Watergate Today

Would the revelations of White House crimes we now know as the Watergate scandal come to light today?

I rather imagine Woodward & Bernstein of the Washington Post would be silenced.

Balance & Joy

It's tough to write of balance, of how to appreciate living.

Sure, I can talk of feeling an active healthy burn at a physical workout, or admire the taste of nice foods. It's easy to speak of laughing with friends, or enjoying family time. But how to relate those experiences and a centered focus with another's more tumultuous lifestyle? 

What of when conditions are not good?

Poor conditions are part of life - often. Yet some people are able to find stability in horribly adverse situations. Aspire to such balance. Yoga & breathing exercise can help. 

We all know the words concentration, meditation, surrender & relaxation. But dynamic balance is not fatalism or ignoring areas of trouble. We necessarily refocus, and give up the unnecessary.

It's good concentrating on sport or games at least part of every day.  
Play !

Spanking Syria

Imagine any self-appointed policeman (think George Zimmerman, the heavily-armed neighborhood watchdog) - clumsily inflaming every situation by eager, misguided, unilateral bullying.

Why's the USA a self-appointed world policeman? Costs too much !

We're an arms-dealing busybody: pushing-in & causing problems.

We spent $16,000+ on Iraq war per American. Many gave their lives.  That's $80,000 for a US family of five. (We've now fewer families of 5... we can't afford the costs - can't afford these wars).

We could have saved lives and used the money to pay each Iraqi $150,000 (forty years their average annual income).

We've yet to pay for Vietnam. US combat boots still trample Afghanistan...

It's more important America invests in its own infrastructure than butt-in on far away sectarian, ethnic, tribal conflicts. Militarism causes trouble. Our militarism kills us.

Where's Whitey?

We're told James "Whitey" Bulger, now 84 years old, is in U.S. federal custody awaiting a sentencing hearing from 13 November. But who knows? An American I saw in Tuscany a few weeks ago looked very much like Bulger, and spoke with a Boston accent.

Bulger worked cozily with the FBI in the past, notwithstanding being a mass-murderer.

Does Bulger even now enjoy R&R (rest & relaxation)?

Uncover Secret Police Crime

The full extent of US secret police spying is yet uncovered, but recent revelations are important.

Knowing the forms of spying, and some types of materials collected (reports range up to "collect it all"), we can begin seeking answers to the most important question:  WHY ?

•  Is the information used for blackmail ?
•  Is competitive intelligence used by private firms for profit?
•  Is data accessed or compromised by hostile forces? 
•  Who will befriend an actively corrupting, admitted spy? 

Our secret police surveillance data is just like a gold mine, with constant guard essential for both wealth & toxic poisons. Typically, these miners corrupted our environment.

Gits wit Guns

Monroe Isadore is a tenant suddenly told to "Move Out" ...
He is 107 years old. Isadore retreats to his room... He'd just arrived in August. He's reportedly got a gun. (link) 

When landlady Pauline Lewis telephoned police, ultimately more than 25 cars of SWAT & other law enforcement officers took over the quiet neighborhood.

A Pine Bluff Arkansas SWAT team managed to end their three-hour standoff with the local man by shooting him dead. Mr. Monroe Isadore, gunned down in his home (link), was 107.

Neighbors criticized the kill.  (link)

Isadore was a regular churchgoer who liked his "Man of Faith" cap

Easier to shoot than to get the old fella workin' on the chain gang? 

Further details of the 7 September incident are still emerging. It's not been revealed if the deceased had a written lease. Police have yet to release details of Monroe's weaponry or if a gun was recovered. Aside from one dead old timer with multiple gunshots, there were no additional injuries.

A subsequent report demands answers (link): "Mr. Isadore was legally blind. Mr. Isadore had hearing impairment. Mr. Isadore was confused..."  Police have thus far continued to suppress details of any recovered weaponry.

The lesson: be very cautious before calling police to your home.

It's this year's 10th shooting death in Pine Pluff, a city in south-central Arkansas pop. 50,000 (minus ten)...

Monroe Isadore when alive (undated)

War-o-the-Week

The militaristic argument for war has become President Obama loudly bellowing "TRUST me"...  U.S. Secretary.of State John Kerry joins him.

The extent they are honorable is not the issue.

We've gone that route before, with Secretary of State Colin Powell urging war on Iraq at the UN. They also claimed then a recording of military villains overheard discussing illegal weaponry. (link)  It's deja vu all over again.

Militarists actively deceive.

Just say NO

Click 'n Laugh

Intrusion Fantasy  (link)

Safety through Riches?

The huge growth of America's secret police and intercepted communications is supposedly "to keep America and our allies safe"...

But many normal people feel threatened.We The People must guard against tyranny.

Huge spending on the secret police & defense has left nothing for basic social services such as roads, public health, education, regulation.  

Dirty Tricks Return

People get accustomed to news of US government surveillance. We're uncomfortable with spying on internal United Nations meetings, listening secretly to phone discussions by European Union officials, and communications surveillance of colleagues, businesses, and supposedly sovereign governments.

Jackal opportunists swarm to these surveillance & defense systems. Some see stable employment. Others recognize intelligence as a high-value commodity, with many potential purchasers. Some recruits surely are planted by forward-looking private interests and by foreign governments.

President Obama's protestations & personal charm don't diminish clear fact: much of this spying on the world has nothing to do with terrorism. It's Economic War.

This is more scary after Obama's government supported a core of bankers & industrialists with TARP subsidies, putting Americans & US society into favored and unfavored categories. Sadly, 99% of us are unfavored.

Those who remember US Sen. Joseph McCarthy recognize his catch-all use of "Communists!" parallels use of "TERRORIST" threat.

The chosen 1% laugh wryly at the serfs. But mostly we're beneath their attention.

They smirkingly enjoy our world.

We've been desensitized to accept government's illegal "shortcuts" -- or a few officials who "overstepped" proper procedures. But policy insiders can't be fired or imprisoned - they know too much.

The press corps and security police also know valuable secrets.

Former Democratic Party Vice-Presidential candidate US Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) was running again to become U.S. President at the same time he was covertly shtupping a film producer (while the candidate's wife suffered Stage IV cancer). The secret affair was well-kept for many months. Who kept this secret and why? The potential for blackmailing Edwards (who ultimately fathered a lovechild - link) is frightful.

Blackmail must be a problem.

What of other dirty tricks?

The files released by Manning, Snowden (and others to come) troublingly reveal active programs of government-directed destabilization, sabotage, and subversive mayhem ...

We know of "watching" - mass surveillance. We know of drone assassinations without accountability, trial or legal review. What other horrors lie between?

Stay tuned.

'Credibility on the Line'

Supposedly the "credibility" of President Barack Obama hinges on attacking Syria.

US unilateral attack on Syria would be criminal without UN Security Council mandate.

Anyhow -- Obama has no credibility.

Obama lost credibility by ignoring international treaties. He's harbored fugitives from war crimes prosecution, protecting torturers & outlaws who inflicted corruption and terror on America. He's done little or nothing toward promised nuclear disarmament. He's responsible for systematic destabilization at home & overseas.

Obama has given public money to favored private banks & industrial groups, grimly undercutting less-favored firms and the free-enterprise system.

President Obama has surrendered his empathy & compassion. It's difficult to imagine why he acts this way... perhaps he's held hostage to blackmail? His actions undermine America's long term interests. Perhaps he simply aspires to seaside villa retirement in Haifa or Tel Aviv...

We can only pray he'll somehow offer atonement.

Emperor Nudie

Passionately against the idea of nuclear power?  I'm NOT.

Nuclear power could be appealing, but local utilities must be SAFE.

Nuclear waste is inherent to nuclear power. Atomic radiation is highly toxic, killing everything & poisoning continually for very long time periods ... Nuclear waste is a dirty bomb.

We need safekeeping systems for the dirty bombs created by nuclear power plants.

We have terrible atomic waste storage. After the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, avoiding this issue is criminal. It's idiotic stockpiling dirty bombs beside nuclear furnaces.

Politicians tells us they know best? Bullshit - look no further than these nuclear waste stockpiles to understand our political jokers brazenly gamble with our homes, our lives, our kids.

They front industrial coalitions.
Antidream horrors care little for common folk.
Fix this problem at home before parading overseas.

Nuclear waste must be safely stored far from the nuclear furnaces; otherwise, nuclear power is unstable, deadly, and not a realistic option.

The BBC kindly shows us (link & below image) Fukushima's next probable disaster: unstable leaky water tanks multiply alarmingly near the remains of damaged reactors. If another tsunami comes, maybe even a heavy snowfall, much nasty shit splashes into the ocean...

America has similar deadly nuclear plants. Fix them politicos!

held accountable? 2

TEPCO & the government of Japan are poisoning the world.

They suddenly announce "radiation from Fukushima leaks is 18 times previously reported"

Supposedly, before now TEPCO & regulators used inappropriate equipment.

Where's the USA and the International Atomic Energy Agency? Of course the USA is constantly monitoring this poisoning - but as usual, supports industry above humanity. This is an example of very bad design - made in the USA.

It's clear after Fukushima our designs suck. Every nuclear plant is also a nuclear waste dump / "storage facility"... Why stockpile dirty bombs by a furnace? 

Obama & his government are responsible for doing nothing as the world is poisoned by radiation. Many dozen more such plants continue to operate, including Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, an aging nuclear plant the same type & design as Japan's disabled Fukushima Daiichi. Protect your own people Obama - stay away from Syria and fix real problems at home.

held accountable?

From the BBC:
""Countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable," the US said."

US leadership has never been held accountable
 - for making war
 - for torture
 - for slavery
 - for genocide of native people

It is not enough to stop.

Sure, America withdrew its combat forces 30 years ago from Vietnam & Southeast Asia. But people continue to die from landmines & poisonous chemicals we scattered there. We killed hundreds of thousands of civilians... by mistake?

Where's the accountability?

British Bulldog

The Commons defeated Prime Minister David Cameron's efforts pledging the UK to Syrian military action. The BBC (link) is full of celebratory shouts.

Britain (and increasingly Sweden) have become serfs to the USA.

Nothing's really changed with very top Brit politicos: they're still butt-licking dogs. But many in Parliament's rank-and-file have suddenly found & tapped a democratic fervor that doesn't curry war to power the economy.

Deedy Drunk?

Nobody knows if Christopher Deedy was legally drunk at 2:30 AM when he shot dead Kollin Elderts in a crowded Waikiki McDonalds.

Surely both men had been drinking.

Deedy admits shooting Elderts. But because Deedy was an off-duty U.S. Federal employee, he was treated specially.

Reportedly (link), Deedy refused to take a blood-alcohol test.

Instead, while in custody Deedy might have demanded to be alcohol tested in order to clear suspicion of drunkenness. He did not... perhaps he dared not.

Inexperience, deadly force & alcohol are a terrible combination. Don't take your gun to town.

No More Yankee War

 
US President Barack Obama is required by international law to prosecute war crimes. He has instead collaborated and excused the criminals.

Remember the Iraq War: Secretary of State Colin Powell's assurances & certain knowledge (link) of Iraqi chemical weapons -- with other "weapons of mass destruction" -- supposedly justified a war, bypassing permission by the United Nations Security Council. Later we learned no such weapons existed. It was all based on bullshit, supposedly one refugee in Germany nicknamed "Curveball" ... Powell, Bush, Blair & others responsible still simply snigger.

Now another outrage & pack of lies is being constructed around Syria. We can't afford more war.  We're still paying for past dumb wars.

Do President Obama & John Kerry & assorted others hope to test US guns & bombs? Are they individually held to ransom and forced toward militarist misadventures?

They'll accomplish loss of the White House next election & the promise of more rabid Republicans to the Supreme Court.

No More Yankee War !

No More Yankee War !

Democracy Gassed

The U.S. government and its minions don't hesitate using corrosive chemical agents on peaceful protestors. Here's video of shameful violence at the University of California at Davis (18 November 2011; video here)

UC Davis ultimately apologized and paid compensation to those gassed.

One dumb Fox News commentator, Megyn Kell, belittled the attack, claiming pepper spray "is essentially a food product."

Viva !  Democracy USA

Chemical Extermination

Is the Syrian government guilty of using chemical agents to exterminate people?

We don't know.

John Kerry doesn't know. Pres. Obama doesn't know. Eager military supply companies now demanding the U.S. intervene in Syria surely do not know.

We do know the USA itself used chemical poisons to kill hundreds of convicts over the past 50 years. So-called "lethal injection" can be horrendous (link). Since Obama became US President (from 20 Jan 2009 until 5 Aug 2013), 200 people have been chemically exterminated in the USA without benefit of a participating physician.

We've also used napalm, depleted uranium & phosphorous bombs over the past decades on foreign peoples, both rural & urban, killing unknown hundreds - more likely thousands - of non-combatants.

Nobody has been prosecuted for such overseas crimes.

It's hard to believe America mourns Syria's most recent dead. Judging from past misdeeds, it's as likely we're partly responsible. In any event, more illegal killing is not the path we should follow.  No More ... Yankee War.

No more Yankee war.

Sweden as a Poodle

Sweden obeys the USA like a pet dog.



After the Snowden revelations, Sweden's PM Fredrik Reinfeldt & Foreign Minister Carl Bildt know their government keeps few secrets from America's secret police. But they could complain about the range of people with access to Sweden's strategic & defense intel.

US government outsourcing opens Sweden's industrial infrastructure to worldwide prying eyes. Perhaps anyone can buy a peek.

And it's the same for other nations whose secrets are tapped. We only know Chelsea Manning can't watch us.

Will Freddie complain next week when master visits? He's such a polite little poodle! ...one of Barry's favorite dozen.

Shitler

Herr Adolf Hitler is misunderstood.

Sure he was an evil little fucker. But one man didn't create the murderous system of National Socialism. Even all his demonic lieutenants with their militaristic uniforms could not make war at home & abroad without the willing assistance of a wider population, (pardon to use German), das Volk.

Volksgemeinschaft is alive & well in militarist nations. It's often joined by feelings of victimization, Dolchstoßlegende ...

Surely many recognize they're being played as fools. We need to look deeper for the puppet masters. Hitler was front man for military industrialists. Look past Hitler to find Hermann Göring, Alfried Krupp, and other smarmy militarists.

These weasels looked for the scapegoat & hid behind patriotism. A familiar story today...

March On Military Debt

The clamor against militarism is not loud enough.

Many people believe money should be better spent on other services, but do little or nothing. Of course, the worst victims of militarism can no longer speak.

One problem is U.S. militarism has not paid its debts. Not only is there huge deficit spending to fuel the military, but human costs are under-reported and discounted.

Many troops return home seriously damaged, only to be ignored. Those are the lucky - the clearly injured are considered unsightly & distasteful: wounded cripples are blemishes on any cool community. A daily shave for each good-for-nothing bum? One in four homeless in America is a veteran.

Military debts are killing us all.

March On Military Debt.
Perhaps we can trigger change when a few million people walk and wheel themselves to the leafy neighborhoods of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and other militarist con artists.

Bradley Manning

Read Bradley Manning's statement (link) on facing 35-years in military prison.

Bradley Manning could not have worked within the system for change. The system is inherently corrupt. Militarism feeds itself first. The US military undermines democracy at home & abroad.

Manning's leaks exposed assorted terrible crimes. The government summarized its prosecution claiming Bradley Manning was a self-aggrandizing traitor, though he tried to keep his actions confidential. Security might still be searching for an unknown whistleblower if not for disingenuous ex-con Adrian Lamo.

The 2001 anthrax attacks (link) killed five people, and may have been the work of a highly decorated U.S. Defense Department employee, but subsequent investigations were bungled & inconclusive, with inexcusable destruction of key evidence (the Ames anthrax archive). Meanwhile, blame was directed at Iraq, and fueled arguments for the US invasion (link) (link). Since then, many billions of dollars were spent on biowarfare-related operations. A Wall Street Journal article of 15 Oct 2001 (non-subscribers can read it here) discussed a state-sponsored anthrax threat. The WSJ article claimed "The leading supplier suspect has to be Iraq."  This whole affair is now powerfully ignored.  Why?  The leading supplier suspect is the USA (specifically, USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD). Perhaps a rogue operative, perhaps not; we may never know. But the implications are profound. And as FBI budgets balloon, we're treated to admissions in the recent Bulger trial of systemic corruption in Boston's FBI office. In summary: this is an alarmingly broken system, where unprosecuted responsibility for unexamined grave problems goes far beyond Brad Manning.

Let's be crystal clear: Manning was a very junior, rather unstable person. Only a broken ill-conceived system would place this guy in a sensitive analytic position, with access to highly classified & secret data. Manning did not sell information. We can assume, however, that America's enemies & competitors would like to study confidential materials; we must assume they now access our data.

There is no doubt that Manning provided a huge service by  drawing attention to lax security. Efforts to punish Manning should instead be directed toward reform & revision of data collection & data handling procedures. 

... &  Let's Work for World Peace.

Boiled Frog

America's public servants have developed (link) "an aggressive, militarized SWAT mentality, with officers being armed, trained, and psyched to treat common citizens as enemies."

Will things get better? What can be done?

Slimy Spies & Criminals

The Surveillance State has been hacked.

Assume the nefarious have access. Security was shit.
Leave guns lying around -- of course criminals pick them up...
Bush, Blair & Obama truly tried building Skynet.
Can you help Sarah Connor?

Comments on the extent of spying by the American secret police include much foolish "reporting"...

One example is an article (link) claiming the NSA & FBI have provided bad data (mathematically erroneous by a factor of ten). In other words, the spying is ten times larger than admitted.

Of course, after years of lies, denial and no comment, anything grudgingly admitted by the US government should be considered very skeptically.

Many people look at these reports and reflect on the threat to their personal privacy. Maybe a good motivator toward action, and a needed counterbalance. Otherwise we get even greater spying & espionage.

We who live outside America are reportedly fair game for surveillance. I don't like it, but can't do much.  Well, I can complain & also post my displeasure in articles like this -- which won't curtail NSA spying. 

To shutdown monitoring is more problematic. There certainly are enemies to be tracked.

In my view we've three main problems:

3) low trust
There is little reason to trust government officials who serve militarism.

2) lack of oversight, due process & accountability
We've no idea what is going on, which in a democracy is terrible. Spying is tip of the iceberg. The US government claims the right to murder designated individuals (and family & associates as collateral damage) without oversight or proper judicial review; these assassinations are wholly wrong. To "detain" people for years as at Guantanamo is also wholly wrong.

1) technical irresponsibility
The pervasive data collection system described by The Guardian through revelations of Edward Snowden is criminal and horrible because it's unworkable. The NSA has without doubt provided data feeds to the heart of its own people that darker powers now use malignantly. Can we imagine with subcontractors, low-level military, and ambitious yuppies that all access is always secure? I'm less concerned NSA or Pentagon analysts might read my mail, than that they've made so much data (including mine) accessible to scuzzy operators worldwide: criminals, foreign governments, competitor companies, etc.

Snowden & Manning make the last point crystal clear; and their whistleblowing needed data to be noticed. The dirt undermines superior officers & decisionmakers, but we're all better off.  Again, we've far worse & better organized enemies than the dipshit shoebomber. Our pervasive surveillance State is hacked - it's inherently dangerous & explosive.

New World Order?

What type of world do we live in today?

The political scientist will answer differently than the biologist or climate specialist. The poor feel differently from the hospitalized. The young test-taker faces different struggles than a grandparent.

Communications have changed aspirations, with more options offered to more people.

But while the simple dimensions of living remain, they're also easier to overlook. Starry skies are obscured by city lights and smog. Fragmented and mobile families share less of their dreams and discoveries. Communities are being rediscovered.

Technology offers tools for better living. But we each still struggle along life's paths.

Steel Sinai

Is it steel Sinai or steal Sinai?

Since 1979, Egypt's government has limited its Sinai sovereignty in exchange for US payoffs and peace with Israel. After Egyptian Army officers assassinated President Anwar Sadat, this detente was honored while Egypt's former Air Force Chief Marshal Hosni Mubarak held power as President. But when a democratically-elected government took control, the balance was threatened.

Doctrinal tension between the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wahhabi movement is also hugely inflammatory, with potential to further destabilize the dominance of the nearby House of Saud. The al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain may also be at risk.

Arab neighbors bicker. Absolute monarchs fear the disenfranchised. These conditions continue over thousands of years. The leader who would bridge these differences is under threat by those who thrive on Arab strife.

Now the Egyptian military has overthrown the Morsi government. A new generation of military leaders focus on snuffing domestic malcontents rather than on repelling foreign enemies. It may cost Egypt the Sinai.

Egyptian security forces in the Sinai have been under attack, by well-equipped forces unknown. The recent murder of 24 Egyptian policemen in the Sinai (link) has been prominently positioned after news of 36 detainees killed yesterday while in government custody in Cairo (link).

Very different forces now cause Egypt's havoc. Is a secular democratic Egypt possible? Whatever the case, our interference causes problems. Offering payoffs & future refuge to selected elites is morally criminal.

The European Union is reviewing its aid & loan supports in Egypt. Most important is accountability. Find the head of the viper. We must identify the people in power, and hold them to account.

Murder @Time magazine

Time magazine's Senior National Correspondent Michael Grunwald is publicly supporting the US government assassinate fellow journalist Julian Assange of Wikileaks.

Grunwald claims to be an eager tool for violent murder. This chauvinism is dangerous and outrageous. Grunwald should be immediately fired.

Shall all non-mainstream voices be stifled through violence and murder?  Readers of Time magazine should write and complain. Don't subscribe to assassination. This garbage is unacceptable.

USA-led Cairo junta

The military junta in Egypt is supplied by American funds.

The USA is the favored escape route for coup leaders, including US-trained General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi. But the calculated murders of so many Egyptian people over the past few days will not be ignored by the international community. President Obama can't justify offering sanctuary to murderous Egyptian military officials. Most Americans are sick of expensive overseas adventurism by their own government. Resettling anti-democratic killers into American communities deserves condemnation at home & around the globe.

Asbestos Crybabies, Dirty Bomb

Big industrialists treat people rudely - they've pumped out huge amounts of effluent & toxic waste in every nation until forced to stop & to pay for cleanup. Delays allow them to extract profits & escape costs via limited liability corporate protections.

Is asbestos dangerous?

Is your home filled with lead paint?

These were long ago recognized deadly products -- but we got sold them anyway. Now, thanks to the Fukushima disaster, we know nuclear power & conjoint nuclear waste dumps are terribly dangerous.

Don't wait for industry to admit the dangers. Force shutdown & total redesign.

Regardless of misguidance or obfuscation.

Baby inhales lead powder in an asbestos blanket.  
Don't stockpile dirty bombs by the furnace.

Remember:
Every nuclear plant is also a nuclear storage facility. Designs are deficient & defective. The stored waste is dangerous. The nuclear cores are dangerous. Why accept a deadly waste dump next to a potentially explosive energy plant? Fukushima's explosions should be a lesson.

Nuclear waste dumps are dangerous, dirty & deadly.