Monday, December 26, 2011

Solutions Are Not Consumer Items

Solutions to societal problems are not consumer items, packaged and boxed neatly, advertised and sold for your consumption.  Solutions are not pre-determined; they are derived by processes that may not appear linear, seem static, and create any number of contrasts.  A path forward is marked by twists, turns, and backtracking.  Nothing is a forgone conclusion, for we determine the future. 

At a time when propaganda reigns, technology subjugates, and corporate oligarchs maim, the only thing that's certain is pain.  Such is life.  Giving up hope holds appeal, but does nothing.  Resistance is one option, building a better world another.  How are they intertwined, I wonder?  Maybe resistance does nothing.  Maybe surrender is the wisest choice.  How to fight a fight without fighting, goes the riddle.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Conversations with Professor Paul Zarembka: 9/11 and The State of The Truth Movement

Last week, I had the chance to sit down with University of Buffalo Professor of Economics, Paul Zarembka to talk about 9/11 truth and the current state of the truth movement.  We had a fruitful conversation spanning several topics, touching on aspects of 9/11, historical perspective, and what will become of the truth movement and the police state.

For some background on Paul Zarembka's areas of focus, please visit his website here.  He has published several papers on 9/11 and a book titled The Hidden History of 9/11.  He gave a presentation recently at the Toronto Hearings about evidence of insider trading prior to 9/11, which is available to watch here.

To begin our conversation, I asked what his current level on involvement was in the truth movement and what kind of contacts he maintained in Buffalo.  Buffalo is a rust belt town with a powerful upper class, a sizeable middle class, and an even larger lower class.  It would seem that the truth movement would take hold very well here, but this has not manifested itself like I would have imagined ten years down the line.  The middle class seems to be burdened by a form of group think that skews perceptions of international and deep events, a factor of which would be the quality of both mainstream media information and local news television and print media.  The Buffalo News is owned by Warren Buffet and they have apparently chosen a USA Today, made-for-TV audience business model.  Pictures of celebrities and sports stars and other culture fodder pollutes the uppermost four inches of the front page.  The only decent alternative would be the weekly publication Artvoice, but they still wade around the shallows of liberal moderate righteous-ism.  Back to the question at hand, what is Zarembka's position within the local truth movement?  His answer is very telling to our situation.  For years and years, most of the truth movement has been a non-localized, internet-based form of indirect communication, where the community has mostly corresponded via a relatively small number of websites.  Most of Zarembka's contacts are not located in Buffalo, but he indicated that this is now beginning to change.  He shared the story of recently coming into contact with Barry Miller, a local signatory of Architect and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, through Richard Gage, founder of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth.  Richard Gage traveled to Buffalo to give a presentation on the physics of the World Trade Center collapses, which he rightly asserts are controlled demolitions.  I don't know the details of their correspondence to date, but the connection is there.  The Toronto Hearings took place the following weekend, where both Gage and Zarembka gave presentations.  Zarembka also shared with me a new local publication called Brain Stream Media, dedicated to covering the all the issues we need to confront in this 'brave new world' with the integrity and courage the dinosaur print media organizations lack.  It's funny how major news organizations undermine their own futures by failing to do their jobs by choice - MSM, you are killing yourselves.  If you want to stay alive, it might befit you to speak the truth.

The next topic of conversation centered on why 9/11 truth has not gained as much traction as one might think in the United States.  Zarembka noted a few points, the first of which he related an anecdote.  "I've lived for a considerable time in Europe.  Europeans have the deep understanding and knowledge of a nefarious culture within the government.  This is very old knowledge and very deep," he said as he gestured to his chest with his hands.  He then related the example of the Germans sending German prisoners across Polish lines in Polish uniforms to then shoot back into Germany at German soldiers to start World War II.  He then went on to note that Americans suffer from an imperial mentality that informs them that the idea that 9/11 would be carried out by our own government is "beyond the pale."  To add to this point, psychologists have pointed out that this worldview is a form of pride, the idea that "we Americans" are somehow exceptional from the rest of the world.  This idea, if not altogether wrong, is at least archaic and not based in reality.  Freedom is a pursuit, not a destination.

I posed two questions following these conversations, somewhat larger questions.  The first was, "What do you think 9/11 is all about?"  Zarembka sat in silence for about ten seconds, pondering the question, staring into the space about three feet in front of his chest, and then said somewhat slowly and quietly, "I don't know."  I guess none of us really know, which contributes to the pursuit of 9/11 truth, but I volunteered several different answers in the wake of his response:  it could be war for oil, geopolitical strategy, total state control, revamping the military, protecting empire and hegemonic rule, or some combination of any of those.  Or is 9/11 just a historically significant manifestation of greed and the desire for power?  Unfortunately we haven't gotten a "there there" quite yet.    9/11 wasn't the beginning of the mess we now find ourselves in, it is just a manifestation of evil, a tool that has been used to further create the conditions for the hell we are now surrounded by.  People planned 9/11 in backrooms of D.C. and God knows where else, for years.

The next question I posed was, "How do we fix this?"  Zarembka had an easier time answering this, if only because he relied on Marxist theory to point to an answer.  Due to his Marxist studies, he stated that he believed the locus of change rested in workers.  Workers are the ones who will force the system to change, a very simple concept really, but one that holds appeal to someone like me because I am a "worker,"  someone who shows up and gets paid by the hour to work.  Pretty simple.  I would also argue that work is a distraction much of the time due to the money system, and that full employment is absolutely unnecessary, but the rationale that the working class are the ones that hold the keys to widespread revolution or change holds appeal.  In attempting to understand, from this Marxist perspective, how the working class might hold the keys to revolution, he offered an example from the 1930's, when the U.S. working classes became so enraged at everything that they started making connections to the bigger picture of socioeconomic distress.  Like today, working class people are slowly moving in a direction of deeper understanding of the issues they face, how they are all interrelated, and the fact that this situation is both unsustainable and needs to change.  The skullduggery unleashed by the mainstream media, the propagandists, and the puppet politicians everyday just illustrate that the balance is tipping, that they are fighting to stave off a collapse of their own system.  The harder they fight, the easier it is for us to win.  The sooner this system breaks, we will rise like a phoenix from the ashes. 

Two final notes from our conversations.  I brought up the issue of surveillance and whether or not he thought it was an issue people like him or I had to worry about.  While we agreed that it probably wasn't worth their time or money to deal with people like us, we still noted the existence of data banking systems, algorithm based profiling, and the PATRIOT Act intelligence agency spy powers.  He said if they really worry about anyone it would be people like April Gallop and Barry Jennings (now dead...), but they definitely keep tabs on the truth movement.  He made a final point about surveillance by referring to a 9/11 Truth conference in 2006, where keynote speaker William Pepper, attorney for the King family, revealed insights into how deeply embedded government agents can be.  Furthermore, he cautioned the conference attendees that, "This group, more than any other that I can think of, in terms of a movement, is going to be infiltrated, is infiltrated, and there are going to be all kinds of efforts to subvert your work, all kinds of efforts to corrupt your work, and all kinds of efforts to discredit you.  Please understand that and take it in the spirit in which it's being given, because this is what will happen and probably is happening, so, please, your work is too important, your mission is too precious, be careful in every aspect of the work, make sure your allegation, your claims are well-founded, because if they are not, you will be discredited."  Thank you to Professor Paul Zarembka for your time and insights.  "This is the beginning of the beginning."

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Violence Begets Violence

Violence begets violence, so we are confined to peaceful means.  Add to that the militarization of the police and the criminalization of dissent and, voila, you have a recipe for no justice or progress.  How can we fix this?

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Dignity and Humility of Being Human

It is humbling to be human.  The simple things, like fingernails, having a physical body that occupies space.  The similarities all people share, the teeth, the act of washing oneself even, all so humbling.  The little things that take up our time that we have to do as part of being human.  The little things we do that are sacred, even if we do not pay attention to them every time, walking one foot after the other, adorning ourselves, cutting hair and nails, having a belly button.  We all have dignity and share a similar story.  We are human.  I am thankful for this gift.

The symmetry of our faces, of our bodies.  Even animals delight in the symmentry.  We resemble grasshoppers when you get down to it.  We have the same desires, needs:  food, a mate, a home.  The desires for love, safety, meaning.  What we do to find these, and live with them, forever and always.  Unmistakeable, Undeniable, there.  Presence, essence. 

The gestures we offer one another, as a token of love, a token of ourselves.  If not for another, then for who?  Without another, we wouldn't be.  All we do that is solitary, belongs to others.  Is there any act that does not truly exist for others?  The impossibility of escaping the fact that selfishness is a puzzle piece that fits in no puzzle.  If I were the only person in the universe, I would see myself and demand that I create another like myself - to witness, for me to witness, to create.  All it takes is a moment, a glance at our fleeting physicality, to understand.  We are never alone, the divine path we inhabit.  There is no other way.  I take comfort in the sanctity of this moment. 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Obama Is A Traitor, Now Is Not the Time for Political Moderatism

After having a short political conversation with an uncle today, I noticed he revealed a few things about what is at stake in the run-up to the 2012 election.  I don't know if he classifies himself as Demoncrat or Repugnantcan, but he said he wouldn't vote for Ron Paul but the Repub candidates would probably force him to vote for Obama.  I replied that Obama should be impeached, which he patly disagreed with.  I followed with explaining that Obama's first National Economic Advisor was Larry Summers, an instrumental figure in deregulating the derivatives market.  He replied, "I was wondering how nobody had been prosecuted yet," while scratching his head and looking to the ceiling.  Um, because the government has been hijacked, Uncle Tom. 

If the yet-to-be-awakened moderate/liberal/softie Obama types still have trust in Obama, we are screwed.  My uncle said he would vot Obama (the traitor) back into office, based on a lack of another suitable candidate.  While my opinion is that Ron Paul is the only hope for the election, due to his understanding of the monetarist/militarist coup we have been subjected to, people like my uncle just dont't want to agree with some of his policies.  Ron Paul has suggested some radical ideas, deterring moderates all over, but the fact remains that he is the only possible candidate that will address the real problems we face.  There are times for restraint and moderation, but 2011 and 2012 are not them. 

In the same conversation, my uncle mentioned other things like NPR, Talk of the Nation, gay marriage, and a few others subjects, which tell me one thing - we need to establish a more persuasive and urgent discourse.  We need to offer Grade A meat in the face of MSM Grade D.  Would you like Grade D or Grade A?  The modern liberal, mediocre, projected guiltism, I'm so nice/equal/righteous/just/smart/liberal, how dare you attitude makes me sick (I'm not ascribing all these qualities to my uncle, but I see this sentiment all over the place), but it's the skid mark of the poop excreted from NPR, BBC, Politico, HuffPo, DailyKos, and other poop slingers of great esteem.  I'm not even worried about the traitorous major media outlets - they're up to their eyeballs in treasonous lies - how I would love to have one-on-one conversations with those crooks in charge.  Anyway, such a softie attitude to everything political yields nothing - it's part of why he's okay with voting for Obama again.  he isn't aware of Obama's campaign donors and Wall Street cabinet members.  I mean, Larry FuckOurFuture Summers?  We need to convince the moderates that their savior-in-grace Obama is a huge part of the problem and is not worth a vote, no matter who is on the other ticket.  Insert voting/non-voting debate here.  My uncle also mentioned that he thought Obama was just too politically afraid to do anything.  I don't necessarily think that is the main problem, even though it is a problem.  I think the main problem is that he's bought and paid for and he's being kept in line.  I don't know how he sleeps at night.  Whatever, the point is that without bringing the Obamanites into the anti-Obama fold, we will continue to suffer from the inertia that prevents our movement from gaining momentum.  By agreeing to the belief that Obama is not a huge part of the problem now, moderates fail to really see what's going on.  We need to destroy the Obama myth, and fast.  We need to destroy the internal tendency to relinquish our own political power to people like Obama, Romney, or any other shill.  They are not on our side, they are the enemy.

Light in the Darkness, Ennio Morricone - La Bambola

"These are the times that try men's souls."  Let us not overlook the magnificence of the goals we seek, justice and truth, for we toil not in vain.  Like those who have come before, we chase these principles for posterity.  We are lights in the darkness, and we have no choice to shine that light.

Back on the East Coast, Hegelian Dialectic, We Want Our Future Back

Arrived home late last night.  Back on the East Coast for a month.  Will be in NYC for potentially a week, possibly more, after this weekend, looking forward to it, but more than anything I am looking to get real and push the envelope.  

What we are seeing in the world today with the political reactionarism is very simple.  Blowback, you could call it, a response, an inevitability, what is referred to as the Hegelian dialectic - problem, reaction, solution.  The government gets hijacked, people's futures are stolen, people want them back and fight for them.  This is a war and we will win.  

Militarized police are impossible to negotiate with, and they are not primary targets.  Granted, with watching developments like Scott Olsen being shot in the head by police, it is easy to want to bring violence upon the protectors of the system, the police.  The thing is, how can we bypass the police to achieve the aims of justice?  The federal politicians are the ones fucking us, among many others, but let me make this clear - we are not making it clear enough that we will not stand for the injustice any longer.  Maybe I need more patience, sure, but let's get organized to take over the power centers.  Our love affair with indirect democracy, for the time being, is over.  At this juncture, we are pursuing direct democracy out of sheer necessity - the politicians aren't doing their jobs so we will do it for ourselves.  And we will replace them. 

To quote Bobby D, "Your old road is rapidly aging, please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand."  A message for those who go against the changes being pursued by people such as myself and those in the Occupy movements, it will become clear in time that you stand no chance against us.  We are a multitude and we want our future back.  

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Fear Arrests, Hope Liberates

Just an idea I've been thinking about recently.  Fear arrests progress, action, moving forward.  We think we will benefit from operating out of fear, but the fact is fear only prevents people from manifesting true potential.  Fear is defeat, no matter how difficult things seem.  Hope is the way out of fear.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

General Wesley Clark: Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years, James Woolsey Fingers Iraq 9/12/2001

Forget that Bush Jr.'s first Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill revealed that war plans for Iraq existed since the first National Security Council meeting.  Forget that Obama's first National Economic Advisor Larry Summers has culpability in the crime of deregulating the derivative market.  Forget all your wistful notions of circumstances gone by.  This picture is big, and it's not free.

We live in a three tier system, where a small subsection of humanity creates policy that primarily dictates the characteristics of the outer two tiers.  This paradigm is not new. 

Time passes in a linear fashion.  Activites, such as war or peace, consume people's time.  It depends on the person, how they choose to spend their time.

Some activities must be ceased, some others only need to be done right. 

(General Wesley Clark details one of the Rumsfeld "snowflake" memos, making the DoD aware of war plans for seven countries.)

g
(Clinton era CIA director James Woolsey fingering Iraq on the eve of 9/11, not once, at least twice, and maybe three times, for the crime of 9/11.)

Sunday, October 23, 2011

John Bolton: America's Wars Are For Oil

Oh, wow, John Bolton, thanks for the revelation!  All these wars are for oil, if you hadn't noticed, among other plausible justifications such as geopolitical control and revamping the military and god-knows-what on the financial side.  However, you cannot build true prosperity off destruction of whole countries for some fucking oil.  We need to think outside the box to solve our energy problems, not ruin countries and maim and kill millions.  Sorry, neocons, get a new modus operandi.

Avengelism, Rebellion, Going Over the Edge

I have been theorizing how to overcome all this economic slavery/eternal war bullshit that a small segment of our society thinks is great.  For people like me, it simply comes down to fighting this war (and it is a war, declared by the haves on the have nots, right Warren Buffet?) on two fronts, one against the rogue political and corporate entities fucking our collective future, and one fighting to wake people up to this fact.  The thing is, with such asymmetric power vis-a-vis the State to exercise such things as, say, political assasinations, war, and murder inc., we must focus on the idea front, to achieve power in numbers.  The inertia of a police state, a mostly docile population, thanks to the economic slavery system, and last but not least the assholes in the MSM who think ruining a national psyche is a rich activity - these things confine this movement to peaceful means.  And there is power in numbers, but it is a matter of reaching critical mass, which is inevitable but still remains in the future somewhere.  This is why it is a two front war, because we need to reach critical mass by first bringing into the fold the same people the power elite are fighting to keep in the dark.  People like me are bound to a trajectory of avenging the crimes of the organized political/corporate kleptocratic, oligarchic war party.  May we call ourselves Avengelists.

I can look to the 2012 election and make some assumptions about what will happen.  If Ron Paul is on a ticket, Republican, Independent, Non-Fascist, Whatever Party, I will be voting for him and I pray he wins.  But, if Ron Paul is not on a ticket, I can guarantee you there will be riots in the streets.  Everyone is sick of the bullshit, whether they have accurate understandings of the source of their woes or not.  If we are handed another rigged election, which will be clear once the Republicans select a candidate, at that point if it not Ron Paul there are going to be some problems.  Civil disobedience, rioting, political violence, vandalism and other guerrila tactics will be resorted to.  This is the first front of the war against the oligarchs and it will manifest itself if need be.  However, peace is the first resort.  But, if we are handed another non-choice I can tell you people aren't going to sit at home and go to work the next day like normal.  There will be reactionaries if it's an Obama/Romney nonchoice.  Hell, it's probably in their cards to put Paul on the Republican ticket just to string people along with enough hope until election day, as a way of buying time against political upheaval.  If anyone but Ron Paul wins the election, you can expect all the people like me to express their dissatisfaction in more serious ways than with only words.  Mark my words.

One final point, about the money system.  The shackles of continual and endless debt keep countless people under the thumb of the system while stealing their opportunity for improved economic/social/environmental circumstances.  If we are constantly on the edge from this money system, why don't we just go over the edge and start living beyond the dollars, beyond the slavery, let it implode.  How can we go over the edge to pressure the system?  If we make it clear the money system is making people destitute by choosing poverty over worthless, pointless jobs, maybe that action will be like going over the edge.  Stop playing the game.  An addendum to this idea is the obvious, more proactive choice to start dealing with truer forms of wealth (i.e. commodities, physical capital, precious metals).  The point remains that as long as we continue to play the game, we're getting rooked.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Going Going, Back Back, to Wall Street, Wall Street

I'll be heading New York City ways in two weeks.  I plan on spending as much time as I can talking, musing, and sussing it out with the people down in Zuccotti Park.  As much as I feel I am a part of "their" movement somehow, I am thousands of miles removed from it.  A fixation on where I live comes with ease, but I know there is serious work being done in New York that I have to contribute to.  Some things I would like to see as a result of the Wall St. protests:

1.)  Develop the ethos we need to eradicate the prevailing dichotomies inhibiting discourse.
2.)  Determine the most essential forms of wealth in all physical, metaphysical, natural, and future categories.
3.)  Establish a framework for political reconciliation, prosecution, and amnesty.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Notes from A Small Town Protest

Last weekend, I participated in a protest in the spirit of the Occupy protests in New York.  Some realizations I had about the problems we experience, day in day out:

Fiat money is a distraction.  It provides a foundation for debt slavery, where people become shackled to a future of menial, demeaning, and compromising tasks that steal the opportunity for unique creation, all for the salvation of having enough dollars for x,y, & z.  You could technically take all your fiat money and burn it and all your wealth would be gone.  There are better forms of value we should focus on.

War is like any of other activity, choose a better one.

Bernanke, stop messing with everyone's future.

--

I live in a small community - I saw Dick Cheney today small.  Noticing his Lexus immediately, he drove by in silence wearing a baseball cap, the brim tilted somewhat lower than his natural gaze.  How many questions and how few answers, I think.  I struggle all the time with policies this man has enacted and we live within a fifteen mile radius.  Talk about a gap.  Something elusive occupies the space between us. 

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Walstreetpro Redux, Jon Huntsman on Job Creation, Felonious Monk Rants

After getting aquainted with Walstreetpro, aka Kevin Rowland, via Zerohedge on Friday, I'd like to share his "Greatest Fuckin' Hits" for some comedic relief and to vicariously live through breaking lots and lots of Chinese-made products.  Virtual products, I like to call them, the Chinese, WTO-sanctioned crap that ends up in a landfill immediately because it doesn't actually work, or breaks upon first use.

Then there's Jon Huntsman in the news still campaigning on creating jobs at home, even though he was a major force behind China's accession to the WTO.  That's some doublespeak if I've heard it:  make no mistake about it, Huntsman Corp. has huge operations in China as a direct result of the WTO accession.  Also, his mention of attacking Iran over nuclear aspirations raises some suspicions over its timing, coinciding with the Eric Holder's accusations against two individuals for an assassination plot.  There's the ol' turrurist rationale, blame the ragheads for some pre-crime - what a charade.  Either way, the fact that Huntsman campaigns on job creation at home is seriously ironic considering his business history. 


For your entertainment:



Along similar lines, Felonious Monk:

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Obama Press Conference Word Cloud, October 6, 2011


Obama seems to say folks a lot, which is nothing new, but it just became pretty clear to me reading through today's press conference.  Frustration is another good word they've been floating around, with Obama, Biden, and Bernanke noting in recent days the "frustrations" of the protesters in the occupy movements.  But the clincher of Obama's press conference today was, of course, his empathetic shrug, "[A] lot of practices going on weren’t against the law."  Were those laws maybe repealed by people like Larry Summers with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act?  

Without further mention of anything that might have happened in the past, Obama only wants to look forward to stimulate job growth the best way he knows how.  Spend another obscene amount of money that isn't yours.  But, people are over money and jobs;  people want justice, people want confidence in their institutions, and people want trust in their leaders.  And, unfortunately, you, Mr. President, have given nobody, except your 'folks' like Larry Summers and co., the slightest measure of any of these foundations of a social contract.  And other than that, you're so concerned at looking forward to next week's Senate vote for your jobs bill act, you absolutely fail to note the historical context of the criminal activity that has taken place threatening the economy.  Your next step should probably be either to a.) prosecute bank CEO's and others who knowingly gamed the system, or b.) resign.  You are after all, the President, the highest commanding officer of the country.  Your 'folks' definitely tell you what to do, so I expect more silence emanating from the White House concerning any investigations or prosecutions.  You're probably too busy worrying about covering your ass to light a fire under anyone else's.

But, I love the word cloud: "American People Know."  Yes, they do, Mr. President.  The American people know.  Game's over. 


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Deepak Chopra @OccupyWallSt.: "I Think We Need to Create a Whole Culture of Social Entrepreneurship"


"I think we need to create a whole culture of social entrepreneurship, an entrepreneurship that is based on sustainability, social justice, on economic empowerment of the poor, on love and on compassion, and, you know, going after the basic ideas of truth, goodness, beauty, harmony and evolution."  -Deepak Chopra

Charlie Chaplin - "The Greatest Speech Ever Made"

The Occupy Protests: Silence and Injustice Will No Longer Be Tolerated

What's next for these 'Occupy' protests popping up across the U.S.?  If the protests have succeeded in perhaps one thing so far, it is the deliverance from a period of dormancy in political dialogue in the U.S..  How many times has it been uttered, "Why aren't the Americans protesting or doing anything?"  Many reasons have contributed to political apathy, but some of those same reasons are contributing to the groundswell of opposition to the political status quo.  Take the level of political discourse, for example.  Cloaking discourse in poorly defined terms keeps some assuaged but infuriates others.  The message is now resoundingly clear: people demand dialogue about the numerous socio-economic problems they face, and they will not be taken prisoner by the illusions of any false discourse.  What do the occupy protests stand for?  Goals that will not be swept under the rug.  Engagement of the issues that define our present is absolutely essential, but engagement of the issues that define our future is paramount. 

People have often remarked to me, "Voting is the most direct form of democracy, that's how I participate."  Why are our some so inclined to view voting as a panacea for everyone's problems?   The idea is a trite palliative, reaffirming one's assumptions of the political process.  Voting is a small part of civic responsibility, I would argue, and there are better ways to affect the political process.  Alternative media and news, along with social media platforms, have created very effective channels for communicating pressing ideas and information.  The saying has been frequently attributed to Thomas Jefferson that, "Information is the currency of democracy."   However, when a political discourse has been so eroded by a bought government and mainstream media, there comes a point when it resembles nothing of the political reality that exists.  It's almost laughable, sometimes, too.  The 'occupy' protests signal that the silence and injustice surrounding so many of the issues that effect everyone's lives will no longer be tolerated.  I will repeat, the silence will no longer be tolerated.  Political grievances are vast and we will address them and we will not go away.  

--

My short, humble list of grievances:

1.)  The fiat, fractional-banking, Federal Reserve money system needs to be replaced with Congressional purse powers.  (I always question what amount of money the U.S. Treasury pays in interest payments to the Federal Reserve every year?  Where can one find this information?) 
2.)  The march towards a world war three scenario of geopolitical, imperial resource war has to be averted by any means necessary.
3.)  The truth about 9/11 must legally investigated and prosecutions must be held. 
4.)  The continuing influence of special interest money captivating political policy in lieu of sane, sustainable, and balanced policy needs to be reigned in somehow.   

Monday, October 3, 2011

Dylan Ratigan @OccupyWallSt: "Get the Goddamn Money Out"

Dylan Ratigan's got a novel idea: get the money out of politics.  Dylan made a call to reach out to the protesters on his TV show Saturday, and followed up with this speech at the protests later that night.  He alludes to the alliance between business and state, one of the hallmarks of fascism, and how it needs to be broken apart with a Constitutional ammendment.  Forbes just came out with piece blasting the protesters for whatever grievances they may think they have, but it only brings to light the dichotomy between those inside and outside Wall Street.  Shall never the twain meet?  It doesn't require being an outsider to Wall St., or the banking industry, or the military-industrial complex, or whatever other hideous incarnation of the fascism Ratigan rails against, to have an ethical or moral code that might make one say, "Hm, this seems somewhat wrong, maybe I shouldn't be involved with this."  Maybe that's why people are working outside Wall Street, instead of inside it, to achieve a change.  Isn't non-participation a form of participation, too?  



The Occupy Wall Street developments are reminiscent of the closing scenes of Zeitgeist II, where mass protests shut down the world economy and people realize the true value of the fiat money they're inundated with.  People don't want a designed economy that benefits few while keeping the majority shackled to forms of economic slavery and servitude.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Wolfensohn Foresees Chinese Agricultural Colonization in U.S.

Several weeks ago, James Wolfensohn spoke at a promotional event for his new book at the Center for the Arts.  I attended and unfortunately thought better of bringing a notebook and pen, for some reason?  Either way I do recall a few bits worth mentioning.

The most important things that I believe he referred are inextricably linked and have to do with our relationship with China.  One is the issue of water scarcity, and the other is the possibility that China will buy large swaths of U.S. land for agriculture.  Suffering from severe water problems, China faces social and health problems relating to the availability of clean water.  The common lore of China's economic miracle is merely a feel-good panacea, and it's only a mirage.  If China continues to pollute their water and air to no end, how do they expect to sustain their people in the future?

Well, buy land in the United States?  My generalized recollection of Wolfensohn's point weeks ago is that 'we live in a global world now, and when you look at China, a country of 3 billion people, expecting to swell substantially in coming years, there might be food shortages which will be met by perhaps the Chinese buying huge pieces of land in the U.S. for agricultural purposes.'  Wolfensohn also noted he believe there might be difficult political discussions about such a move, but his mention of "Chinese cities" in the U.S. brings to mind a number of questions.  Noting that Wolfensohn is a member of the International Advisory Council for China's sovereign wealth fund the China Investment Corporation, it would be interesting to see if such a topic gets swept up by the MSM in the near future.  What kind of dialogues are carried out about this within the China Investment Corporation?  They obviously know how big their water problems are. 

China's pollution problems have only been exacerbated by a decade of intensive industrial growth since their accession to the WTO in late 2001.  It is no rumor that wistful figures characterize Chinese figures, but what they are doing to the environment is effectively a slow-kill pill, eating away possibilities in the future due to a lack of legal regulations, technology, or, perhaps, concern. 

While it would be ideal for the Chinese to have no food supply issues, the momentum of quality water and land depletion seems to make such a task harder to accomplish.  As a policymaker, one needs to question the utility of a system that produces such daunting pollution.  It has been frequently asserted over the years that the cost of China's pollution is about 9% of GDP every years.  Given that their  GDP growth over the past decade has been an average of about 9%, not accounting for excessive bookkeeping and other creative measures, China's GDP growth seems quite mythical.  Let's be serious, the really valuable things in life are the ones that provide a basis for health and safety for both now and in the future.  However, for someone like Wolfensohn who has several chips on the world table, it would be nice to hear his reflection on the true value of water and how it affects this Chinese agri-colonization.

Friday, September 16, 2011

9/11 (Truth)

The celebrated 9/11 anniversary has passed, and left in its wake further alienation for some of us, and, for others, entrenched justification for dismal foreign policy and ponzi-economania.  However, the balance continues to shift in favor of those demanding 9/11 truth and justice.   A major milestone came this past weekend with the Toronto Hearings, where experts from numerous fields gathered to submit evidence in support of finding the truth as to what really happened on the day of September 11, 2001.

Here's the schedule:


TORONTO HEARINGS: SCHEDULE
(Subject to Changes)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
9:00 – 9:30 Moderators: Opening Remarks
9:30 – 9:45 James Gourley: Introduction to the Hearings and the Panel
9:45 – 10:15 Lorie Van Auken (Video): Statement by a Jersey Widow
10:30 – 12:00 Lance deHaven-Smith: 9/11 & State Crimes Against Democracy
1:00 – 2:30 David Ray Griffin: Inadequacies of the 9/11 Commission’s Report
2:45 – 4:15 Kevin Ryan: Inadequacies of the Reports by the National
Institute of Standards and Technology
4:15 – 5:00 Audience Question and Answer

Friday, September 9, 2011
9:00 – 9:15 Moderators: Overview of the Day’s Testimony
9:15 – 10:30 Jay Kolar: The Alleged 9/11 Hijackers
10:45 – 12:00 Paul Zarembka: Evidence of Insider Trading Before 9/11
1:00 – 1:35 Barbara Honegger: Eyewitnesses and Evidence of Explosions at the
Pentagon
1:35 – 3:10 Richard Gage: Evidence of the Demolition of WTC:
An Overview
3:30 – 4:45 Michel Chossudovsky: Global Consequences of 9/11
4:45 – 5:25 Cynthia McKinney: Attempts to Raise Questions about 9/11
5:25- 5:50 Audience Question and Answer

Saturday, September 10, 2011
9:00 – 9:15 Moderators: Overview of the Day’s Testimony
9:15 – 10:30 Graeme MacQueen: Eyewitness Evidence of Explosions at WTC
10:45 – 12:00 David Chandler: WTC 7:  A Refutation of the Official Account
1:00 – 2:15 Jon Cole: The Official Account and the Experimental Method
2:15 – 3:30 Kevin Ryan: Extreme Temperatures
3:45 – 5:00 Niels Harrit: Incendiary/Explosive Residue in the WTC Dust
5:00 – 5:30 Audience Question and Answer

Sunday, September 11, 2011
9:00 – 9:15 Moderators: Opening remarks and Moment of Silence
9:15 – 10:45 David Ray Griffin: Anomalies of Flights 77 and 93
10:45 – 12:00 Peter Dale Scott: 9/11 and Deep State Politics
1:00 – 2:00 Laurie Manwell: SCADs and Psychological Resistance to
Alternative Accounts
2:00 – 3:15 Senator Mike Gravel: State Deception in the Past and Today
3:30 – 4:15 Audience Question and Answer

  
A cursory glance at the schedule reads "Inadequacies..., Questions..., Explosions..., Demolition..., Deep State Politics."  The hearings included testimony from chemists, physicists, engineers, doctors, and scholars and I highly recommend watching some of the testimony here.

Laurie Manwell's presentation on State Crimes Against Democracy and Psychological Resistance to Alternative Accounts of 9/11 couldn't have been a better late than never introduction to the live hearings.  Having struggled with family and friends over 9/11 (truth), any insight into what makes it such a difficult topic to address is helpful.  For those who support 9/11 truth, there is plight in having to address the confounding subject.  
  
A question, though:  is addressing 9/11 (truth) the most effective means for treating our current socio-political dysfunctionality?  9/11 (truth) has some nasty implications (i.e. political violence, graft, fraud), which makes me ask (duh), what kind of larger, more treasonous threats do we face if 9/11 is someone's debut, inauguration, opus, if you will?   Are there motives which have yet to be uncovered behind the 9/11 facade, the obtrusiveness of which supersede any of our, what become, attempts to influence culture with the perhaps dim glow of 9/11 (truth).  Is 9/11 (truth) just in the past?  Is 9/11 (truth) a distraction from what is happening now?  

I saw James Wolfensohn speak at a promotional event for his book at the Center for the Arts a few weeks ago.  During the question and answer session of the talk, some young guy in the rear upper section of the auditorium stood up and asked, accusingly, how Bush and Obama were running free having been involved in egregious international crimes such as kidnapping and torture.  Wolfensohn's response; "I don't think anyone is going to drag them to the Hague."  Well, looks like no one Wolfensohn knows is dragging them to the pen.  Any other questions?

Friday, August 5, 2011

Tuned Out, Bob Grady @ the May Tea Party Event

July has flown by in a blur of sun, beer, and laughter.  All good things, among other things.  I have tuned out from the hype of polity and society.  Just waiting for the mofos at the top to start fingering each other to save themselves.  The debt deal?  More like the dead deal.  Who's dealing?  Kickin the can down the road, sure feels good, dodnt it now. 

I had an interaction with Bob Grady of Cheyenne Capital several weeks ago here in Jackson.  Some Senators were there but I didn't make out which ones.  Jackson's Tea Party organized the event and I was attended without any idea what it was other than an event "with a great speaker."  Great speaker, sure, but what was he speaking about?  Cutting Medicare.  All this shit has circulated the MSM by now (this event was in late May), but Bob Grady was on the front lines of the cut Medicare campaign.

Sitting in the back row for the entire Powerpoint presentation, I had a hard time watching all the bald and gray heads sit there in silence as Grady used his remote control as a wand streaming through slides explaining that Medicare is the primary problem with the U.S. budget deficit.  I'm sorry, Bobby, but  we cannot cut medical care for the poor to save money for the problem is much larger than Medicare, and you know it. 

At the end of the question and answer session, after I had raised my hand repeatedly, Bob finally looked in my direction with the fear that this young person in the back row may actually ask a real question, and indicated he relented to allow me to ask a question.  I stood up and said something to this effec; "I think Niall Fergusson would agree (in one of his last slides, he referced Fergusson) that the U.S. is facing a period of imperial overstretch with our interst payments, and furthermore, I would argue that our interest payments to the Federal Reserve resemlble a ponzi scheme.  Now, if you would, Mr. Grady, please explain the role of the Federal Reserve with regard to monetary policy, and where the Congress regulates such decisions?"

Grady responded, with at first a smile and his attention projected on all the graying babyboomers in his immediate radius, "Well, the mandate of the Fed is price stability..." after which he lost the smile and trailed off in a bullshit haze which I interjected with questions about the Fed's status as the largest holder of U.S. debt, as opposed to China, a common thread, and the Fed's role as a fiat money machine.   After two counterpoints I made, one of Grady's cohorts remarked from the aisle across the room, "We should have only one more question, the hot dogs are getting cold," or something like that.  Really, you old fart?  Whatever, the point is the debate is being stifled and people need to get loud.  I'm not sure what the U.S. Treasury pays to the Fed on interest, but let's face it, the U.S. is broke.  Why try to blame the poor for problems the rich create?  Oh wait, stupid question...next.  Why do you try to lie to hundreds of graying babyboomers about Medicare being the culprit of our woes?  Who's axe do you grind?  Your Bush namedropping is a giveaway.

Several weeks later, I saw Grady as I was walking into the Maverick Station in Jackson.  He was right inside the doorway as I was opening the door, entering the building.  I even held the door for him.  He looked me in the eyes and remembered me I think.  I should have asked him what it was all for.  What is it, Bob?  Why do you lie?  Where does your inside information come from?  What is the grand plan?


I should have thrown him a fake sucker punch.  Motherfucker.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Kissinger Endorses Huntsman (i.e. Bilderberg Endorses Huntsman)

Connected the dots on this one a few days ago, and now wish I had said something sooner:  Henry Kissinger has endorsed Jon Huntsman for POTUS.  After a nice weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland with the elite and highly secret Bilderberg Group, where Kissinger met with people like James Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State, a close associate of Huntsman, he returns to the U.S. to shortly thereafter meet with Huntsman, at which time Huntsman reveals he is running for President.  Not only does Kissinger give this 'rare' endorsement immediately after the Bilderberg meetings, we have the State Department working in overdrive sending CIA-controlled computers to Syria, Iran, and Libya, while they go on the offensive, with Google, who were also represented at Bilderberg 2011, against so-called Chinese hackers, both in the name of internet freedom.

There's so much activity right now with this China play, it's hard to find and expose everything that's happening, but Kissinger's endorsement could be a reflection of a decision made at the Bilderberg meeting.  Sure, it's conjecture.  Yes, it's speculative.  But it is also possible.

P.S.  And for anyone who hasn't heard of the Bilderberg Group, it's a secret meeting of some of the world's most influential people, at which it is said no policies are written or agreed to.  It doesn't take complete secrecy to question what happens behind closed doors, but with an attendee list like this, absolute secrecy yields little trust in the whole "no policy" line.

--


Belgium
· Coene, Luc, Governor, National Bank of Belgium
· Davignon, Etienne, Minister of State
· Leysen, Thomas, Chairman, Umicore

China
· Fu, Ying, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
· Huang, Yiping, Professor of Economics, China Center for Economic Research, Peking University

Denmark
· Eldrup, Anders, CEO, DONG Energy
· Federspiel, Ulrik, Vice President, Global Affairs, Haldor Topsøe A/S
· SchĂĽtze, Peter, Member of the Executive Management, Nordea Bank AB

Germany
· Ackermann, Josef, Chairman of the Management Board and the Group Executive Committee, Deutsche Bank
· Enders, Thomas, CEO, Airbus SAS
· Löscher, Peter, President and CEO, Siemens AG
· Nass, Matthias, Chief International Correspondent, Die Zeit
· SteinbrĂĽck, Peer, Member of the Bundestag; Former Minister of Finance

Finland
· Apunen, Matti, Director, Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA
· Johansson, Ole, Chairman, Confederation of the Finnish Industries EK
· Ollila, Jorma, Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
· Pentikäinen, Mikael, Publisher and Senior Editor-in-Chief, Helsingin Sanomat

France
· Baverez, Nicolas, Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
· Bazire, Nicolas, Managing Director, Groupe Arnault /LVMH
· Castries, Henri de, Chairman and CEO, AXA
· LĂ©vy, Maurice, Chairman and CEO, Publicis Groupe S.A.
· Montbrial, Thierry de, President, French Institute for International Relations
· Roy, Olivier, Professor of Social and Political Theory, European University Institute

Great Britain
· Agius, Marcus, Chairman, Barclays PLC
· Flint, Douglas J., Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings
· Kerr, John, Member, House of Lords; Deputy Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell
· Lambert, Richard, Independent Non-Executive Director, Ernst & Young
· Mandelson, Peter, Member, House of Lords; Chairman, Global Counsel
· Micklethwait, John, Editor-in-Chief, The Economist
· Osborne, George, Chancellor of the Exchequer
· Stewart, Rory, Member of Parliament
· Taylor, J. Martin, Chairman, Syngenta International AG

Greece
· David, George A., Chairman, Coca-Cola H.B.C. S.A.
· Hardouvelis, Gikas A., Chief Economist and Head of Research, Eurobank EFG
· Papaconstantinou, George, Minister of Finance
· Tsoukalis, Loukas, President, ELIAMEP Grisons

International Organizations
· Almunia, JoaquĂ­n, Vice President, European Commission
· Daele, Frans van, Chief of Staff to the President of the European Council
· Kroes, Neelie, Vice President, European Commission; Commissioner for Digital Agenda
· Lamy, Pascal, Director General, World Trade Organization
· Rompuy, Herman van, President, European Council
· Sheeran, Josette, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme
· Solana Madariaga, Javier, President, ESADEgeo Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics
· Trichet, Jean-Claude, President, European Central Bank
· Zoellick, Robert B., President, The World Bank Group

Ireland
· Gallagher, Paul, Senior Counsel; Former Attorney General
· McDowell, Michael, Senior Counsel, Law Library; Former Deputy Prime Minister
· Sutherland, Peter D., Chairman, Goldman Sachs International

Italy
· Bernabè, Franco, CEO, Telecom Italia SpA
· Elkann, John, Chairman, Fiat S.p.A.
· Monti, Mario, President, Univers Commerciale Luigi Bocconi
· Scaroni, Paolo, CEO, Eni S.p.A.
· Tremonti, Giulio, Minister of Economy and Finance

Canada
· Carney, Mark J., Governor, Bank of Canada
· Clark, Edmund, President and CEO, TD Bank Financial Group
· McKenna, Frank, Deputy Chair, TD Bank Financial Group
· Orbinksi, James, Professor of Medicine and Political Science, University of Toronto
· Prichard, J. Robert S., Chair, Torys LLP
· Reisman, Heather, Chair and CEO, Indigo Books & Music Inc. Center, Brookings Institution

Netherlands
· Bolland, Marc J., Chief Executive, Marks and Spencer Group plc
· Chavannes, Marc E., Political Columnist, NRC Handelsblad; Professor of Journalism
· Halberstadt, Victor, Professor of Economics, Leiden University; Former Honorary Secretary General of Bilderberg Meetings
· H.M. the Queen of the Netherlands
· Rosenthal, Uri, Minister of Foreign Affairs
· Winter, Jaap W., Partner, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

Norway
· Myklebust, Egil, Former Chairman of the Board of Directors SAS, sk Hydro ASA
· H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway
· Ottersen, Ole Petter, Rector, University of Oslo
· Solberg, Erna, Leader of the Conservative Party

Austria
· Bronner, Oscar, CEO and Publisher, Standard Medien AG
· Faymann, Werner, Federal Chancellor
· Rothensteiner, Walter, Chairman of the Board, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Ă–sterreich AG
· Scholten, Rudolf, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG

Portugal
· BalsemĂŁo, Francisco Pinto, Chairman and CEO, IMPRESA, S.G.P.S.; Former Prime Minister
· Ferreira Alves, Clara, CEO, Claref LDA; writer
· Nogueira Leite, AntĂłnio, Member of the Board, JosĂ© de Mello Investimentos, SGPS, SA

Sweden
· Mordashov, Alexey A., CEO, Severstal Schweden
· Bildt, Carl, Minister of Foreign Affairs
· Björling, Ewa, Minister for Trade
· Wallenberg, Jacob, Chairman, Investor AB

Switzerland
· Brabeck-Letmathe, Peter, Chairman, NestlĂ© S.A.
· Groth, Hans, Senior Director, Healthcare Policy & Market Access, Oncology Business Unit, Pfizer Europe
· Janom Steiner, Barbara, Head of the Department of Justice, Security and Health, Canton
· Kudelski, AndrĂ©, Chairman and CEO, Kudelski Group SA
· Leuthard, Doris, Federal Councillor
· Schmid, Martin, President, Government of the Canton Grisons
· Schweiger, Rolf, Ständerat
· Soiron, Rolf, Chairman of the Board, Holcim Ltd., Lonza Ltd.
· Vasella, Daniel L., Chairman, Novartis AG
· Witmer, JĂĽrg, Chairman, Givaudan SA and Clariant AG

Spain
· Cebrián, Juan Luis, CEO, PRISA
· Cospedal, MarĂ­a Dolores de, Secretary General, Partido Popular
· LeĂłn Gross, Bernardino, Secretary General of the Spanish Presidency
· Nin GĂ©nova, Juan MarĂ­a, President and CEO, La Caixa
· H.M. Queen Sofia of Spain

Turkey
· Ciliv, SĂĽreyya, CEO, Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri A.S.
· GĂĽlek Domac, Tayyibe, Former Minister of State
· Koç, Mustafa V., Chairman, Koç Holding A.S.
· Pekin, Sefika, Founding Partner, Pekin & Bayar Law Firm

USA
· Alexander, Keith B., Commander, USCYBERCOM; Director, National Security Agency
· Altman, Roger C., Chairman, Evercore Partners Inc.
· Bezos, Jeff, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com
· Collins, Timothy C., CEO, Ripplewood Holdings, LLC
· Feldstein, Martin S., George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
· Hoffman, Reid, Co-founder and Executive Chairman, LinkedIn
· Hughes, Chris R., Co-founder, Facebook
· Jacobs, Kenneth M., Chairman & CEO, Lazard
· Johnson, James A., Vice Chairman, Perseus, LLC
· Jordan, Jr., Vernon E., Senior Managing Director, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC
· Keane, John M., Senior Partner, SCP Partners; General, US Army, Retired
· Kissinger, Henry A., Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc.
· Kleinfeld, Klaus, Chairman and CEO, Alcoa
· Kravis, Henry R., Co-Chairman and co-CEO, Kohlberg Kravis, Roberts & Co.
· Kravis, Marie-JosĂ©e, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Inc.
· Li, Cheng, Senior Fellow and Director of Research, John L. Thornton China Center, Brookings Institution
· Mundie, Craig J., Chief Research and Strategy Officer, Microsoft Corporation
· Orszag, Peter R., Vice Chairman, Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.
· Perle, Richard N., Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
· Rockefeller, David, Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank
· Rose, Charlie, Executive Editor and Anchor, Charlie Rose
· Rubin, Robert E., Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; Former Secretary of the Treasury
· Schmidt, Eric, Executive Chairman, Google Inc.
· Steinberg, James B., Deputy Secretary of State
· Thiel, Peter A., President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC
· Varney, Christine A., Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust
· Vaupel, James W., Founding Director, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
· Warsh, Kevin, Former Governor, Federal Reserve Board
· Wolfensohn, James D., Chairman, Wolfensohn & Company, LLC

List taken from cryptome.org

Friday, June 10, 2011

China Hacks Google

A notable accusation comes from Google that China has hacked the email accounts of several high-ranking US officials, among others.  Jeff Bader, the previous National Security Coucil's Senior Director for Asian Affairs, was possibly one of the successfully hacked accounts.  He resigned from his post recently, but Evan Medeiros, a RAND Corporation expert on US/China Security, remains on the National Security Council as a China specialist.

And, for Hillary Clinton's take on events?  She says, "the recent announcement by Google"...as if she didn't know about the attacks beforehand, if they, as it has been asserted, emanated from China (which, then makes the assumption that the spies were official Chinese spies).  Jeff Bader, in logical form, probably interacts with the State Department and Hillary Clinton on a daily basis, so Clinton must have been made aware of his email account being hacked before Google's "announcement".  Furthermore, this would touch an especially close nerve for Clinton:



Meanwhile, in other news, Iran claims one of their spies infiltrated opposition and foreign intelligence units, all the way up to Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.  Hmm, interesting. 

P.S.  In doing a little background research, I ran across this video from February of Jon Huntsman, now retired US Ambassador to China, at a protest in China, to the ire of Chinese officials.  Whoever was filming recognized him and started accusing him of fomenting chaos and the fall of China.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Ron Paul - The Last Nail, House Floor Speech May 25, 2011

Ron Paul, a luminary in a House packed with dunces and shills, speaks the truth about how far gone we are.  Debt by design, fascism, and unmitigated shenanigans.  Someone find me a unicorn, I need a ride out of this bad dream.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Pakistan Feeling Threatened by US, China to Expedite Delivery of Fifty JF-17s to Pakistan

In response to the simmering geopolitical confrontation between the U.S. and Pakistan, China is making its position clear with the announcement that Pakistan will be recieving an expedited shipment of fifty state-of-the-art JF-17 fighter jets on credit.  There has been a number of significant events in Pakistan recently, from the outing and subsequent departure of the Pakistan CIA station chief, to the arrest of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, to the alleged and fake CIA mock-up Osama bin Laden raid, the U.S. is up to something and, whatever it is, the stench is thick.
--
From the Pakistan Daily Times:
Pakistan, China likely to ink agreement on JF-17 Thunder
BEIJING: Pakistan and China are expected to sign an agreement today (Thursday) for the provision of 50 JF-17 thunder aircraft to Pakistan on emergency basis, it has been learnt by Daily Times. According to official sources, these aircraft will be equipped with sophisticated avionics. Not only will the aircraft be handed over within weeks, China will also foot the bill initially. Although Pakistan and China have been jointly developed this multirole combat aircraft in the past, in the aftermath of the US operation in Abbottabad, serious questions have been raised about Pakistan’s defence capabilities. According to a strategic expert, the speedy delivery of 50 pieces of this aircraft, originally to be done over two years, is expected to allay apprehensions of not only the Pakistani public but will also send a message to the world that Pakistan’s defence is not weak. It might be remembered that not only has the Indian military chief speculated on the possibility of a US-style strike from the Indian side to take out jihadi outfits in Pakistan, there has been escalation on the Pakistan-India border near Sialkot recently. Also, observers believe that in a situation when the speculations are rife that Pakistan may not be able to resist another US attack inside its territory if it so decides, this agreement will send a clear message to the world on which side China stands.
--
For further reading, if you don't trust anything that doesn't come from the mainstream media (I'm sorry), here's a link to the Wall Street Journal's coverage of the situation:  China to Fast-Track Jets for Pakistan

We will see in the coming weeks what all this posturing will amount to, but I am hoping the U.S. doesn't get too brazen and start some conflict with Pakistan that entangles China.  In this scenario, the rabbit hole goes deep.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

"Just Keep Going, You Got Nothing To Lose"

Moving film made by Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change.  At the beginning of the video he mentions how lonely he has been feeling recently, a sentiment I have felt recently, too.  People never talk to each other, there is too much silence.  We need to reach out to each other, because, like the title of the video says, we have nothing to lose.  Thanks, Luke.

Monday, May 2, 2011

James Corbett on the Alleged Death of bin Laden

Brought to our attention by williambanzai7, contributing writer for Zero Hedge, James Corbett of the Corbett report providing some unbiased and balanced perspective over the alleged death of bin Laden.  I had been under the impression from several sources that he had died in 2001 and I do not buy into this bullshit at all.  Obama, shame on your political opportunist, lying ass.

9/11: No More Confusion, Denial & Silence

Since 9/11, our country has been driven into a dizzying state of confusion.  The cultural psyche has been divided and threatened and confused by what people perceive as real, right, and permissible.  What topics are off-limits, what is too controversial?  For me, 9/11 has been an issue that is uncouth, too controversial, and impolite to mention, because I am a "9/11 truther".  What a disparaging term people use to dismiss a perfectly rational mindset.  There are many good reasons to question the official account of 9/11, but there is a stigma surrounding such skepticism.  Why?  Fear, mostly, I guess.  It is not 'okay' to believe these things, for it is too bold, too dangerous, too different.  People tell me, "The truth would have come out if 9/11 was an inside job, it would be too hard to coordinate without keeping it secret, why would they do that?"  Qui bono?  Who benefits?  War is profitable, I have learned over the years, and since 9/11, which was used directly as a reason to invade Afghanistan and then Iraq, we have seen the U.S. government launch wars with no legal justification.  All the reasons we have been given have been proven untrue (WMD's, yellowcake uranium, Saddam-al Qaeda ties), yet there have been no reasons given in the conspicuous lack of any justification's place.  Instead, the wars are a given, something we are not able to question, something that we aren't supposed to actually think about.  Well, I question them, and do everyday.  What happened to the realization President Eisenhower left us with about the military-industrial complex?  How can we trust ourselves and pretend that all the avarice and fraud and greed isn't actually there.  Obama almost pretends the wars aren't happening.  That's also a sentiment I see on the streets everyday.  We don't act like a country at war.  We act like a confused and self-absorbed people, running around like rats everyday chasing dollars that the Federal Reserve continues to devalue.  Why don't we stand up??  I am tired of being silent about these issues and do not plan on maintaining my silence anymore. 

The denial and silence is overwhelming, and I have contributed to it, enabled it, rolled over for some master that has made me fearful of what it might do.  I know the truth about 9/11 from a multitude of information I have seen, but what pushed me over the edge years ago to finally concede 9/11 was an inside job (because, for me, it took years to be able to believe it could have been -  I know it is hard) was my own gut instinct.  I was living in China at the time in 2007 and, being outside the U.S. propagandized culture, I was able to see through the surface level constraints placed upon the culture preventing the truth from arising.  Even people who disagreed with the war during the Bush years, even after all his infuriating stonewalling, couldn't come to see that 9/11 was an inside job - no matter how many lies he told, how much we as a citizenry were left in the dark, 9/11 couldn't be a lie, people thought, because we were so caught off guard and cowwed into believing the official story.  9/11 was different, people still think.  But it isn't.  9/11 is still the issue people need to come to grips with, because it affects how one thinks about all these other massive issues we have to deal with.  If you trust the official story, you are being used, you are being toyed with so that you allow other nefarious things to take place.  It isn't necessarily your fault that you believe the official story because of the massive amount of resources in place to control your thoughts, but it needs to change, and that change starts with you.  There is a tremendous amount of information on the internet about 9/11, you just need to be open to changing your perception and to seriously pay attention to all the different factors the information covers.  I list a number of websites on the sidebar of this site that offer information about 9/11, the best of which covering the subject are Infowars.com and George Washington's blog. 

Japan's Nuclear Crisis: No Longer Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

I would first like to say that we need to pray for Japan and the teams responding to the catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.  May they be spared from further devestation for the good of life on planet Earth.

Japan's nuclear crisis is highlighting the question of whether nuclear power is sustainable.  The answer is an emphatic NO.  Humans are neither capable of safely operating nuclear power plants nor are they prepared for such adverse natural disasters, much less geologic changes throughout long periods of time.  There is too much risk in using nuclear power, which the Fukushima crisis is sadly illustrating.  If we cannot adequately deal with the downside of using a technology, maybe we should not be using it.  Research and design is one thing, arrogance and ignorance are another. 

International institutions should see what options are available for substantially reducing energy consumption.  Like a holistic doctor might prescribe a patient, we need to address core issues affecting the health of our world by redacting the amount of abstraction the current energy economy generates.  Conservation will have to reassess the viability of nuclear power plants that are currently in operation.  We must close the gaps between our means of sustaining life and the pitfalls of fossil fuel and nuclear energy dependency.  In the past year, we have experienced the Deepwater Horizon explosion, unrest all over the Middle East and North Africa, which affects OPEC production, and now the Fukushima nuclear crisis - all huge events that are directly related to the structure of energy economy.  We are sustaining ourselves on technologies and processes that we cannot control, much less claim we can.

3.15.11

Friday, April 8, 2011

"So, Does It Matter?"

Kevin Spacey spoke this week at the 24th Annual Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  In a stimulating and thoughtful forty minutes, Spacey offers a brilliant and moving account of the arts' as a Pegasus, a fountain of possibility and opportunity for people in a world of struggle and torment.  A question he repeatedly poses throughout the lecture about art, "So, does it matter?"  is one I have recently been asking myself.  I play guitar with a few different bands and enjoy making music, but with such pressing matters all around I question if that time wouldn't be better spent doing other things?  Does it matter?  Kevin Spacey, thank you for your valuable insights, they are an inspiration.

"Ask not what your country can do for the arts, ask what the arts can do for your country."  Kevin Spacey, 4.4.2011



For the full video, which is not on Youtube yet, follow this link:  Kevin Spacey @ the 24th Annual Nancy Hanks lecture.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Alleyways

Alleyways have been intriguing to me for a few years now.  I first became fond of them when I was living in Boulder, walking through them for shortcuts and ease.  After starting to notice them more I preferred to walk through them, to be a part of their wayward character, to experience their uninhibited disregard for appearances.  Alleys might seem dangerous, dark, smelly, but they are the real thing; they aren't dressed up, designed and pretentious - they are haphazard and nonchalant.  It's this disregard for appearances that most attracts me to them.  In alleys, one can observe the subtleties and pace of life, the back reality of a decadent front that culture often feigns.

In the absence of my own collection of alleyway pictures, which I've wanted to amass, here are some pictures taken by others.  Alleys all have their own character depending on the neighborhood and region of the country/world.  I particularly like Western dirt alleys and the graffiti found in urban ones.

Monday, February 28, 2011

"He's Caught Like Sylvester with the Canary in His Mouth"

Alex Jones' interview with Mancow Muller about the revelation that Don Rumsfeld did not know about the collapse of World Trade Center Building 7, which I referenced in a previous post.  There's really no way around the fact that Rumsfeld is obviously lying.  Even if he hypothetically did not know about it, he was Secretary of the Department of Defense on 9/11 - how is someone in that position not aware of all the relevant facts about 9/11, an event they then used to launch a state into war?


Alex sums it up, "He's there playing dumb, caught like Sylvester with the canary in his mouth."
"Yeah, he's spittin' out feathers,"  Mancow replies.

It appears zero accountability is perfectly acceptable for some of our highest government officials - or should I say their government officials?