FOR ANY LAWFUL CONTACT MADE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL OR AGENCY OF THIS STATE OR A COUNTY, CITY, TOWN OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF THIS STATE WHERE REASONABLE SUSPICION EXISTS THAT THE PERSON IS AN ALIEN WHO IS UNLAWFULLY PRESENT IN THE UNITED STATES, A REASONABLE ATTEMPT SHALL BE MADE, WHEN PRACTICABLE, TO DETERMINE THE IMMIGRATION STATUS OF THE PERSON. THE PERSON'S IMMIGRATION STATUS SHALL BE VERIFIED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PURSUANT TO 8 UNITED STATES CODE SECTION 1373(c). Arizona SB1070 Article 8, section B, emphasis mine.
I wonder if anyone else would find this funny. Tea Party attendees typically rant about government interference, calling any form of government interference by it's most extreme forms: Fascism, communism, etc. I'm generalizing here, but it seems true - I'll remind you that I have actually attended a tea party.
What's the tea party response to Arizona's new "Show me your papers" law? Oh, they're all for it. (note: the Arizona tea party has declared that they support it. The rest of the tea parties across the country either support it or are silent on it, and none oppose)
A law that assumes that you are guilty of being a noncitizen if you can't produce your birth certificate or Social Security Card (or some other proof of residency that most people don't carry with them - especially now in the time of identity theft). A law that gives police not only the right but the mandate to stop ANYONE they have contact with and demand papers and arrest them if they do not happen to have papers on them.
I wonder, sometimes, if they know anything about Nazi Germany at all. Allow me to remind you: Checkpoints. Papers. Arbitrary arrests. Fear. A society rapidly shifting from open to closed. This should all feel very familiar.
This legislation bears all of the hallmarks of police state authoritarianism. And white people shouldn't feel safe either. Maybe if the Arizona government develops some reason to fear you, whitey, maybe they'll assume that you're an illegal canadian. Papers, please.
It's spreading, too. Legislation is being introduced to bring the same authoritarianism to Utah. FUN!
Have you ever been in an internal border patrol checkpoint? Oh, I have! And I was pulled over and profiled, despite the fact that I'm very white.
It was Texas. Near El Paso. And I looked rather like a hippy at the time (long, wild curly hair). I got pulled from the car. I got screamed at. "WHERE ARE THE DRUGS?" They asked (Answer: Not on me). Detained. Handcuffed. No evidence of any wrongdoing, and especially no evidence of me NOT being a citizen. I was released after about 45 minutes of them searching the car.
Can you understand why I'm opposed to this sort of legislation? Anything that gives a government agency new and sweeping authority to detain anyone they desire is directly in conflict with our liberty.
I don't really give a shit what your views on immigration are, this sort of law is in opposition to liberty.
You want to stop immigration? Well how about bringing the troops home from Iraq, every last one of them, and putting them in the Southwest desert, patrolling the border?
And all you legal immigrants out there? Leave your fucking papers at home. They can't arrest all of you.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Join the Beer Party Movement
Are you sick of your preferred beverages being co-opted by political movements? Tea has been taken by the far right. Coffee by the moderate left.
Does this piss anyone else off? I don't want to think about how so many people don't know what fascism is (and how it differs from socialism) when drinking a cup of oolong tea, dammit! I don't want to think about opening respectful lines of communication with government representatives no matter what I think of their policies when I'm drinking my morning coffee either (coffee time is sacred to me - it's between me and the coffee and the morning sun)
I do not want to have a mental association with a political movement of any kind when I drink a goddamn beverage!
Hence, the Beer Party Movement.
What are the politics of the beer party movement?
Leave that shit at the door. The beer party movement is about enjoying the evening, since the preferred morning beverages have been co-opted by political ideologies.
I believe that beer is neutral. Left, Right, Statist, Libertarian, beer is for everyone. Beer is about the moment. Enjoy it. Live in it. Let's tell some jokes, let's bitch about our jobs (or lack of jobs), let's leave the politics to be discussed another time. Beer is neutral. Let's keep it that way.
B.E.E.R. - Beverage Equality is Everyone's Right.
Who's with me?
Cheers.
Does this piss anyone else off? I don't want to think about how so many people don't know what fascism is (and how it differs from socialism) when drinking a cup of oolong tea, dammit! I don't want to think about opening respectful lines of communication with government representatives no matter what I think of their policies when I'm drinking my morning coffee either (coffee time is sacred to me - it's between me and the coffee and the morning sun)
I do not want to have a mental association with a political movement of any kind when I drink a goddamn beverage!
Hence, the Beer Party Movement.
What are the politics of the beer party movement?
Leave that shit at the door. The beer party movement is about enjoying the evening, since the preferred morning beverages have been co-opted by political ideologies.
I believe that beer is neutral. Left, Right, Statist, Libertarian, beer is for everyone. Beer is about the moment. Enjoy it. Live in it. Let's tell some jokes, let's bitch about our jobs (or lack of jobs), let's leave the politics to be discussed another time. Beer is neutral. Let's keep it that way.
B.E.E.R. - Beverage Equality is Everyone's Right.
Who's with me?
Cheers.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Marginalized
Forget your opinions of the Tea Parties for a minute. You should know I'm not the biggest fan of what is essentially the GOP with a megaphone. Yes, ironic, I know - that people are screaming against fascism while working with the most obvious fascists in the Right-wing establishment. I want to make a point here, and the idiocy of the average teabagger (their chosen appellation being only the most obvious idiocy) is entirely irrelevant to the point.
CNN reported on a recent tea party rally in Searchlight, Nevada: “Hundreds of people, at least dozens of people – we haven’t gotten a count of how many people turned out there. We heard Sarah Palin talk about everything about the campaign, to unseat Sen. Reid to what she calls ObamaCare, on the heels of that health care vote and even talking about her definition of her love of America.”
Actual count was 9,000 people at a minimum. 14,000 at high end. CNN says: Dozens or maybe a few hundred.
Remember the Feb 15, 2003 anti-Iraq war rallies? The center of the 800+ city rally was in New York City. New York was chosen as the barometer for the success of the multi-city, multi-nation rally. CNN, FOX News, NPR all reported the turnout was well under 10,000 in New York City.
Accurate counts by protest organizers and NYPD put it at over 100,000. In just that city.
Do you see a correlation here? Any similarities?
The corporate media marginalizes popular movements. Even UNPOPULAR popular movements like the tea party. What does the Anti-Iraq War movement of 2003 have in common with the tea parties of 2009/2010?
Both stand in the way of corporate profits.
In 2003, there were reasons why major media outlets did not cover the protests with any accuracy at all. Anything with NBC affiliation had a direct conflict - NBC is owned by GE, which is among other things a military contractor. NPR receives substantial grants from the federal government. The Federal government wanted in the war (obviously - given that the federal government is largely owned by corporate interests, you can see why they would). FOX News had excellent reason to not run accurate coverage - they sell 2 things: fear and patriotism. The anti-Iraq war movement challenged the patriotic paradigm, while also telling us we had no reason to fear Iraq. Definite conflict of interest with Fox. And CNN's parent company gave 1.6 million dollars in campaign contributions to W's presidential run (which also explains their dismal lack of coverage of the 2000 election theft).
Now, how does the tea party movement stand in the way of corporate profits? Interesting question, since they love to spout off quotes from Ayn Rand books that they've probably never read, and talk about corporate capitalism as if it was endorsed by Jesus... It's a side-effect. We all know that FOX news is the GOP propaganda station. The biggest slice of fear that FOX has been dishing out for the last 2 years is that Obama is the socialist anti-christ Nazi babykiller communist muslim of doom. So anything he does is evil and wrong. And he's doing health care. So health care reform is evil and wrong (never you mind that the United States has the worst health care system in the developed world).
Health care reform was, of course, the first big push of the Obama administration. So, we know the rest - it's the worst thing ever, he'll kill grandma, blah blah blah. (NOTE: I'm not a fan of the health care legislation. For entirely different reasons from the teabaggers)
So the Teabaggers had their enemy: Whoever the republican leadership said was their enemy. Obama and health care are IT. And that is what they protest against.
Interesting... because the final health care bill is actually REALLY good for insurance. Big insurance companies will get MILLIONS of new clients because of the legal obligation to buy insurance. And those that can't afford it will get medicaid or a government subsidy to buy private insurance. It's a GIGANTIC HANDOUT.
Don't be fooled: Insurance companies LOVE this bill. It's exactly what they wanted. But the tea partiers are still raging against it, even though it's really good for their beloved corporate America (the same corporate America that has left them impoverished and working at Walmart).
But they still rage against it. The republicans are feeding the flames because they hope to ride the rage to electoral victory in November. Teabaggers are still fighting because they are pissed off. They're not even sure what they're pissed off at, but they are PISSED!
But back to my original point: They were marginalized by the same news media outlets (Except for FOX) that marginalized the 2003 protests. Because they stand in the way of the flow of millions of dollars.
Just an example of the way corporate media plays us. We are an ocean of peasants. They have a grand old time directing the ebb and flow.
The corporate media are like mercenary firms that deal in information and manipulation. Doesn't matter the cause, just the paycheck.
Stop thinking in terms of CNN, MSNBC, FOX. Start thinking in terms of Blackwater and ArmorGroup International. Stop thinking in terms of "is this a liberal or conservative media outlet" and start thinking in terms of "who's bankrolling this?"
The Iraq protesters - Marginalized. Teabaggers - Marginalized. The only points of view you hear are those of "industry experts" who are usually paid consultants from whatever industry they are supposed to be giving an unbiased analysis of. And then you get to hear the latest celebrity gossip.
Turn it off. Especially the crap that panders to you. Conservatives - turn off FOX. Liberals - for fuck's sake, TURN OFF NPR! You are not becoming informed. You are being distracted. Stop letting yourself and others be marginalized.
CNN reported on a recent tea party rally in Searchlight, Nevada: “Hundreds of people, at least dozens of people – we haven’t gotten a count of how many people turned out there. We heard Sarah Palin talk about everything about the campaign, to unseat Sen. Reid to what she calls ObamaCare, on the heels of that health care vote and even talking about her definition of her love of America.”
Actual count was 9,000 people at a minimum. 14,000 at high end. CNN says: Dozens or maybe a few hundred.
Remember the Feb 15, 2003 anti-Iraq war rallies? The center of the 800+ city rally was in New York City. New York was chosen as the barometer for the success of the multi-city, multi-nation rally. CNN, FOX News, NPR all reported the turnout was well under 10,000 in New York City.
Accurate counts by protest organizers and NYPD put it at over 100,000. In just that city.
Do you see a correlation here? Any similarities?
The corporate media marginalizes popular movements. Even UNPOPULAR popular movements like the tea party. What does the Anti-Iraq War movement of 2003 have in common with the tea parties of 2009/2010?
Both stand in the way of corporate profits.
In 2003, there were reasons why major media outlets did not cover the protests with any accuracy at all. Anything with NBC affiliation had a direct conflict - NBC is owned by GE, which is among other things a military contractor. NPR receives substantial grants from the federal government. The Federal government wanted in the war (obviously - given that the federal government is largely owned by corporate interests, you can see why they would). FOX News had excellent reason to not run accurate coverage - they sell 2 things: fear and patriotism. The anti-Iraq war movement challenged the patriotic paradigm, while also telling us we had no reason to fear Iraq. Definite conflict of interest with Fox. And CNN's parent company gave 1.6 million dollars in campaign contributions to W's presidential run (which also explains their dismal lack of coverage of the 2000 election theft).
Now, how does the tea party movement stand in the way of corporate profits? Interesting question, since they love to spout off quotes from Ayn Rand books that they've probably never read, and talk about corporate capitalism as if it was endorsed by Jesus... It's a side-effect. We all know that FOX news is the GOP propaganda station. The biggest slice of fear that FOX has been dishing out for the last 2 years is that Obama is the socialist anti-christ Nazi babykiller communist muslim of doom. So anything he does is evil and wrong. And he's doing health care. So health care reform is evil and wrong (never you mind that the United States has the worst health care system in the developed world).
Health care reform was, of course, the first big push of the Obama administration. So, we know the rest - it's the worst thing ever, he'll kill grandma, blah blah blah. (NOTE: I'm not a fan of the health care legislation. For entirely different reasons from the teabaggers)
So the Teabaggers had their enemy: Whoever the republican leadership said was their enemy. Obama and health care are IT. And that is what they protest against.
Interesting... because the final health care bill is actually REALLY good for insurance. Big insurance companies will get MILLIONS of new clients because of the legal obligation to buy insurance. And those that can't afford it will get medicaid or a government subsidy to buy private insurance. It's a GIGANTIC HANDOUT.
Don't be fooled: Insurance companies LOVE this bill. It's exactly what they wanted. But the tea partiers are still raging against it, even though it's really good for their beloved corporate America (the same corporate America that has left them impoverished and working at Walmart).
But they still rage against it. The republicans are feeding the flames because they hope to ride the rage to electoral victory in November. Teabaggers are still fighting because they are pissed off. They're not even sure what they're pissed off at, but they are PISSED!
But back to my original point: They were marginalized by the same news media outlets (Except for FOX) that marginalized the 2003 protests. Because they stand in the way of the flow of millions of dollars.
Just an example of the way corporate media plays us. We are an ocean of peasants. They have a grand old time directing the ebb and flow.
The corporate media are like mercenary firms that deal in information and manipulation. Doesn't matter the cause, just the paycheck.
Stop thinking in terms of CNN, MSNBC, FOX. Start thinking in terms of Blackwater and ArmorGroup International. Stop thinking in terms of "is this a liberal or conservative media outlet" and start thinking in terms of "who's bankrolling this?"
The Iraq protesters - Marginalized. Teabaggers - Marginalized. The only points of view you hear are those of "industry experts" who are usually paid consultants from whatever industry they are supposed to be giving an unbiased analysis of. And then you get to hear the latest celebrity gossip.
Turn it off. Especially the crap that panders to you. Conservatives - turn off FOX. Liberals - for fuck's sake, TURN OFF NPR! You are not becoming informed. You are being distracted. Stop letting yourself and others be marginalized.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
One Year. Change?
So yeah. A year since Obama took the office. How are things going? Let's count the change.
Gitmo - still open. Oh, and they're not actually releasing most of the prisoners (you know, those guys that they can't prosecute for lack of evidence). They're just moving them stateside
Iraq - still there (and still planning on keeping those massive military bases. Make no mistake, we are not leaving - there will be an enduring presence - remember, Obama has already broken his campaign promises for a rapid withdrawal... it just kept getting extended as he got closer to winning. Besides, this nation is not fond of tearing down military bases. We still have them in Japan and Germany)
Afghanistan - WORSE!
Pakistan - More drones!
Yemen - Yeah, we're waging an undeclared war against YEMEN now! This brought to you by the 2009 recipient of the Nobel prize for peace.
Health Care - What? No, no, no. You're confused. It's INSURANCE care now, because it will be illegal to NOT own insurance and there is no public option.
No lobbyists in the white house - BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Right. That one didn't hold up more than a WEEK, did it?
Transparency in the White house - *cough, cough* ...No.
I'm not saying he's the exact same as bush. He can speak. He has garnered more respect and cooperation internationally. But... on several key issues, this man has repeatedly NOT changed (or slightly altered for the worse) some of the most damning things about the former administration.
He INCREASED the pentagon's budget (already at world-conquest proportions)
He increased the Federal Reserves power for financial oversight (the federal reserve being one of the organizations that caused the financial crisis to begin with, through 'cheap money' aka VERY low interest rates)
He has not taken any steps to end unconstitutional practices sanctioned by the USA PATRIOT ACT. Warrantless Wiretapping, Anyone?
Now, granted - he may have saved the economy or at least slowed down it's death a bit. Unemployment has ebbed and his stimulus is, at the very least, partially responsible for that.
He Lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research, which will potentially give us invaluable research that could eventually cure many diseases.
He passed his climate change bill... (but it's mostly Cap and Trade, so it's COMPLETELY FUCKING USELESS - it won't cut back on air pollution or carbon much if at all)
Oh, and we have the first Latina supreme court justice. And she seems pretty damn progressive.
Conclusion: Obama's not all bad, but... he's nowhere NEAR good enough to be what we need. He is, as I've often stated, Clinton pt II - and Clinton just wasn't that great of a president. Remember that 'better than' does not equal 'good'.
Gitmo - still open. Oh, and they're not actually releasing most of the prisoners (you know, those guys that they can't prosecute for lack of evidence). They're just moving them stateside
Iraq - still there (and still planning on keeping those massive military bases. Make no mistake, we are not leaving - there will be an enduring presence - remember, Obama has already broken his campaign promises for a rapid withdrawal... it just kept getting extended as he got closer to winning. Besides, this nation is not fond of tearing down military bases. We still have them in Japan and Germany)
Afghanistan - WORSE!
Pakistan - More drones!
Yemen - Yeah, we're waging an undeclared war against YEMEN now! This brought to you by the 2009 recipient of the Nobel prize for peace.
Health Care - What? No, no, no. You're confused. It's INSURANCE care now, because it will be illegal to NOT own insurance and there is no public option.
No lobbyists in the white house - BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Right. That one didn't hold up more than a WEEK, did it?
Transparency in the White house - *cough, cough* ...No.
I'm not saying he's the exact same as bush. He can speak. He has garnered more respect and cooperation internationally. But... on several key issues, this man has repeatedly NOT changed (or slightly altered for the worse) some of the most damning things about the former administration.
He INCREASED the pentagon's budget (already at world-conquest proportions)
He increased the Federal Reserves power for financial oversight (the federal reserve being one of the organizations that caused the financial crisis to begin with, through 'cheap money' aka VERY low interest rates)
He has not taken any steps to end unconstitutional practices sanctioned by the USA PATRIOT ACT. Warrantless Wiretapping, Anyone?
Now, granted - he may have saved the economy or at least slowed down it's death a bit. Unemployment has ebbed and his stimulus is, at the very least, partially responsible for that.
He Lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research, which will potentially give us invaluable research that could eventually cure many diseases.
He passed his climate change bill... (but it's mostly Cap and Trade, so it's COMPLETELY FUCKING USELESS - it won't cut back on air pollution or carbon much if at all)
Oh, and we have the first Latina supreme court justice. And she seems pretty damn progressive.
Conclusion: Obama's not all bad, but... he's nowhere NEAR good enough to be what we need. He is, as I've often stated, Clinton pt II - and Clinton just wasn't that great of a president. Remember that 'better than' does not equal 'good'.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Reflections on 9/11: Smoke and Mirrors, Fear and Loathing
On this tackiest of holidays (Patriot Day? Seriously? This was thought up by adults?), we remember the fallen. Those who died in New York, those who died in Washington.
Why stop there? I honor those who die in Iraq, Afghanistan. But why, even, stop there? Remember those who die in south america, Southeast, west, and central asia. Remember those in africa who have met their end, and remember those who have starved to death in an economically raped post-soviet Russia.
What, besides being human, do all these people have in common? Victims, all, of aggressive United States imperialism.
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the already impoverished former empire was looted by western business interests, transferring wealth to wall street and a few russian oligarchs who assisted in the financial rape of their own country.
All of southern Asia, from Indonesia to Vietnam to Afghanistan to Iraq, has been bombed either monetarily or physically in the name of "Freedom" (freedom here being a poor euphemism for corporate empire - capitalism on steroids).
And back home, on this day 8 years ago, thousands of people died. According to either of the 2 most rational conspiracy theories (and of course, every theory about the events of that day is some form of conspiracy theory), the root of the cause leading to the attacks is the American corporate empire.
Theory one: The most rational form of the official theory. 19 Islamic extremists took control of 4 airliners and turned them into missiles. Their commander was a former CIA asset, recruited for our proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan. He had become more disgusted with US foreign policy, the way we waged continual war, both physical and economic, against his Islamic part of the world, and decided to wage a guerrilla war against us. This is the "Blowback" theory.
Theory two: It was a false flag operation conducted by the Bush white house, using various deep-cover elements of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the CIA. It was conducted in order for us to wage war against any nation we wish, to secure resources for our country, or, more specifically, Corporate interests within our country. This is the false-flag theory, and there are many deviations on this central theme, from the crackpot ("The Twin Towers collapsed because of focused high energy weapons! Lasers!" "There WERE no planes hitting the towers - it was a holographic image!" "It was shape-shifting inter-dimensional LIZARDS that ordered the operation!"), to the rational (Dr Steven Jones, in a peer reviewed study, published his findings of active thermitic material in 4 WTC dust samples. Former FBI Translator Sybil Edmunds states that the US still had a working relationship with Osama Bin Laden until September 10th. Many of the members of the 9/11 commission now doubt the voracity of their own report).
So 9/11 happened. Decide what you will about how it happened. And what is the reaction? To continue doing what our country had been doing already for decades. Only faster. Identify a country with resources desired. Try to bribe the country's leadership into selling out the resource at the expense of the population. If that fails, overthrow the leadership or wage war on the country. Demonize them. Make it seem as if they are our enemies.
Win the support of the public by pumping them full of, in the words of Hunter S Thompson, fear and loathing. Obfuscate reality. What we say goes. Love your country, right or wrong. Hate our enemy, though they were our allies but a few years ago. In short, this:
It is only a slight exaggeration of the propaganda thrown in our faces every day. Especially on today.
Our nation, after 9/11, became even more filled with lies, with logical fallacies, with smoke and mirrors. All who oppose world corporate monopoly are enemies of civilization. Terrorists. Barbarians at the gate. A vicious, well-organized enemy from without and within. Freedom-haters. Get behind the empire or get trampled by it.
The distractions abound. And 9/11, be it a genuine attack or, as evidence seems to suggest, a contrived event, is a distraction. In the name of 9/11 and defending us from evil terrorists, we have lost Habeas corpus. The first amendment is only a shadow of it's former self (protesters at the RNC get charged with conspiracy to riot. "Free speech zones." Independent journalists get arrested for covering things from a different perspective) The fourth amendment is so tattered and ignored as to be completely meaningless. Every phone in America may be tapped without warrant. Internal checkpoints, run by the border patrol (under the direction of the DHS), can be set up anywhere within 100 miles of the border. And believe me - having passed through them, they are certainly not set up to stop Mexicans from getting into the country.
I would like to hope that these violations of liberty are getting better under Obama. But the truth is, they're not. Obama voted for the revised FISA bill - so now you can't even sue a telecom company if you have been spied on with their assistance. He has done nothing to repeal the patriot act - after all, he voted for the third edition of it. He closes down guantanomo, but rather than ending torture, he merely outsources it to countries like Egypt, via CIA extraordinary rendition.
The sad truth is that though we have a new face in the White House, an eloquent speaker, a highly intelligent man, there has been precious little policy shift. A focus on health care (which, in the words of Dennis Kucinech, is really insurance care), moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, and changing the venue where torture takes place is not change. Not really a shift at all. The same people are still in charge of our country.
Remember those who have fallen at the hands of those who think themselves our masters. Who would destroy us for profit, as they have done with countless other peoples.
Remember, and inform. One day this planet will be ours, by which I mean it will truly be controlled by all people. How we get there I don't know. But the first step is to remember. To inform. To see past the smoke and mirrors put forth by the mainstream media, the Federal Government, and all other entities controlled by powerful corporate interests.
It is my solemn wish that on this day, just one more person will wake up and see that though we are still free, there are those that wish to enslave us for the sake of profit.
If I can be a part of waking up a few people to the truth of corporate imperialism, I know I have made the world a better place.
Why stop there? I honor those who die in Iraq, Afghanistan. But why, even, stop there? Remember those who die in south america, Southeast, west, and central asia. Remember those in africa who have met their end, and remember those who have starved to death in an economically raped post-soviet Russia.
What, besides being human, do all these people have in common? Victims, all, of aggressive United States imperialism.
In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the already impoverished former empire was looted by western business interests, transferring wealth to wall street and a few russian oligarchs who assisted in the financial rape of their own country.
All of southern Asia, from Indonesia to Vietnam to Afghanistan to Iraq, has been bombed either monetarily or physically in the name of "Freedom" (freedom here being a poor euphemism for corporate empire - capitalism on steroids).
And back home, on this day 8 years ago, thousands of people died. According to either of the 2 most rational conspiracy theories (and of course, every theory about the events of that day is some form of conspiracy theory), the root of the cause leading to the attacks is the American corporate empire.
Theory one: The most rational form of the official theory. 19 Islamic extremists took control of 4 airliners and turned them into missiles. Their commander was a former CIA asset, recruited for our proxy war against the USSR in Afghanistan. He had become more disgusted with US foreign policy, the way we waged continual war, both physical and economic, against his Islamic part of the world, and decided to wage a guerrilla war against us. This is the "Blowback" theory.
Theory two: It was a false flag operation conducted by the Bush white house, using various deep-cover elements of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the CIA. It was conducted in order for us to wage war against any nation we wish, to secure resources for our country, or, more specifically, Corporate interests within our country. This is the false-flag theory, and there are many deviations on this central theme, from the crackpot ("The Twin Towers collapsed because of focused high energy weapons! Lasers!" "There WERE no planes hitting the towers - it was a holographic image!" "It was shape-shifting inter-dimensional LIZARDS that ordered the operation!"), to the rational (Dr Steven Jones, in a peer reviewed study, published his findings of active thermitic material in 4 WTC dust samples. Former FBI Translator Sybil Edmunds states that the US still had a working relationship with Osama Bin Laden until September 10th. Many of the members of the 9/11 commission now doubt the voracity of their own report).
So 9/11 happened. Decide what you will about how it happened. And what is the reaction? To continue doing what our country had been doing already for decades. Only faster. Identify a country with resources desired. Try to bribe the country's leadership into selling out the resource at the expense of the population. If that fails, overthrow the leadership or wage war on the country. Demonize them. Make it seem as if they are our enemies.
Win the support of the public by pumping them full of, in the words of Hunter S Thompson, fear and loathing. Obfuscate reality. What we say goes. Love your country, right or wrong. Hate our enemy, though they were our allies but a few years ago. In short, this:
It is only a slight exaggeration of the propaganda thrown in our faces every day. Especially on today.
Our nation, after 9/11, became even more filled with lies, with logical fallacies, with smoke and mirrors. All who oppose world corporate monopoly are enemies of civilization. Terrorists. Barbarians at the gate. A vicious, well-organized enemy from without and within. Freedom-haters. Get behind the empire or get trampled by it.
The distractions abound. And 9/11, be it a genuine attack or, as evidence seems to suggest, a contrived event, is a distraction. In the name of 9/11 and defending us from evil terrorists, we have lost Habeas corpus. The first amendment is only a shadow of it's former self (protesters at the RNC get charged with conspiracy to riot. "Free speech zones." Independent journalists get arrested for covering things from a different perspective) The fourth amendment is so tattered and ignored as to be completely meaningless. Every phone in America may be tapped without warrant. Internal checkpoints, run by the border patrol (under the direction of the DHS), can be set up anywhere within 100 miles of the border. And believe me - having passed through them, they are certainly not set up to stop Mexicans from getting into the country.
I would like to hope that these violations of liberty are getting better under Obama. But the truth is, they're not. Obama voted for the revised FISA bill - so now you can't even sue a telecom company if you have been spied on with their assistance. He has done nothing to repeal the patriot act - after all, he voted for the third edition of it. He closes down guantanomo, but rather than ending torture, he merely outsources it to countries like Egypt, via CIA extraordinary rendition.
The sad truth is that though we have a new face in the White House, an eloquent speaker, a highly intelligent man, there has been precious little policy shift. A focus on health care (which, in the words of Dennis Kucinech, is really insurance care), moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, and changing the venue where torture takes place is not change. Not really a shift at all. The same people are still in charge of our country.
Remember those who have fallen at the hands of those who think themselves our masters. Who would destroy us for profit, as they have done with countless other peoples.
Remember, and inform. One day this planet will be ours, by which I mean it will truly be controlled by all people. How we get there I don't know. But the first step is to remember. To inform. To see past the smoke and mirrors put forth by the mainstream media, the Federal Government, and all other entities controlled by powerful corporate interests.
It is my solemn wish that on this day, just one more person will wake up and see that though we are still free, there are those that wish to enslave us for the sake of profit.
If I can be a part of waking up a few people to the truth of corporate imperialism, I know I have made the world a better place.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
What is a Terrorist?
No, really. What is a terrorist?
Think about it. What is it?
The image brought to mind, for most Americans, is an Arabic man who hates the US or US interests and attacks US Nationals to fight against those interests and powers. A frightening visage of Osama Bin Laden comes to mind.
But let's look at this term logically, shall we? The root of the word is, of course, terror. Terror-ism. "The suffix -ism denotes a distinctive system of beliefs, myth, doctrine or theory that guides a social movement, institution, class or group" - thank you wikipedia.
So, a terrorist is someone who believes that the best way to accomplish their aims is through the use of fear and intimidation, to fill one's enemy with terror.
Thoughts of the Bush Administration come to mind, coupled with thoughts of the new Obama administration. Both use/used well-positioned fear and terror to accomplish political aims. Obama's campaign was largely successful because it was effective at comparing John McCain's positions to George W Bush's disastrous policies, thus inducing in the public a sense of terror that the last 8 years would be extended. It was subtle fearmongering.
Our elected leaders are, and have been for several years now, terrorists. The enemy they terrorize is us. Rather than promising us fantastic dreams and goals (visions of going to the moon with JFK come to mind), they give us dire consequences if we do not do what they say. They exploit the power of the nightmare, rather than the power of the dream.
Ok, I've gone off on a tangent here. But terrorist is a loaded, complex word. There's a lot of places you can go with it.
Another possible definition of terrorist is: a criminal who causes/uses terror. By that definition, what kind of criminal isn't a terrorist? Any violent crime has a feeling of terror associated with it. Bank robbery? Terrorism. Rape? Terrorism. Murder? Terrorism. Forcing an adult to listen to the Jonas Brothers? Definitely terrorism.
A terrorist is a politician who insinuates that horrible things will happen if his opponent is elected. A terrorist is a man who walks into a bank with a gun. A terrorist is a man who straps a bomb to his chest and boards a bus. A terrorist is someone who bombs a third world country that did not, actually, attack his country first. A terrorist is a soldier who performs a midnight raid in a civilian house within the country he is stationed in. A terrorist is a mercenary who opens fire on a crowd of unarmed civilians. A terrorist is someone with no weapons, just a frightening/unorthodox idea. A terrorist is someone who supports a third party candidate (Missouri declared that supporters of Ron Paul and Bob Barr were domestic extremists just a few months back). A terrorist is a schoolyard bully.
A terrorist is you, and a terrorist is me.
Terror is one of the most base emotions a human being can feel. Fear.
We're fighting the war on terror in completely the wrong way - we're bombing countries. This can never solve the problem of terror (of course, stopping terrorism has never been the aim of the war on terror anyway). Terror will be stopped when we stop fearing death. When we open ourselves to the possibilities of the universe. When we realize that all people, Christian, Muslim, Rich, Poor, are essentially the same. Same essential needs and desires. When we realize that the Earth has always been, simultaneously, a frightening and a nurturing place.
The true war on terror is a war to be fought internally, within each of our minds and souls. It cannot be won on the battlefield. Because we are all terrorists, just as we are all loving human beings.
Think about it. What is it?
The image brought to mind, for most Americans, is an Arabic man who hates the US or US interests and attacks US Nationals to fight against those interests and powers. A frightening visage of Osama Bin Laden comes to mind.
But let's look at this term logically, shall we? The root of the word is, of course, terror. Terror-ism. "The suffix -ism denotes a distinctive system of beliefs, myth, doctrine or theory that guides a social movement, institution, class or group" - thank you wikipedia.
So, a terrorist is someone who believes that the best way to accomplish their aims is through the use of fear and intimidation, to fill one's enemy with terror.
Thoughts of the Bush Administration come to mind, coupled with thoughts of the new Obama administration. Both use/used well-positioned fear and terror to accomplish political aims. Obama's campaign was largely successful because it was effective at comparing John McCain's positions to George W Bush's disastrous policies, thus inducing in the public a sense of terror that the last 8 years would be extended. It was subtle fearmongering.
Our elected leaders are, and have been for several years now, terrorists. The enemy they terrorize is us. Rather than promising us fantastic dreams and goals (visions of going to the moon with JFK come to mind), they give us dire consequences if we do not do what they say. They exploit the power of the nightmare, rather than the power of the dream.
Ok, I've gone off on a tangent here. But terrorist is a loaded, complex word. There's a lot of places you can go with it.
Another possible definition of terrorist is: a criminal who causes/uses terror. By that definition, what kind of criminal isn't a terrorist? Any violent crime has a feeling of terror associated with it. Bank robbery? Terrorism. Rape? Terrorism. Murder? Terrorism. Forcing an adult to listen to the Jonas Brothers? Definitely terrorism.
A terrorist is a politician who insinuates that horrible things will happen if his opponent is elected. A terrorist is a man who walks into a bank with a gun. A terrorist is a man who straps a bomb to his chest and boards a bus. A terrorist is someone who bombs a third world country that did not, actually, attack his country first. A terrorist is a soldier who performs a midnight raid in a civilian house within the country he is stationed in. A terrorist is a mercenary who opens fire on a crowd of unarmed civilians. A terrorist is someone with no weapons, just a frightening/unorthodox idea. A terrorist is someone who supports a third party candidate (Missouri declared that supporters of Ron Paul and Bob Barr were domestic extremists just a few months back). A terrorist is a schoolyard bully.
A terrorist is you, and a terrorist is me.
Terror is one of the most base emotions a human being can feel. Fear.
We're fighting the war on terror in completely the wrong way - we're bombing countries. This can never solve the problem of terror (of course, stopping terrorism has never been the aim of the war on terror anyway). Terror will be stopped when we stop fearing death. When we open ourselves to the possibilities of the universe. When we realize that all people, Christian, Muslim, Rich, Poor, are essentially the same. Same essential needs and desires. When we realize that the Earth has always been, simultaneously, a frightening and a nurturing place.
The true war on terror is a war to be fought internally, within each of our minds and souls. It cannot be won on the battlefield. Because we are all terrorists, just as we are all loving human beings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
