The truth is what it ought to be

I'm a big fan of Phantom of the Opera, and I was just thinking about one of my favorite quotes from the music of the play, which says "... that the truth is what it ought to be"

That's one of those phrases that's hard to get out of your mind, once it's planted. Reminds of a philosophy professor telling the freshman class that they will not be able to unlearn what they are about to learn, so tread carefully.

Truth is the key and most interesting word of the phrase, of course.

All my life, I've searched for truth. Sometimes at great expense, and sometimes it was perhaps just ordinary curiosity about things.

What's happened, to my astonishment, is that the longer I live, the more I see the gulf between the truth as I've learned it, and the world around me. Looks to me like most people are actually programmed. Maybe not as far gone as the Manchurian Candidate, but when I argue with someone over some fact and I know he's quoting Fox News (and that's just one, ask Phil Donohue about that), and he really believes those lies and distortions, and what that person is close to me for some reason, it really hurts.

Well - so, you know what I do out of that frustration? I write. Mostly on paper for future reference, and I suppose blog entries. I've been in forums, with fellow employees in the corporate world, and software developers in the consulting world, and I've learned from these experiences, which I'll also write about one day.


Bill

Iran

The boys who cry “Holocaust” The same neocon hawks who lied us into Iraq are using the ultimate argument-stopper to push war with Iran By Gary Kamiya

"When hawks begin beating the drums for war in the Middle East, Israel is usually a big reason why. That was true in the run-up to the war in Iraq, and it is doubly true with the current hysteria over Iran. Despite disingenuous claims to the contrary, the only reason the U.S. is even talking about war with Iran is Israel. As the invaluable M.J. Rosenberg, who knows the working of the Israel lobby as only a former card-carrying member can, notes, “It is impossible to find a single politician or journalist advocating war with Iran who is not a neocon or an AIPAC cutout. (They’re often both.)”

Ever since the International Atomic Energy Agency released its overhyped, old-news report on Iran’s nuclear program, Israel’s amen corner in the U.S. has been loudly calling for war.

If American politics did not contain an enormous blind spot, no one would pay any attention to what these discredited ideologues have to say. The Iraq war they championed turned out to be one of the biggest foreign-policy disasters in U.S. history. Their ignorant and Islamophobic view of the Middle East is as breathtaking as their bland willingness to commit America to yet another ruinous war against a Muslim country, this time one four times larger than Iraq and with more than twice as many people. They have a demonstrated track record of complete failure.

Yet these incompetent militarists are still taken seriously. And the reason is simple: They purport to be supporters of Israel. In American politics, you can get away with even the most cracked war-mongering as long as you claim to be “pro-Israel.” And the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card for anything having to do with Israel is the Holocaust."

The lunatic solution: attack Iran

A reasonable solution: get rid of all nukes in the Middle East (and then keep going ...)

What do you think will actually happen?

The media and Iran: familiar mindlessness A new Post story relies on anonymous government sources to spout the latest Persian-Hitler fear-mongering By Glenn Greenwald

"What is just as clear is that America’s vaunted Watchdog Media is no impediment to this continuous chest-beating, fear-mongering and demonization effort. Quite the opposite: just as they did in the run-up to the attack on Iraq, they are (with some rare exceptions) eagerly assuming their actual role as subservient, uncritical amplifiers of government messaging, and will dutifully serve that function wherever this road leads."

Glenn Greenwald is a great thinker and an excellent writer, but he seems to miss the bigger picture here: the same people who control Congress also control the media. To say this gang is "Zionist-heavy" is an understatement.



Where's the music?
------------------

Have you wondered why there aren't any anti-war songs on the charts, or a single series anti-war movie (with a vast amount of truth as fodder) in the theaters? If you're old like me you'll remember the 60's and that it was quite the opposite in music and movies. Have we changed? I would have throught we'd have become more peaceful, but quite the opposite has actually occured. Mind-numbing when you think about it, that ownership of the air waves, the big screen and -- too soon -- the Internet could actually be so dominated, so controlled by these interests that they can twist not only the truth but people's minds as well. I know too many people who watch Fox News (clear here for an interesting story about Fox News.


Bill

The Obama Deception

The New York Times Calls The Obama Deception “An Antigovernment Film” by Saman Mohammadi

Scroll down to the 2nd video on this page, below "Watch The Obama Deception:"

The title introduces the topic well enough, and clearly makes the case for Obama being nothing more or less than a public face for the same money people who have hugely advanced the police state and desperate poverty afflicting so many people here and around the world today, among other evils. They are the robber barons.

Alex Jones makes a good case documenting who they are, as well as the evils of demagogues who arise from the ashes to make matters considerably worse.

We're not going to find or get a "strong leader", nor do we want one.

What we want, what we need, is a money-free election process that will allow us first to build and prioritize a list of issues we care about, and second to elect people from among us most willing and capable to tackle the issues and solutions we do badly need. And we need to hold them accountable for their actions.

Can we do this before it's really too late? I'm hopeful but skeptical.

Bill

Crisis in Afghanistan

A crisis of trust and cultural incompatibility by McClatchy

"A study of mutual perceptions of Afghan National Security Force Personnel and U.S. Soldiers in understanding and mitigating the phenomena of ANSF-Committed Fratricide Murders"

I can't imagine a more damning report of the state of affairs between our soldiers and the people of Afghanistan. I say this from experience, having lived and fought with the Vietnamese Regional Forces (RF's) in Vietnam in 1967-8. Reading this report and comparing it with my experience, I'm actually shocked at how bad Afghanistan is compared to Vietnam. I didn't it was possible for a situation to be so much worse.

What the heck are we doing in Afghanistan, anyway?

Okay, standing back and looking at the big picture of the military invasion of the Middle East (which is what has really been happening), Afghanistan was a convenient launching point for the larger plan, the invasion and seizure of military authority in the Middle East. Afghanistan was simply the most arguable case used by the warmongers to get their invasion launched. As history has recorded, Afghanistan was dropped like a hot potato early on as the invasion moved on to one of it's larger targets, Iraq, and the real power centers of the Middle East.

Then, as history has also recorded, the invasion of Iraq didn't go so well, and the day finally came when the troops had to be withdrawn. The warmongers weren't about to let our troops come home, because they knew - and we know - that once the troops are brought home from the Middle East, nobody will be able to send them back, so they parked them in Afghanistan, to keep them busy while they whipped up the next phase of their grand invasion plan, apparently targeting Iran. And, to spread things out, as is now being reported, they are also deploying some troops in Africa as well - gotta find enough to keep them busy until the next phase of the planned invasion can be launched. That step today is focused on Iran, but it may change. What wouldn't change is this: they - the warmongers - are not - ever - going to call it quits and give up their primary objective, which again is to establish military authority in the Middle East. Israel demands this of us, their minions.

Bill

"Nuclear Option" Against Iran's Economy Paves Way for War

"Nuclear Option" Against Iran's Economy Paves Way for War By Kate Gould

An excellent review of the status of the major push underway to start a war with Iran.

Note: Iran will give up their nuke program if Israel does the same. Gotta wonder why this otherwise well-informed article doesn't mention this, given it's a game changer. If we really want peace, non-proliferation treaty is the way to go. Continue to course and it will mean more war.

Is anyone else wondering how long our military can make life miserable for millions of people before they get really, really mad and find some way to strike back? I'm amazed it's been this long. But then, the warmongers love more war, so maybe a strike back didn't happen (yet) because they don't want to provoke people with trillions to spend on killing them.

I guess a question of some hour is going to be "will those millions of enemies we've created around the world find a way to strike us back?" Or is the question "when"?

Can we stop the madness now, or is it too late?

Can you say: ELECTION CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM to everyone who will listen?

Bill

Federal debt tops $15 trillion

Federal debt tops $15 trillion By Stephen Dinan

You may not know this, given all the attention paid to far more trivial matters, but think about this:

"Mr. Obama is averaging a debt increase of more than $1.5 trillion a year during his term in office, compared with an average of $612.4 billion for Mr. Bush and $192.5 billion a year under President Clinton."

And there's the matter of the trillions of dollars in junk paper from the mortgage ripoff still in the system.

And pouring untold billions into their lost-cause crusade for military authority in the Middle East

And all those jobs shipped overseas that made some very greedy people very wealthy while leaving America with what may come to depression-level unemployment with millions of people earning less then the cost of basic living.

Click here for a chart showing the National debt.

Update: See this article: 1 Through 30 – The Coming U.S. Financial Crisis By The Numbers

Update 2: See The Hubris of Attacking Syria by Doug Bandow

"Moreover, America no longer can afford to fight all the wars promoted by Washington’s ivory-tower warriors. Uncle Sam is broke. The national debt is $15 trillion. Social Security and Medicare account for around $107 trillion in unfunded liabilities. A host of other liabilities loom large.

Economist Laurence Kotlikoff figures that the American government’s total debts and unfunded liabilities total $211 trillion. Added to this is the cost of Washington’s outsize military budget—half of the world’s spending, double the real outlays of a decade ago, ..."

What to do?

Support Occupy Wall Street! Get the message through to them that election campaign finance reform is a solution to many problems. There are very smart people in America that are willing and able perform for public service and not the special interests and corporations. We need to find them and get them in office without delay.

And if we're going to regain any sense of justice, we need to be putting some very big crooks in jail.


Bill

U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler

Veterans Day: Thanks but No Thanks by Tim Kelly

On veteran's day, let's remember the words of a real hero: USMC General Butler:

"Eighty years ago, U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, lamenting his career, said,

"I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents."

Butler expanded on his thoughts in “War Is A Racket,” a book describing how the U.S. military is often used, not to defend the country, but to advance the narrow interests of the political and financial elite. Although his book was concerned primarily with America’s entry into World War I, the general’s conclusions could be applied to all American wars of the past century"

Bill