What is Going On in the World.

 

There have been discussions about Edward Snowden. Naomi Klein and Webster Tarpley have questioned Snowden on the spying scandal issue. Tarpley made excellent points about the reality of limited hangouts throughout history. We know that throughout history, the intelligence community has manipulated public opinion before. Some believe that Snowden is part of a limited hang out as a means to distract from world imperialism. Snowden is revealing carefully selected and falsified documents including other materials. He acts as some rebellious man of some oppressive, government agency. Some view Edward in the same category as Daniel Ellsberg and Julian Assange when all of them present themselves as whistleblowers. One of the greatest limited hangouts in history was the Daniel Ellsberg presentation of the Pentagon papers. This led to the Watergate scandal against the corrupt Presidency of the Nixon administration. We have had Assange and Wikileaks. The doctored set of the Pentagon papers were published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and later seventeen corporate newspapers. These newspapers published the papers and it came against the Nixon administration. Ellsberg is praised by the press to this day. Now, real anti-establishment figures for the most part are vilified, dragged through the mud, silenced, and demonized. They include critics of the Warren Commission and veterans of the 9/11 truth movement. We know that Cass Sunstein loved Wikileaks. Sunstein is an official of the Obama White House. He is married to Samantha Power or the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (she supported the military coup and overthrow of Mubarak). Sunstein said that government agencies should conduct covert operations using pseudo-independent agents of influence for the “cognitive infiltration of extremist groups” - meaning of those who reject in the establishment view of history and reality. Norman Solomons attacks 911 truth and believe in neocon imperialism and he agrees with Snowden. Even former RAND corporation analyst Ellsberg used his Pentagon Papers as an excuse to blame JFK for starting the Vietnam War when the Eisenhower administration had advisors in the war (and JFK wanted to end the war and create détente with the Soviets including Cuba). The Pentagon Papers omit the CIA crimes like the mass murder of Operation Phoenix and the CIA drug running (related to the proprietary airline Air America).  In fact, the Watergate plumbers were CIA agents from Howard Hunt, James McCord, etc. Even G. Gordon Liddy was a reactionary FBI operative. These provocateurs got arrested in the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in the summer of 1972. Pentagon papers skeptics, like the satirical comedian Mort Sahl, a supporter of the Jim Garrison investigation in New Orleans and a critic of the Warren Commission, faced the marginalization of their careers. These limited hangouts regularly refuse to talk about JFK assassination or the truth on 9/11. Assange rejects questioning the official story of 9/11.  Assange’s chief mentor became John Young of Cryptome, who in 2007 denounced Wikileaks as a CIA front (Assange was a known hacker). Swonden said that he started as a warmonger and then changed as time went on. Swonden's revelations came on June 5. This was when the rebel fortress of Qusayr was liberated by the Syrian army. The British and French governments want to pressure President Barack Obama to attack Syria more in a direct manner. Snowden claimed that the U.S. and the British eavesdropped on participants in the meeting of the G-20 nations held in Britain four years ago. It is interesting to note that not one Assange disclosure caused the arrest of any U.S., British, or Israel covert agent at all. Now, we have destabilization campaigns globally, which benefit the Western establishment. The war on terror is in a new phase. The overt operations are being replaced with more covert funding of entities as a means to have regime change in the Middle Eastern region. The NSA spying is still wrong. It is immoral and it is illegal on many fronts. We have the right to make our voices heard on this issue. Edward Snowden is the fruit of the evils found in the intelligence community. The intelligence community harming societies and doing operations for a long time have caused a person like Edward Snowden to exist in the first place. I don't consider Snowden a superhero or the worst villain in the world. He is a man that revealed information and folks have the right to investigate his real story.

It is not a secret that the elites are scrambling for the getting of more resources in the Motherland of Africa now. The U.S. military and other Western entities want more control over the infrastructure of the African continent. U.S. Africa Command is trying to deal with the Gulf of Guinea. Apologists for African Command for Africom claim that they are bringing stability to the Gulf of Guinea. Other places where Africom have dealt with have never decreased coups, insurgencies, and volatility in certain regions of Africa. The war on terror has massively expanded in Africa since 2001 including since we live in the Obama years. When you look at the historical record, U.S. so-called stability operations in Africa have caused negative fruits. These fruits included allies being prone to cause abuses, terrorism growing, failed states, and unsettling of the future. That is why Libya is having blowback from Western funding of the terrorists who overthrew the leader Muammar Qaddafi. In Mali, there is a U.S./France alliance in trying to deal with Mali. The U.S. military has expanded air operations in Africa, engaging in spy missions for the French military, and other once undisclosed sites in Africa. In 2000, a report prepared under the auspices of the U.S. Army War College’s Strategic Studies Institute examined the “African security environment.”  The report did not recognize strong terrorist organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 9/11, the Pentagon claimed that terrorists can come into African nation after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The truth is grayer. Even Somali militants including the most extreme Islamists there have not engaged in much terrorism outside of Somalia. The U.S. has dispatched personnel to Africa as in the Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) in 2002. The next year, CJTF-HOA took up residence at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, where it resides to this day on the only officially avowed U.S. base in Africa. As CJTF-HOA was starting up, the State Department launched a multi-million dollar counterterrorism program called the Pan-Sahel Initiative. This was done as a means to bolster the militaries of Mali, Niger, Chad, and Mauritania. Back in 2004, the Special Forces training teams were sent to Mali as part of the effort. The program in 2005 expanded to include Nigeria, Senegal, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (it was renamed the Trans-Saharan Counterterrorism Partnership). These groups have allied with the U.S. Africa Command. The West claims to fight militants, but they are funding such militants in Libya and other places in the world. Today, the West is using drone strikes in Somalia, etc. There have been U.S. commando raids in Africa and an attempt to kill Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Joseph Kony (in Central African Republic, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo). From 2010-2012, AFRICOM itself burned through $836 million as it expanded its reach across the region, primarily via programs to mentor, advise, and tutor African militaries. The Pentagon has spent millions of dollars as a means to fund pro-Western African nations and to hunt for Kony. Africom is based all over Africa from Kampala, Uganda to Nzara, South Sudan. The situation is some areas of Africa have been blowback. The U.S. funds controversial characters and later these entities are causing terror in Africa. The U.S. claims to overtly want stability, but they really want control over the natural resources in the Motherland (as a means to have economic profit, genetic exploitation, and political power). So, the enemy has never changed its spots. It only changed its strategies.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry once called recently for the immediate air strikes on Syria. The Joints Chiefs of Staff rejected that ludicrous rush to war. This comes in the recent words from President Barack Obama saying that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had used chemical weapons. After Kerry called for Syrian airfields to be attacked, the “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey “threw a series of brushback pitches at Kerry, demanding to know just exactly what the post-strike plan would be and pointing out that the State Department didn’t fully grasp the complexity of such an operation,” reports YNet News. The report said that Kerry was probably ignorant of the fact that Syria has a sophisticated air defense system that would have to be neutralized (that will cause a loss of life) before any air strikes could be conducted. Kerry was told by Dempsey that the U.S. Air Force could not simply drop a few bombs on Syria without first carrying out some 700 sorties to disable the country’s integrated air defense and that without any kind of exit strategy; the Pentagon will not back the plan. John Kerry is wrong on this account, because a harsh rush to war will cause a catastrophic result in the Middle East. It may even cause WWIII. There is need for us to be not sending military U.S. forces in Syria. This conflict is a civil war and now the West has handled over heavy weaponry to Al-Qaeda terrorists. These terrorists have vowed to attack the U.S. and Israel once they are finished with Assad. John Kerry's actions contradict his controversial anti-Vietnam war activism during the early 1970's. We know that the rebels have used chemical weapons against the Syrian people before. As recent as May of 2013, the United Nations independent commission of inquiry on Syria reported, “strong, concrete suspicions” that the US-backed rebels had deployed sarin gas. “This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities,” said commission member Carla Del Ponte. A recent Pew poll said that shows that 70% of Americans oppose arming the Syrian “rebels,” a figure which marks the highest level of opposition since the conflict began two years ago. Other polls outline the information that the vast majority of human beings in other NATO countries like the UK and France oppose arming the rebels. The rebels have repeatedly been caught carrying out atrocities or the most recent of which involved the slaughter of a 14 year old boy for insulting Islam. The reality is that the agenda of Empire is filled with lies and deception. We know the lies. The U.S. lied about the WMD threat in Iraq. They distort information about WMDs in Syria. The FBI has been caught in concocting or funding many home grown terror plots. The NSA and other intelligence agencies worldwide have been caught spying on human beings without due process. Just because the world is changing and it is getting more complex in the world socially and technologically, doesn't mean we sacrifice national and international civil liberties. Threats of international capital dominating the world has been apparent from jump street. In our generation, the imperialists use the cover of humanitarianism as a justification to advance militarism. The Syrian administration has majority support including by Sunni Muslims. War has always been bloody and readily utilizes false pretexts as a means to execute it. Therefore, a peaceful end to the Syrian civil War is in order via discussions and diplomacy without war mongering actions. The G8 summit is an important event. The 39th summit of the G8 gathered together US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Francois Hollande, Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, European Union President Herman van Rompuy and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. Cameron and Obama wanted to put pressure on Putin to fund the rebels in Syria (which has oil supplies and pipelines in the region). Putin has refused to so, because he realizes that the West wants some puppet regime in Syria in replacing Assad. Prior to the summit, Cameron met with Putin at Number 10 Downing Street, where the Russian premier denounced the US decision to arm the Syrian opposition. Western imperialism is wrong from Iraq to Syria. Now, we have a job to advance direct action and other forms of activism to allow our voices to be heard. We can join real, independent organizations that desire the truth including justice. We can help in our local communities and fight for righteousness as well. If we want justice, then we must make demands and do our part as well.

 

We realize the truth. The calls for single payer health care have been growing for years and decades. There have been reform efforts in solving health care issues, but they have not been comprehensive in our time. Some in the GOP have missed the point that every man, woman, and children has the right to receive affordable, safe health care in the world not just in the States. We know that one reason why we have health care issues is the health care costs. Even if we rose the age for Medicare, it will do nothing to reduce the overall cost of health care in America. The Affordable Care Act tries to make as many folks as possible to either embrace private insurance or pay a tax. Medicare has a 3 percent administrative overhead. The private sector has run 28 percent coming down to 20 percent as required by the ACA. If the Medicare age is increased, it will shift the insurer from the government to less efficient private providers. Seniors will have to pay more money. The seniors are many levels are unemployed and over 65. Ryan's Medicare voucher proposal has no overall cost savings via efficiencies. Dr. Gerald Friedman is the professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts. He came into Charlotte recently for the creation of a physician advocacy group called Health Care Justice. Friedman indicated that U.S. per capita health care cost is $7,920. That compares with $3,323 in Sweden, $2,984 in Finland and only $2,686 in Italy. He points out that people in these countries are healthier than in our country and things are getting worse here. In 2001 among the non-elderly, 14 percent did not see a doctor for needed medical care. The figure rose to 26 percent in less than a decade. That is why Friedman found out the most basic financial issue with U.S. health care is the for profit insurance system. Insurance company profits have increased 250 percent in the last decade according to Friedman. The head of Cigna made a huge $29 million in 2009 and health care premiums including higher deductibles are eating up more of workers' wages. Friedman said that the administrative cost of health care insurance is one of the major drivers of the escalating health care costs from 1980 to 2005. According to Friedman, the administrative cost of private insurance will be $200 billion in 2013. In the U.S. billing costs run $83,975 per doctor per year versus only $22,205 in Ontario. This is a huge waste. The Affordable Care Act was pushed through by the Democrats. Even that law does not solve enough of the issues and the GOP proposals ignore administrative costs and other important health care costs. Dr. Friedman said that we can move to single payer as a means to provide better health care and reduce the growth of national health care expenditures. Single payer will reduce costs, because Medicare (or an utility like private single payer insurer) would have leverage to keep costs down. The providers, with no other game in town, would be forced to operate more efficiently. Drug companies would be pressured to give Americans the same drug pricing that is found elsewhere. Friedman said that multiple state studies (independently done by many groups) have shown that single payer turns out to save money. In his own studies, he has shown savings of around 20 percent for North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts (and even more in Colorado and Maryland). Friedman mentioned that a national single payer system can create enormous savings. It can be $18.7 billion per year. Surely, at a time when wage earners are being faced with ever increasing premiums and higher deductibles, we should at least consider Medicare for all or a similar single payer system. We should do what is right and stand up to the drug and insurance lobbies as a means to get single payer health care available for every man, woman, and child in America.

 

Superman: Man of Steel is a very popular movie. It describes Superman defeating an enemy as a means to save the whole world. The movie in 2013 was directed by Zack Snyder and it was produced by Christopher Nolan. It was scripted by David S. Goyer. The film is a reboot of the Superman film series, which is based on DC Comics. Henry Cavill stars as Superman, Amy Adams plays Lois Lane, Michael Shannon plays General Zod, Daine Lane portrays Martha Kent, Kevin Costner acts as Jonathan Kent, Laurence Fishburne acts as Perry White, and Russell Crowe acts as Jor-El. The movie shows the early life of Superman including the final time of the planet Krypton (with advanced technology and advanced humanoid life). Zod kills Jor-El and Jor-El's son (named Kal-El or Superman) is sent to Earth via a spacecraft. Superman's cells are infused with a genetic codex as a means to preserve the Kryptonian race. Zod attacks Earth after he is released from the Phantom Zone (he is placed there by the military and followers of Jor-El after Zod kills Jor-El).  Zod attacks Earth and Superman have no choice but to kill him. Superman soon resumes a secret identity of Clark Kent as a means to live a more normal life. The original Superman comic was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster. It was created by in 1933 when they were in a Cleveland high school. Superman was seen as fighting for social justice. Each man was influenced by characters like Samson and Hercules. Some believe that Superman was a mythical symbol of fighting against Nazism. That is why Jerry Siegel acknowledges in an unpublished memoir that he was influenced by the anti-Semitism that he saw and felt in his life. So, he utilized Samson as a role model for Superman. He wanted to see Jewish human beings as superheroes since back then; Jewish human beings suffered a lot of bigotry and discrimination. You will notice that Jor-El and Kal-El are all Hebrew words. Kal-El is Hebrew for the voice of God. You can compare Superman to Old Testament stories instead of Yeshua ben Yoseph (when he was born in planet Earth, had disciples and he died included rose from the dead). There are more similarities between Moses (as he was sent to another land to escape destruction and he led the Exodus out of Egypt) and Superman than Yeshua. Superman is 75 years old now. Yet, even Moses has a lot of differences with the Superman character. The Superman archetype has been talked about in the four corners of the Earth in numerous cultures. The movie has much symbolism. Superman begins his career at age 33 in the movie, which tries to mimics the Christ image. At one point in the film, Superman assumes the posture of a crucified savior. This is mockery. The shape of the invading E.T. vessel is that of an inverted trident. The trident is the occult spear, with a long history. The same mark is of course given in many places. A quoted line from the film: “The word of the day is ‘trident’...” This is given as a MILITARY PASSWORD. Some proponents of transhumanism want man to be like Superman with superhuman powers and abilities. So, the Man of Steel film is doing very strong numbers. The movie has earned over 152 million dollars inside of North America alone. Much of the public loves the film. There are mixed feelings about the movie from critics and other movie expert while a lot of the public seems to love the film. Superman: The Man of Steel touches on a whole list of issues from genetic issues to issues of civil liberties and threats of an authoritarian police state.

 

By Timothy