'Austere Challenge'

The clock is ticking... Iran with nuclear weapons... US and Zionists working on joint strategy... 'Drill' scheduled to take place in May 2012, and will simulate Israel's ballistic missile defense in action, the Israel Hayom Daily reported on Monday... 

"It will be the largest and most significant joint exercise in the allies' history," Andrew Shapiro, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs, said Saturday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

He said that joint exercises allowed the U.S. "to learn from Israel's experience in urban warfare and counter-terrorism."

URBAN WARFARE AND COUNTER-TERRORISM???

Why, pray tell, do we need to learn from Israel's 'experience' in urban warfare and counter-terrorism? 

Are we expecting urban warfare in the United States?

Who are the 'terrorists' that the military plans to 'counter'?

When you think of Israel's 'experience' some ugly shit comes to mind... Ask the Palestinians.

Israeli Repression

Israel responded to Palestinian violence at the beginning of the Oslo process by limiting the flow of Palestinian workers to Israel to prevent infiltration of terrorists, and by strict checks at border checkpoints. The border closing drastically reduced the Palestinian standard of living. Palestinians who did come to work were often subjected to humiliating searches and very long waits at checkpoints. Following terror attacks at the checkpoints, nervous IDF (Israel Defense Forces - the Israeli Army) soldiers sometimes were too quick to open fire on suspicious vehicles, killing innocent civilians. Checkpoints around Jerusalem made it difficult for Palestinians to get to work in Jerusalem and to travel between Palestinian towns.

After September 2000, Israeli reprisals for Palestinian terror raids became increasingly severe,  including assassinations of wanted terrorists that Palestinians refused to arrest. Following a series of deadly suicide bombings in March of 2002, Israel launched operation Defensive Wall in the West Bank and has since reoccupied most of the territories ceded to to the Palestinians in the West Bank. The IDF set up additional checkpoints and has kept towns under virtual siege with extended periods of curfew, disrupting work, education and daily life. Ditches surround towns, preventing people from leaving. The IDF has killed over 3,500 Palestinians, demolished houses and uprooted olive groves. After a recent IDF study showed that the demolitions do not deter suicide bombings, demolitions of the houses of suicide bombers were discontinued, but houses are still demolished for other reasons.

In addition to measures taken to ensure security, Israeli extremist settlers have harassed Palestinians, destroyed property, uprooted olive trees and killed several Palestinians in doubtful circumstances. The perpetrators are rarely identified and almost never prosecuted.  

Do we really want to turn the United States into the 'occupied territories'?

Next question: Has our government gone completely mad?

Is America's association with paranoid Zionists some kind of contagion?

Reading the right-wing reaction to the Occupy Wall Street movement, I have begun to realize that there are lots of people out there who do not bother to think things through. They do not grasp the ramifications of their solutions to problems that do not actually exist (yet). And, if and when their 'solutions' become a reality all of those things that they are afraid of will be created by them... Self-destruction... by making your nightmares everyday reality... OMG, you can't be so evil or so stupid that you would bring the world to ruin - just because you are afraid of what might happen.

Granted, the world population must be reduced. But at what cost? Surely, not at the cost of liberty. Haven't you learned anything from history? Once things spiral out of control they go rapidly from bad to worse... More than likely, you will wind up being 'hoisted with your own petard' - Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others.

Genghis Kahn said, "A man can throw a stone into a pond, but he cannot prevent that stone from causing ripples." In other words, everything that you do will come back to you... You are generating your own karma... "As you sow, so shall you reap." "Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind."

Are you with me? Stay awake and think things through...

Russia and China have already warned the United States, in effect: "You fuck with Iran and World War III is on."

Go ahead, talk tough. "Screw Russia and China. Screw the Arabs. Screw the world."

Does that make you feel better?

The problem is, it is going to be your fat ass that's out there on the front lines, while your family gets pulverized at home... Not a very happy scenario. Not for you, your family, or the country... So, wait a minute, let's think things through... The whole thing is a set-up. Israel gets what it wants. China and Russia get what they want. And, Corporate Capitalism gets what it wants. The only one who gets screwed is America...

If you come back from such a war you won't even recognize your home land... By the time we emerge victorious, the whole country will be one giant concentration camp. Ask yourself, "Will such a war be worth it?"

Of course not!

Stop being afraid of 'what might be'. Whatever comes we will deal with it together. We're not going to run and hide from adversity. That's the coward's way. The way to survive and emerge victorious - in any situation - is through UNITY. All these doomsday scenarios, where you run away and hide in your 'retreat', are bullshit. Put them out of your mind. We are not going to concede anything. Let the politicians and the rich and famous run and hide. This is our land. This is our life. And, we refuse to be manipulated by fear.

'Austere Challenge' indeed... We say, "No thanks" to your stupid wars....

Unlimited Political Power

What would I do if I had unlimited political power? (Establishing the foundation for change.)

I think that the foundation for any meaningful change is a shared vision. Therefore, my first move would be to gather together all the top men (and women) in the fields of public relations, advertising, and Hollywood... and create a Bureau of Public Enlightenment so that I could share my vision with every American.

Nothing good is ever going to happen unless we are all on the same page. So, the thing that needs to be done is to try to reach out to every American with the message of hope for the future... A sincere message, not a bunch of bullshit slogans and hype that nobody believes in or cares about. 

"My fellow Americans, we are all in this together. I care about each and every one of you, and my only concern is making all of our lives better. To do this I require your participation. And, together we can create a New Society - one that has the best chance of realizing the American Dream for every citizen of these United States."

The first step, on the road to progress, is relief for those who are hungry, homeless, sick, unemployed and without hope. They must be rehabilitated... Building a New Society will require the efforts of every man, woman, and child. All must be energized toward that end. I envision an America where we all work together for the common good. Where the basic needs of every citizen are made available so that no one shall want for food, clothing and shelter... Where the wrongs of previous administrations are righted... 

Relief cannot wait. Therefore, it must have the highest priority. The hungry must be fed. The homeless must be given shelter. The sick must receive medical attention. The unemployed must have work... And, there is much work to be done.

Not only that, I would immediately end the 'war on drugs' and release all political prisoners. A general amnesty for all prisoners who have not been found guilty of capital crimes. Let everyone start with a clean slate...

Next, I would assemble all the experts on constitutional law. Because I intend to uphold the Constitution of the United States. And together we would thrash out a plan to get this country back on its feet. Along the lines of the work that President Franklin Roosevelt started. And, I might add, a program that would be perfectly 'legal'. We will move into the future step-by-step - together! Cooperation will be the watchword, not intimidation.

Communication with the people. Utilizing the intellectual resources of the nation to the fullest extent. Openness in government. An end to political corruption. Providing the basic essentials to those in need. These shall be the foundations of my administration. My opponents will be converted rather than incarcerated. Because I believe that the most important struggle that we face is winning the hearts and minds of the people.

In order to win the hearts and minds of the American people we must capture their imagination, and be totally honest. In this way, their faith in the political system can be restored, and great things can be accomplished....  

World Economic Crisis

Well what a wonderful system it was supposed to be, this market economy, free market liberal capitalist...bullshit. Why, it was a system where people were free to become millionaires, free to start up a business and free to employ people to contribute to the economy, creating jobs, paying taxes and creating wealth. It would provide for the citizens far better than the controlled economies which, however disastrous they were made out to be, managed to deliver free maternity care, growing infant survival rates, excellent and free education systems, blossoming literacy rates, free higher education, access to the work market, free leisure and sports facilities, a guaranteed job, a guaranteed house for free, apart from free or heavily subsidised public utilities, in many cases a subsidised car, subsidised fuel, security of the State, security on the streets, safety at work, a guaranteed and indexed pension and at the end, a funeral with costs supported by the State.

And what, pray tell, did the capitalist-monetarist-liberal system produce? A growing and gradual crisis holding its citizens down, making sure they do not open businesses or else putting every obstacle in their way as the corporate elitists take over. Where is your butcher? Where is your baker? Where is your milkman? Where is your safety to walk out after dark around your town center? Your education has become a business, higher education is certainly a scam, getting a house is nigh-on impossible, keeping it a drama and entering the work market, extremely difficult. Keeping your job? How? When thousands of companies every day file for bankruptcy.

And the situation is about to get even worse. According to the latest report from the International Labour Organization (ILO) a double-dip jobs recession is about to start and social strife is about to break out like a disease.

Its analysis of the future employment market is "grim", while it points out that the draconian austerity measures implemented by governments have contributed massively to rising unemployment. The result, according to the World of Work Report 2011: Making markets work for jobs, is that "80 million jobs need to be created over the next two years for global employment to return to pre-crisis levels".

Yet jobs are not being created; instead, workers' rights are being lost and everything they have fought for over the last hundred years has been insulted, derided and disrespected, before being consigned to the trash bin. With unemployment spiralling downwards, young people have no hope for the future, no motivation to study and have every right to question who has created this enlightened new system.

It certainly was not the Socialist system which provided and delivered what it promised. Had the capitalist system produced something better, fine. But the arrogance in the claims over decades that it was the better system, and then what we see today makes it clear who was right and who was wrong.

If this is your capitalist, monetarist and liberal economic system, then shove it up your ass.

But do not expect others to clear up your mess. Who is responsible? These people should be held accountable and they should pay for the crisis, not those who have worked hard, studied hard, deprived themselves of luxuries and wealth and comforts so as to build a better future for their children, only to see them today demoralised and unemployed.

It's time to turn the tables on Corporate Capitalism!

The System is Waiting for the Occupy Movement to Make a Wrong Move

"And now, with Occupy Oakland's factions turning on themselves, and the financially troubled city's bill for containing the protests climbing skyward, the euphoria over Wednesday's historic general strike has given way to widespread frustration and blame." ~ San Jose Mercury News

"The Movement is being hijacked by a destructive minority." ~ ABC News

"To give hundreds of teachers, nurses and city workers took the day off to join in the day of protests is completely disrespectful of the taxpayers." ~ NPR News

"The violence that followed, however, raised questions about the direction of the movement and whether the clashes, so far mostly isolated in a city with a history of tensions between residents and police, will galvanize protesters or hurt their cause." ~ Fox News

Oakland California is a rough place. It is the home of the Hells Angels motorcycle club and the Black Panther Party. The Oakland police department is famous for its brutality and abuse of its citizen's rights. In short, a perfect place for a confrontation between demonstrators and the police.

Did anyone really think that the Occupy Movement could pull off 'passive resistence' in a country as violent as the United States?

Does anyone think that the media is non-partisan; or that the police won't infiltrate demonstrations in order to stir up violence and promote disunity?

Would it come as a surprise if agent provocateurs were the culprits here?

Can you blame the anarchists and Marxists for doing what is only natural for them? After all, they see themselves as the 'champions' of the people...

And now, the media tells us that the factions are 'turning on themselves'. Wishful thinking. Instead, what is happening is that everything is running true to form. The System is the System, the cops are cops, the politicians are politicians, the protesters are protesters, and the revolutionaries are revolutionaries - it's a fucking opera, man! 

But it's our opera. And, if we want to see things change we've got to endure the whole thing, from the first act to the last.

This shit is costing the System lots of $$$... Naturally, they will squeeze the people to foot the bill. 

Disunity? No - SOLIDARITY! The 'destructive minority' is the one percenters and their lackeys!

Hijacked? Nobody is hijacking anything. The drama is being played out.

Did you like the line about, "To give hundreds of teachers, nurses and city workers the day off to join in the day of protests is completely disrespectful of the taxpayers."??? The taxpayers are the ones that are getting screwed by the System! It is in their best interests that someone is demonstrating for 'social justice'.

The 'direction' the movement will take is the path of least resistance... It's a basic law of fluid dynamics.

I don't know about you, but I am 'galvanized'. Let the revolution unfold! Let the chips fall where they may... you can't make an omelet without breaking any eggs!

The Occupy Movement is like Nietzsche's tightrope walker...  The tightrope walker is a fairly obvious metaphor, spelled out by Zarathustra, of humanity in the process of transformation (going over) from the current stage of human consciousness to a more advanced stage. The speech that Zarathustra gives is clearly modeled on the Beatitudes (see Matthew 5:1-12). In what way does he think being "a great despiser" is a positive act? What is the difference between loving virtue in general and loving one's own virtue? What is it about the latter that Nietzsche approves of? Paraphrase into plain English this statement: "I love him who casts golden words before his deeds and always does even more than he promises." Why does he praise "going under?" In what way do these various people prepare for the development of the New Man?

No one expects the Occupy Movement to last forever. What we expect is that its demise will give birth to the next evolution: Revolution. This is like Russia in 1905 - the real revolution is still twelve years away!

And, that's the Truth....

Will You Fight For Freedom?

The Republicans have become the bad guys in the struggle for political power. They are the ones who gave the country away to Corporate Capitalism. Their candidates for President are either idiots or spoiled rich kids. Everything they say is bullshit. The only good Republican is Ron Paul, and most people think he is crazy.

Americans know a rigged game when they see one. They understand how much money is flowing into politics from the super rich, big corporations, and Wall Street — in order to keep their taxes low and entrench their privileged position.

Meanwhile, it’s dawning on Americans that in the real economy (as opposed to the financial one) our spending is vital. And without enough jobs or wages, that spending is drying up.

Instead of investing in jobs and growth, the super rich are putting their money into gold or Treasury bills, or investing it in Brazil or South Asia or anywhere else it can reap the highest return.

Wall Street moguls are doing better than ever – after having been bailed out by the rest of us. But the rest of us are doing worse. CEOs are hauling in more than 300 times the pay of average workers (up from 40 times the pay only three decades ago), as average workers lose jobs, wages, and benefits.

The economy is in trouble because so much income and wealth have been going to the top that the rest us no longer have the purchasing power to buy the goods and services we would produce at or near full employment.

The jobs depression shows no sign of ending. Personal disposable income, adjusted for inflation, was down 1.7 percent in the third quarter of this year – the biggest drop since the third quarter of 2009. Housing prices have stalled, home sales are down.

For the first time in more than half a century, a broad cross-section of the American public is talking about the concentration of income, wealth, and political power at the top.

Even more startling is the change in public opinion. Not since the 1930s has a majority of Americans called for redistribution of income or wealth. But according to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, an astounding 66 percent of Americans said the nation’s wealth should be more evenly distributed.

A similar majority believes the rich should pay more in taxes. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, even a majority of people who describe themselves as Republicans believe taxes should be increased on the rich.

And they blame Republicans for stacking the deck in favor of the rich. On that New York Times/CBS News poll, 69 percent of respondents said Republican policies favor the rich (28 percent said the same of Obama’s policies).

A profound change has come over America. Guts, gumption, and hard work don’t seem to pay off as they once did – or at least as they did in our national morality play. Instead, the game seems rigged in favor of people who are already rich and powerful – as well as their children.

Instead of lionizing the rich, we’re beginning to suspect they gained their wealth by ripping us off.

They used to say that great wealth 'trickled down'- that the rich made investments in jobs and growth that benefited all of us. So even if we doubted we’d be wealthy, we still gained from the fortunes made by a few.

But that view, too, has lost its sheen. Nothing has trickled down. The rich have become far richer over the last three decades but the rest of us haven’t. In fact, median incomes are dropping.

A combination of police crackdowns and bad weather are testing the revolutionary movement. But rumors of its demise are premature, to say the least. Although numbers are hard to come by, anecdotal evidence suggests the movement is growing.

Now is the time for us to choose the kind of America we want in the future. And, whether we want to continue on as free man or slaves. 

Make no mistake, things cannot continue as they are now. Each and every American must decide whether he wants to take it up the ass or fight.

It's really as simple as that....

Police Brutality

The Corporate Capitalists and their 'hired' politicians, it seems, have had their fill of democracy. Across the country, police, acting under orders from local officials, are breaking up protest encampments set up by supporters of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement - sometimes with shocking and utterly gratuitous violence.

In the worst incident so far, hundreds of police, dressed in riot gear, surrounded Occupy Oakland's encampment and fired rubber bullets (which can be fatal), hand grenades and tear-gas canisters - with some officers taking aim directly at demonstrators. The Occupy Oakland Twitter feed read like a report from Cairo's Tahrir Square: "they are surrounding us"; "hundreds and hundreds of police"; "there are armoured vehicles and Hummers". The demonstrators were brutalized by the police.

What Is Police Abuse?

By police abuse, we mean the inappropriate and illegal use of police powers to coerce, harass, intimidate, arrest, assault and kill American citizens. Police abuse also occurs in the form of racial profiling, illegal roadblocks and illegal searches. The victims of police abuse are often the usual targets of institutional discrimination: racial minorities, homeless people, gays, youth and anyone who protests against the system. It can happen, however, to anybody. The abuse occurs often enough that almost everyone knows someone who has been harassed, jacked up, beaten or arrested. All of us have heard about the men, women and children who have been killed by the police.

Because of this abuse and the lack of accountability to the community, many people don’t see the police as “public servants”. Police are seen as part of the power structure in this country that oppresses them. And the problem is worsened by the fact that our political leaders rarely speak out against this violence and sometimes give a wink and a nod when it happens blaming the victims. Police abuse and other forms of criminal injustice pose a threat to the foundations of our democracy. It adds to the frustration and hopelessness of people who already feel abandoned and serves to further undermine the trust that American citizens have in their government.

Why the Police Have Gone 'Bad'?

The hiring policies of the Police Departments are flawed. They do not do enough checking of the backgrounds and complete psychological tests on officer candidates. The departments have a habit of hiring officers who have a “power-hungry and gung-ho mentality” and often hold racist, sexist or homophobic views. We do not need anyone like that in a position of power carrying guns.

Police officers are not trained properly. This has led to shooting suspects (most of whom have been unarmed) and abusing people in the community regularly. They tend to “shoot first and ask questions later”. It appears that instead of being trained to deal with people in a respectful manner they operate under the assumption that everybody is a potential criminal.

Departments have vague “use of force” policies that allow officers to interpret them the way they want.

There is no accountability when an officer violates the department’s own policies. Officers are rarely found guilty of wrongdoing by the police department’s own internal investigations. In fact, in many cities nationwide, officers who shoot people dead end up getting promoted. This gives them the go-ahead to abuse more victims. Clearly, the police cannot police themselves. 90% of citizen complaints of excessive use of force end up in “no action”.

There is no “quality control”. Bad officers with many complaints are not adequately tracked and therefore never get brought to justice.

There is an unwritten “Blue Code” of silence which means that police officers cover up for each other. The Police Departments tolerate this conduct.

Most abused citizens are discouraged from filing complaints and are sometimes intimidated into not doing so. This results in much abuse not ever being reported. When they do file, victim’s complaints are often distorted and sometimes falsified by internal affairs officers. Accused officers lie to cover themselves.

Officers get a commission every time they arrest someone. They get about 40 every time they show up in court in addition to their salaries. This system encourages them to arrest anybody and slap them with a bogus charge, or pull people over for no reason, in hopes that they will be able to find something to charge them with.

Sliding Into the Abyss

Suddenly, the United States looks like the rest of the furious, protesting, not-completely-free world. Indeed, most commentators have not fully grasped that a world war is occurring. But it is unlike any previous war in human history: for the first time, people around the world are not identifying and organising themselves along national or religious lines, but rather in terms of a global consciousness and demands for a peaceful life, a sustainable future, economic justice and basic democracy. Their enemy is a global "corporatocracy" that has purchased governments and legislatures, created its own armed enforcers, engaged in systemic economic fraud, and plundered treasuries and ecosystems.

Around the world, peaceful protesters are being demonized for being disruptive. But democracy is disruptive. Martin Luther King, Jr. argued that peaceful disruption of "business as usual" is healthy, because it exposes buried injustice, which can then be addressed. Protesters ideally should dedicate themselves to disciplined, nonviolent disruption in this spirit - especially disruption of traffic. This serves to keep provocateurs at bay, while highlighting the unjust militarization of the police response.

Fighting Police Abuse

The bad news is police abuse is a serious problem. It has a long history, and it seems to defy all attempts at eradication.

The problem is national: no police department in the country is known to be completely free of misconduct. Yet it must be fought locally: the nation's 19,000 law enforcement agencies are essentially independent. While some federal statutes specify criminal penalties for willful violations of civil rights and conspiracies to violate civil rights, the United States Department of Justice has been insufficiently aggressive in prosecuting cases of police abuse. There are shortcomings, too, in federal law itself, which does not permit "pattern and practice" lawsuits. The battle against police abuse must, therefore, be fought primarily on the local level.

Click HERE to access: Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual

We can no longer tolerate Police Brutality and abuse of power in our society!

How Much Would You Pay?

"How much do you think I should pay in taxes?" said the one percenter.

The faces on the crowd of ninety-nine percenters went blank. They were not prepared to talk percentages...

For a few weeks now, I have been offering a free download of the book, Battle Stations for All. Had anyone bothered to actually read it they would know two things. First, for an American citizen, no price is too much to pay - no cost too high - to save the United States of America! Second, the correct answer is (for the rich) ninety point five percent until the national debt is paid!

The alternative is: we nationalize all banks and corporate holdings, and we confiscate all unearned wealth!

Oops, there goes the vacation to the Caribbean... But, don't look so downcast. The average Joe can't afford to take a vacation. He can't afford a new Mercedes. He can't even afford to pay your dry cleaning bill.

"Wouldn't you like to be rich too?" says the one percenter.

Maybe, but I'd like to get rich the honest way: by walking into a bank with a gun. That is more 'honorable' than swindling little old ladies, and starving helpless women and children...

The one percenters steal peoples dreams and crush their hopes. And, then they want to wax self-righteously about how cool they are... They think that everybody secretly wants to be assholes like they are.

God, I hope not.

There has to be something more to life than being a hypocritical sonofabitch...

Then some 'Uncle Tom' jumps in and says, "That's what I'm talking about - democratic discourse!"

Let's talk about something else. There is no real democratic discourse in this country. Corporate Capitalism won't allow it.

Then the one percenter says, "Don't blame capitalism. It's the government that has fucked up the economy, and the whole country."

You hear that you stupid politicians? From the gate, the Corporate Capitalist is ready to throw you under the bus. Yet, you are content to keep puckering up to kiss that ass. It ain't nothing like Mr. Smith goes to Washington, is it?

How about some of your stupid cliches, like 'tax and spend'... or 'big government'... or the 'welfare state'. 

Whose welfare?

It damned sure ain't the welfare of the American people. 

You cut food to the hungry and then give yourself a raise... and take those fat envelopes and stick them in the pockets of your expensive suits... talk out of both sides of your mouth at the same time... and, then wonder why nobody believes a word you say.

"You're all communists!" shouts the one percenter.

And, they wonder why everybody is joining the Occupy Movement...

Hey Pal, not everybody who hates your ass is a communist. But we all sure are getting sick and tired of your shit.

And, that's the Truth!