Secrecy is but another word for fear. Jeremy Bentham.
Example: Former Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General James Cartwright has been named by the Justice department as their target in an investigation of the leaking of information about the Stuxnet computer malware the US used to disable about 1000 Iranian centrifuges. The Iranians knew we had done it, but the public wasn't supposed to know. The timing may be intended as an object lesson for any who might be thinking about pulling a Snowden.
Ready Or Not: The EPA, convinced that you are Roundup-Ready, has raised the amount of Monsanto's Roundup (the herbicide glyphosate) to be allowed in food. What, you haven’t been genetically altered to tolerate Monsanto's poisons? Are you sure?
To Market, To Market: Republicans want to cut food stamps from the Farm Bill so that does what it should, funnel money to big farms and corporate agriculture. Food stamps then can be trashed separately. Don't worry about agribusiness – it makes its money from growing ethanol and feeding animals, not from delivering veggies to the poor.
Rant: When the truth is vilified, hunted, gagged and jailed, then the State has chosen to go to war with the nation. We are at war.
Profits/People: India's low-cost generic pharmaceuticals have significantly lowered drug costs in developing countries around the globe. Its generics also cut into Pfizer's profits. So you can understand why the US is working to pressure India into letting the poor of the world die.
Inside Straight: Analysis of trades in stocks most likely to be affected by various (US sponsored) third-world coups strongly suggests that insiders knew about the pending overthrows and invested appropriately. Or inappropriately, depending on your view of insider trading. Wonder how many stock tips the average NSA intercept folks take home every day...
Summer In The City: Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians, in cities and towns across the country, are taking to the streets in hopes of driving President Morsi from office. The Muslim Brotherhood, backed by the Army and security forces (ie, thugs) are taking to the same streets to further the dialogue.
The Crime & The Criminals: Remember, the crime is invading the privacy of over 300 million Americans, the criminals are the NSA and the Administration, and Edward Snowden's 'crime' is confirming what we already knew.
Spot Quiz: “Why Is the Obama Administration Suddenly So Interested in African Farms?” If 'because US banks and corporations stand to make huge profits' isn't part of your answer, you'll have to stay after school. At overtime rates.
Urgency: One of the reasons the Let's-Kill-Social-Security-and-Medicare movement continues to press their agenda even though the vast majority of voters don't want these programs cut and even though the deficit projections have dropped dramatically is that today one in six voters directly benefits from these programs, in 2030 – when Doom is usually predicted – one in four will. And trying to kill the program then, even if the unlikely disaster they are predicting shows up, will not be possible.
Explicate: How can a "secret body of law" be the law in a democracy? When did “Because I said so" become a legal justification for immorality?
Read His Lips: The President of the World Bank notes that “the power of civil society and the power of citizens to rise up is unlike anything we’ve seen in history.” Of course the World Bank's mucking with various economies had nothing to do with the increase in global unrest.
Dumb & Dumber: North Carolina, pulling ahead of Texas in the stupidity games, has disqualified the state from receiving federal funding for the long-term unemployed, lowered the maximum weekly benefit from $535 to $350 and cut legibility from 6 months to as little as three. About 170,000 North Carolinians will lose a total of $700 million in federal funds, while protecting the ideological purity of their politicians.
Semper Fi: Turns out PFC Bradley Manning Sergeant Lawrence Hutchins, who has served 6 years for his role in the murder of an Iraqi civilian, had his civil rights violated when he was held in solitary confinement for seven days... The Iraqi's death was upheld by the court.
The Parting Shot:
1 comment:
Real Marines' Semper Fi
Little known to the Public and lesser to most Marines:
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-07-30 – 1940-07-21), was one of the two Marines who received two Medals of Honor for separate acts of outstanding heroism.
"-- Excerpt from a speech delivered in 1933, by Major General Smedley Butler, USMC.
War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses.
I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag.
I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism.
It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty- three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle- man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service.
I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912 (where have I heard that name before?). I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents. "
https://www.fas.org/man/smedley.htm
Butler wrote a book WAR IS A RACKET which our children isn't learning.
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