounded—physically, emotionally, and spiritually."

About 2.1 million troops have served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan or Operation Iraqi Freedom. Assuming that each returning veteran has five or more close family members (spouse or significant other, mother, father, two siblings), these wars directly affect at least 10 million people. If we include children, other relatives, coworkers, and friends, the number of Americans affected could be 40 million or more.

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A report developed by the RAND Corporation in 2008 estimated that 300,000 veterans suffer from significant PTSD, anxiety, or major depressive symptoms; an additional 320,000 may have experienced a traumatic brain injury.

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Unfortunately, the mental health system responsible for serving these men and women is already stretched to the breaking point, even as many thousands are returning to civilian life or are between multiple deployments."



This report goes on and on in an effort to explain the depth and breadth of this problem.


Bill

4 Scenarios for the Coming Collapse of the American Empire

4 Scenarios for the Coming Collapse of the American Empire By Alfred W. McCoy

"The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines.

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Future historians are likely to identify the Bush administration’s rash invasion of Iraq in that year as the start of America's downfall

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Viewed historically, the question is not whether the United States will lose its unchallenged global power, but just how precipitous and wrenching the decline will be.

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If America's decline is in fact on a 22-year trajectory from 2003 to 2025, then we have already frittered away most of the first decade of that decline with wars that distracted us from long-term problems and, like water tossed onto desert sands, wasted trillions of desperately needed dollars.'

Sure, these apocalyptic scenarios may well be shunted by yet another variation on the theme, but one thing that's been very clear to people who have spent time studying and thinking about the problem: America is headed for disaster. In 2003 this statement has highly inflammatory and burned many relationships. Today it's a far different story, and in a mere matter of time will be still another story - none of it good.

You may recall the Project for a New American Century (PNAC), the (Zionist heavy; study the signatures) Neocon manifesto that describes the stinking philosophy that drove America's invasion of the Middle East.

To borrow a question from a Neocon zombie: "How's that working out for you?"


Bill

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Need a reminder that we're at war?

We read the papers and watch the "news" and barely know there is a war going on, and then this comes out.











See this website for details

Bill

Friday, December 3, 2010

Mass media's war on Christianity, scorecard published

Only Half of Americans Rate Clergy as Ethical By Daniel Burke
"Slightly more than half of Americans (53 percent) rate the moral values of priests, ministers and other clerics as "very high" or "high."

That percentage is a slight bump from 2009, when only 50 percent of Americans said men and women of the cloth are ethical paragons, the lowest number in Gallup's 32 years of measuring professional reputations.

Before the Roman Catholic clergy sexual abuse scandal erupted in 2002, two-thirds of Americans had regularly approved of ministers' morals, according to Gallup."


Bill

Wikileaks

What the Wiki-Saga Teaches Us By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

"Just as american politicians want Bradley Manning executed because he revealed crimes of the US government, they want Julian Assange executed. In the past few days the more notorious of the dumbshits that sit in the US Congress have denounced Assange as a “traitor to america.” What total ignorance. Assange is an Australian, not an american citizen. To be a traitor to america, one has to be of the nationality. An Australilian cannot be a traitor to america any more than an american can be a traitor to Australia. But don’t expect the morons who represent the lobbyists to know this much. "



The Proper Response to WikiLeaks
by Karen Kwiatkowski

"On a more serious note, beyond the debate on whether to assassinate Assange, blow up the Internet, conduct an unwarranted attack on an NPT signatory that is following the rules, or to continue to ally ourselves with the crazies in Pakistan and Israel, it is important to recognize that fascism of one kind or another is currently embraced by a majority in Congress, and by a large minority across the country. An alert and informed citizenry, valued by presidents from Washington to Eisenhower, is now deemed by D.C. to be a nascent domestic terrorism threat. As the American wholesale subsidy of banks, bullets and butter metastasizes, devouring freedom and wrecking the system, the desperation of the ruling class and those in its employ is palpable. Americans ought to gratefully smile as we review these latest Wikileaks, and we should savor the hilarity. Seeing our government as theatrical stooge, as incompetent popinjay, as naked and embarrassed Emperor, sets the stage well for what comes next."

Noam Chomsky: WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Profound Hatred for Democracy on the Part of Our Political Leadership" By Noam Chomsky and Amy Goodman

"The Brookings Institute just a few months ago released extensive polls of what Arabs think about Iran. The results are rather striking. They show the Arab opinion holds that the major threat in the region is Israel -- that’s 80. The second major threat is the United States -- that’s 77. Iran is listed as a threat by 10%.

With regard to nuclear weapons, rather remarkably, a majority -- in fact, 57 – say that the region would have a positive effect in the region if Iran had nuclear weapons. Now, these are not small numbers. 80, 77, say the U.S. and Israel are the major threat. 10 say Iran is the major threat. This may not be reported in the newspapers here -- it is in England -- but it’s certainly familiar to the Israeli and U.S. governments, and to the ambassadors. But there is not a word about it anywhere. What that reveals is the profound hatred for democracy on the part of our political leadership and the Israeli political leadership. These things aren’t even to be mentioned. This seeps its way all through the diplomatic service. The cables to not have any indication of that.

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AMY GOODMAN: Noam, I wanted ask if you were President Obama’s top adviser, what would you tell him to do right now?

NOAM CHOMSKY: I would tell him to do what FDR did when big business was opposed to him. Help organize, stimulate public opposition and put through a serious populist program, which can be done. Stimulate the economy. Don’t give away everything to financiers. Push through real health reform. The health reform that was pushed through may be a slight improvement but it leaves some major problems untouched. If you’re worried about the deficit, pay attention to the fact that it is almost all attributable to military spending and this totally dysfunctional health program."

The Arrest of Julian Assange By CHRIS FLOYD

Truth in Chains

"Well, they got him at last. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the target of several of the world’s most powerful governments, turned himself into British authorities today and is now at the mercy of state authorities who have already shown their wolfish – and lawless – desire to destroy him and his organization. "

This is an extremely thoughtful and powerful article that is well worth your time to review.

From Jefferson to Assange By Robert Scheer

"That is the issue here, pure and simple. It is unconscionable to target Assange for publishing documents on the Internet that mainstream media outlets have attested had legitimate news value. As in the historic case in which Daniel Ellsberg gave The New York Times the Pentagon Papers exposé of the official lies justifying the Vietnam War, Assange is acting as the reporter here, and thus his activities must be shielded by the First Amendment’s guarantee of journalistic freedom"


Bill