Cracking the Code Film - Peter Eric Hendrickson

I wanted to make a post before people start to wonder if I will ever post again.

I want to share with you, the reader of this blog, some information that the Internal Revenue Service does not want you to know. Why? Because the people working for the government have benefitted from the IRS convincing people something that isn't true.

I don't want this post to be construed as legal advice (as in, "here's what you should do to solve the problem."). This blog is for educational purposes only.

new tag for a new author

Shredded Tuna

Are we a fascist country?

These are some of the binding ties that hold many infamous fascist regimes together. I read this first in Free Inquiry, and just found it again on their website. It's a bit disconcerting at how well our country lines up so neatly with so many of these common attributes of fascism.

1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism. From the prominent displays of flags and bunting to the ubiquitous lapel pins, the fervor to show patriotic nationalism, both on the part of the regime itself and of citizens caught up in its frenzy, was always obvious. Catchy slogans, pride in the military, and demands for unity were common themes in expressing this nationalism. It was usually coupled with a suspicion of things foreign that often bordered on xenophobia.

2. Disdain for the importance of human rights. The regimes themselves viewed human rights as of little value and a hindrance to realizing the objectives of the ruling elite. Through clever use of propaganda, the population was brought to accept these human rights abuses by marginalizing, even demonizing, those being targeted. When abuse was egregious, the tactic was to use secrecy, denial, and disinformation.

3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause. The most significant common thread among these regimes was the use of scapegoating as a means to divert the people’s attention from other problems, to shift blame for failures, and to channel frustration in controlled directions. The methods of choice—relentless propaganda and disinformation—were usually effective. Often the regimes would incite “spontaneous” acts against the target scapegoats, usually communists, socialists, liberals, Jews, ethnic and racial minorities, traditional national enemies, members of other religions, secularists, homosexuals, and “terrorists.” Active opponents of these regimes were inevitably labeled as terrorists and dealt with accordingly.

4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism. Ruling elites always identified closely with the military and the industrial infrastructure that supported it. A disproportionate share of national resources was allocated to the military, even when domestic needs were acute. The military was seen as an expression of nationalism, and was used whenever possible to assert national goals, intimidate other nations, and increase the power and prestige of the ruling elite.

5. Rampant sexism. Beyond the simple fact that the political elite and the national culture were male-dominated, these regimes inevitably viewed women as second-class citizens. They were adamantly anti-abortion and also homophobic. These attitudes were usually codified in Draconian laws that enjoyed strong support by the orthodox religion of the country, thus lending the regime cover for its abuses.

6. A controlled mass media. Under some of the regimes, the mass media were under strict direct control and could be relied upon never to stray from the party line. Other regimes exercised more subtle power to ensure media orthodoxy. Methods included the control of licensing and access to resources, economic pressure, appeals to patriotism, and implied threats. The leaders of the mass media were often politically compatible with the power elite. The result was usually success in keeping the general public unaware of the regimes’ excesses.

7. Obsession with national security. Inevitably, a national security apparatus was under direct control of the ruling elite. It was usually an instrument of oppression, operating in secret and beyond any constraints. Its actions were justified under the rubric of protecting “national security,” and questioning its activities was portrayed as unpatriotic or even treasonous.

8. Religion and ruling elite tied together. Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion.

9. Power of corporations protected. Although the personal life of ordinary citizens was under strict control, the ability of large corporations to operate in relative freedom was not compromised. The ruling elite saw the corporate structure as a way to not only ensure military production (in developed states), but also as an additional means of social control. Members of the economic elite were often pampered by the political elite to ensure a continued mutuality of interests, especially in the repression of “have-not” citizens.

10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated. Since organized labor was seen as the one power center that could challenge the political hegemony of the ruling elite and its corporate allies, it was inevitably crushed or made powerless. The poor formed an underclass, viewed with suspicion or outright contempt. Under some regimes, being poor was considered akin to a vice.

11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts. Intellectuals and the inherent freedom of ideas and expression associated with them were anathema to these regimes. Intellectual and academic freedom were considered subversive to national security and the patriotic ideal. Universities were tightly controlled; politically unreliable faculty harassed or eliminated. Unorthodox ideas or expressions of dissent were strongly attacked, silenced, or crushed. To these regimes, art and literature should serve the national interest or they had no right to exist.

12. Obsession with crime and punishment. Most of these regimes maintained Draconian systems of criminal justice with huge prison populations. The police were often glorified and had almost unchecked power, leading to rampant abuse. “Normal” and political crime were often merged into trumped-up criminal charges and sometimes used against political opponents of the regime. Fear, and hatred, of criminals or “traitors” was often promoted among the population as an excuse for more police power.

13. Rampant cronyism and corruption. Those in business circles and close to the power elite often used their position to enrich themselves. This corruption worked both ways; the power elite would receive financial gifts and property from the economic elite, who in turn would gain the benefit of government favoritism. Members of the power elite were in a position to obtain vast wealth from other sources as well: for example, by stealing national resources. With the national security apparatus under control and the media muzzled, this corruption was largely unconstrained and not well understood by the general population.

14. Fraudulent elections. Elections in the form of plebiscites or public opinion polls were usually bogus. When actual elections with candidates were held, they would usually be perverted by the power elite to get the desired result. Common methods included maintaining control of the election machinery, intimidating and disenfranchising opposition voters, destroying or disallowing legal votes, and, as a last resort, turning to a judiciary beholden to the power elite.

I can't tell which way this country will eventually tilt, full on fascism or communism, but it appears that much of the groundwork has been laid for either outcome.

Regarding slavery

After watching the cringe inducing(at least for me) video on slavery that was posted a while back, I figure this story deserves some light. Found at projectcensored.org there is a short piece that explains the current situation with regards to forced labor. It's a sad situation that humans can still be bought and sold like any other commodity. That the slave trade can create revenues of somewhere between $9.5 billion and $32 billion is absolutely astounding. The clever way that debt slave's are created draws uncomfortable parallels to our own credit industry. I don't say that to diminish the actual abuse of real debt slaves, but when adults spend a significant portion of their lives paying off school, home, car and whatever else loans, it seems only a few steps away from forced labor, especially when the interest rates are absurdly high. In reluctant agreement with the video mentioned before, I do wish more attention was paid to current modern day slaves, and less focus and energy wasted on the former slaves of our country. With more slaves in bondage today, 27 million, than at any other time in human history, it's time to end this cruelty once and for all.

Ron Paul on martial law

Kind of blurry video, and not sure of the date, but yay merry christmas, this should cheer you up.

Paul Krugman on the economic turmoil ahead

"Whatever the new administration does, we're in for months, perhaps even a year, of economic hell. After that, things should get better, as President Obama's stimulus plan -- O.K., I'm told that the politically correct term is now "economic recovery plan" -- begins to gain traction. Late next year the economy should begin to stabilize, and I'm fairly optimistic about 2010."

Found at Alternet. Not exactly a rosy forecast, but sounds reasonable to me. Also makes a good point about how China may struggle without being able to export as much crap to out shores. And I like useless gadgets as much as anyone, but we probably do need to reduce our trade deficits by a large measure. We basically don't make anything anymore and are obsessed with buying shit, doesn't seem to be a sustainable position for an economy. Maybe if we can get everyone to stay sick and in poor health we can all get jobs in health care.

Pastor Sam Kinison

FED lowers rates to nothing

Over at the MarketBeat blog on the Wall Street Journal, the news is the FED, for the first time in history, has a zero-interest rate policy. The first line of the article is some what disconcerting. "No more messing around". Certainly they weren't messing around prior to the drop to zero. "The Fed’s efforts include lots of purchases of agency debt, mortgage-backed securities and other types of debt as well" , well that doesn't seem good. All of that debt is bad debt, insolvent and toxic, can the FED absorb those kinds of losses. Oh, yeah, forgot, they can just invent more money to take care of any losses. "But investors are likely to pile into more esoteric debt securities following the unexpected aggressiveness from the central bank." Cause that worked last time around, when the housing market imploded. I have heard calls for the abolishing of the FED on grounds that it might not even be a legal operation constitutionally, I think I'll call for it's demise on grounds of idiocy at this point. They are going to pump shitloads of money into the system and further erode my buying power just so Wall Street can be comfortable taking risks again. I don't know enough about economics and the FED to be truly righteous in my anger, but damn, between the bailouts and stock market collapse and foreclosures and automaker implosions and whatever else decides to hit the shitfan, I feel like we're being taken for a ride here, and it's not much fun.

Crimes Against Humanity: Israel

I came upon this article by Chris Hedges on Alternet, on the ongoing atrocities of Israel against the Palestinians living in the Gaza strip. I've decided to post it here in its entirety.

Israel's 'Crime Against Humanity'

by Chris Hedges

Israel’s siege of Gaza, largely unseen by the outside world because of Jerusalem’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid workers, reporters and photographers access to Gaza, rivals the most egregious crimes carried out at the height of apartheid by the South African regime. It comes close to the horrors visited on Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serbs. It has disturbing echoes of the Nazi ghettos of Lodz and Warsaw.

“This is a stain on what is left of Israeli morality,” I was told by Richard N. Veits, the former U.S. ambassador to Jordan who led a delegation from the Council on Foreign Relations to Gaza to meet Hamas leaders this past summer. “I am almost breathless discussing this subject. It is so myopic. Washington, of course, is a handmaiden to all this. The Israeli manipulation of a population in this manner is comparable to some of the crimes that took place against civilian populations fifty years ago.”

The U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, former Princeton University law professor Richard Falk, calls what Israel is doing to the 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza “a crime against humanity.” Falk, who is Jewish, has condemned the collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza as “a flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law as laid down in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.” He has asked for “the International Criminal Court to investigate the situation, and determine whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law.”

Falk, while condemning the rocket attacks by the militant group Hamas, which he points out are also criminal violations of international law, goes on to say that “such Palestinian behavior does not legalize Israel’s imposition of a collective punishment of a life- and health-threatening character on the people of Gaza, and should not distract the U.N. or international society from discharging their fundamental moral and legal duty to render protection to the Palestinian people.”

“It is an unfolding humanitarian catastrophe that each day poses the entire 1.5 million Gazans to an unspeakable ordeal, to a struggle to survive in terms of their health,” Falk said when I reached him by phone in California shortly before he left for Israel. “This is an increasingly precarious condition. A recent study reports that 46 percent of all Gazan children suffer from acute anemia. There are reports that the sonic booms associated with Israeli overflights have caused widespread deafness, especially among children. Gazan children need thousands of hearing aids. Malnutrition is extremely high in a number of different dimensions and affects 75 percent of Gazans. There are widespread mental disorders, especially among young people without the will to live. Over 50 percent of Gazan children under the age of 12 have been found to have no will to live.”

Gaza now spends 12 hours a day without power, which can be a death sentence to the severely ill in hospitals. There are few drugs and little medicine, including no cancer or cystic fibrosis medication. Hospitals have generators but often lack fuel. Medical equipment, including one of Gaza’s three CT scanners, has been destroyed by power surges and fluctuations. Medical staff cannot control the temperature of incubators for newborns. And Israel has revoked most exit visas, meaning some of those who need specialized care, including cancer patients and those in need of kidney dialysis, have died. Of the 230 Gazans estimated to have died last year because they were denied proper medical care, several spent their final hours at Israeli crossing points where they were refused entry into Israel. The statistics gathered on children—half of Gaza’s population is under the age of 17—are increasingly grim. About 45 percent of children in Gaza have iron deficiency from a lack of fruit and vegetables, and 18 percent have stunted growth.

“It is macabre,” Falk said. “I don’t know of anything that exactly fits this situation. People have been referring to the Warsaw ghetto as the nearest analog in modern times.”

“There is no structure of an occupation that endured for decades and involved this kind of oppressive circumstances,” the rapporteur added. “The magnitude, the deliberateness, the violations of international humanitarian law, the impact on the health, lives and survival and the overall conditions warrant the characterization of a crime against humanity. This occupation is the direct intention by the Israeli military and civilian authorities. They are responsible and should be held accountable.”

The point of this Israeli siege, ostensibly, is to break Hamas, the radical Islamic group that was elected to power in 2007. But Hamas has repeatedly proposed long-term truces with Israel and offered to negotiate a permanent truce. During the last cease-fire, established through Egyptian intermediaries in July, Hamas upheld the truce although Israel refused to ease the blockade. It was Israel that, on Nov. 4, initiated an armed attack that violated the truce and killed six Palestinians. It was only then that Hamas resumed firing rockets at Israel. Palestinians have launched more than 200 rockets on Israel since the latest round of violence began. There have been no Israeli casualties.

“This is a crime of survival,” Falk said of the rocket attacks. “Israel has put the Gazans in a set of circumstances where they either have to accept whatever is imposed on them or resist in any way available to them. That is a horrible dilemma to impose upon a people. This does not alleviate the Palestinians, and Gazans in particular, for accountability for doing these acts involving rocket fire, but it also imposes some responsibility on Israel for creating these circumstances.”

Israel seeks to break the will of the Palestinians to resist. The Israeli government has demonstrated little interest in diplomacy or a peaceful solution. The rapid expansion of Jewish settlements on the West Bank is an effort to thwart the possibility of a two-state solution by gobbling up vast tracts of Palestinian real estate. Israel also appears to want to thrust the impoverished Gaza Strip onto Egypt. There are now dozens of tunnels, the principal means for food and goods, connecting Gaza to Egypt. Israel permits the tunnels to operate, most likely as part of an effort to further cut Gaza off from Israel.

“Israel, all along, has not been prepared to enter into diplomatic process that gives the Palestinians a viable state,” Falk said. “They [the Israelis] feel time is on their side. They feel they can create enough facts on the ground so people will come to the conclusion a viable state cannot emerge.”

The use of terror and hunger to break a hostile population is one of the oldest forms of warfare. I watched the Bosnian Serbs employ the same tactic in Sarajevo. Those who orchestrate such sieges do not grasp the terrible rage born of long humiliation, indiscriminate violence and abuse. A father or a mother whose child dies because of a lack of vaccines or proper medical care does not forget. A boy whose ill grandmother dies while detained at an Israel checkpoint does not forget. All who endure humiliation, abuse and the murder of family members do not forget. This rage becomes a virus within those who, eventually, stumble out into the daylight. Is it any wonder that 71 percent of children interviewed at a school in Gaza recently said they wanted to be a “martyr”?

The Israelis in Gaza, like the American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, are foolishly breeding the next generation of militants and Islamic radicals. Jihadists, enraged by the injustices done by Israel and the United States, seek to carry out reciprocal acts of savagery, even at the cost of their own lives. The violence unleashed on Palestinian children will, one day, be the violence unleashed on Israeli children. This is the tragedy of Gaza. This is the tragedy of Israel.

Welcome to the USSA

In this country called America, Americans like to think of themselves as practitioners of Capitalism, "the unknown ideal" as Ayn Rand called it; that reachable dream of luxurious laziness achieveable through the discipline of hard work and lofty ambitions where everyone is given a fair chance and competition rewards the most talented of respective trades.

George Carlin said it best: It's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it.

But are we truly operating in a capitalistic system? Nope. Stick with me, I'm going to prove my point.

What follows are the Ten Planks of Communism and how they have been implemented in American society.

1. Abolition of private property and the application of all rents of land to public purposes.

14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1868), Bureau of Land Management (and various zoning laws), school and property taxes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

The misapplication of the 16th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (1913), The Social Security Act of 1936; Joint House Resolution 192 of 1933; various State "income" taxes. Bill Clinton called it "paying your fair share"

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritence.

Federal & State estate Tax (1916); reformed Probate Laws, limited inheritance by arbitrary inheritance tax statutes

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

Government seizures, tax liens, Public "law" 99-570 (1986); Executive order 11490, sections 1205, 2002 which gives private land to the Department of Urban Development; the imprisonment of "terrorists" and those who speak out or write against the "government" (1997 Crime/Terrorist Bill); the IRS confiscation of property without due process. Asset forfeiture laws are used by DEA, IRS, ATF etc...)

5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.

The Federal Reserve Act (1913); The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the Exchange Stablization Fund; the President's Working Group on Financial Markets.

6. Centralization of the means of communications and transportation in the hands of the State.

The Federal Communication Commission and the Department of Transportation mandated through the ICC Act of 1887, the Commissions Act of 1934, the Insterstate Commerce Commission of 1938, The Federal Aviation Administration, Executive Orders 11490, 10999, State-issued driver's licenses and DOT regulations.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state, the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

"Corporate capacity", The Desert Entry Act and the Department of Agriculture, read "controlled or subsidized" rather than "owned", Department of Commerce and Labor, Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, National Park Service, and the IRS control of corporations through government regulation.

8. Equal liability of all to labor. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

Americans call it Minimum Wage and slave labor like dealing with our Most Favored Nation trade partner; i.e. Communist China. We see it in practice through the Social Security Administration and The Department of Labor. The National debt and inflation caused by the communal bank has caused the need for a two "income" family. Woman in the workplace since the 1920's, the 19th amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, assorted Socialist Unions, affirmative action (a program of racial hatred against white people), the Federal Public Works Program and of course Executive order 11000.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries, gradual abolition of
the distinction between town and country, by a more equitable distribution of population over the country.

Americans call it the Planning Reorganization act of 1949 , zoning (Title 17 1910-1990) and Super Corporate Farms, as well as Executive orders 11647, 11731 (ten regions) and Public "law" 89-136. These provide for forced relocations and forced sterilization programs, like in China.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.

Children are indoctrinated with state propaganda through the public school system, inculcating in the children a sense of complacency towards the communal debt system which they are brought up through the state to recognize as their sole provider and savior. This is affected through the Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Outcome Based "Education".

Does changing the words of these programs change their meaning and affect the outcome differently? Or is it because we live in America and that we have the most uniquely inspired political document written that we believe we aren't communists?

http://www.libertyzone.com/Communist-Manifesto-Planks.html

No Apologies for Slavery

My sentiments exactly.



BTW, this is an old video.

Calling out the ruling class

Over at Alternet, David Sirota calls out the ruling class for being, yet again, wrong on nearly everything, this time regarding the bailouts. Highlights include criticism for passing a credit-card industry written bankruptcy law, the 'trust us' attitude for passing the bailout bill, and the outright falsehoods that business to bank lending, inter-bank lending, and commercial paper had frozen. Plus it's just nice to see some one calling the ruling class what it is, and not dancing around the myth that we are an egalitarian society and that everyone gets a fair shake.

funny

boingboing.

Merry X-mas, chiptune style

Doctor Octoroc has created the best x-mas music I have heard in quite some time. You can download all the tracks in a zip or just one at a time, and it's great, plus it's called 8 bit jesus. I recommend We Three Konami, my personal favorite. Came across this at Kotaku.

Amazing ants doing amazing things then flooded with concrete for the win

Really excellent video showing the inner workings of a giant ant colony. Looks very sci-fi to me. Found at BoingBoing.

The Fed continues to evade transparency

From Bloomberg . The Fed just will not tell us where our money went. Secrecy is obviously essential when it comes to throwing away taxpayer money. Why all the opacity? I'm sure some of us have a few theories on that question. The Fed says that it's allowed to withhold internal memos, trade secrets and commercial information. Because you can do something is a good enough reason to do it. A secretary for the Fed sent an email to Bloomberg saying “In its considered judgment and in view of current circumstances, it would be a dangerous step to release this otherwise confidential information,”. The most cataclysmic financial crisis in America since the great depression; That's a phrase that pops up a few times in the article, some what worryingly. The Fed may be right in not wanting to disclose this information, it could very well be harmful, but the longer they stick with this refusual to cooperate with FOIA requests the more they deteriorate what little sheen may have been on their operation. Maybe it will do some good to get more people interested in what exactly they are and how they can skirt legal requests for information regarding taxpayer money.

Future cyborg now, eventual robot overlords in infancy

This lady's prosthetic arm attaches directly to the bone. The skin has grown around and fused to the bone and metal. Heartwarming and creepy. She lost her arm during the train bombings in London in 2005. She was sitting directly across from one of the bombers. Found on BoingBoing gadgets via the BBC.




And also from BoingBoing gadgets is this. I'm not entirely sure as to what this thing is doing, and from the commenter's on boingboing, they don't seem to have a consensus either, but goddamn that's terrifying. If its doing what I suspect that it is, shooting innocent civilians trapped under that net, then it must be stopped. Or purchased. Either way, I suspect we're doomed to servitude to mechanical masters before any other cataclysmic event destroys our lives.

Rep. Ron Paul in Congress 12/10/2008

Thank you, Dr. Paul.

Excuse the Matrix footage, please. I couldn't find another video with both speeches in it.

Guns N Roses - Civil War

I'm going to do something that has been so far uncharacteristic of me. I'm going to post a music video. Why when all of my posts have been about politics and economic philosophy? It's simple. I'm not straying that far off base.

I'm posting a Guns N Roses song called Civil War. This is possibly my favorite anti-war song because of two verses that Axl Rose wrote that for me encapsulates how the welfare-warfare state works. Much like the way you cannot get rid of the IRS without getting rid of the Federal Reserve, you also cannot rid the warfare state without getting rid of the welfare state. Below the video are, I think, some of the most important anti-war lyrics written.



My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars

My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or human rights
'Cause all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars

I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
Your power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store

The Calamity of Bush's Conservatism

I've been meaning to post this for a while now and haven't gotten around to it. This is a video of Lew Rockwell's Speech made at the Ron Paul Rally in Minnesota.

9/11/2001 Is A Conspiracy Theory No Matter How One Looks At It

Whether one believes that the United States Government had foreknowledge of the attack and allowed it to happen to be used as a pretext for President Bush's personal vendetta against Saddam Hussein for making an attempt on Daddy's life or whether one believes as the official story goes that al Qaeda is the guilty party, it is a conspiracy theory regardless of who believes what.

From the back of Jim Marrs' book The Terror Conspiracy: Deception, 9/11 and the Loss of Liberty:

According to the U.S. Government's official conspiracy theory, nineteen suicidal Middle Eastern Muslim hijackers, their hearts full of hatred for American freedom and democracy, hijacked four airliners. Reportedly, two planes were crashed into the Twin Towers of New York City's World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and the fourth crashed in rural western Pennsylvania after its passengers fought with the hijackers. This whole "Misson: Impossible" operation, able to defeat the United States' four-hundred-billion-dollar defense system, reportedly was under the total control of a zealous Muslim cleric using a computer while hiding in a cave in Afghanistan.

According to http://www.dictionary.com/, a conspiracy is "an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons". Conspiracy is a derivative of the Latin word conspirare, literally translated into "to breathe together". In our culture it is taboo to believe in a conspiracy theory. This is a culturally fascist attitude never more strongly represented than by those who "debunk" conspiracy theories. These attitudes wreak of state worship and arise from a sense that our elected officials couldn't or wouldn't act against the interests of the people with deliberate intention. This is a false philosophy. I understand that quotes are quotes and are only good to the extent of their usefulness but I'd like to quote Frederic Bastiat and say that government is the great fiction by which everyone endeavors to live at the expensive of everybody else. Government from its inception is evil incarnate because for it to function it has to rely on thievery.

That's what these Stalinists and Trotskyites, or more commonly referred to as the Democrats and the Republicans (respectively), don't understand.

No matter what one believes, the events of 9/11/2001 were the result of a group conspiring together. This fact is not up for debate.

These People Shouldn't be Voting Part III

More racist sciolism from the McCain- Palin cohort.

The Moment I Said It- Imogen Heap

Easy listening for the heavyhearted.

Chalmers Johnson and the Decay of the American Empire

Chomsky on the ADL (Anti-Defamation Leauge)

An excerpt from Noam Chomsky's 1989 book Necessary Illusions.

"The ADL has virtually abandoned its earlier role as a civil rights organization, becoming 'one of the main pillars' of Israeli propaganda in the U.S.… These efforts, buttressed by insinuations of anti-Semitism or direct accusations, are intended to deflect or undermine opposition to Israeli policies, including Israel's refusal, with U.S. support, to move towards a general political settlement."

More to come on this issue.

The Toppling of Saddam Statue Propaganda?

The link below is an entry that I came across on The Tribal Messenger. The entry suggests that the toppling of the the Saddam statue in April of 2003, may have been a staged event by the U.S. and the U.S. tax dollar backed FIF (Free Iraqi Forces). The event, as suspected by the author, was a propaganda move orchestrated by the Bush administration to rally ongoing support for U.S. activities in Iraq.

http://www.tribalmessenger.org/t-media/saddam-statue.htm

Tainted Lunch Meat : I love the money fires

Everyone here thought the Onion video about the National Money Hole was hilarious. I think. Anyway, apparently other more serious people are coming around to the conclusion that setting the bail-out money on fire, in a hole or not, is a more sensible idea than using it to invest in continually falling bank stocks. No longer questioning the wisdom of bail-outs, they seem to benefit the people they were intended to benefit. Not me. Still wondering why we get suckered into going along with bail-outs. Capitalism at it's finest, unless the ruling class is in some way inconvenienced, then socialism for them, jack for everyone else. Fucking bizarre that we can't see how badly we're being fleeced.

Second link found on Alternet , and followed to Sadly, No!

Tainted Lunch Meat : could be worse

Inflation has been high this year, 5.6% in July and consistently above 4% most of the year, but it could be worse. Let's take a look at Zimbabwe. That country just issued $200,000,000 notes right on the heels of the $100,000,000 notes. A loaf of bread could cost you $35,000,000 in Zimbabwe. Of course $500,000 Zimbabwe is only worth about a quarter here, as in 25 cents. Their inflation rate, the highest in the world, is running at 231 million percent. Here's the full story on CNN.

As Per Requested - Jesus Was Not A Jew

I wouldn't normally post a blog like this so soon, because when I write my blogs I like to travel in a linear direction. Shane requested that I post this because I've brought this up in our varied discussions.

Jesus wasn't a Jew, wasn't of the bloodline, and there's no biblical evidence for the claim that he was a Jew.

Tainted Lunch Meat : Modern Money Mechanics

This may be of some interest for some of you. It was printed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and is out of print.

Tainted Lunch Meat : Chomsky

I'll just post the whole thing, it's what he said to the BBC back in September.

Markets have inherent and well-known inefficiencies. One factor is failure to calculate the costs to those who do not participate in transactions. These "externalities" can be huge. That is particularly true for financial institutions.

Their task is to take risks, calculating potential costs for themselves. But they do not take into account the consequences of their losses for the economy as a whole.

Hence the financial market "underprices risk" and is "systematically inefficient," as John Eatwell and Lance Taylor wrote a decade ago, warning of the extreme dangers of financial liberalization and reviewing the substantial costs already incurred - and also proposing solutions, which have been ignored.

The threat became more severe when the Clinton administration repealed the Glass-Steagall act of 1933, thus freeing financial institutions "to innovate in the new economy," in Clinton's words -- and also "to self-destruct, taking down with them the general economy and international confidence in the US banking system," financial analyst Nomi Prins adds.

The unprecedented intervention of the Fed may be justified or not in narrow terms, but it reveals, once again, the profoundly undemocratic character of state capitalist institutions, designed in large measure to socialise cost and risk and privatize profit, without a public voice.

That is, of course, not limited to financial markets. The advanced economy as a whole relies heavily on the dynamic state sector, with much the same consequences with regard to risk, cost, profit, and decisions, crucial features of the economy and political system.

Tainted Lunch Meat : mind, blown.

I picked this up over at BoingBoing. Wow, good video, really lays out how money is created and why debt is an absolute necessity for our current economic model to function. I feel incredibly stupid after watching the video. I had a lot of misconceptions on how this system actually worked. And I never realised how subversive the 'debt-free' people were. Some quality quotes from some major figures in history show up, pretty astounding stuff. A little conspiratorial, but it doesn't harp on that for very long, and the questions it raises in regards to conspiracy aren't beyond the realm of possibility. It's a long one, clocking in at 47 minutes, but well worth the time. The goofy graphics almost turned me off of it before it really got going, but give it about 10 minutes and you will probably watch the whole thing.

Tainted Lunch Meat : Not so Great Depression

Ben Bernanke seems to wish to make clear that the current economic disaster is completely different from the Great Depression. To his credit I think he is right, kind of. He's talking percentages and not volumes, so clearly we aren't in as bad of shape, yet. But if those percentages start creeping up to Great Depression levels, the volumes of loss today would be unimaginable. Plus he adds that the Fed did nothing but stand by in the Great Depression, and everything went to shit. So obviously if the Fed does things, you know, other than nothing, it couldn't possibly go to shit again, right. So far the bailout seems to be working, banks are lending and the stock market is rebounding, failing.

Tainted Lunch Meat : Big 3 just won't die

Black Friday is over, money was spent, people died and the economy still sucks, or so I'm told. Gas is cheap though, so that's a plus. Ford, Chevy and Chrysler are all still on the verge of extinction apparently. The AP has a news item about why the proposed bailout may not even save them. There's a lot of talk about 'reorganization' and union hurdles, which sounds to me like they're trying to find a way to get out of their pension obligations and not pay their employees as much. I'm generally not in favor of bailouts, especially as I see them as a form of corporate socialism where profits are privatised and risk is spread around, but I think anything that can keep the Big 3 out of bankruptcy is critical, just so they can't bilk all the people who worked their entire lives for those companies. Maybe they should just take the bailout money and pay the retirees until the fund runs out. The Big 3 automakers aren't likely to all survive, maybe 1 of the 3 could make it, but if the focus is on selling Hummers and not a more sane model, then maybe all 3 disappear. Maybe it's time for a Big 2, Toyota and Honda seem to be doing marginally better.

My Delegate Speech

While I'm still working on some of the blogs that I'm dedicating special attention to, in the meantime I figure I can pacify my expectant blog readers for a bit with this post.

I'd like to explain something first. I never made the speech that you're going to read. I was a Ron Paul Revolutionary from the very beginning and when I learned about the delegate system I felt this overwhelming compulsion to involve myself in this democratic process of getting the man I wanted for President past the primaries that are politically-biased towards the two-party system, as everything is rigged in this country of ours. I blame this on two things: the polarization of party politics and the mindlessness of America's brainwashed lemmings. I was very fortunate to be able to have my good friend, Levi, to participate in this historic moment.

There was a certain number of delegates who were to be elected to the state level and also a certain number to the national level. I wanted to get to the national level and if I couldn't then to the state level. Because I didn't file a declaration of intention out of ignorance on my part, I failed to satisfy party protocol.

So here follows a speech I prepared and was never allowed to deliver. I unabashedly stole a quote outright from Patrick Henry, but I felt the conditions were appropriate enough. Please forgive me.

Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Republicans, honorable delegates; I come to you out of a sense of urgency. I have good news but first you must understand the bad news. We have arrived at a great crossroads in America’s history. We cannot afford to let a moment like this pass us by again. We now resemble Soviet Russia’s command economy. The only difference between Russia’s economy then and our economy now is that America doesn’t have a foreign government subsidizing her, so don’t expect current conditions to last very much longer.

In all likelihood, we’re heading towards an economic depression, the likes of which have not been seen since the Stock Market Crash of ‘29. There are multiple scenarios that could trigger the snowball. The potential exists for outstanding bank derivatives to destroy this economy before unfunded liabilities will wreak havoc. International animosity towards American imperialism could spark retaliation wherein foreign governments agree to option a run on the dollar. When this happens, not if, and the American Republic falls like the Roman Empire, it will not produce a great deal more sorrow than when the Soviet Union imploded from economic and domestic stress. Our economy will not so much collapse though as our debt-based fiat-currency will cause it to evaporate.

However, there is indeed a light at the end of the tunnel and this is why I believe we are at a very important crossroads. There is a kind of candidate running for President our Republic hasn’t seen since Senator Barry Goldwater. To quote former Superior Court Judge Andrew P. Napolitano briefly, “There are 535 people on Capitol Hill whose job it is to write the laws that govern all of us and he is one of them. There are 535 people on Capitol Hill whose job it is to preserve the Constitution and he is one of them. There are 535 people on Capitol Hill whose job it is to preserve our liberties and he is one of them. But in his heart and in his head; in his character and in his intellect; in what he has done and what he will become, the Thomas Jefferson of our day, Ron Paul is one of us.”

His name is Ron Earnest Paul and after reviewing his constantly consistent voting record one may wonder if his middle name is more than just coincidence. The Republicans talk a lot about loyalty and fealty to the Constitution, but Paul is among a very few who seem to actually care about it enough to live by it. Recall, when Reagan ran for President he even had some Democrats voting for him. Paul has that same ability of uniting the country that Reagan had. The Democrats are now back in control in Washington, D.C. If we decide as a party to vote for McCain come November, the 2006 election could look like a prophetic declaration of things to come in 2008. Should we follow Mike Huckabee’s rhetoric of preserving our honor even if it means losing elections? Or should we perhaps enlighten ourselves to the Jeffersonian philosophy of limited government and sound monetary policy represented in the candidacy of Ron Paul? I beg those who plan on voting for McCain to reconsider the ramifications of your own actions. I ask you, honorable delegates, do you want to experience in your lifetime a catastrophic economic crisis worse than the one in the 30s? The passengers on the Titanic thought the ship wouldn’t sink even as it was going down, at least not until it became too late! There is no fate but what we make for ourselves! Don’t let Orwellian groupthink keep you from voting on principle. The capacity for things to get worse is limitless!

With Soviet Russia’s economy and Adolf Hitler’s surveillance state, our very Republic may indeed be coming to its end! There is no candidate running other than Paul that promises to reverse government largesse. How can the Republican Party endorse a candidate who was at one point considered by John Kerry as a running mate? We have the Federal Reserve, the IRS, the FBI, the CIA, Homeland Security, and the military-industrial complex… Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! Thomas Jefferson would vote for Ron Paul. Will you?

Tainted Lunch Meat : Shadow Government wtf?

In a fairly forgettable interview with Newsmax Jeb Bush rather disturbingly encourages the Republicans to establish a shadow government while they are on the short end of the political stick. He also comically repeats the nonsense that the US is a center right country, after two straight election cycles where the country has tilted hard left. I wish they would give up that lie, they keep repeating it but it doesn't seem to want to stick, unlike so many of the other lies they have spouted in the past eight years. I don't know if what he thinks of as a shadow government is the same as what I think it is, but his nonchalance in advocating it really creeps me out, like that's a natural thing to have in a functioning democracy. Here's a few bits from the piece.

“If you take the [last] two election cycles, there’s real cause for concern, no question about it,” he said.

There is good news for Republicans, Bush said: The United States remains “basically a center-right country.”

Bush’s other advice on where the GOP should go from here:

The party should establish a loyal opposition and “organize ourselves in the form of a shadow government” that would address key issues, providing the public with “a loftier debate about policy” rather than mere partisanship.

Slow Weekend Maintenance Post

maintenance post, adding all the bloggers names to labels so folks can search posts by blogger.