The Astounding PROPAGANDA from the State-Corporate Complex

Below is a copy of an email I sent out tonight.  The title was "A Perfect Example".

The brilliant Glenn Greenwald explains EXACTLY how the State-Corporate complex dupes people via shameless Propaganda.  This instance is in regard to terrorism, Snowden, Gov't officials, the recent Paris attacks, etc.  Too bad more people will not see this.  It shows how many, especially those on the so-called Right (but also those on the so-called Left), are being subjected to misleading info & outright lies, led down the path to more war, led into Islamophobia, and being flim-flammed into accepting the destruction of the Fourth Amendment...as well as other parts of the Constitution.  All of these efforts by the Powers-That-Be are not only un-American, but also anti-American.  The whole thing is disgusting.

The segment after this one also is illuminating relative to the submissive Corporate Media in the USA.

If we continue to accept the rubbish put out by the Gov't & Corporatist Media outlets, our grandkids will be living in Orwell's Animal Farm.  Guaranteed.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/19/glenn_greenwald_shameless_cia_exploits_paris?autostart=true

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Signs That the Elites in Our Gov't Have Lost It (Edited 3-25-14)

1. It appears that the Executive Branch is spying on the Legislative Branch because the latter is investigating the former for alleged acts of torture.

2. James Clapper, the Head of Intelligence, lied before Congress...which is a felony in this country.  There are no consequences suffered by Mr. Clapper.

3. President Obama marks terrorist suspects in various countries for death by assassination.  "Collateral damage" (the death and maiming of innocent civilians) continues---about 1400 in Pakistan so far--- despite White House claims of "precision" and "minimal loss of innocent civilians".

4. Various sections of the Constitution (e.g., the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, Article II Section 2, in fact---all of Article II, which is the portion dealing with the Executive Branch, and others) now mean pretty much whatever the Gov't desires them to mean.  [This is not unique to the Obama Gang...other White House Gangs have been just as guilty; so too have various Legislative and Judicial Gangs.]

5. Russia is being criticized and punished for violating International Law.  You see, when they do it, it's a crime.  When the US Gov't does it, it's "spreading democracy" or "a humanitarian mission"... or "in the interests of the security of the USA".  The US Elites never commit crimes; everyone knows that.  That's because US Elites are, you know, "exceptional", "special", and beyond question as to morality.  Besides, they have the biggest guns.  Apparently, might makes Right.

6.  It would seem, according to the actions of the US Gov't, that the Pakistani People have no sovereignty.  Their Gov't has asked the US Gov't to stop launching Hellfire missiles onto their territory.  The US essentially has said:  Frack You.  It would seem that the Big Bully US Gov't gets to decide who has sovereignty and who doesn't.  This whole scenario, of course, is not a crime...because US Elites are ordering it.

7. For decades, the US Gov't has done what it can to oppose the peace process in the Middle East.  That continues today.  I say that because the only acceptable proposals (in the Elites' eyes) are those made by the US and Israel.  Even though the overwhelming majority of people in the world believe that Israel is in the Occupied Territories illegally, that doesn't count.  Leaving is not an option.  Israel should be able to continue evicting Palestinians and bulldozing their houses...because, you know, that's how we get peace.
[NOTE:  Some people seem to have forgotten that just before Israel became a nation, when that land still was British Palestine, men like Menachem Begin were bombing hotels there...they were terrorists.  Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones at others.]

8. According to the Elites in our Gov't, inflation is low in this country.  That's because when figuring the rate of inflation, they don't count the rises in the cost of food, energy, and housing.  No wonder inflation is "low".

9. The NSA has plans to infect (using automated systems) millions of computers...and has impersonated the Facebook server...in order to gather more bulk data...on everyone.  It has done so with no probable cause, and no proper warrants.  Obama claims it's all legal, and there's "oversight".  Yes, we've seen some of that oversight---Clapper lied to Congress.  Here's how "oversight" works:  a representative of the appropriate Executive Department appears before the Congressional Oversight Committee...and tells the truth when answering questions, or lies, or both.  No one knows for sure...unless a whistleblower such as Snowden releases documents to the public.

10. Whistleblowers are being smeared and criminalized.

11. Independent journalists are being smeared, and in some cases, criminalized.

12. You now can become a "terrorist suspect" by reading the "wrong" thing on the internet.  Even if you're later cleared of suspicion, you're already in the information system in probably a thousand places.  That system is too unwieldy too manage properly.  There's a definite chance that you're screwed.  Ask Cat Stevens.

13. The Heads of mega corporations can buy their way out of Fed criminal prosecutions by paying a fine amounting to billions of dollars.  A top executive in a mega bank involved in a case recently sent an email to a colleague stating, "Just throw some money at it, it'll go away."  The Feds don't prosecute the top cronies in Big Business...the geese that lay the golden eggs...for campaign financing.

14. A Fed Gov't official recently stated, "I would gladly walk up to Edward Snowden and shoot him in the head."  As far as I know, that official is still on the job.

15. Presumption of innocence apparently no longer exists in the minds of some in our Gov't.  Suspects are being assassinated overseas in the name of We the People.  At least two American citizen suspects have been so assassinated. 

16. Though we're not constitutionally at war, the Elites have propagandized us into believing that we legally are in an actual war.  They've convinced us that the War Powers Act somehow trumps the Constitution, which is impossible.  No Legislative Act trumps the Supreme Law of the Land.  They've also convinced us that the President can do pretty much as he pleases with the American military...because he's Commander-in-Chief.  To the Elites, that means he's not constrained by the constitutionally permitted uses of the military.  Hello...that's false.

17. Thanks to the misnamed PATRIOT Act, FBI Agents can write their own search warrants...a blatant violation of the Fourth Amendment.

18. Thanks to the Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. the City of New London, governments now can seize private property under Eminent Domain and sell or give that property to private developers.  Supposedly, the "public use" in that scenario are the taxes generated by the development.  Essentially that means anyone's property can be seized at any time and sold to private entities.  Incredible.

There is a better way, but first we have to stop drinking the Propaganda Kool Aid.

Be Well

The Gall of Fed Policy Makers is Truly Astounding

Snowden-documents reveal that the NSA has been collecting every phone call from an undisclosed country.  100%.  Apparently they do it in 30-day batches.  They then can "rewind" whatever device the info is on, and pick and choose.  The "authority" for this blatantly illegal action, I'm assuming, probably comes from the secret FISA "Court".  Never thought I'd live to see the day when there would be a Fed, secret, political court in the Republic of the United States of America.  [This is totally unlike a Grand Jury.]
------------------------------------------

There's a good deal of evidence to indicate that the NSA has been spying on Congress, including hacking into staffers' computers.  If true, and it's certainly looking that way, it's a violation of the Separation of Powers concept, never mind the Fourth Amendment protection afforded every American (including staffers).  Plus, it makes a joke out of Congressional "oversight".  I can't guess where the "authority" for that spying is found.
------------------------------------------

The Feds are boycotting international talks in Geneva regarding the USA's use of weaponized drones.  Because they don't have a leg to stand on, I really don't blame them for the boycott. :)  Pakistan spurred the calling of the talks; it seems they're fed up with violations of their sovereignty and the murdering of innocent civilians.  Go figure.
------------------------------------------

Right-Wing Death Squads in Colombia are murdering people again.  These squads, what they do, and their victims ("suspects") essentially are ignored by the oligarchical government of Colombia...you know, the gov't that our Fed Gov't supports.  The last I heard, Colombia is the only South American government that still allows us to have US military bases on its soil; we have seven there.  Every other S.A. country has kicked us out or never let us in to begin with.  Their shabby experiences with US "intervention" in their affairs has been the reason.
------------------------------------------

Obama's supposed "authority" for imposing sanctions on Russia is the concept of the "Executive Order".  This one isn't as bad as Clinton's Exec. Order that declared that Serbia was a threat to the security of the USA (Congress disagreed), but it's bad enough.  We the People have been sold a fraudulent bill of goods regarding Exec. Orders.  The Congressional Research Office claims such orders are implied by the Constitution, especially Article II, Section 2.  Here are the two orders that the President can issue under that Section:  he may require the opinion, in writing, of each of his Department Heads on any subject relating to their duties; and, he may order Pardons related to offenses against the United States.  Those are a far, far cry from imposing sanctions on, or invading, a foreign country.  Nowhere else in the Constitution is power delegated to the Executive Branch to issue so-called Executive Orders.  It's not the office of a King, but it has morphed into something that's too close to that for comfort.
--------------------------------------------

Partly just my opinion.  Happy Trails

Governments Run Amok: the USA's NSA & the UK's GCHQ

Glenn Greenwald & Laura Poitras (award-winning journalists), Jeremy Scahill (producer of Dirty Wars, an Oscar-nominated documentary), and other top-notch journalists recently launched First Look Media.  Their initial digital News Magazine, The Intercept, today ran a story of bombshell proportions.  It will be interesting to see if any of the Corporate Media---ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, & Fox News---cover this revelation...and if so, how.

Here's the link:  https://firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/02/18/snowden-docs-reveal-covert-surveillance-and-pressure-tactics-aimed-at-wikileaks-and-its-supporters/ ...or, just go to  https://firstlook.org/theintercept/ and click on the lead story.  [FAIR WARNING:  I'm guessing there's about a 99% probability that if you go to the First Look website, you automatically will be surveilled  (without a warrant) by at least the NSA and possibly by the UK's GCHQ as well.  You'll see why I say that in a few moments.  GCHQ is the Government Communications Headquarters, Britain's top spy agency.]

The authors of the article are Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher.  [Greenwald is living in self-imposed exile in Brazil because he's being investigated by the UK as a terrorist suspect...simply for being a journalist.  He provided Snowden-documents which were published by The Guardian in the UK.  He's a U.S. citizen, but is wary of returning here because of our Fed Govt's close ties to the UK's GCHQ.]  Without trying to steal any of Greenwald's or Gallagher's thunder, I'll list just a few of the article's key points below.

1.  The NSA and GCHQ have targeted  both Assange and the WikiLeaks website (as well as other activist groups) with high priority surveillance (without a proper warrant) for quite some time.  Not only that, but WikiLeaks supporters have been targeted with "tactics ranging from covert surveillance to prosecution".

2.  The GCHQ monitored VISITORS to Wikileaks.org in 2011; it's unclear if that surveillance program, codenamed "ANTICRISIS GIRL", is still in operation.  The visitors' IP addresses were recorded & stored.  That means there's a very high probability that if you visited the site in 2011 (& possibly beyond that date), you're on a list of "suspects".  [Of course, you should take some pride in being a suspect in the files of any Outlaw Government.  Constitutions are violated on an almost daily basis by those governments, hence my designation of "outlaw".]

3.  From 2008 to 2012 (at least), the U.S. intelligence community maintained a file called the "Manhunting Timeline" which detailed efforts of our Gov't & its allies to locate and prosecute or kill individuals who were suspected of being terrorists, drug traffickers, etc.  In 2010, Julian Assange was added to the Timeline and our allies in the Afghan War were encouraged to file charges against him for publishing documents related to that war.  [Gov't wrongdoings were exposed, and despite earlier claims, the Gov't later admitted that they could cite no death that resulted from the release of those documents.]

There's much more; read the entire article at firstlook.org/theintercept.  This whole business is very similar to our Govt's COINTELPRO program launched against the Black Power Movement back when.  COINTELPRO, it was later revealed, was rife with wrongdoing and unconstitutional activity by the FBI.

Perhaps some in my country don't realize that sites such as WikiLeaks and The Intercept are non-corporate, digital news magazines.  People like Greenwald and Assange are journalists.  One should ask:  why are they denigrated, persecuted, & possibly prosecuted in the future for publishing exactly the same type of material that sometimes is published by The Guardian, the New York Times, and the Washington Post?  The answer is clear to me:  those corporate entities are part of the oligarchical Establishment...they get a pass, a "get out of jail free" card.  The Oligarchy considers them Institutions, not Insurrectionists (see recent previous posts on this Blog).  They can be used and manipulated.

Perhaps some people everywhere don't see the danger in governments gathering & storing the phone numbers you call, or the websites you visit, or the things you buy with a credit card, or the destinations of your emails, or who knows what else.  Perhaps it isn't clear how one becomes a "terrorist suspect", or a "part of a human network of a rogue organization" (another NSA term), or a "malicious foreign actor" (another NSA term), or what the result of all that may be.  I believe it's abundantly clear...and we all should be very concerned.  I know one person who is:  Michael Ratner, President Emeritus of the Center for Constitutional Rights and a legal adviser to Julian Assange.

It's obvious from the documents revealed by Assange, Greenwald, Poitras, Gallagher, Scahill, Snowden, Manning, and others that segments of our Gov't (and the UK's Gov't) are running amok.  They are violating our Natural Rights.  The excuse of the National Security State, that it's for "our own good", does not suffice.  Of course measures must be taken by governments to protect their citizens...but monitoring everyone without probable cause and then lying about it should never be tolerated in a free society.

When Hitler came to power in 1933, he didn't immediately start hauling Jews off to concentration camps and killing them.  They lost their freedoms little by little, over years.  Jefferson once said that dissent was the highest form of patriotism.  I fear that in this country (and others) dissidents, especially independent journalists, are the new Jews.  They won't be hauled off to concentration camps, but they will be (and are being) smeared, denigrated, criminalized, and (in some, or perhaps many cases) imprisoned.  It already has started...all in the name of "security".  Meanwhile, USA hegemony continues throughout the world...not making us safer, but rather making us more and more enemies...while transnational corporations, who abhor competition, get richer and richer at the expense of the rest of us.

Partly just my opinion.

This and That

1.  I see by yesterday's headlines that Afghanimization is going about as well as did Vietnamization---Nixon & Kissinger's plan to turn over the fighting in Vietnam (back when) to the South Vietnamese Army.  Similar conditions exist in Afghanistan as existed in Vietnam during that war---a corrupt government, a native Army incapable of defending itself, a native people who do not support the corrupt/puppet government, and a native people who want us out of their country.  And yet we continue... completely ignoring the lessons of History.  Young troops being maimed & killed for the sake of the Corporatocracy...the Oligarchy...the Plutocracy...whatever you wish to call it...and, the estimated one trillion dollars worth of unmined minerals...the natural gas & oil pipeline corridors...Brzezinki's "American Primacy and its Geostrategic Imperatives".  Shameful...and utterly so.  Apparently most Americans still believe that the present war is protecting us from TERRORISM, the Boogie Man that replaced the other Boogie Man, Communism.  Please.  That's about as true as the line that the Vietnam war was protecting us from Communism.  Let's see, N. Vietnam won...and life everywhere else went on pretty much the same.  No dominoes fell.  We now trade with Vietnam and visit there at will.

2.  Kudos to Snowden, the guy who blew the whistle on the NSA.  The NSA's actions were the result of orders from the FISA "Court", a secret "court" with absolutely no oversight by anyone...not Congress, not anyone... except of course, the Dictator-in-Chief (any President, not just Obama).  Where are the "checks and balances"?  Over the last 2-3 decades, the Executive Branch has seized an incredible amount of unconstitutional power.  Defenders of that obscenity can go on & on about how this or that secret action---with no oversight---prevented this or that calamity.  They miss the point---our Constitutional Republic cannot legally operate that way.  We have, in effect, an Outlaw Government.  Defenders of the current obscenity can go on & on about how, as Obama put it, "no one's conversations are being listened to".  Really?  How do we know?---there's no oversight.  Plus, the NSA actions included the internet.  I didn't hear anyone say, "no one's web surfing is being watched".  Again, how do we know...there's zero oversight.  Our Republic exists in name only...the checks and balances are long gone.  Long gone.

Be Well