By Dr. Jacques R. Pauwels
Global Research, October 27, 2012
11 December 2011
Myth: The US was forced to declare war on Japan after a totally unexpected Japanese attack on the American naval base in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. On account of Japan’s alliance with Nazi Germany, this aggression automatically brought the US into the war against Germany.
Reality: The Roosevelt administration had been eager for some time to wage war against Japan and sought to unleash such a war by means of the institution of an oil embargo and other provocations. Having deciphered Japanese codes, Washington knew a Japanese fleet was on its way to Pearl Harbor, but welcomed the attack since a Japanese aggression would make it possible to “sell” the war to the overwhelmingly anti-war American public.
An attack by Japan, as opposed to an American attack on Japan, was also supposed to avoid a declaration of war by Japan’s ally, Germany, which was treaty-bound to help only if Japan was attacked. However, for reasons which have nothing to do with Japan or the US but everything with the failure of Germany’s “lightning war” against the Soviet Union, Hitler himself declared war on the US a few days after Pearl Harbor, on December 11, 1941.
Fall 1941. The US, then as now, was ruled by a “Power Elite” of industrialists, owners and managers of the country’s leading corporations and banks, constituting only a tiny fraction of its population. Then as now, these industrialists and financiers – “Corporate America” – had close connections with the highest ranks of the army, “the warlords,” as Columbia University sociologist C. Wright Mills, who coined the term “power elite,”[1] has called them, and for whom a few years later a big HQ, known as the Pentagon, would be erected on the banks of the Potomac River.
Indeed, the “military-industrial complex” had already existed for many decades when, at the end of his career as President, and having served it most assiduously, Eisenhower gave it that name. Talking about presidents: in the 1930s and 1940s, again then as now, the Power Elite kindly allowed the American people every four years to choose between two of the elite’s own members – one labelled “Republican,” the other “Democrat,” but few people know the difference – to reside in the White House in order to formulate and administer national and international policies. These policies invariably served – and still serve – the Power Elite’s interests, in other words, they consistently aimed to promote “business” – a code word for the maximization of profits by the big corporations and banks that are members of the Power Elite.
>complete article<
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Genetic Roulette - The Gamble of our Lives
Are you and your family on the wrong side of a bet?
When the US government ignored repeated warnings by its own scientists and allowed untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health of all living things and all future generations were put at risk by an infant technology.
After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.
This seminal documentary provides compelling evidence to help explain the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children, and offers a recipe for protecting ourselves and our future.
>full presentation<
When the US government ignored repeated warnings by its own scientists and allowed untested genetically modified (GM) crops into our environment and food supply, it was a gamble of unprecedented proportions. The health of all living things and all future generations were put at risk by an infant technology.
After two decades, physicians and scientists have uncovered a grave trend. The same serious health problems found in lab animals, livestock, and pets that have been fed GM foods are now on the rise in the US population. And when people and animals stop eating genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their health improves.
This seminal documentary provides compelling evidence to help explain the deteriorating health of Americans, especially among children, and offers a recipe for protecting ourselves and our future.
>full presentation<
Friday, October 26, 2012
What’s Behind the Presidential Campaign Messages?
Media scholars Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Marty Kaplan weigh in on the rhetoric and realities of two campaigns now in the home stretch, looking to make their cases by any means affordable.
Later, Neil Barofsky, former inspector general in charge of policing the bailout’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), joins Bill to discuss the critical yet unmet need to tackle banking reform and avoid another financial meltdown. >Full show<
Later, Neil Barofsky, former inspector general in charge of policing the bailout’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), joins Bill to discuss the critical yet unmet need to tackle banking reform and avoid another financial meltdown. >Full show<
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
McGovern: He Never Sold His Soul
Posted on Oct 21, 2012
By Chris Hedges
In the summer of 1972, when I was 15, I persuaded my parents to let me ride my bike down to the local George McGovern headquarters every morning to work on his campaign. McGovern, who died early Sunday morning in South Dakota at the age of 90, embodied the core values I had been taught to cherish. My father, a World War II veteran like McGovern, had taken my younger sister and me to protests in support of the civil rights movement and against the Vietnam War. He taught us to stand up for human decency and honesty, no matter the cost. He told us that the definitions of business and politics, the categories of winners and losers, of the powerful and the powerless, of the rich and the poor, are meaningless if the price for admission requires that you sell your soul. And he told us something that the whole country, many years later, now knows: that George McGovern was a good man.
McGovern, even before he ran for president, held heroic stature for us. In 1970 he attached to a military procurement bill the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment, which would have required, through a cutoff of funding, a withdrawal of all American forces from Indochina. The amendment did not pass, although the majority of Americans supported it. McGovern denounced on the Senate floor the politicians who, by refusing to support the amendment, prolonged the war. We instantly understood the words he spoke. They were the words of a preacher.
“Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave,” he said. “This chamber reeks of blood. Every senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval [hospitals] and all across our land—young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes. There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about bugging out, or national honor or courage. It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us.”
McGovern’s moral condemnation was greeted in the chamber with stunned silence. When one senator told McGovern he was personally offended by his remarks, McGovern answered: “That’s what I meant to do.”
>complete article<
By Chris Hedges
In the summer of 1972, when I was 15, I persuaded my parents to let me ride my bike down to the local George McGovern headquarters every morning to work on his campaign. McGovern, who died early Sunday morning in South Dakota at the age of 90, embodied the core values I had been taught to cherish. My father, a World War II veteran like McGovern, had taken my younger sister and me to protests in support of the civil rights movement and against the Vietnam War. He taught us to stand up for human decency and honesty, no matter the cost. He told us that the definitions of business and politics, the categories of winners and losers, of the powerful and the powerless, of the rich and the poor, are meaningless if the price for admission requires that you sell your soul. And he told us something that the whole country, many years later, now knows: that George McGovern was a good man.
McGovern, even before he ran for president, held heroic stature for us. In 1970 he attached to a military procurement bill the McGovern-Hatfield Amendment, which would have required, through a cutoff of funding, a withdrawal of all American forces from Indochina. The amendment did not pass, although the majority of Americans supported it. McGovern denounced on the Senate floor the politicians who, by refusing to support the amendment, prolonged the war. We instantly understood the words he spoke. They were the words of a preacher.
“Every senator in this chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave,” he said. “This chamber reeks of blood. Every senator here is partly responsible for that human wreckage at Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval [hospitals] and all across our land—young men without legs, or arms, or genitals, or faces or hopes. There are not very many of these blasted and broken boys who think this war is a glorious adventure. Do not talk to them about bugging out, or national honor or courage. It does not take any courage at all for a congressman, or a senator, or a president to wrap himself in the flag and say we are staying in Vietnam, because it is not our blood that is being shed. But we are responsible for those young men and their lives and their hopes. And if we do not end this damnable war those young men will some day curse us for our pitiful willingness to let the Executive carry the burden that the Constitution places on us.”
McGovern’s moral condemnation was greeted in the chamber with stunned silence. When one senator told McGovern he was personally offended by his remarks, McGovern answered: “That’s what I meant to do.”
>complete article<
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Saturday, October 20, 2012 -- 5:27 PM EDT
-----
U.S. Officials Say Iran Has Agreed to Nuclear Talks
The United States and Iran have agreed for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.
In an exclusive report in Sunday’s New York Times, Helene Cooper and Mark Landler, citing Obama administration officials, write that Iranian officials have insisted that the talks wait until after the presidential election so that they know which American president they would be dealing with.
News of the agreement comes at a critical moment in the presidential contest. It has the potential to help President Obama make a case that he is nearing a diplomatic breakthrough in the effort to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, but it could pose a risk if Iran is seen as using the prospect of the direct talks to buy time. It is also far from clear that Mr. Obama’s opponent, Mitt Romney, would go through with the negotiation should he win election.
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10
FEDERAL BUDGET
Defense money could be put to better uses
The Oct. 12 article on military spending ("Defense cuts could cost Minnesota 4,000+ jobs") failed to raise critical, related questions. For instance, how do for-profit corporations within the "military industrial complex" use campaign contributions and lobbyists to influence Pentagon spending levels and even the decision to wage war? Could we use federal taxes more effectively to create jobs in non-military sectors? If so, why don't we?
Federal taxes create jobs, but the return on investment differs across job sectors. For instance, a study by University of Massachusetts Amherst found that job losses in that state would be 15 to 20 percent greater if non-military programs were cut instead. In Massachusetts, federal tax dollars create more jobs in education, health care, construction and clean energy than in military spending. Every state should conduct such a study to better understand the impact of proposed federal budget cuts.
Recently, the St. Paul City Council joined 21 U.S. cities, 39 members of the Minnesota Legislature and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in support of shifting federal funding priorities from military operations toward the essential needs of communities. The St. Paul resolution was brought forward by the Minnesota Arms Spending Alternatives Project (MN ASAP), a group led by Prof. Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer.
Ultimately, MN ASAP will pursue support at the state and federal levels.
NATHAN J. NESS, ST. PAUL
Friday, October 19, 2012
Plutocracy Rising
This weekend, Bill explores how the super-rich have willfully confused their self-interest with America's interest, with insight from Chrystia Freeland, author of the new book Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich, and Rolling Stone magazine’s Matt Taibbi.
Following the conversation, Bill looks at the alarming trend of corporate executives who strong-arm their employees to vote as they say. http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-plutocracy-rising/
Following the conversation, Bill looks at the alarming trend of corporate executives who strong-arm their employees to vote as they say. http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-plutocracy-rising/
Thursday, October 18, 2012
“Be
gentle with yourself. You are a child of the Universe. No less than the
trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. And whether or not it
is clear to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and
whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.”
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
America R.I.P.
October 16, 2012 | During the second half of the 20th century the United States was an opportunity society. The ladders of upward mobility were plentiful, and the middle class expanded. Incomes rose, and ordinary people were able to achieve old-age security.
In the 21st century the opportunity society has disappeared. Middle class jobs are scarce. Indeed, jobs of any kind are scarce. To stay even with population growth from 2002 through 2011, the economy needed about 14 million new jobs. However, at the end of 2011 there were only 1 million more jobs than in 2002. Only 426,000 of these jobs are in the private sector. The bulk of the net new jobs consist of waitresses and bartenders and health care and social assistance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the 9 years, employment for waitresses and bartenders increased by 1,188,000. Employment in health care and social assistance increased 3,087,000. These two categories accounted for 1,000% of the net private sector job growth.
>rest of the article<
In the 21st century the opportunity society has disappeared. Middle class jobs are scarce. Indeed, jobs of any kind are scarce. To stay even with population growth from 2002 through 2011, the economy needed about 14 million new jobs. However, at the end of 2011 there were only 1 million more jobs than in 2002. Only 426,000 of these jobs are in the private sector. The bulk of the net new jobs consist of waitresses and bartenders and health care and social assistance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the 9 years, employment for waitresses and bartenders increased by 1,188,000. Employment in health care and social assistance increased 3,087,000. These two categories accounted for 1,000% of the net private sector job growth.
>rest of the article<
Give Peace a Chance
October 15, 2012
Give Peace a Chance
By John Perkins
The Lennon Ono Peace Award ceremonies were inspirational, thought provoking, and deeply emotional. Now, in a hotel room looking out over the Reykjavik harbor at the distant glacier and hearing John Lennon's words "I hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one," I am filled with renewed hope.
As I sat on that stage, I was deeply impressed by the variety of recipients. They ranged in age from early 20s (Pussy Riot) to late 60s (me) and in style from an on-the-ground activist killed for defending her beliefs (Rachel Corrie) to a super-star musician (Lady Gaga) and a controversial writer (Christopher Hitchens). Three were incarcerated in a Russian prison (Pussy Riot) and two were represented by their families because they had passed on (Rachel and Christopher). The one thing they all had in common was that they had been singled out by Yoko Ono. Her commitment to a peace initiative that she and her late husband had started before his death in 1980 set the tone for the day's events. Every speaker called on the people of the world to recognize that if we are to continue living on a planet our children will recognize we must devote ourselves to peace.
Later that evening, I experienced one of those profound moments: a knowing that we are all connected and here on this planet at this time in history for a shared reason. It was during the lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower on a small island off the coast of Iceland and the accompanying music by a local choir, along with the voice of John Lennon singing "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance." There were perhaps a thousand people from all over the world; we shared a bond that stretched from Pole to Pole.
It seems ironic that politicians can convince their followers that the road to security and peace passes through violence. We must, we are told, employ armies to obtain and insure peace. By now we should recognize the lie in that assertion. We know that violence does not beget peace. In the past, it may have stopped brutal dictators, such as Hitler, but today's wars serve to increase the riches of a few, the very wealthy who own the businesses that supply armies and rebuild wrecked economies – and cause misery for the rest of us. Wars can subjugate, intimidate and enslave and, by doing so, appear to force others to follow the rules of the perpetrator of violence; but armies inevitably create resentment, hostility and ultimately more violence.
As I stood there on that tiny island, staring up into the blue light that reached from the Imagine Peace Tower high into the atmosphere, I thought about the responsibility we in the United States share in the peace process. We have a military presence in more than 100 countries. When I visit one of these, people ask how my fellow citizens would feel if Russia or China built bases in California or Florida. Not far from the Peace Tower is a military base the U.S. closed in 2006. Icelanders hold this up as an important moment in their history; it is a point of pride and one of the factors that inspired them to stand up to multinational bankers and refuse to be burdened by debts foisted on them by economic hit men. The largest US military base in Latin America was located in Ecuador. When the lease came up for renewal in 1999, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said he would renew it if the U.S. would grant Ecuador a lease to build its own base in Florida. Washington declined and so did Correa.
Why are Latin American leaders more inclined these days to deal with China than the U.S.? When I ask them this question, the most common answer is "Because China doesn't have a military history on this continent. The U.S. does." The moment of truth has arrived. The current economic crisis has sent a message that we must tighten our belts. Let us slash the military budget. Allow the world to know that John Lennon has been heard. We will imagine peace. We will give it a chance. If we truly want to live in a world that is just, sustainable, and peaceful, we must set the example now. We are the strongest nation on earth. Let us show our strength by laying down our weapons.
Give Peace a Chance
By John Perkins
The Lennon Ono Peace Award ceremonies were inspirational, thought provoking, and deeply emotional. Now, in a hotel room looking out over the Reykjavik harbor at the distant glacier and hearing John Lennon's words "I hope some day you will join us and the world will live as one," I am filled with renewed hope.
As I sat on that stage, I was deeply impressed by the variety of recipients. They ranged in age from early 20s (Pussy Riot) to late 60s (me) and in style from an on-the-ground activist killed for defending her beliefs (Rachel Corrie) to a super-star musician (Lady Gaga) and a controversial writer (Christopher Hitchens). Three were incarcerated in a Russian prison (Pussy Riot) and two were represented by their families because they had passed on (Rachel and Christopher). The one thing they all had in common was that they had been singled out by Yoko Ono. Her commitment to a peace initiative that she and her late husband had started before his death in 1980 set the tone for the day's events. Every speaker called on the people of the world to recognize that if we are to continue living on a planet our children will recognize we must devote ourselves to peace.
Later that evening, I experienced one of those profound moments: a knowing that we are all connected and here on this planet at this time in history for a shared reason. It was during the lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower on a small island off the coast of Iceland and the accompanying music by a local choir, along with the voice of John Lennon singing "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance." There were perhaps a thousand people from all over the world; we shared a bond that stretched from Pole to Pole.
It seems ironic that politicians can convince their followers that the road to security and peace passes through violence. We must, we are told, employ armies to obtain and insure peace. By now we should recognize the lie in that assertion. We know that violence does not beget peace. In the past, it may have stopped brutal dictators, such as Hitler, but today's wars serve to increase the riches of a few, the very wealthy who own the businesses that supply armies and rebuild wrecked economies – and cause misery for the rest of us. Wars can subjugate, intimidate and enslave and, by doing so, appear to force others to follow the rules of the perpetrator of violence; but armies inevitably create resentment, hostility and ultimately more violence.
As I stood there on that tiny island, staring up into the blue light that reached from the Imagine Peace Tower high into the atmosphere, I thought about the responsibility we in the United States share in the peace process. We have a military presence in more than 100 countries. When I visit one of these, people ask how my fellow citizens would feel if Russia or China built bases in California or Florida. Not far from the Peace Tower is a military base the U.S. closed in 2006. Icelanders hold this up as an important moment in their history; it is a point of pride and one of the factors that inspired them to stand up to multinational bankers and refuse to be burdened by debts foisted on them by economic hit men. The largest US military base in Latin America was located in Ecuador. When the lease came up for renewal in 1999, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said he would renew it if the U.S. would grant Ecuador a lease to build its own base in Florida. Washington declined and so did Correa.
Why are Latin American leaders more inclined these days to deal with China than the U.S.? When I ask them this question, the most common answer is "Because China doesn't have a military history on this continent. The U.S. does." The moment of truth has arrived. The current economic crisis has sent a message that we must tighten our belts. Let us slash the military budget. Allow the world to know that John Lennon has been heard. We will imagine peace. We will give it a chance. If we truly want to live in a world that is just, sustainable, and peaceful, we must set the example now. We are the strongest nation on earth. Let us show our strength by laying down our weapons.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Justice, Not Politics
James Balog, one of the world’s premier nature photographers, joins Bill to discuss the erosion of glaciers in Switzerland, Greenland, Iceland, and Alaska. He shares his amazing photos, discoveries, and self-discoveries – including his transformation from climate change skeptic to true believer.
Also on the show, Bill explores a judicial system under partisan attack. Over the last decade, $200 million has poured into judicial campaigns, often to elect or oust state judges. But in Iowa, a bipartisan coalition called Justice Not Politics is fighting back. Its co-founders – Democrat Sally Pederson and Republican Joy Corning – talk with Bill about what’s at stake when justices are at the mercy of partisan passions and money in politics.
Finally, Bill offers some fact-checks to Bill O’Reilly for false statements the Fox News icon made about him during O’Reilly’s public debate with Jon Stewart.
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-justice-not-politics/
Also on the show, Bill explores a judicial system under partisan attack. Over the last decade, $200 million has poured into judicial campaigns, often to elect or oust state judges. But in Iowa, a bipartisan coalition called Justice Not Politics is fighting back. Its co-founders – Democrat Sally Pederson and Republican Joy Corning – talk with Bill about what’s at stake when justices are at the mercy of partisan passions and money in politics.
Finally, Bill offers some fact-checks to Bill O’Reilly for false statements the Fox News icon made about him during O’Reilly’s public debate with Jon Stewart.
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-justice-not-politics/
Thursday, October 11, 2012
How We Can Solve The Palestinian Israeli Problem
This is a feature length Documentary that is part of a bigger whole. It features many of the foremost people speaking out in favor of equality for Palestinians and recognition of Israeli apartheid.
>the film<
>the film<
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
America’s Moral Degeneracy
October 10, 2012 On May 31, 2010, the Israeli right-wing government sent armed military troops to illegally board in international waters Gaza aid ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. The Israelis murdered 8 Turkish citizens and one US citizen in cold blood. Many others were wounded by the forces of “the only democracy in the Middle East.”
Despite the murder of its citizen, Washington immediately took the side of the crazed Israeli government. The Turks had a different response. The prime minister of Turkey, Erdogan, said that the next aid ships would be protected by the Turkish navy. But Washington got hold of its puppet and paid him to shut up. Once upon a time, the Turks were a fierce people. Today they are Washington’s puppets.
We have witnessed this during the past week. The Turkish government is permitting the Islamists from outside Syria, organized by the CIA and Israel, to attack Syria from Turkish territory. On several occasions a mortar shell has, according to news reports if you believe them, fallen just inside the Turkey border. The Turkish military has used the excuse to launch artillery barrages into Syria.
People who with good cause no longer believe the US and western media or the US and western governments think that the mortar shells were fired by US or Israeli operatives, or by the “rebels” they support, in order to give Turkey the excuse to start a NATO war with Syria. A UN sanctioned NATO invasion or air strikes, as in Libya, has been blocked by the Russians and Chinese. But if Syria and Turkey get into a war, NATO must come to the aid of its NATO member, Turkey.
Once again we see that Muslims are easily dominated and slaughtered by Western countries, because Muslim countries are incapable of supporting one another. Instead of supporting one another, Muslim governments accept payoffs to support instead the Christian/Zionist forces of the Western bloc.
Washington knows this, which is one reason why Washington began its assertion of world hegemony in the Muslim Middle East.
In the West, the Ministry of Propaganda continues to talk about the “Syrian revolt.” There is no revolt. What has happened is that the US and Israel have equipped with weapons and sent into Syria Islamists who wish to overthrow the secular Syrian government. Washington knows that if the Syrian government can be destroyed, the country will dissolve into waring factions like Iraq and Libya.
America’s European and Japanese puppet states are, of course, part of Washington’s operation. There will be no complaints from them. But why is the rest of the world content for Washington to interfere in the sovereign affairs of nations to the point of invading, sending in drones and assassination teams, and murdering vast numbers of citizens in seven countries?
Does this acquiescence mean that the world has accepted Washington’s claim that it is the indispensable country with the right to rule the world?
Why, for example, do Russia and Venezuela permit the US government to fund their political opposition?
The one party American state has no political opposition. But imagine if it did. Would Washington tolerate the funding of its opposition by Russia or Venezuela? Obviously not. Those running against America with foreign money would be arrested and imprisoned, but not in Venezuela or Russia, countries where, apparently, treason is legal.
On September 8, Hugo Chavez defeated his American-financed opponent, Henrique Capriles, 54% to 44%.
This would be an amazing margin of victory in a US presidential election. However, in his previous reelection Chavez won by 27%. Obviously, Washington’s money and the propaganda activities of the US-financed Non-Governmental Organizations succeeded in swaying Venezuelans and reducing Chavez’s margin of victory to 10%. Washington’s interference is a massive barrier to leadership in other countries. Fully 44% of the Venezuelan people were too brainwashed or too stupid to vote for their own country’s candidate and voted instead for Washington’s candidate.
It is extraordinary that 44% of the Venezuelan voters voted to become an American puppet state, like Turkey, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Baltics, Scandinavia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Belgium, Taiwan, Columbia, Pakistan, Yemen. Probably, I have left out a few.
As a high government official once told me, “Empire costs us a great deal of money.”
Washington has to pay its puppets to represent Washington instead of their own peoples.
Washington in its hubris forgets that its rule is purchased and not loved. Washington’s puppets have sold their integrity and that of their countries for filthy lucre. When the money runs out, so does the empire.
By then the American people will be as corrupted as the foreign “leaders.” In his review of The United States And Torture, edited by Marjorie Cohn (New York University Press, 2011) in the Fall 2012 Independent Review, Anthony Gregory writes:
“In Reagan’s America, a common theme in Cold War rhetoric was that the Soviets tortured people and detained them without cause, extracted phony confessions through cruel violence, and did the unspeakable to detainees who were helpless against the full, heartless weight of the Communist state. As much as any other evil, torture differentiated the bad guys, the Commies, from the good guys, the American people and their government. However imperfect the U.S. system might be, it had civilized standards that the enemy rejected.”
By 2005, a year after torture photos from Abu Ghraib were leaked, polls of Americans showed that 38% had succumbed to the propaganda that torture was justified in some circumstances. After four more years of neoconservative advocacy of torture, an Associated Press poll reported in 2009 that 52% of Americans approved of torture.
Torture apparently was an instrument of US cold war policy. Torture was taught to Latin American militaries by the US School of the Americas, which operated in Panama and subsequently at Fort Benning, Georgia. However, this was a clandestine operation. It awaited the neoconservative Bush regime for US Department of Justice (sic) attorneys, graduates of the best law schools, to write legal memos justifying torture despite US statutory and international laws prohibiting torture, and for both the president and vice president of the United States to openly acknowledge and justify torture. Some of the criminals who wrote these memos are now teaching in prestigious law schools. One was appointed to the federal judiciary and sits as a judge sentencing others for their offenses.
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.”
Washington still masquerades wearing the white hat, and most of the rest of the world is paid to go along with the masquerade. >paulcraigroberts<
Despite the murder of its citizen, Washington immediately took the side of the crazed Israeli government. The Turks had a different response. The prime minister of Turkey, Erdogan, said that the next aid ships would be protected by the Turkish navy. But Washington got hold of its puppet and paid him to shut up. Once upon a time, the Turks were a fierce people. Today they are Washington’s puppets.
We have witnessed this during the past week. The Turkish government is permitting the Islamists from outside Syria, organized by the CIA and Israel, to attack Syria from Turkish territory. On several occasions a mortar shell has, according to news reports if you believe them, fallen just inside the Turkey border. The Turkish military has used the excuse to launch artillery barrages into Syria.
People who with good cause no longer believe the US and western media or the US and western governments think that the mortar shells were fired by US or Israeli operatives, or by the “rebels” they support, in order to give Turkey the excuse to start a NATO war with Syria. A UN sanctioned NATO invasion or air strikes, as in Libya, has been blocked by the Russians and Chinese. But if Syria and Turkey get into a war, NATO must come to the aid of its NATO member, Turkey.
Once again we see that Muslims are easily dominated and slaughtered by Western countries, because Muslim countries are incapable of supporting one another. Instead of supporting one another, Muslim governments accept payoffs to support instead the Christian/Zionist forces of the Western bloc.
Washington knows this, which is one reason why Washington began its assertion of world hegemony in the Muslim Middle East.
In the West, the Ministry of Propaganda continues to talk about the “Syrian revolt.” There is no revolt. What has happened is that the US and Israel have equipped with weapons and sent into Syria Islamists who wish to overthrow the secular Syrian government. Washington knows that if the Syrian government can be destroyed, the country will dissolve into waring factions like Iraq and Libya.
America’s European and Japanese puppet states are, of course, part of Washington’s operation. There will be no complaints from them. But why is the rest of the world content for Washington to interfere in the sovereign affairs of nations to the point of invading, sending in drones and assassination teams, and murdering vast numbers of citizens in seven countries?
Does this acquiescence mean that the world has accepted Washington’s claim that it is the indispensable country with the right to rule the world?
Why, for example, do Russia and Venezuela permit the US government to fund their political opposition?
The one party American state has no political opposition. But imagine if it did. Would Washington tolerate the funding of its opposition by Russia or Venezuela? Obviously not. Those running against America with foreign money would be arrested and imprisoned, but not in Venezuela or Russia, countries where, apparently, treason is legal.
On September 8, Hugo Chavez defeated his American-financed opponent, Henrique Capriles, 54% to 44%.
This would be an amazing margin of victory in a US presidential election. However, in his previous reelection Chavez won by 27%. Obviously, Washington’s money and the propaganda activities of the US-financed Non-Governmental Organizations succeeded in swaying Venezuelans and reducing Chavez’s margin of victory to 10%. Washington’s interference is a massive barrier to leadership in other countries. Fully 44% of the Venezuelan people were too brainwashed or too stupid to vote for their own country’s candidate and voted instead for Washington’s candidate.
It is extraordinary that 44% of the Venezuelan voters voted to become an American puppet state, like Turkey, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, the Baltics, Scandinavia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Mexico, Belgium, Taiwan, Columbia, Pakistan, Yemen. Probably, I have left out a few.
As a high government official once told me, “Empire costs us a great deal of money.”
Washington has to pay its puppets to represent Washington instead of their own peoples.
Washington in its hubris forgets that its rule is purchased and not loved. Washington’s puppets have sold their integrity and that of their countries for filthy lucre. When the money runs out, so does the empire.
By then the American people will be as corrupted as the foreign “leaders.” In his review of The United States And Torture, edited by Marjorie Cohn (New York University Press, 2011) in the Fall 2012 Independent Review, Anthony Gregory writes:
“In Reagan’s America, a common theme in Cold War rhetoric was that the Soviets tortured people and detained them without cause, extracted phony confessions through cruel violence, and did the unspeakable to detainees who were helpless against the full, heartless weight of the Communist state. As much as any other evil, torture differentiated the bad guys, the Commies, from the good guys, the American people and their government. However imperfect the U.S. system might be, it had civilized standards that the enemy rejected.”
By 2005, a year after torture photos from Abu Ghraib were leaked, polls of Americans showed that 38% had succumbed to the propaganda that torture was justified in some circumstances. After four more years of neoconservative advocacy of torture, an Associated Press poll reported in 2009 that 52% of Americans approved of torture.
Torture apparently was an instrument of US cold war policy. Torture was taught to Latin American militaries by the US School of the Americas, which operated in Panama and subsequently at Fort Benning, Georgia. However, this was a clandestine operation. It awaited the neoconservative Bush regime for US Department of Justice (sic) attorneys, graduates of the best law schools, to write legal memos justifying torture despite US statutory and international laws prohibiting torture, and for both the president and vice president of the United States to openly acknowledge and justify torture. Some of the criminals who wrote these memos are now teaching in prestigious law schools. One was appointed to the federal judiciary and sits as a judge sentencing others for their offenses.
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.”
Washington still masquerades wearing the white hat, and most of the rest of the world is paid to go along with the masquerade. >paulcraigroberts<
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Maimed
Posted on Oct 7, 2012
Chris Hedges' Columns
Chris Hedges gave this talk Sunday night in New York City at a protest denouncing the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. The event, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was led by Veterans for Peace.
Many of us who are here carry within us death. The smell of decayed and bloated corpses. The cries of the wounded. The shrieks of children. The sound of gunfire. The deafening blasts. The fear. The stench of cordite. The humiliation that comes when you surrender to terror and beg for life. The loss of comrades and friends. And then the aftermath. The long alienation. The numbness. The nightmares. The lack of sleep. The inability to connect to all living things, even to those we love the most. The regret. The repugnant lies mouthed around us about honor and heroism and glory. The absurdity. The waste. The futility.
It is only the maimed that finally know war. And we are the maimed. We are the broken and the lame. We ask for forgiveness. We seek redemption. We carry on our backs this awful cross of death, for the essence of war is death, and the weight of it digs into our shoulders and eats away at our souls. We drag it through life, up hills and down hills, along the roads, into the most intimate recesses of our lives. It never leaves us. Those who know us best know that there is something unspeakable and evil many of us harbor within us. This evil is intimate. It is personal. We do not speak its name. It is the evil of things done and things left undone. It is the evil of war.
We do not speak of war. War is captured only in the long, vacant stares, in the silences, in the trembling fingers, in the memories most of us keep buried deep within us, in the tears.
>complete speech<
Chris Hedges' Columns
Chris Hedges gave this talk Sunday night in New York City at a protest denouncing the 11th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. The event, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was led by Veterans for Peace.
Many of us who are here carry within us death. The smell of decayed and bloated corpses. The cries of the wounded. The shrieks of children. The sound of gunfire. The deafening blasts. The fear. The stench of cordite. The humiliation that comes when you surrender to terror and beg for life. The loss of comrades and friends. And then the aftermath. The long alienation. The numbness. The nightmares. The lack of sleep. The inability to connect to all living things, even to those we love the most. The regret. The repugnant lies mouthed around us about honor and heroism and glory. The absurdity. The waste. The futility.
It is only the maimed that finally know war. And we are the maimed. We are the broken and the lame. We ask for forgiveness. We seek redemption. We carry on our backs this awful cross of death, for the essence of war is death, and the weight of it digs into our shoulders and eats away at our souls. We drag it through life, up hills and down hills, along the roads, into the most intimate recesses of our lives. It never leaves us. Those who know us best know that there is something unspeakable and evil many of us harbor within us. This evil is intimate. It is personal. We do not speak its name. It is the evil of things done and things left undone. It is the evil of war.
We do not speak of war. War is captured only in the long, vacant stares, in the silences, in the trembling fingers, in the memories most of us keep buried deep within us, in the tears.
>complete speech<
Friday, October 5, 2012
Hispanic America’s Turn
As the Hispanic American population evolves, so does their political power. Bill goes beyond the numbers with two of our nation’s most popular and influential journalists: Univision’s Jorge Ramos and MarÃa Elena Salinas. The recent Lifetime Emmy Award winners discuss their responsibilities both as reporters and representatives of their culture, and how immigration reform will influence this potentially-decisive voting bloc in November.
Also on the show, Bill shares the story of a young soldier killed in Afghanistan and the Republican congressman he inspired to ask, “Why are we killing kids that don’t need to die?” http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-hispanic-america%E2%80%99s-turn/
Also on the show, Bill shares the story of a young soldier killed in Afghanistan and the Republican congressman he inspired to ask, “Why are we killing kids that don’t need to die?” http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-hispanic-america%E2%80%99s-turn/
Angels Don't Play This HAARP
Dr. Nick Begich is the eldest son of the late U.S. Congressman from Alaska, Nick Begich Sr., and political activist Pegge Begich. He is well known in Alaska for his own political activities. He was twice elected President of both the Alaska Federation of Teachers and the Anchorage Council of Education. He has been pursuing independent research in the sciences and politics for most of his adult life.
Begich received Doctor of Medicine (Medicina Alternitiva), honoris causa, for independent work in health and political science, from The Open International University for Complementary Medicines, Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November 1994.
He co-authored with Jeane Manning the book Angels Don't Play This HAARP; Advances in Tesla Technology. Begich has also authored Earth Rising -- The Revolution: Toward a Thousand Years of Peace and and his latest book Earth Rising II- The Betrayal of Science, Society and the Soul both with the late James Roderick. His latest work is Controlling the Human Mind -- The Technologies of Political Control or Tools for Peak Performance. Begich has published articles in science, politics and education and is a well known lecturer, having presented throughout the United States and in nineteen countries. He has been featured as a guest on thousands of radio broadcasts reporting on his research activities including new technologies, health and earth science related issues. He has also appeared on dozens of television documentaries and other programs throughout the world including BBC-TV, CBC-TV, TeleMundo, and others.
>complete interview<
Begich received Doctor of Medicine (Medicina Alternitiva), honoris causa, for independent work in health and political science, from The Open International University for Complementary Medicines, Colombo, Sri Lanka, in November 1994.
He co-authored with Jeane Manning the book Angels Don't Play This HAARP; Advances in Tesla Technology. Begich has also authored Earth Rising -- The Revolution: Toward a Thousand Years of Peace and and his latest book Earth Rising II- The Betrayal of Science, Society and the Soul both with the late James Roderick. His latest work is Controlling the Human Mind -- The Technologies of Political Control or Tools for Peak Performance. Begich has published articles in science, politics and education and is a well known lecturer, having presented throughout the United States and in nineteen countries. He has been featured as a guest on thousands of radio broadcasts reporting on his research activities including new technologies, health and earth science related issues. He has also appeared on dozens of television documentaries and other programs throughout the world including BBC-TV, CBC-TV, TeleMundo, and others.
>complete interview<
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Teach Your Children
Tula and Roberto originally met each other through our version of "One Love" around the world. Now they collaborate on this version of "Teach Your Children" from Crosby Stills and Nash. This song is the perfect message for PFC Day and everyday-- teach our children with love and we build a better world together, One heart and one song at a time. We must teach our children love & peace by our own example, help to restore harmony to humanity.Now more so than ever good over evil has such a clear focus.We must make a pledge to continue to expose the evil forces, bring them out into the light.We can We will and We must work together here and all across the globe WE ARE ONE. >listen to the harmony<
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