The Real World

The Israeli trip was interesting. Israel apologized to Turkey and promised Mavi Marmara compensation. At first, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once refused to apologize for Israel's massacre on the Mavi Marmara. He promised financial compensation to the families of the nine Turkish citizens that were murdered during the attack. Some reports also show that an Israeli agreement to ease the Gaza blockade via the provisions is uncertain. There are questions on why these developments came about in the first place. Avigdor Lieberman rejected the apology at first. Now, Lieberman immediately attacked the apology. Some feel that Netanyahu wanted to do this as a means to get the White House to agitate more in the Iranian nuclear negotiations. President Barack Obama left Israel and he played a key role in dealing the deal accomplished. Obama tried and failed before, so both Israel and the USA made an offer to Netanyahu. We witness issues of the unrest of Syria, Iran's nuclear program, and Turkey. There was the disappearance of airman Ran Arad decades ago in Lebanon and Gilad Shalit's imprisonment. Turkish mourning over the cold blooded murder of nine of its citizens ought not to be minimized at all. Ravid is wrong to assume that Turkey's leadership would welcome an U.S. attack on Iran. Turkey and Iran are strong allies until the Syrian civil war came about. A new war in Iran could potentially destabilize the entire Middle Eastern region indeed. Erdogan doesn't want any new war in the Middle East at all. Iran was the leading discussion on the Israeli-U.S. meeting. The President Barack Obama said that Iran was at least a year away from the nuclear threshold. Netanyahu once gave that date in this time period. Israel's apology is an admission by them that its actions were egregious, unwarranted, and illegal. If a nation apologies and pay money, then it has done something wrong. Israel apologies after whitewashes, fake reports, and lobbying for the exoneration. Israel will not admit that it violated international law in numerous occasions. Now, the USA could intervene in the civil war of Syria. Israel believes that Assad used chemical weapons against the rebels, which hasn't been conclusively proven at all. The overthrow of Assad would be much less destabilizing than an U.S./Israeli attack against Iran. Either scenario will be toxic though. These days are very similar to the run up of George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. Time will tell what the future will hold indeed.



 

 

 

 

Human beings should have the right to access health care. The establishment exploits debt as a means to still wealth from the people who try to get their rightful, basic needs. That is why the Strike Debt Rolling Jubilee project exists. This came from Occupy Wall Street as a means to get more than one million dollars of medical debt as part of a weeklong national conversation on why human beings shouldn't be put in debt meeting their basic needs. The Rolling Jubilee raised funds to purchase bundles of debt for pennies on the dollar. They will erase their purchased debt. This is not like the industry of collection agencies that hound debtors until they repay.  Rolling Jubilee is a program that wants to be involved in human lives instead of sponsoring Wall Street interests. They believe that medical and other debt shouldn't exist because debt is part of a rigged system of mafia capitalism that extracts wealth from people who are trying to meet their basic needs. We know about our health care system and its high costs. The 2006 Massachusetts health care law was a blueprint for the national law that came about in 2010. We have a largely market based health system for so long that human beings in the States view that it is the way it should be. Most industrialized nations though have a publicly funded universal health system. They are paid for via taxes that cover virtually 100 percent of necessary care. Their systems have occurred for many decades and these nations spend half what the USA des per person on health care, cover everyone, and have better health outcomes. Employment based health care was growing in the USA after WWII. Later, Nixon and Ronald Reagan advanced a more investor owned health care service system. This evolved into more profit making sector and privatization of health care in for profit hospitals. HMOs came about for more than 30 years. We see now growing health disparities, poor health, and a high number of preventable deaths. Now, our health care system weakness is that when health insurance is tied to employment then only those working will be covered. Those who can't work because of illness can lose their coverage or struggle to afford it on the individual market. Some prices in the market for health are extremely high. When the bottom line is profit, not health, health insurers compete to attract those who are healthy in the first place. Then, the health insurers will find ways to restrict and deny payment for care through provider networks, authorization processes and out-of-pocket costs. Some in medical debt lack medical services. Some folks can't afford premiums, copays, deductibles, co-insurance, and uncovered services combined. People without insurance do not receive primary or preventive care, have worse outcomes when they do seek treatment, and are more likely to die. The same goes for those who have skimpy health insurance. Copays and deductibles cause people to delay or avoid necessary care. The new Affordable Care Act is controversial. I will admit that many legitimate items are in the law. The insurance companies influenced the creation of the law. More private insurance plans will come. Before the health care reform law was passed, some state-level insurance regulators to require insurance companies to provide more extensive coverage by spending 80 to 85 percent of premiums on health services rather than on profit and administration. The Obama law stopped those efforts by putting in place a law for the first time which said that 60-40 plans are acceptable. In a 60-40 plan, the insurance company pays 60 percent of the covered costs, while the enrollee pays 40 percent plus the full amount of uncovered costs, those not included in their policies. Enrollee costs include premiums, deductibles, copays, co-insurance and other out-of-pocket expenses. It is these out-of-pocket costs that quickly lead to health-care debt and bankruptcy. Some employers will drop health benefits and pay a penalty instead of offering health care to workers. The similar 2006 Massachusetts health care cut the number of uninsured in half, which is similar to what the ACA is expected to do. Yet, those who are still without coverage are mostly the working poor. The health insurance exchange has not brought the cost of premiums down and is not used by the majority of the public. The exchange is mainly used by those who receive a subsidy from the government because subsidized plans must be purchased from the exchange.  ACA lacks a public option. The Massachusetts law cut many safety net public health programs that dealt with mental health as a means to pay for subsidies. Massachusetts has the highest cost of health care in the nation. There is an alternative to this. We can have single payer health care system or a Medicare for All plan. That can cover all Americans from birth to death. This is affordable since the U.S. spends more per person on health care than any nation on Earth anyway. The majority of the public, most health professionals, etc. agree with a single payer health system.  The conservative Heritage Foundation ironically gave the blueprint for the Massachusetts law, which is similar to the Affordable Care Act now. Human rights and health care are superior to commodities in the market. So, folks are fighting against debt constructively and advocating single payer universal health care for human beings, which is very humane.


 

 

Benito Juarez was one of the famous men in Latin American history and world history. He was a full blooded Native American that wanted freedom from the imperialist Spanish Empire. He lived from March 1806 to July 18, 1872. He is of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca. He served five terms as President of Mexico. His grandparents raised him since his parents passed away from diabetes when he was only 3 years old. He called his parents as "Indios de la raza primitive del pais" or "Indians of the primitive race of the country." He was a lawyer by 1834. He worked as Governor of the state of Oaxaca from 1847 to 1852. He was in exile by 1853, because he objected to the corrupt military dictatorship of Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. After Anna resignation, Mexico experienced huge liberal reforms. These reforms curtailed the power of the military and the Roman Catholic Church since theocracy has no place in a true, free and open society. The Ley Juarez of Juarez Law of 1855 declared all citizens equal before the laws including it restricted the privileges of the Catholic Church. Juarez later became the President of Mexico. America gave the Liberal forces in Mexico aid in order for them to defeat the Conservatives. The battles didn't end yet. The conservatives united with the French Emperor Napoleon III as a means to overthrow the Juarez government and create a theocratic Second Mexican Empire. Mexico defended itself from the French. Mexican forces under Ignacio Zaragoza had a victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, which is celebrated annually as Cinco de Mayo on May 5. Once, the imperialist Maximilian temporarily conquered Mexico. Juarez fled to get some help. This was during the Civil War and the USA sympathized with Juarez as Maximilian's actions were a violation of the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine forbade hardcore European intervention in the Western Hemisphere that would damage the independence of that Hemisphere politically or socially. The US was tied in the Civil War during that time period. As late as March of 1865, then President Abraham Lincoln wanted Great Britain to be held accountable for its involvement in the Trent Affair. Andrew Johnson later used a naval blockade of Mexico in February of 1866 since he demanded the French to leave Mexico. France left in late 1866 since U.S. opposition and a threat from Prussia came about. They left in late 1866. The Emperor's forces were defeated and Maximilian lost support from even conservatives since he harbored some liberal views. Maximilian was captured by forces and he was executed. Juarez soon was elected President again on 1867 and 1871. He suppressed revolts and he died of a heart attack in 1872 while reading a newspaper at his desk in the National Palace in Mexico City. Benito Juarez was anti-Jesuit since the Papacy even in those days wanted Monarchy, theocracy, and a hatred of the freedom of conscience. His successor was Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada or his foreign minister. Benito Juarez is known for making marriage a civil contract and not a privilege granted by the Pope.  Therefore, Benito Juarez upheld the Constitution of 1857. That Constitution guaranteed the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. Benito Juarez will be known for fighting for democracy and wanting equal right for Native Americans or the indigenous peoples of Mexico. He agreed with the separation of church and state, an end to feudalism, and other reforms.

 

Adlai Stevenson is a mystery to some. He was right on some issues, but when you look at his total legacy, it is more moderate than what is suspected. He was less liberal than even then Senator John F. Kennedy on numerous issues. He was assaulted and spat upon. Of course, I don't agree with those things happening to him or any innocent man. Yet, we have to know the record about his political views. He was tepid in his criticism of Jim Crow or segregation. He refused to call for national health care, which even Harry Truman advocated. Adlai Stevenson wanted to love the anti-union Taft-Hartley Act. That law passed despite Truman's vetoes. Back in 1952, he even considered to vote for Dwight D. Eisenhower when he was a Republican. Many intellectuals supported him and ironically he won heavily from southern and border states. He lost the 1956 election in desiring a more tolerable campaign without mudslinging. On foreign policy, he was more progressive than war hawks. He loved the United Nations and wished for more international cooperation as a means to solve international problems during the Cold War. He was right to criticize Joseph McCarthy, because Joseph followed a faux patriotism that sought to ruin the lives of American citizens because of ideological disagreements. Like JFK, Adlai had a great oratory ability in communicating words to the wider populace. JFK and Adlai once didn't like each, but later learned to deal with each other as for the good of the country. One of the positives of Adlai Stevenson was that he was not an extremist in foreign affairs. He sincerely wanted peace in the world. There are more secrets about this situation. Adlai Stevenson's father or Adlai I was a Scottish Rite Freemason who wanted international courts to govern the affairs of nations. This came many decades later in the globe whether you agree with these courts or not. Adlai Stevenson II was one founder of the CFR in Chicago too. JFK by the 1960's changed and wanted détente with the Soviet Union and Cuba. According to author Donald Gibson, he or John F. Kennedy was debating against Wall Street interests. Kennedy agreed with nationalist independent movements in the four corners of the world and he wanted to decrease U.S. involvement in Vietnam. As early as May 11, 1961, Kennedy issued the National Security Memorandum 52, which rejected an appeal from the Joints Chiefs of Staff, which wanted a deployment of U.S. ground troops in Vietnam. He didn't want U.S. troops to fight in combat missions in Vietnam like McGeorge Bundy and Secretary of State Dean Rusk wanted. The establishment hated him for it. JFK wanted economic investments in engineering, science, and technology as a means to grow the economy. He agreed with Social Security and grants for the growth of educational services in the confines of the United States of America. In other words, he wanted industry to build up the commonwealth. John F. Kennedy was an ally of Patrice Lumumba, Dag Hammarskjöld, John Kenneth Galbraith, and other progressive leaders.

 

As we enter almost 15 years after 9/11, we get a clearer picture of who was responsible for 9/11. At a bare minimum, 9/11 was allowed to occur by the elite as a means to continue with the war on terror. Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda wanted terrorism to exist in the world. The Saudis have been linked to al-Qaeda and at least two of the hijackers.   Former Saudi financier Khalid bin Mahfouz and Saudi national Yeslam bin Laden have been other supporters of Osama bin Laden, but also had close ties to the CIA. Bin Mahfouz, an important former BCCI director, was in business with the CIA's Frank Carlucci and George H. W. Bush. The U.S. government knew that the hijackers came into America by mid-2000. The reason is Mohammed Atta and other suicide pilots ended up taking lessons with 2 CIA linked flight schools. One flight school owner is a drug trafficker named Wally Hilliard. He was reportedly in direct contact with Bill Clinton and to a lesser extent with Saudi national Adnan Khashoggi. The Trilateral Commission had access to the impact and collapse floors of the North Tower. We know that AIG controlled the North Tower impact floors. Joseph Kaspurtys is the tenant of the South Tower's impact and collapse floors. Kasputys had direct and indirect ties to the Carlyle Group, both pre and post 9/11. Carlucci and former President George H. W. Bush were key folks of the company (Carlucci and Bush have a CIA background). In addition, Kasputys' associate Patrick Gross ran a company owned by the Carlyle Group. On the morning of 9/11, Carlucci, Bush, and James Baker met Shafig bin Laden (or the older half-brother of Osama bin Laden) in a Carlyle meeting. Michael Cherkasky and Jules Kroll once controlled the Kroll Associates or the primary WTC security consultant, in the 1990s and the years after 9/11. Kroll Associates was involved for revamping the entire WTC security system. Kroll has close ties to AIG, Blackstone, Marsh, and surprisingly, also to the British SAS. The tower's security system was ultimately ran by the building owner, the Port Authority, chaired by Lewis Eisenberg; and leasers Larry Silverstein and Frank Lowy. Silverstein said the controversial pull it comment about Building Number Seven. One would expect Peter Peterson of the Blackstone Group, the mortgage holder on WTC 7, to have a say about security at that building also. In addition to Lewis Eisenberg, Larry Silverstein and Frank Lowy, Peter Peterson also played a role in the ownership of the World Trade Center. David Rockefeller, Peter Peterson, Maurice Greenberg, and Henry Kissinger are friends and allies of each other. All four of these men exercised enormous control over the WTC complex in terms of overall building knowledge, history with the Port Authority, the debt on Building 7, security, as well as impact and collapse floors of the towers. So, the truth is that the 9/11 attack occurred via the terrorists. The Saudi and the Pakistani elites aided the hijackers. The State Department and the CIA elites knew of such attacks planned against America for years. We know that the Cercle Network included the P2, which were involved in assassinations, false flag terrorist actions, and other evils. The Pilgrim Society represents the State Department and most of the major media outlets in America alone. Very powerful Pilgrim Society members today are David Rockefeller, Peter Peterson, George Schultz, etc. The State Department and the CIA used the 9/11 attacks as a means to give a carte blanche excuse for them to restructure the entire Middle East via imperialism & a harsh form of globalization (not true international cooperation that benefits all of the people).  

 

By Timothy