9/11 was the event that changed everything. It caused a paradigm shift in America including the world. 9/11 still to this day impacts me. I think about 9/11 every day of life since those events motivate me to find the truth. It was used as a pretext by the establishment as means to continue the wars on Afghanistan, Iraq, and possibly Iran. There is no question that the U.S. government was repeatedly warned of terrorist like attacks (that were similar to 9/11) for years before 9/11. Morocco, Germany, Russia, Israel, France, etc. warned America about similar 9/11 related attacks as well. At least five FBI investigations were squashed when these investigations were investigating certain terrorist actions. Cheney's secretive Energy Task Force examined maps of Middle East oil fields in the months before 9/11 and the start of the alleged "War on Terror" allowed Western interests to increasingly control resources in the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa. That is why Western oil corporations are reaping record profits since 9/11. The attacks caused the creation of the Homeland Security police state that harmed human rights. Dissent is regularly suppressed with harsh police brutality and harsh police measures against protests nationwide (even against OWS protesters in NYC). You can look at mainstream media shows to see the record police brutality against us or the people. When you see cops praying pepper spray on TV against innocent OWS protesters, and then imagine what they do behind closed doors without cameras. The cameras present even expose grotesque stuff now in our faces. A great list of "unanswered questions" about 9/11 is from the 9/11 Family Steering Committee, which includes the widows who forced through the creation of the (severely flawed) official 9/11 commission. Their list is posted at their website -- www.911independentcommission.org. There were many military and intelligence war games on 9/11. So, we have the responsibility to do as much as we can do to improve the world society. There must be peace and justice. The global corporate elite control financially both major parties and we know this for long years. Today, lobbyists dominate and influence the political system in Washington. Many of these lobbyists don't advocate peace or true fairness in the Middle East. Some of them advocate war and international organizations (like the IMF, the World Bank, the WTO, etc.) as a means to continue forth with the agenda of globalization. We need independence not a new world order system. We should pay attention to domestic and international affairs since these events affect all of us literally. I believe in a strong social safety net and human liberty. What I don't believe in the destruction of national sovereignty and the crushing of our human civil liberties (since the Bill of Rights means something). As human beings, we have every right to make our grievances known plus to protest any evil that transpires in the globe. There must be separation of powers and checks and balances as a means to make sure that the government doesn't act nihilistic. The government should provide the general welfare as a means to promote the general welfare without the government being ruled by corporate interests. For decades, especially since the late 1950's, the oligarchs promoted their counterrevolution as a means to promote oligarchy (and stop numerous real progressive movements). The power of cartels has grown exponentially and some corporations have more powerful than governments now. We witness the military industrial complex being potent and the promoters of peace being unfairly reviled in the world. It's a shame that we still have poverty and war. So, there is nothing wrong with a person being anti-war and anti-Patriot Act as well.
Even Ed Shultz is wrong on this issue. Ed is right on many economic and political matters, but he's dead wrong on this issue. The truth is that the war on terror is evil. The President authorized covert U.S. support to these terrorist rebels (as reported on his network MSNBC) in the nation of Libya. Drone attacks are evil and Ed supporting this trash of the invasion of Libya by NATO is a disgraceful. The American government for decades supported terrorists including Muslim militants. America covertly via NATO did supported al-Qaeda related rebels killing people. That's neo-imperialism. He supported the invasion of Libya where innocent black men, women, and children were murdered by sick people. The neo-cons have been consistent to support imperialism in both the Bush and Obama terms. Some progressives have been inconsistent by condemning Bush's crimes and supporting Obama doing drone attacks, warrantless wiretapping, and other evil foreign policies in 2012. America did support al-Qaeda for decades and the current administration support extremist rebels in Syria and Africom (promoting IMF control of African resources). Trading blood and treasure for imperialism is hypocritical on the part of some of these so-called “liberals.” Like Malcolm X, they are the foxes while the reactionaries are the wolves. Now, we see the truth. The truth is that the establishment liberals are just as wrong and ignorant as the Tea Party crowd. The rebels (who are backed by the West) are slaughtering Christians via bombings in Syria as well. Al-Qaeda terrorists have been armed, funded, and diplomatically recognized by the West is a reality. These rebels have detonated 2 car bombs in Christian-Druze quarters in Damascus killing dozens. This happened in a Christian-Druze neighborhood in Damascus. This is a product of sectarian extremism not democratic aspirations on the part of the rebels. The Associated Press or the AP tried to spin and downplay the act in their report. They try to claim that the people who die were folks were most loyal to President Bashar Assad. That's sick, because the people who died were Syrian civilians. This tactic of trying to justify these deaths by the AP, BBC, CNN, Fox News, etc. is disgraceful. Many people who oppose the rebels don’t view Assad as a great leader. They just oppose the destruction of their nation by the rebels. The vast majority of Syrians (from Christians, Druze, Shias, and moderate Sunnis) are targeted by sectarian extremists. These extremists include the same Saudi-Wahhabi terrorists that the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia have been fund, arming, and importing from across the region since 2007. These extremists are killing the Syrian people. We know these terrorists have a political front group found in Doha, Qatar. These terrorists aren't for freedom and democracy. Many of them are theocrats and extremists. Moaz al-Khatib is even involved with Western corporations and he wants an Islamic state. These bombings are causing refugees. Seymour Hersh's article called "The Redirection” proved that the U.S., Israel, and Saudi Arabia planned as far back as 2007 to use sectarian extremists to overrun and overthrow Syria. They wanted to play the Sunnis and Shias against each other in order to weaken Syria (as a means to get more pressure against Iran, which is a mostly Shia nation). Hersh's report said that: "....the Saudi government, with Washington’s approval, would provide funds and logistical aid to weaken the government of President Bashir Assad, of Syria. The Israelis believe that putting such pressure on the Assad government will make it more conciliatory and open to negotiations..." This is what is happening in Syria now. The US Army’s own reports indicate that very hotbeds of violence in Syria today, match precisely with 2007 identified Al Qaeda-Muslim Brotherhood epicenters that were supplying terrorists to Iraq to fuel similarly deadly sectarian violence there. The Syrian Christian populations are being killed by these extremists in Homs, Syria. You can make the case that this is genocide against Shias and Christians in Syria. The Libyan Madhi al-Harati of the terrorists Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) is advising fellow terrorists in Syria. Harati is now commanding a Libyan brigade operating inside of Syria attempting to destroy the Syrian government and subjugate the Syrian population. Traditionally, this is known as “foreign invasion.” The United Nations is silent on this issue. The Western media is covering up the premeditated genocides or crimes against humanity. People know that NATO committed war crimes in Libya. The Libyan freedom fighters are exposed as having some links to Al-Qaeda (being supplied with Western arms, cash, and diplomatic recognition). Thee freedom fighters aren't humanitarians. They are criminals. The White House is considering having more direct assistant to the Syrian rebels. Up until now the US has just been playing the role of facilitator, with the CIA smuggling other nations’ arms into Syria for them through various intermediaries.
Ayn Rand wasn't a libertarian at all. She criticized libertarians a lot. She even viewed them as a greater threat to freedom to freedom and capitalism than both modern liberalism and conservatism. I don't agree with libertarians, but many libertarians view Ayn Rand as a saint. Now, we see that Ayn Rand was an extremist who rejected real compassion for the entire human race. Ayn Rand said that the libertarians act as anarchists and they exist outside of the mainstream of capitalism. She called them as publicity seekers that claim to want to educate people in a political campaign, but try to copy her ideals. Now, Rand is slightly wrong. I don't agree with libertarianism ideologically, because there is nothing wrong with public services helping the poor, the sick, the disabled, and the elderly. Yet, even I realize that not all libertarians are monstrous or want to hurt all of society. They just have their own political ideologies. Ayn Rand was a neo-con on foreign policy. The Ayn Rand Institute wants a forceful intervention in Iran, while most libertarians (and most people in America for that matter) oppose a military intervention against Iran. Ayn Ran was racist by calling Arabic people "primitive" and one of the least developed cultures being mostly nomads. She must have forgotten about Arabic people modernizing mathematics, having calligraphy, and developing science for centuries in the Middle East. Rand lied that Arabic people hate Israel, because Israel is the sole beachhead of modern science and civilization in the continent. Ironically, many people from across the political spectrum oppose Israeli occupation of Gaza and Palestine. Real people want peace in the Middle East where Israelis and Palestinians can live in a tranquil society. Even Sandeep Jaitly of Fekete Research mentioned that real libertarians don't follow Rand's philosophy. Ayn Rand's main real life hero was a serial killer. The theocrats (they pervert theology as a means to harm and dominate people of color in an immoral fashion) can talk about the Creator all you want, but the Creator wants us to feed the hungry, promote mercy, and have a radical redistribution of economic and political power. The Creator gave us a mind for a reason. Now, I am consistent. I oppose the extension of the Patriot Act. I don't agree with warrantless spying against American citizens. I don't agree with the National Defense Authorization Act or the NDAA. I reject the kill list against human beings and even an American citizen was murdered by this list without due process of law. I abhor drone wars and state secrecy too. So, we should be independent thinking human beings.
We know that child kidnapping in Iraq is still going after the major occupation of Iraq by the U.S. forces. There are still issues in Iraq. There have been security problems still in Baghdad. There has been a huge increase in the cases of child abduction. Some kidnap people for finance terrorist groups. Some Iraqi children are even abducted for the sick practice of trafficking human organs. It's lucrative for many evil human beings. A security force said that on November 6, 2012, 21 children were kidnapped from many places in Baghdad. Baghdad child kidnappings have gone up. 30 kids have been abducted in two weeks. Some of these acts have been done by criminal gangs. Some of this has been done to fund terrorists like al-Qaeda. Many children stolen are from rich families, poor families, and the suburbs of the capital like in places of: Al-Ubaidi District, Sadr City, Baghdad Al-Jadeeda (Al-Rasafah Area), and Abu-Disheer, Al-Doura, Al-Bayyaa, Al-Furat, Al-Radwaniyah, Abu Ghraib, Al-Taji, Al-Shula and Al-Hurriyah Districts (Al Kark area). Kamil Hasan is a police officer. He said that almost 20 children were kidnapped in Baghdad from August to October. He said that there no accurate numbers available. Some of these cases aren't reported, because relatives fear that revealing the numbers would antagonize the kidnappers. Some families have to pay thousands of dollars to return the kidnapped people. Some kidnappings are related to drugs. These actions have been coming on continually since 2003. Children are stolen since families usually pay a lot of money to return the kids to their families. Sometimes the kidnappers kill the kidnapped victim immediately, and then ask for the ransom. In the south of Baghdad Mawlood Muhammad, a child, was found dead near the river, after the family had paid $ 50,000 to get him back. Some girls are kidnapped, raped, and murdered even after the ransom is paid (according to social researcher Sawsan Al-Ubaidi). One 12 year old girl named Hanaa AL-Husaini was kidnapped in front of her house in the Al-Karradah district from Baghdad. She was raped and her body was left in the street. Some people believe that a political agenda is behind this like Ali Shubbar or a Human Rights Member in the Parliament. Some feel that girls are used to sell new born babies' organs in the international market. This is causing some children to stay in home and school attendance to decrease. This is happening worldwide in Mexico, Colombia, and other nations. Kidnapping is also a common tactic in American counterinsurgency warfare. The reputation of the U.S. Army School of the America’s (SOA) was permanently stained after the 1996 declassification of several of its training manuals. The manuals provided documented evidence that SOA instructors had taught and advocated methods of torture, extortion, kidnapping, and execution in the counterinsurgency wars. The Pentagon claimed that the manuals contained only isolated “objectionable” passages, and continued a long pattern of denial by arguing that the manuals had not been properly cleared and did not represent U.S. government policy. Given the historical record, those denials were not credible. Even some people claiming to be part of Maliki security forces were caught robbing people in Sunni neighborhoods in western Baghdad. The kidnappings have grown after the Iraqi army and police were disbanded. There is still high unemployment and economic problems in Iraq.
World AIDS Day is coming soon. There are great rallies across the world that describes opposition to the pernicious disease of AIDS. AIDS effects all of us, because we either have relatives or we know people (directly or indirectly) that have AIDS. Any human life is valuable and HIV/AIDS is a serious matter. For decades, we have grown more mature or progressive about understanding HIV/AIDS. AIDS reminds us that life is precious and short (being less than 130 years for us humans). Therefore, we should do the best that we can to help our neighbor and to contribute compassion plus almsgiving to the human race. The first World AIDS Day came about on December 1, 1988. There has been a lot of ignorance about the disease and certain people have been unfairly scapegoated for AIDS. The truth is that HIV/AIDS doesn't discriminate and our true character is defined by our ties as human beings without bigotry (or oppression). More than 30 million people have died from AIDS and about 34 million human beings are currently infected with HIV. Those of the arts, athletics, religion, technology, science, and a wide spectrum of other human beings have worked together in fighting back against AIDS for a long time. Selfless, thoughtful human beings have expressed true miraculous assistance to the sufferers of AIDS. Many people have lived very productive lives even if they experience AIDS daily. My people or black people still have tons of people suffering HIV/AIDS. More than 1.2 million people on the continent of Africa have died as a product from HIV related illnesses in 2010. This disease affects the rest of humanity as well.
By Timothy
The state of Illinois has some of the harshest “eavesdropping” laws on the books, and those statutes have been frequently abused to prosecute individuals for filming police actions in public in numerous cases.