Saturday, December 1, 2012

Our Collapsing Economy and Currency

Our Collapsing Economy and Currency by Paul Craig Roberts


This article should be read, studied, thought about and acted on.

It ends with:

"No one in the White House and no more than one dozen members of the 535 member US Congress represents the American people. This is the reason that despite obvious remedies nothing can be done. America is going to crash big time.

And the rest of the world will be thankful. America along with Israel is the world’s most hated country. Don’t expect any foreign bailouts of the failed “superpower.”"


If you get to the end of this article, you will have read the part where Mr Roberts
offers a 2 part solution.

"The solution is to reverse the outward flow of jobs and to bring them back to the US

The second part to the solution is to end the expensive unfunded wars that have ruined the federal budget for the past 11 years as well as future budgets"



Bill

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Congress’s Shameful Support for Israeli Bombing By Matthew Rothschild,


"Here’s a two-part quiz for you.

Late last week, Congress weighed in on Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

Question Number One: How many House members voted to condemn that bombing?

Question Number two: How many members of the Senate voted to condemn it?

If you guessed anything but zero and zero, you flunked the quiz."



Puppet State America by Paul Craig Roberts


"In the past few days we have witnessed, yet again, the “American superpower” groveling at Netanyahu’s feet. When Netanyahu decided to again murder the Palestinian women and children of Gaza, to further destroy what remains of the social infrastructure of the Gaza Ghetto, and to declare Israeli war crimes and Israeli crimes against humanity to be merely the exercise of “self-defense,” the US Senate, the US House of Representatives, the White House, and the US media all promptly declared their support for Netanyahu’s crimes."



Israel’s Gaza Rampage: It’s Not Just War by DENNIS BERNSTEIN


"The sum of it is that we see a form of genocide under way in Palestine. And this is the later stage. And what your listeners should be in no doubt about is that although Israelis are doing the bombing, it’s really the United States that is really pushing the buttons. Because it’s only Israelis who are flying, the American planes. Those are American planes supplied for this very exercise, and if you look at the response of President Obama you understand that this is, in effect, an American/Israeli assault on a people who live in effectively in an open prison."



Bill

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Justice must be served. The starting point

U.S. Officials Guilty of War Crimes for Using 9/11 As a False Justification for the Iraq War by washingtonsblog.com


"Given that Iraq had no connection with 9/11 and possessed no weapons of mass destruction, the Iraq war was a crime of aggression and – under the standards by which Nazi leaders were convicted by the Nuremberg Tribunal – the American leaders who lied us into that war are guilty of war crimes."

Since 9-11, as every angle of that event has been examined by people of all sorts, the evidence is overwhelming as to the criminality of what happened.

But fine, not everyone will agree. Then let the trial settle it. Starting with Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and, sadly, the otherwise good man Powell. As the plotters and executioners are revealed in testimony and evidence, they too deserve their day in court.

Justice must be served if we are going to restore confidence in America, here and abroad. This is the starting point.


Armed to the Teeth and Living in Fear by DAVE LINDORFF

"It’s that virtually the whole country is populated by adults who have been raised in a climate of fear by a media and a government that are hell-bent on scaring the shit out of everyone."

There are dots that can be connected between this article and the one above.

I agree word for word with what Dave Lindorff says. I would challenge him to include the thinking in the above post on justice. I think he'd have to agree that we need a turning point, a defining moment, and such a trial will give us that. We can then turn our attention to rebuilding this country with "justice and liberty for all".


Bill


Wednesday, October 24, 2012

37 Facts About How Cruel This Economy Has Been

37 Facts About How Cruel This Economy Has Been To Millions Of Desperate American Families by Michael Snyder


What do you think about these facts?

There is a conceptually simple solution to these problems: fix the election system so knowledgeable people of goodwill can fix the rest.

We need an easy to explain and effective solution that people can rally behind, and this is one such. I'm all ears for another - a lot of others, but let's start with this one.




Bill

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

The 2 Stooges


I can't be the only one who watched the so-called "debate" on foreign policy last night and at some point realized I was watching 2 Stooges sling it out over which one is bending over lower for Israel.

This morning I checked the websites on my reading list to see what they had to say.

Debate Summary: Israel, Israel, Israel, Israel by Justin Raimondo


5 Ways Romney and Obama Will Shamelessly Pander to Israel Tonight By Alex Kane

A debate to be ashamed of By Andrew Leonard


Who Knew? Romney Agrees With Obama on Foreign Policy By Adam Serwer



Bill

Bill Moyers: The Plutocracy Will Go to Extremes to Keep the 1% in Control

Bill Moyers: The Plutocracy Will Go to Extremes to Keep the 1% in Control By Bill Moyers, Matt Taibbi, Chrystia Freeland


You owe it to yourself to spend 49 minutes watching this video. It's the most insightful and clear explanation of what's happened and is happening with our economy that I've seen yet. This is the kind of reporting that put Bill Moyers on the map, and Matt Taibbi and Chrystia Freeland are really to be applauded for their insight and journalistic integrity in the face of such opposiion.



Bill


Thursday, October 18, 2012

The Racket of War

The Racket of War by SANFORD KELSON

Mr Kelson puts his mind around Smedley Butler's famous testimony that "war is a racket" and he provides still more evidence of the truth that General Butler had discovered decades ago. Events since the General's days have served to give still more credence to his words.

That is, what General Butler observed and decried in his day not only remains true to this day, but the forces he identified only grew richer and more powerful. Their power today exceeds words like 'awesome', and undoubtedly the General is turning in his grave having put so much effort into warning people that "war is a racket".

It's been said that "ignorance and apathy" rules, but history shows case after case of what happens when people are pushed too hard and too far. Are we in that moment?

It's to our great fortune that we have the Internet and thoughtful, knowledgeable and thinker/writers such as Mr Kelson who freely share their knowledge, experience and vision of it all clearly, logically and with a true humanitarian spirit.

People like Mr Kelson have studied not only General Butler, but other great thinkers in history, and they are standing on the shoulders of those giants. It's to our great benefit to listen to what they have to say.

When you read Mr Kelson's article, you may get the feeling that this is repetitive. Give him the benefit of the doubt and finish the entire presentation - and then ask yourself if that isn't a pretty good summation of America's wars and the "prime movers" behind and underneath them.

This is important. The dogs of war have been let out again. People are doing the killing and dying every day. There is no end in sight. The weapons on all sides are so terrible that humanity cannot let this madness go on. We've poked a giant finger in the eye of a religion with over a billion followers. We exacerbate this problem in so many ways it would be laughable if not true. We occupy their countries. Just think how you'd react to foreign soldiers patrolling your streets. We piss on their corpses, burn their sacred books, use robots to kill innocent people, etc.

We can't seem to grasp the power of people who will gladly give their lives for their cause. You hear about an Iraqi blowing herself up to take out very small numbers of people. Can't you see how many volunteers would step up at the chance to take out large numbers of Americans instead of a few? Are you aware of the super terrible weapons available in the world today? From germs to radioactive substances to who-knows-what-in-those-labs, weapons that have not been used are weapons the losing side could easy turn to before accepting defeat. It is that hard to imagine some very tough people among our enemies?

We listened to and got all riles over all the scare talk after 9-11, but time has passed and all of the scare talk seems to have been proved wrong. Unfortunately, that's not the case. We may be tired of hearing of it, but the threat today is substantially greater then ever before.

We imagine we have lots of friends in that part of the world, but that's an illusion. Propaganda. There are people in positions of power that money controlled, but they are being ousted. More important is public opinion, because ultimately even the most strict rulers must abide by. The Pew organization has studies on public support for America in ME counties. Not a pretty picture.

Yet, today a 3rd carrier group is set to join warships stationed off the coast of Iran. Would the police send an armed squad to surround a house - and then go home? What are the odds that bringing in the big guns in a threatening way can result in a shooting match?

Is there a way that we-the-people can get out of this hole?

Some say violence is the only way. I can't agree. I know what war is like, and believe me, a day or two into it you'll be sickened. And then you'll run out of ammo. And then you'll wish it never started. Over-simplification, but you get the idea.

I believe there is a non-violent solution: a money-free Internet based election system. Take the money out of politics. Pure democracy. First people decide the issues, then pick candidates who match their position on the issues.

Sorting this out is a big job for the voter, true, but he/she will have AI such as the likes of IBM's Watson, to turn to for help, and voting can actually be a fun experience. Imagine getting to vote for a candidate whose interests really do match your own and who is not corrupted by money?

.

Bill

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The deficit is largely a product of tax cuts and wars.


5 Facts You Need to Know for Tonight's Presidential Debate
by Annie-Rose Strasser


From this article, this chart:



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How Propagandists for the 1% Are Manipulating Christian Teachings to Rob the Middle Class By Michael Meurer

"In the US, the inexorable logic of this process is embedded in the numbers that comprise the national debt. By most estimates, the national debt is at least $15 trillion.

Here is one way to understand where the money went.

-- The US government spent $7.4 trillion on bank bailouts.

-- It then spent $5 trillion for three elective wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

-- It simultaneously incurred $2.8 trillion in lost revenue due to the Bush tax cuts for the top income brackets. "


America RIP by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

"The lack of jobs, especially high value-added, high productivity jobs, is the reason real median household income has declined and the distribution of income has worsened. Without rising real household income, there cannot be a consumer economy.

...

I have told this story many times. But policymakers, the media, and economists seem unable to connect the dots.

...

Walsh is correct that China is not to blame for the decline in US manufacturing. Offshoring is to blame, and, thus, the blame lies with US corporations, policymakers, and the economists and financial media who shill for “globalism.” The decision was made to sacrifice the US economy to the short-term profits of the few. A country so poorly led can do nothing but decline."




Bill

Friday, October 12, 2012

Is this a sugar coated assessment of the failure in Afghanistan?

Afghanistan: The Long and Winding Roads by Joshua Hersh


This article is a long winded way of saying the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan is a total loss.

Why? Would you like a simple answer? Okay, then think about it this way: how would you like to look outside and see soldiers from some other country?



Bill

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Weapons of Mass Distraction: The Big, Long Lie about Iraq Lingers Still

Weapons of Mass Distraction: The Big, Long Lie about Iraq Lingers Still by Dennis Kucinich

Yes, at least some of us have heard this truth before, but it's well worth repeating. And it should be repeated again and again until justice is done. The people responsible for the invasion of the Middle East, Iraq in particular, should be put on trial, and until this is done we cannot claim to be a just country. The implications of this are immense.


Bill

America’s Moral Degeneracy

America’s Moral Degeneracy by Paul Craig Roberts

"We can conclude with Anthony Gregory that it is not only foreign political regimes that are corrupted by Washington’s evil, but also Americans themselves. “Nothing better demonstrates the moral degeneracy of American political culture than the U.S. torture state.”"


Switzerland Prepares For Mass Civil Unrest In Europe
by Paul Joseph Watson


"Despite being one of the most stable and economically vibrant countries in the world, primarily as a result of its refusal to join the Euro, Switzerland is preparing for mass civil unrest in central Europe that could spill over its border, by mobilizing troops to deal with potential disorder.

...

“It’s commonly held by European security insiders that if the next Anders Brievik were to target Muslims, not fellow Europeans, things could get unimaginably ugly very quickly,” he writes. “It is difficult to see how Europe’s much smaller militaries could cope with massive civil disturbances. (And don’t ask Uncle Sam for help, since the very last thing the Pentagon wants is to get dragged into any riot suppression – particularly putting down Muslim uprisings – anywhere in Europe.)”"


As interesting as this article is, it omits one high note that a reader reply does mention:


"We need to ask the question: How did the western nations even end up in this much debt? How are we ever going to repay it without having to borrow it from the same lenders?"


Tomgram: Hellman and Kramer, How Much Does Washington Spend on "Defense"? Posted by Chris Hellman and Mattea Kramer

Read this and ask yourself why we're allowing this to happen to us, our county, our future, our children's future ...


Bill

Another great article that should be read in every American school!

As the 1st reader reply says "Another great article that should be read in every American school!", Overwrought Empire by Tom Engelhardt


"Think of it as the American imperial paradox: everywhere there are now “threats” against our well-being which seem to demand action and yet nowhere are there commensurate enemies to go with them. Everywhere the U.S. military still reigns supreme by almost any measure you might care to apply; and yet — in case the paradox has escaped you — nowhere can it achieve its goals, however modest.

..

And yet the more dominant the U.S. military becomes in its ability to destroy and the more its forces are spread across the globe, the more the defeats and semi-defeats pile up, the more the missteps and mistakes grow, the more the strains show, the more the suicides rise, the more the nation’s treasure disappears down a black hole — and in response to all of this, the more moves the Pentagon makes.

..

By all the usual measuring sticks, the U.S. should be supreme in a historically unprecedented way. And yet it couldn’t be more obvious that it’s not, that despite all the bases, elite forces, private armies, drones, aircraft carriers, wars, conflicts, strikes, interventions, and clandestine operations, despite a labyrinthine intelligence bureaucracy that never seems to stop growing and into which we pour a minimum of $80 billion a year, nothing seems to work out in an imperially satisfying way. It couldn’t be more obvious that this is not a glorious dream, but some kind of ever-expanding imperial nightmare."


It’s All About Israel Part II of “Roots of the Iranian ‘Crisis’” by Justin Raimondo


"It was and is a matter of high principle for the neoconservatives that the US unconditionally support Israel in its struggle against the Arab world.

...

The entire regime change operation we are seeing unfold in the Middle East is a veritable laundry list of neoconservative goals as outlined in the “Clean Break” document, as well as in the agenda of the Project for a New American Century (PNAC)

...

The “Clean Break” scenario envisioned the overthrow of Iraq’s Ba’athist regime as a prerequisite for Israel’s success, and the Israel lobby, in concert with the neoconservatives, played a key role in dragging us into that disastrous war of aggression."


How the US Quietly Lost the IED War in Afghanistan by Gareth Porter


"Although the surge of “insider attacks” on U.S.-NATO forces has dominated coverage of the war in Afghanistan in 2012, an even more important story has been quietly unfolding: the U.S. loss of the pivotal war of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to the Taliban.

...

Over the 2009-11 period, the U.S. military suffered a total of 14,627 casualties,
... Of that total, 8,680, or 59 percent, were from IED explosions, .. And the proportion of all U.S. casualties caused by IEDs continued to increase from 56 percent in 2009 to 63 percent in 2011.

...

JIEDDO spent more than 18 billion dollars on high-tech solutions aimed at detecting IEDs before they went off, including robots, and blimps with spy cameras. But as the technology helped the U.S.-NATO command discover more IEDs, the Taliban simply produced and planted even larger numbers of bombs to continue to increase the pressure of the IED war.

...

The Taliban success in targeting troops on foot was the main reason U.S. casualties from IEDs increased from 1,211 wounded and 159 dead in 2009 to 3,366 wounded and 259 dead in 2010."


What’s the Real Reason Israel Dialed Back the Push for War on Iran? by John Glaser


Above and beyond the title of this article, much more important is the last paragraph:

"One implication of these developments is that it shows how much of a manufactured threat the Iranian nuclear program has been all along. How can the threat be a ticking time bomb with a short fuse that will soon mean the destruction of Israel one day, and the next day it’s something that doesn’t even need to be in the headlines? Iran doesn’t present anywhere near as large a threat as US and Israeli leaders have let on. But pretending it does provides Israel with a benefit: As former CIA Middle East analyst Paul Pillar has written, “the Iran issue” provides a “distraction” from international “attention to the Palestinians’ lack of popular sovereignty.” If every high-level diplomatic meeting with the Obama administration focuses on Iran, Israel can continue to rob Palestinians of land and rights unencumbered."


And let me take this a logical step further: imagine just how controlled our information supply must be for this blatant propaganda to have been keep in the headlines in such lock step by the mainstream system for so long. And now that it's plain and obvious it was all just another duping, where are the headlines saying that?

Nope. Not forthcoming. Not a hint about these truths will ever see the light of day for their minions, and the entire affair will be buried. And if it weren't for the likes of brave folks like Justin Rainmondo, John Glaser and Tom Engelhardt we'd never know what we know now.




Bill

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Noam Chomsky: The Fate of Humanity Is at Stake

Noam Chomsky: The Fate of Humanity Is at Stake -- Why Are Romney and Obama Too Cowardly to Talk About What Really Matters? By Noam Chomsky

"There are two issues of overwhelming significance, because the fate of the species is at stake: environmental disaster, and nuclear war.

... Missing from the debate is the obvious way to mitigate or end whatever threat Iran might be believed to pose: Establish a nuclear weapons-free zone in the region"


Why I Dislike Israel and on Counterpunch by Philip Giraldi


"I have to admit that I don’t like what my own government is doing these days, but I like Israel even less and it is past time to do something about it. No more money, no more political support, no more tolerance of spying, and no more having to listen to demands for red lines to go to war. No more favorable press when the demented Benjamin Netanyahu holds up a cartoon at the U.N. The United States government exists to serve the American people, no more, no less, and it is time that our elected representatives begin to remember that fact."


Reader comments to this article are particularly interesting, not only because they support and extend Philip's argument, but because they are almost devoid of intelligent (or should I say clever) counter-arguments, which anti-Israel articles generally bring out of the woodwork.


It's Long Past Time to Admit: The Military Solution in Afghanistan Has Failed by Robert Greenwald

The title speaks for itself.



Bill


Tuesday, October 2, 2012


Iraq: Ten Years, a Million Lives and Trillions of Dollars Later by Dennis Kucinich


Ya know, when all you hear on the TV, newspapers and magazines is blatant propaganda, the same messages pounded over and over, it's so refreshing and good for the sanity to have people like Dennis Kucinich out there telling the plain and simple truth.

What he says has been completely verified to be true, yet we continue to live under the same old regime. I can't for the life of me understand how 100 million America aren't squarely behind him and getting him into office. How, exactly, did he get knocked out of the Presidential race? Is it the same evil forces that manipulated America in administrations past?

We need to reform the election system. Remove the money and we get good people who will do the right thing by America and the world into office. If we can't do this, we're headed for the graveyard of empires.

And, if we're going to recover, we must have justice. The perpetrators of the invasion of the Middle East under false pretenses must be brought to trial for what they did. If this is not done, respect for America will continue to decline around the world, and we need the world much more then it needs us.


Bill

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Revolution From Above

Revolution From Above by Paul Craig Roberts

"This chart shows where the median household income of the US Superpower, the “indispensable people,” stands at the culmination of 2011. Americans are as well off as they were in 1967-68. Most americans cannot pay for fighting multi-trillion dollar wars for 11 years, bailout trillions of dollars in uncovered casino bets by Wall Street, have their middle class jobs sent abroad by corporations, and still expect to have higher personal incomes.

(see chart in the article)

Apparently, Americans are the first people in history who are so idealistic, or so thoroughly brainwashed, that they prefer to pay for wars and bail out banks than to make their mortgage payments and help their children with student loan debt."


These few words "pay for wars and bail out banks" are monumental in size, scope and effect, yet many people I talk with can't seem to get their head around this simple to understand bottom line.


Bill


Friday, August 3, 2012

Only 24.6 Percent Of All Jobs In The United States Are Good Jobs

Only 24.6 Percent Of All Jobs In The United States Are Good Jobs by Michael Snyder

This article speaks (loudly) for itself


Bill


Reflections on a Medical Career Robert S. Dotson, M.D. By: Robert S. Dotson, M.D.


This article should be seen by every American. Dr. Dotson consolidates a huge amount of highly valuable information in an article-size space.

A tidbit from his piece, which is off-topic but a very powerful notion that I've not seen put so well into words before. Dr. Dotson mentions in context of how people in control stay that way by using their authority and access to information to eliminate the opposition. "The old Soviet dictum attributed to Lavrenti Beria (Stalin’s NKVD chief), “Show me the man and I’ll find you the crime,” is in full force in Amerika."

If this gets your attention, or should I say increases your angst, there is a single, general purpose solution that will breed other solutions: true election system reform



Bill

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Good news on the automotive front

This is good news for America as well.

Introducing the Tesla S: It's electric, it's got great lines, and there's a waiting list a mile long

"Instead of a bulky transmission console between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat, there is a nice empty space for parking your briefcase or purse. Instead of analog dials, there is a 17-inch Wi-Fi touchscreen display that handles everything from the navigation system to your MP3 collection to the suspension control settings. On the version I tested, there aren’t even door handles—until you touch the spot where they should be, which prompts them to emerge like the wings of a Golden Snitch."


Yes, it's pricey. All innovations these days start out priced so only the wealthy can afford them. But that's temporary. Once the industry gets into gear the price will drop - and drop.


Bill

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Why Are So Many Bad Things Happening To America?

Why Are So Many Bad Things Happening To America? by Michael Snyder

An interesting summation of the desperate state of affairs in America today. One thing I don't understand is the ordering of the list - it should have WAR and DEBT at the top.

On the debt, this article is revealing, if anyone doesn't know yet:

Related: 27 Things That Every American Should Know About The National Debt

Related:Half Of American Households Hold 1 Percent Of Wealth by Dan Froomkin


Bill

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Glenn Greenwald: How America's Surveillance State Breeds Conformity and Fear

Glenn Greenwald: How America's Surveillance State Breeds Conformity and Fear

"Once the government is able to monitor everything we do and say, we will be unable to fight back."

This should be required reading for every American.


Wars Have Unpredictable and Dangerous Collateral Effects by Ivan Eland

"In conclusion, those who advocate using the Libyan episode as a future model for U.S. intervention, especially in Syria, have overlooked its harmful unintended consequences."

A brief history of the consequences of American meddling in the Middle East. As if we didn't already know, but Ivan Eland has a concise way of putting it.


Bill


Friday, July 6, 2012

Washington’s Militarized Mindset

Washington’s Militarized Mindset by Tom Engelhardt


"Militarization in this country is hardly a new phenomenon. It can be traced back decades, but the process hit warp speed in the post-9/11 years, even if the U.S. still lacks the classic look of a militarized society. Almost unnoticed has been an accompanying transformation of the mindset of Washington — what might be called the militarization of solutions.

If the institutions of American life and governance are increasingly militarized, then it shouldn’t be surprising that the problems facing the country are ever more often framed in militarized terms and that the only solutions considered are similarly militarized. This paucity of imagination, this constraining of what might be possible, seems especially evident in the Greater Middle East. "

Tom has some really interesting information and observations about the current state of affairs in a dozen or so Middle East countries. It reads like a scorecard for a very horrible game. It's almost unbelievable.


Why This Obsession With Iran? by Patrick J. Buchanan

"Comes the retort: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is a certifiable fanatic who has threatened to wipe Israel off the map. He cannot be allowed to get anywhere near a nuclear weapon.

Yet whatever Ahmadinejad said years ago, and that remains in dispute, he does not control the military, he does not decide on war, and he leaves the presidency next July and heads back to academia.

Is America afraid of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

Where, then, is the mortal threat to justify the U.S. preparations for war with Iran described in the national press this week? "


This stuff is just plain ordinary common sense, and just have to believe most Americans feel this way. I think most people just feel helpless to do anything about it. But you can do something. Talk with your family, friends, relatives, the barber, anyone who will listen. Write blogs or reader responses to articles. Follow alternate websites. Of course you or I aren't going to make a difference, but if millions of people decide they've had enough we can get the changes we need (which is an election system that cuts down the influence of money dramatically. It can be done)


Bill

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Why the ObamaCare Ruling Stinks

Why the ObamaCare Ruling Stinks by DAVE LINDORFF


"The real losers in the latest Supreme Court decision, however, are the people of the United States. Not those who will be required to go out and buy some over-priced, minimal coverage, rip-off insurance plan offered by the private insurance industry, or to pay a “tax” to the IRS for not doing so, but everyone.

This is because the Affordable Health Care Act is not affordable. It does little or nothing to control health care costs, which are destined to continue to gobble up an ever increasing amount of the total US Gross Domestic Product as well as of corporate profits and families’ incomes.

...


There is a reason why the US has far and away the costliest medical system in the world, and yet still has some 50 million people who cannot get preventive care

...

But it is a pyrrhic victory, both for Obama, who will now have to explain why it is a good thing to tax poor people who can’t come up with the money to buy a crummy mandated health insurance plan, and for the public, who are going to end up having to pay through the nose for this new law."


Bill

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Bill Moyers on PBS

Once again, Bill Moyers delivers an outstanding summations of some of America's greatest problems.

There are 2 interviews that are especially worth your time:

The Follies of Big Banks and Government

Peter Eldelman on fighting poverty

One issue they resolved for me because I didn't have good information on, but strongly suspected: that the European financial crisis is born of the American mortgage crisis. That's a big piece of truth for many people, I'm sure.



Bill


Thursday, June 21, 2012

Sunday, June 17, 2012

These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America

These 6 Corporations Control 90% Of The Media In America by Ashley Lutz


This article describes one of most disturbing facts about life in America today. There are others, but this is probably on top.


Update: an article in today's The Nation website typifies the consequences of this disturbing fact.

How the Media Created the Muslim Monster Myth by Jack Shaheen

This is just one article of so many.


Bill

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Tax Dollars At War

Tax Dollars At War

Based on a "Flashpoints" interview with Dennis Bernstein & Dave Lindorff. directed & animated by
Chris Fontaine


Bill

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Bust 'Em Up: Who Needs Wall Street Giants?

Bust 'Em Up: Who Needs Wall Street Giants? by Jim Hightower


"After enduring years of insatiable greed by the slick-fingered hucksters who run these gambling houses; after watching in dismay as their ineptness and avarice drained more than $19 trillion from America's household wealth since 2007 and plunged our real economy into the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression; after witnessing their shameful demands for trillions of dollars in taxpayer bailouts to save their banks and their jobs; and now after seeing them return immediately to business as usual, including paying multimillion-dollar bonuses to themselves — we have to ask: Huh!?!"

The premise of Jim Hightower's article is simply that we really don't need big banks at all. Let the gamblers go to Las Vegas and play with themselves till their hearts content, without access to our money. For people who want to save and have checking accounts, a highly regulated computerized system can do the job just fine.

Credit cards and mortgages are more complex, but still can be reduced to their essence. For example, every American should be allowed one mortgage for home ownership, the amount of which based by the person/family's income and ability to repay, i.e. realistic but designed to help, not crush, families.

There's more to it, of course. But this is where we need to elect representatives with the knowledge and savvy to make things work for (not against) the people. This is just another reminder that we need election finance reform that shifts the power from Big Money to the people, where it belongs.



Bill

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

National debt




Source: http://www.infowars.com/growth-in-the-national-debt/

"The only way to resolve the bogus national debt, based upon the central banking counterfeit currency swindle, is to renounce the debt as illegitimate. Nothing else will stop or even slow down the rapid expansion and growth of the national debt clock from collapsing the economy and destroying the currency."


Update: see Debt Up $1.59T Under GOP House—More in 15 Months Than First 97 Congresses Combined
By Terence P. Jeffrey



Bill

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

America’s idiot rich

From this excellent article by Alex Pareene, America’s idiot rich:

"The grotesque nature of our campaign finance system has effectively made economic populism impossible."

Perhaps this should have been the title of the article, because surely if we can re-build our election system than we wouldn't have the problem with the rich idiots Alex talks about.

Oh, and of course Alex is correct in calling them idiots. They are penny wise and pound foolish, short-sighted 5-year planners, spoiled, arrogant, mean-spirited and the worst people to be running our planet.

We've got to remove their power, and the answer is staring us right in the face: election campaign reform. Or, as I think about it: a new election system.

How would it work? First and foremost, there is no money involved. It's all about issues, people and putting the 2 together. Something this country hasn't been able to do for a very long time. You did notice that a large majority of American's don't want to be at war in the Middle East, didn't you? Well, if this is any kind of democracy or republic, wouldn't something most people clearly want be the law? Of course, unless you're Alice in Wonderland, or under the thumb of the duping machine, our so-called "mass media", which is really nothing less then a propaganda dispenser from our rulers dictum's into our lives, which goes on every single day for so long now that people take it for granted.

Second, people elected to office on promises must be held accountable, plain and simple, for their actions - and in-actions. No more lying to get elected, no more promises with no intention of fulfilling - with impunity. Base their salaries on performance and take the more egregious cases to civil or criminal court. This wouldn't scare away the honest people, it will attract them.

we can use so-called "open source" programming methodology to have contributors around the world help build a viable and bullet-proof system, so it cannot be compromised in any step of the process.

But we can't continue the status quo. The debt alone, not to mention the ongoing war, is killing this country. We desperately need people in office to do what we elect them to do, and we need this post haste.

We must end that criminal war. We must put the people guilty of pulling that invasion off off on trial for war crimes. Same for the criminals who robbed this country blind with their so-called derivatives, which was nothing more then a scheme to rob the American taxpayer of all that money. We must restore our sense of justice before it becomes a bygone memory.

But we can't run the country ourselves. We need professionals now more then ever, but we need professionals with ethics, morals and a true love for what America is supposed to be, and a proper respect for the rest of the world, and the people in it. We need leaders who are the opposite of the killers in Washington today.

Yes, killers. What else can you call people who order our young people to go to other countries and kill innocent people so they can have their way with that country? That's exactly what happened. We've been "spared" this point of view because the propaganda machine has gotten very good at exploiting how the human mind works. But it's wrong. You know it, and I know it.


Bill

Monday, May 21, 2012

Recovery or Collapse? Bet on Collapse

Recovery or Collapse? Bet on Collapse by Paul Craig Roberts

"The enormous cost of the financial crisis has one single source–financial deregulation. Financial deregulation is likely to prove to be the mistake that destroys Western civilization. While we quake in our boots from fear of “Muslim terrorists,” it is financial deregulation that is destroying us, with help from jobs offshoring.

...

Deregulation permitted banks to leverage a small amount of capital with enormous debt in order to maximize return on equity, thereby maximizing the instability of the financial system and the cost to society of the banks’ bad bets.

...

Deregulation allowed financial institutions to sweep aside the position limits on speculators and to dominate commodity markets, turning them into a gambling casino and driving up the prices of energy and food."



Bill

Thursday, May 17, 2012

The Surveillance State

The Surveillance State: Knowing Every Bit About You by Charles Scaliger
"The total loss of privacy coupled with aggressively expanding powers of the state to encroach on our personal freedoms with impunity — these are the two prongs of the police-state pincers that are closing swiftly on American liberties. The long-feared “garrison state” is coming into being on American soil before our very eyes, with the approval, tacit or overt, of millions of Americans who believe that the only way to guarantee national security is to deprive us of personal security (the Fourth Amendment, after all, protects the “right of the people to be secure” against government encroachment on a personal level). In a coming day, unless the tide of Big Government is stemmed, we will all find ourselves living in a hi-tech Panopticon stretching from sea to shining sea."
Bill

Monday, April 23, 2012

The Shame of Nations

The Shame of Nations by LAWRENCE S. WITTNER
"In case Americans were wondering where most of their tax money — and the tax money of other nations — went in the previous year, the answer from SIPRI was clear: to war and preparations for war. World military spending reached a record $1,738 billion in 2011 — an increase of $138 billion over the previous year. The United States accounted for 41 percent of that, or $711 billion."
...
"In the United States, an estimated 58 percent of the U.S. government’s discretionary tax dollars go to war and preparations for war. “Almost every country with a military is on an insane path, spending more and more on missiles, aircraft, and guns,” remarked John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus. “These countries should be confronting the real threats of climate change, hunger, disease, and oppression, not wasting taxpayers’ money on their military.” "
Bill

Thursday, April 19, 2012

What If the Greedy Rich Paid Their Share?

What If the Greedy Rich Paid Their Share? 8 Things to Know About Wealth and Poverty in the US By Les Leopold


"America is loaded. We are not a struggling nation ready to go under. We are not facing an enormous debt crisis despite what the politicians and pundits proclaim. We are not the next Greece.Rather, we have an enormous concentration-of-wealth problem -- one that must be solved for the good of our commonwealth. We are a very rich nation but it doesn’t seem that way because our wealth is so concentrated in the hands of a few. This is America’s disaster."


Bill

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Babylonian Captivity of Washington

The Babylonian Captivity of Washington by Philip Giraldi

"So Israel can start a war and the United States can do nothing to stop it and will become a major victim of whatever plays out. If that is true, why is the mainstream media ignoring the story?"

This is exactly the question I've pursued for so long: exactly how is it possible that such editorial control can exist over the American information supply? Philip is one writer who isn't afraid to talk about this, but others, incredibly, have been cowering and following orders from the latest incarnation of jackboots.

"War in the Middle East and Asia have destroyed the US economy and moved America closer to a police state. Telling Israel clearly and emphatically that it is on its own if it wishes to dominate its neighbors and go to war would restore much need perspective and would do much to right the ship of state back here in the US."

Right on, Philip! I will add that if we can fix the 1st problem (media control) the 2nd problem (Middle East war) will be solvable.


Bill

Monday, April 9, 2012

Hating the haters

Every now and then I must pause to reflect on the positions I've taken, lest I stray too far from the core reasons for my own existence.

It is true that I hate the haters and the warmongers with a passion that extends deep, wide and long term. But it's more true, relevant and far more important that I love people who wish no harm to others far more then I hate those who cause the harm.

But peace, love and tranquility are hard to jump up and down about. They are core values we live each day of our life by, but we must do so quietly or we run the risk of being cast as hypocritical as those who preach war to accomplish peace.


Bill

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

How the New American Empire Really Works

How the New American Empire Really Works by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
"After eight years of war and attempted occupation of Iraq, all Washington has for its efforts is several trillion dollars of additional debt and no Iraqi oil. After ten years of trillion dollar struggle against the Taliban in Afghanistan, Washington has nothing to show for it except possibly some part of the drug trade that can be used to fund covert CIA operations.

America’s wars are very expensive. Bush and Obama have doubled the national debt, and the American people have no benefits from it. No riches, no bread and circuses flow to Americans from Washington’s wars. So what is it all about?

The answer is that Washington’s empire extracts resources from the American people for the benefit of the few powerful interest groups that rule America. The military-security complex, Wall Street, agri-business and the Israel Lobby use the government to extract resources from Americans to serve their profits and power. The US Constitution has been extracted in the interests of the Security State, and Americans’ incomes have been redirected to the pockets of the 1 percent. That is how the American Empire functions."

Paul Craig Roberts is one of our best, most insightful, writers, as you can see by this article and many others he's written over the years.


Bill

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Top 10 Lessons of the Iraq War

Top 10 Lessons of the Iraq War by Stephen M. Walt

Every single American should read this article and the reader comments to follow. It strikes me as just about the best paper I've read on the Iraq war.

He's not alone, of course. There is a growing list of very intelligent, thoughtful and experienced people who are dedicated to putting the light of day onto what happened to America. You should read the part about how few people it took to launch that invasion.

And the reader comments are interesting because, as expected, there are cleverly phrased anti-Walt arguments. Good, I say, it exposed their arguments to the light of day and the contrast of thinking such as Walt. You may or may not agree with me, but I see the real villains exposed here for what they are. Also, in my opinion, this information should build up to becoming the trial of the century, with the American people vs the villains.

They not only plundered and murdered, but they robbed us blind at the same time. Not only through the military invasion of the ME, but through the Wall Street debacle as well. The combination is devastating us and our future is going to be a lot harder then it should have been.

By rights, given the advances in technology, we should all be enjoying a high level of prosperity - with plenty left over to feed the world's hungry.

What do we have instead? They are sending our children to murder and maim people, and maybe get murdered or maimed while they're at it. Not to mention the staggering cost of it all.

Please read this article and the comments, and please do something, no matter how small. Multiple each of our small actions times a hundred million people and we CAN change the world.

To what?

Well, let's start with common sense, basic values and some leadership.

You know, there are very, very smart people out there who have no interest in destroying and killing people, and we need to get them into positions of authority. It's really as simple as that. You, I and our neighbors don't know how to run a country, but there are people who can be trusted. Our job is to seek them out and support them.

To do any of this, we have to discard the world according to the MSM, whose interests and views have been deeply flawed for a long time. First, their list of issues, what's important and what's not, and their priorities, is wrong, as is their positions on the issues they decide are important.


Bill

Monday, March 12, 2012

The invasion of the Middle East

People say we are so misled, and they are so right.

I follow some anti-war outlets, and while some writers there do "get it", most seem not to see or grasp the big picture. For example, today, after hearing reports of an Army Sgt going berserk in Afghanistan, there are loud cries from that corner to get our troops out of Afghanistan.

While that's all well and good, that we should get out of Afghanistan, it's alarming that so many anti-war people don't (or wouldn't?) see the big picture

What is the big picture?

It's that America launched an invasion of the Middle East, not any given country, but that region as a whole. It was launched at the behest of the Neocon gang in Washington, Wall Street and the MSM for selfish (not American) purposes.

The primary objective, from which they have never shrank with all the machinations,
was - and remains - to establish (military) authority in the region.

Once you see it this way, you understand why troops were sent to Afghanistan from Iraq in the 1st place. Afghanistan was and remains nothing more then a parking lot to keep the military presence in the area. This is why we've been there for a decade with no apparent mission. There was a reason, albeit unspoken. Had the withdrawal from Iraq resulted in our troops coming home, it would have signaled the end of their primary objective, because once the troops are out, that's the end of it, a la Vietnam. Such a move would have defeated their purpose for the invasion, so it didn't happen. Instead the troops have been moved to Afghanistan and other places in the area, pending the next phase of their plan.

Whether the next phase will be Syria, Iran, or pick some other country in the region, the one constant in the equation is that our military isn't leaving the Middle East. Having committed America to their plan in the first place, there are only two real possibilities remaining: victory or defeat.

If we leave in defeat, Israel - the protagonist - will be left hanging out, surrounded by millions of people who really, seriously hate them for how they behave relative to the Palestinians first, and the rest of the world second.

Apartheid is just a word, unless you are personally crushed by it. Ask the Palestinians.

We know from very intelligent people who have done their homework about the influence AIPAC has over our government. If you aren't sure, read Walt & Mersheimers book on the Israel Lobby. They are not alone. There are some highly intelligent and well informed people who have also examined AIPAC's influence and reinforced the message of this book.

What should be equally explored is the so-called mainstream media, our information supply, including Hollywood's movies, the TV "news" and other shows, and the newspapers people read to be informed about the world around them. It can be argued that AIPAC's control of Congress pales by comparison to the significant of their control of the editorial content of our information supply, including all of the above mediums.

This whole notion that Israel is our best friend - or friend at all - is nothing more or less then brainwashing. Mass hypnosis. The powerful effect of repeated lies that drill thoughts into the unconscious mind. The techniques are well known in Washington, Hollywood and Wall Street. Amazing that the technique works as well today as times past, given that at least some people are aware of it.

Think about just these two notions for a moment: (1) might is right, and (2) the ends justify the means.

What are your thoughts about these notions? Now ask yourself, seriously, why you respond as you do. Who taught you that?

The people with editorial control frame our world by planting "these ideas" instead of "those ideas". They say what's important and what's not, what is worth talking about and what's not.

They won majority support for their invasion, or so we're convinced (but who really knows?), and even today there are people who continue to believe even the most outrageous - and totally refuted - lies. There are flag-wavers still out there supporting and praying for our troops on their glorious mission - and much worse, parents sending their children to fight, kill and die - without really thinking about the mission. They have been taught to believe that we have some purpose in Afghanistan - other then it being a parking lot.

When I read the "news" (mainstream and alternative) today, I see cries for getting out of Afghanistan, and have to I shake my head in some disbelief, that people are focused on Afghanistan and not the real problem, which is that our Congress and our information supply have been seized by a gang who are more interested in Israel's interests then America's.

A question is how much longer the American people will continue to be so duped by agents of a foreign and hostile country.

What can you do? It's really not hard. We CAN change the world, if we want to. All we have to do is for each of us to protest in some fashion, no matter how small, perhaps write a blog, or talk with friends, neighbors and family members. It's not that you, I or any one person is going to make a difference, but if fifty or a hundred million people decide they've had enough, and they get out there and talk with others, it will be so.

What is it that are we really looking for?

I think first and foremost we need to live in a climate of justice. America has slide away from the notion of justice, a bit at a time over the years, and now we're staring at the abyss. The people with the power are actually holding buttons in their hands that can kill hundreds of millions of people. That power shouldn't even exist, more less be in the hands of the people who believe in preemptive war.

We must have justice at the top or we'll never have it at the bottom. Justice at the top means that Bush and the Neocon gang must be put on trial for war crimes. AIPAC needs to be registered as an agent of a foreign country and treated as such.

Foreign aid should consist of helping the suffering in the world. Stop selling and gives arms. Develop a plan to rid the world of the weapons of war. Let people who do a lot earn a lot, but with limits on the top and bottom of the economic ladder.

As we're told repeatedly, the rule of law must prevail. Of course, but of equal importance is the content of the law itself. There are many laws on the books today that serve special interests and must be purged so law can regain the respect it does deserve.

Our airwaves, our information supply, is a public trust. Taking this public trust back from the barons who own it today may seem to be a massive undertaking, but it's actually easy: don't buy their products. Don't read their newspapers or watch their TV shows, the "news" in particular. When you want news, information, education or advertising, turn to the Internet and the new breed of editors emerging that will point us to honest sites.

Take the money out of politics. Create an Internet based voting system using the "open source" programming concept to overcome the difficulties.

I've spent years writing and talking about these things. The primary focus of my attention has been the seizure of editorial control of our information supply. It's cost me friends and relatives, not to mention business. If I seem more alarmed today then in years past, it's because I see the invasion of the Middle East poised to escalate and the madness of it all - just gets uglier by the day.

I was born and raised a Catholic. I remember as a kid how dominant the Catholic Church was at the time, and I remember not liking it. But I also remember being High School with the Christian Brothers, who seriously turned my life around (I was a wayward teenager) and instilled what I think of as "basic Christian values", such as being my brother's keeper, and not the media hyped "end of times" nonsense. The whole notion of a religious right is an oxymoron, at least

Having said that, I've also read Carl Jung and Thomas Paine, notably because they argued so well, that there is a God, but organized religions are self-serving inventions of man. And like man, they emanate both good and evil. The Yin and Yang of it all is a human fundamental, but they are poised to get out of control, and we must calm them down, most immediately by not letting that war escalate. In the longer term, we've got to come to much betters with our nature so these eruptions cannot take the catastrophic turn we may well be facing today if we don't do something to stop it.

My favorite modern writers include Chris Hedges, Amy Goodwin, Glen Greenwald, Bill Moyers, Noam Chomsky, Philip Giraldi, Justin Rainmondo and, thankfully, a longer list of people I consider the truly great thinkers of our time.

Addendum: From Will Obama’s Wars Come Back to Bite Him?
by Andrew Levine:

"A war against Iran is on the agenda now for one reason only: because Israel wants it, and because what Israel wants, the Israel lobby does its best to make sure Israel gets. They usually succeed too, since they have almost the entire Congress and most of the institutions that shape public opinion in their pocket or, at least, on their side.

...

But whichever party the Israeli government prefers for the United States, the fact remains that their main motive is not to put someone even more subservient than Obama in the White House, but to put Iran down – not because an Iranian bomb, much less an Iranian capacity to build a bomb, poses an “existential threat” to Israel, no informed observer believes that, but because a nuclear Iran would hamper nuclear Israel’s capacity to do what it wants militarily in the region."



Bill

Thursday, February 16, 2012

What's happening with Greece?

The Greek People Have Been Sacrificed to the Capitalist Gods of Speculation by William Wall

Mikis Theodorakis: An Open Letter On the Truth About Greece by Mikis Theodorakis

If you've wondered what's happening with Greece, these informative articles explain.

"When we casually use a term like "bailout", it is important to remember that it is not people who are being bailed out, or at least not the Greek people. The bailout will not save a single Greek life. The opposite is the case. What is being "bailed out" is the global financial system, including the banks, hedge funds and pension funds of the other EU member states, and it is the Greek people who are being ordered to pay – in money, time, physical pain, hopelessness and missed educational opportunities. The relatively neutral, even stoic, term "austerity", is a gross insult to the Greek people. This is not austerity; at best it is callousness.

...

In essence, this crisis is a failure of the EU states to show solidarity in the face of an onslaught from the financial markets .

...


This is the triumph of capitalism, that it has persuaded the world that capitalism is the world.

It has led to the undoing of 200 years of struggle between ordinary people and the super-rich. Trade unions didn't appear overnight, they were a response to exploitation. Their defeat has led to the ubiquity of precarious, and now free, labour. Workers are not protected in their workplace by capitalists, they are protected by the laws won by struggle against the capitalist. A sweatshop in China is a direct assault not just on the rights of the Chinese worker but on those of workers in, for example, the UK. Socialist internationalism and solidarity were conceived as a way of defeating that ploy. Old people do not die in the streets not because charity has saved them but because 200 years of struggle has brought us the old age pension and public health. The privatisation of those services is a return to the 19th century. None of this public good would have been won if people had identified with the super-rich of 1812. Now that we have been brought to such an identification, we stand to lose them all over again."

Of course you may have already figured out that the damage to Greece came at the hand of global financiers, but there is an angle he doesn't mention that I will, since I've spent my life in the world of computer technology.

Yes, computer technology. With it, those with control of the world's finances would/could never have managed the collosal undertakings we're seeing today, not the least of which is Greece.

I intend to explore this connection more over time, but for now, because time is always in short supply, will point out there is this connection.


Bill

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Noam Chomsky: America's Decline Is Real -- and Increasingly Self-Inflicted

Please read these 2 important and highly thoughtful articles in today's Alternet. You will also see very interesting reader comments for both.

Noam Chomsky: America's Decline Is Real -- and Increasingly Self-Inflicted
By Noam Chomsky / TomDispatch.com



Dear Israel Lobby, We Give Up -- Please Give Us an Acceptable Way of Insulting You By Joshua Holland


Bill

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Chris Hedges and Lawrence Lessig: Getting Money Out of Politics

Chris Hedges and Lawrence Lessig: Getting Money Out of Politics

Please watch this excellent video interview that in very short order identifies the major problems in America, and then proposes a solution.

Among their points:

- a fraction of 1% of the voters contribute all of the money today. This buys that small group considerable power over the election process.

- it's not only the political system that's been seized by the corporate state, it's the labor unions, public education, etc.

- think insiders and outsiders, not left and right

- underlying cause, deep corruption inside government, because of the way we've embedded power


Their analysis matches mine very closely and we've come to the same conclusion, and believe in the same solution: election campaign refresh to take the money out of politics.

There is absolutely no doubt that a highly effective election process can be placed onto the Internet. Heck, I've got one such design at the ready and could actually build it myself. And I would love to, but I'd love it even more if a competitor has a better system! The objective is to get it done, and I don't really care who does it.

I've worked with large computer systems for many years and see an election/voting system as just another application, there really is nothing special about it from a computer point of view. The special part comes by what it can be designed to do: which is to help the voter become better informed of the issues and the candidates positions on the issues, as well as to register the voters own positions, which the computer can organize as a personal decision chart. Organized as such, it's a simple matter for a program to help the voter narrow down the candidates to those most in line with the voter's positions.

And it's an ongoing process. It doesn't begin and end on election day, but instead is developed throughout the election cycle. While votes are actually cast on election day, the information collection and development process is ongoing and continuously being improved, both by the information suppliers and the voter's input as well. The voter now has the time and when the inclination strikes to spend some time with the system, the results are that much better, and when election day does come around, the voter's submission will be hugely better cast.

The cost is nominal, existing and available government and Internet computer systems can easily carry the load. Security people have a variety of ways to secure the system from anyone's hacking.

Where is Google on this issue?


Bill

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Moyers & Company On "Winner-Take-All Politics"

If you give even a tiny fraction of a hoot - or if your blood is boiling - over what's happened (and is happening) with the American economy, then you will especially appreciate Bill Moyer's latest show.

Nobody delivers crystal clear explanations of complex subjects better then Bill Moyers, who has come out of retirement because he couldn't stay on the sidelines, and we should be very thankful he has.

He begins his return to TV hosing a series of compelling accounts, the first of which is a series that can be viewed on PBS (search your listings for "moyers") and online Click here (and follow the link to "How Washington made the rich richer at the expense of the middle class").

This is riveting and compelling material that may or may not motivate you, but at the very least you should be aware.


Bill

IRAN: The Next War on Washington’s Agenda Politics

IRAN: The Next War on Washington’s Agenda Politics by Paul Craig Roberts

"In my judgment, the US government’s war preparations are driven by three factors. One is the neoconservative ideology, adopted by the US government, that calls for the US to use its superior military and economic position to achieve world hegemony. This goal appeals to American hubris and to the power and profit that it serves.

A second factor is Israel’s desire to eliminate all support for the Palestinians and for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israel’s goal is to seize all of Palestine and the water resources of southern Lebanon. Eliminating Iran removes all obstacles to Israel’s expansion.

A third factor is to deter or slow China’s rise as a military and economic power by controlling China’s access to energy. It was China’s oil investments in eastern Libya that led to the sudden move against Libya by the US and its NATO puppets, and it is China’s oil investments elsewhere in Africa that resulted in the Bush regime’s creation of the United States Africa Command, designed to counter China’s economic influence with US military influence. China has significant energy investments in Iran, and a substantial percentage of China’s oil imports are from Iran. Depriving China of independent access to oil is Washington’s way of restraining and boxing in China.

What we are witnessing is a replay of Washington’s policy toward Japan in the 1930s that provoked the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan’s bank balances in the West were seized, and Japan’s access to oil and raw materials was restricted. The purpose was to prevent or to slow Japan’s rise. The result was war.

...

We, as Americans, need to ask ourselves what all this is about? Why is our government so provocative toward Islam, Russia, China, Iran? What purpose, whose purpose is being served? Certainly not ours.

...

Where do we go from here? If not to nuclear destruction, Americans must wake up. Football games, porn, and shopping malls are one thing. Survival of human life is another. Washington, that is, “representative government,” consists only of a few powerful vested interests. These private interests, not the American people, control the US government.

That is why nothing that the US government does benefits the American people.

The current crop of presidential contenders, except for Ron Paul, represent the controlling interests. War and financial fraud are the only remaining American Values."

War on Iran: It’s Not A Matter of “If” by Alexander Cockburn


"[referring to the chart on this page] ... Imagine if the Iranians had done this to the US dollar? Can you imagine any American politician who would have refrained from calling this an act of war?

...

As Pierre Sprey remarked to me, “Note also that this is one of those rare but dangerous moments in history when Big Oil and the Israelis are pushing the White House in the same direction. The last such moment was quickly followed by Dubya’s invasion of Iraq.” "

Anyone interested in the history of the start of WWII will also be interested in the discussion of this subject and the links in this article.

But the main point of this article, and others by similarly well-informed people, is that war in the Middle East is far from over. It matters not that this has been my analysis all along - that the Neocon gang who caused the invasion to be launched did indeed bet our farm on their crusade to establish military control of the Middle East - but that now, as we have had years to see this truth, seem completely incapable of doing anything about it.

Talk with your friends, your neighbors, your family, anyone who will listen ... ask if this war is what you want for our world. Do something no matter how small to stop them. If everyone did just a little something, maybe we can make a difference. But if we just sit around and watch this play out we will certainly be very sorry we didn't do something when we had the chance.

Iran: the Neocons Are At It Again by Ralph Nader

"The same neocons who persuaded George W. Bush and crew to, in Ron Paul’s inimitable words, “lie their way into invading Iraq” in 2003, are beating the drums of war more loudly these days to attack Iran."

Herding Americans to War with Iran by Robert Parry

"For many Americans the progression toward war with Iran has the feel of cattle being herded from the stockyard into the slaughterhouse, pressed steadily forward with no turning back, until some guy shoots a bolt into your head."


Bill

Friday, January 6, 2012

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?

Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? by Patrick J. Buchanan

From comments:

"The thesis of "Suicide of a Superpower" is that America is disintegrating right before our very eyes and that it is probably too late to reverse it. So what do Americans have to look forward to?


...

Suffice to say that Pat Buchanan has left no stone unturned in his heroic attempt to define the colossal problems we are facing as a nation and in his effort to present possible solutions."

Read more comments for other opinions and attacks (of course), and then order the book and read what he has to say for yourself. I intend to.


Bill

Monday, January 2, 2012

Can Gift Exchange Fix the Problems of Capitalism and Rebuild our Lost Community?

Can Gift Exchange Fix the Problems of Capitalism and Rebuild our Lost Community? By Charles Eisenstein


"... a gift circle reduces our production of waste. It is ridiculous to pump oil, mine metal, manufacture a table and ship it across the ocean when half the people in town have old tables in their basements. It is ridiculous as well for each household on my block to own a lawnmower, which they use two hours a month, a leaf blower they use twice a year, power tools they use for an occasional project, and so on. If we shared these things, we would suffer no loss of quality of life. Our material lives would be just as rich, yet would require less money and less waste."


This article is an interesting examination of an alternative to economics.


Bill

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Was It Worth It?

Was It Worth It? by Laurence M. Vance

I've taken the same position as Laurence Vance in this article since the pump-up for the invasion of Iraq began.

What I can't believe is that he, I and way too few people understand what happened well enough to sort it out. It is truly amazing to see the mind control exercised by America's information supply in action, and especially in cases like this where the truth is so clear yet so well masked, hidden and spun for the benefit of those who own the presses.

The Lies of War by Jack Random

"We understand at our stage of development that a president cannot apologize for the harm done in the name of our nation."

While I agree with everything said in this article, this one sentence is wrong. Not only can our President apologize for the harm done, he must do so. And furthermore he must put the perpetrators on trial for the war crimes they committed. This must be done because there is one thing we must have at any price: our sense of justice, without which we will free-fall into the abyss.


Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War by Corbett Report
"Far from being a dispassionate observer of these developments, however, the media has in fact been central to increasing those tensions and preparing the public to expect a military confrontation. But as the online media rises to displace the traditional forms by which the public forms its understanding of the world, many are now beginning to see first hand how the media lies the public into war."


It’s time to admit defeat By Tom Engelhardt



Bill