Issues & Alibis
And The Band Played On
By Ernest Stewart
Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul.
Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon.
Politicians say more taxes will solve everything.
And the band played on.
Ball Of Confusion ~~~ The Temptations
"Obama is saying so long to the old guard of the religious right, and Warren's selection is a nod toward the future." ~~~ Randall Balmer
Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or the Air Force as a posse comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both.
~~~ 18 U.S.C. § 1385. ~ Use of Army and Air Force as posse Comitatus ~~~
Apparently the Zionazis who control Palestine and all three branches of US political life, i.e., the House, the Senate and the Fuhrer Bunker, found there were still a few un-murdered children who had yet to starve to death or die from lack of medicine and so decided to finish them off by bombing everything in sight in the ghetto of Gaza.
This war crime and mass murder was, of course, blamed on the victims. How dare they not die and give up this little strip of bloody sand to the Israeli co-prosperity sphere like good little slaves? How dare they fight back against their 60 year-long genocide with bottle rockets and such?
Of course, everyone outside of Washington and Tel Aviv are beating their chests and calling for both sides to stand down but, as we all know, talk is cheap and no one will do a thing. Egypt, of course, is busy keeping their border closed from Gaza and even though a few managed to break out of the trap, Cairo is doing their Jewish masters' biding like the good little death camp guards that they are. The UN is totally worthless. You may recall that it was the UN that created Israel with genocide in the first place! They won't lift a finger to stop it, not a finger!
Bush and Obama's spin masters are backing these war crimes and crimes against humanity to the hilt like the good little 5th columnist traitors that they are. Like Bush yelling 911 every time he got caught committing a crime, Tel Aviv is mumbling about their holocaust, wa wa wa. Of course, I, too, as a lad, bought the bullshit that Hitler killed the Jews because he thought they were inferior. I've since come to the conclusion that Hitler killed the Jews because he knew they were competition! We, of course, got into the war because Hitler wanted to rule the world, which is our job!
The Zionazis are just doing what we taught them to do; destroy the natives and steal everything not nailed down. Perhaps they'll let a few score Palestinians remain alive to someday build casinos? Meanwhile your tax dollars continue to flow to monsters killing innocents and covering your hands in the blood of the children. Try as you might, America, it won't wash off!
In Other News
The centralist drone has now reached ear-splitting decibels. The Obama apologists are out in force from each new pick for his cabinet to his inaugural ceremonial disaster. My current favorite is that it was a small mistake picking Rick Warren, just an oversight because of his busy days. But, of course, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Warren was chosen to send a message, just as Donnie (pray the gay away) McClurkin was during the run up to the election. Obama is playing the bigotry card to his base. Black Protestants are more closely aligned with white evangelicals on gay marriage and same sex civil unions than any other social issue. Barry's made gays the new niggers, just the latest victims of the age old American tradition that has made Catholics, Jews, Blacks, Italians, Irish, Chinese and Indians the low man on the totem pole from time to time! And who to choose to get that message across but Warren who campaigned long and hard for Prop 8!
Barry was going to reach out and make everyone inclusive but his choices are far from inclusive. He's been reaching out to everyone except the left. Funny thing that, eh? Not really, as Barry isn't even a liberal but just played one on TV during the election. For example, name one leftist that he's reached out to? Name one! He could have made Al Gore head of the EPA, Nobel prize winning Al Gore, but instead chooses a right of center EPA director from New Jersey. Lisa P. Jackson is a woman with little experience as an EPA director. I wonder how that bodes for the environment?
He could have nominated Paul Krugman as Treasury Secretary, a left of center economist, also a Nobel Prize winner, but instead we get another bailout banker from the right, Timothy Geithner, who is somewhat responsible for our current financial mess. The list goes on and on.
The upshot is that Obama's apologists certainly have their work cut out for them. I'd clear my calendar, if I were they as the next four years are going to be very busy indeed. Meanwhile, as Obama genuflects to his Zionazi masters, the people's candidate, Cynthia McKinney, is off to Gaza, at great risk to life and limb, to help the Palestinians in their time of need.
UPDATE: An Israeli navy ship rammed the supply ship Dignity that Cindy was on trying to bring medical supplies to Gaza. The ship was forced to make for the Lebanese port of Tyre before it sank. McKinney was slated to travel by car to Beirut where she was expected to conducted media interviews and meet with Lebanese government officials, said Paul Larudee, a co-founder of the California-based Free Gaza group. The Dignity is undergoing repairs in Tyre.
And Finally
You may remember a few weeks ago in issue 404 when I reported on the illegal actions of the Marine Corps Air and Ground Combat Center Provost Marshal and California Highway Patrol, Morongo office which were running police check lanes together out on highway 62? Now are you hip to a U.S. Army War College report that warns an economic crisis in the United States could lead to massive civil unrest and the need to call on the military to restore order. And I bet you thought those new Happy Camps were for the Mexicans, huh?
Retired Army Lt. Col. Nathan Freir wrote the report "Known Unknowns: Unconventional Strategic Shocks in Defense Strategy Development," which the Army think tank in Carlisle, Pa., recently released.
Colonel Nate says, "Widespread civil violence inside the United States would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities ... to defend basic domestic order and human security, in case of unforeseen economic collapse, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters," among other possible crises.
The report also suggests the new (Barack Obama) administration could face a "strategic shock" within the first eight months in office. Does that sound off any alarm bells in your noggin?
You may recall that earlier this year I reported that, Pentagon officials said as many as 20,000 soldiers under the U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) will be trained within the next three years to work with civilian law enforcement in homeland security. You may also recall that all of this is treason as it is in direct violation of Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, which, no thanks to Smirky, is still a federal law!
If troops are needed, then state governors have the ability to call up National Guard units to assist in an emergency.
As Charles Boehmer, political science professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, said about this plan, "The military was not called out during the Great Depression, and I don't think our economic problems are as bad as they were then."
*****
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Ernest & Victoria Stewart
Page --- 407 --- 01-09-09
Mass Murder And Mayhem In The Ghetto
By Ernest Stewart
"Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich." --- Peter Ustinov
And they also threw this in my face, they said...
Anyway
You know good well
That It would be beyond the will of GOD... God... god...
And the grace of the King
Grace of the King
1983... (A Merman I Should Turn To Be) ~~~ Jimi Hendrix
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. ~~~ Amendment V to the US Constitution
I see there another round of mass murder, war crimes and crimes against humanity going down in Palestine. Soon Israel may rival the numbers of Nazi Germany's death camp genocide. Oh, and lets make one thing clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with Hamas and their bottle rockets. Far more Israelis die in auto accidents and Israeli-on-Israeli crimes daily than have been killed by Hamas in total!
This is all about two interlocking things:
One: Endless War!
I've said it on many occasions and I'll say it again. Israel could not exist without a new war, a new enemy or, in a pinch like today, an old enemy. The invasion and mass murder of the helpless residents of the Gaza ghetto will guarantee a whole new crop of "terrorists" for future wars. It's not about getting them to stop (and they could with sincere peace talks). It's about getting them to keep firing those same ineffective rockets! Remember Israel started this round. Before a single bottle rocket flew, they sealed the border and cut off all normal supplies, both of which are war crimes. Do Jews call the fighters inside the Warsaw ghetto terrorists for resisting the Germans? They do not. Funny thing that, eh? Since before it's founding in 1948 Israel has been stealing everything in sight and murdering innocent men, women and children by the tens of thousands in a war that has continued to this day. Without this constant siege mentality Israel would soon crumble to dust with most Israelis moving elsewhere. Their whole economy is based on a constant state of war. Their armaments industry dwarfs all other Israeli businesses combined! It's a self-perpetuating machine, just like the one Ike warned us about! I wonder if we taught them or they taught us? America, too, is in an endless war and the armament industry is our largest employer. Which came first folks, the chicken or the egg? Of course, as nations, we did. Lincoln warned us in 1864...
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
Two: Endless expansion.
America Jr. has been in a constant state of expansion since before it's founding and that expansion has never stopped. Just like us. You might say that the US stopped expanding in 1898 or maybe 1960 but that is not the case. We have troops at over 860 overseas military bases in almost sixty countries and separate territories! The sun never sets on the American Empire; eat your heart out Great Britain!
Israel has been taking other peoples' land since before the UN got a bright idea about how to effect its own final solution. They did this by stealing some land from Jordon and Egypt and giving it to the their bankers, the Rothschilds! Their two state solution was a joke from the start, as it is to this day. There will be no State of Palestine, just Israel. And need I mention, no Palestinians, either!
In Other News
Remember all of those rat-wing uber-monkeys that kept chanting that Barry was a Muslim and, if elected, would sell us all down the road to Allah? Remember? You might also recall that I said Barry was bought, paid for and an Israeli fifth columnist because, as soon as he was nominated, he ran directly to AIPAC to genuflect before them like the weasel that he is. Lately whenever asked about the war crimes being committed in the Gaza ghetto we get this little song and dance...
"President-elect Obama is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza, but there is one president at a time," said Brooke Anderson, Obama spinmaster.
Seems like if he were the Muslim Mullah that the right claimed he would have something to say, eh?
Also in the news was old Bill Richardson, one of the more corrupt Demoncrats (which is really saying something), who has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Seems Bill got caught taking a 10% kickback, much like the Catholic Church from a California contractor working for Bill's "GRIP" aka "Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership" scam.
If there was going to be any change Barry's flunkies would have looked elsewhere for a Secretary of Commerce candidate as Bill has all that other baggage from working for "Slick Willie" and "Dr. Strangelove" and that should have set off all sorts of warning sirens. Of course they knew, but since it's going to be business as usual, so what?
Speaking of business as usual, Barry picked Leon Panetta to head the CIA. You'll remember that Leon was "Slick Willie's" chief of staff and has absolutely no experience as a spy. Can you hear a future "Heck of a job Leon?" If there was a drop of justice in Obama, he'd have chosen Valerie Plame!
Sure, Barry was the lesser of two evils, but just barely. As Neil Young once said about Papa Smirk, "We got a kinder, gentler, Machine gun hand." Oh, and have no fear, Barry will speak out on the Gaza ghetto just as soon as Israel slaughters enough innocents and pulls out. And he gets the okay from AIPAC!
And Finally
Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? When did it become guilty until proven innocent? It seems to have started with the Pee test? A test to find marijuana use as it can hardly find anything else. Only pot stays in the system more than a day or two. In addition, we can't have all those free thinkers employed can we? At least with pee tests there are a thousand ways of foiling them!
Unlike politics where you are tried and convicted in the rat-wing owned press. Whether or not Rod Blagojevich is guilty for soliciting bribes is neither here nor there at present. I have no doubt that he's as guilty as sin, but that fact hasn't been established. As far as we know, Rod was attacked for being a Democrat by Bush's Nazi regime. At this point Rod is as innocent as a newborn babe. Legally that is.
Of course, Rethuglican lackeys on both sides of the aisle have refused to seat Rod's appointment for Barry's seat. Rod's appointment, former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris, is qualified, wasn't involved in Rod's shenanigans and should have been seated on Tuesday. However, as we've seen in the past, the law and the Senate are two different things! Now after the brouhaha stirred up by the Dems refusing to seat the only black in the Senate has swept across "Foggy Bottom" they're starting to backpedal and have second thoughts about this little act of treason. They now think something can be worked out!
Still in the legal sense there is no law in the Constitution or Bill of Rights that says one is innocent until proven guilty. That statement came from a Supreme Court Justice Edward Douglas White. As close as we come to it in written law is the 5th Amendment to the Constitution. Those words, innocent until proven guilty, are in the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789. The United Nations incorporated the principle in its Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 under article eleven, section one. The maxim also found a place in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights in 1953 [as article 6, section 2] and was incorporated into the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights [as article 14, section 2].
Wouldn't it be funny after Rod is impeached and removed from office if he was found not guilty in a court of law? Think of the ratings. Think of the lawsuits!
Page --- 408 --- 01-16-09
The Perpetual Motion Machine
By Ernest Stewart
"Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them. There is almost no kind of outrage, torture, imprisonment without trial, assassination, the bombing of civilians, which does not change its moral color when it is committed by 'our' side. The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." ~~~ George Orwell
"All Americans will have to sacrifice to put the economy back on track.
Everybody's going to have to give. Everybody's going to have to have some skin in the game."
~~~ Barack Obama ~~~
"War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death;
the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied."
~~~ Sun Tzu ~~~
Ask any scientists worth their salt and they will tell you that there is no such thing as a perpetual motion machine. Even Leonardo Da Vinci once said, "Oh, ye seekers after perpetual motion, how many vain chimeras have you pursued? Go and take your place with the alchemists." Though thousands have tried to create such a thing no one has succeeded, or so they say.
With all due respect to the great Leonardo, I would beg to differ. Mankind created a perpetual motion machine that has been running without cessation since before the dawn of recorded history! A machine that runs even to this day! I refer, of course, to war!
A couple of good examples of this are our never-ending war against "terrorism," which creates on a daily basis many more "terrorists" than existed the day before. A better example is Israel who, for more than 60 years, has managed to keep their war going against the native inhabitants. Even is they manage to wipe out Hamas, the legally elected government of the Gaza ghetto, they will have created a thousand times more "terrorists" than they had before this latest invasion. And that is exactly what they meant to do to begin with! You cannot have a perpetual war if Peace were somehow to break out, so the murder must continue!
As Israel has been in a never-ending state of war since before its inception and is run by their military/industrial/media complex, a constant state of war is their greatest necessity. Israel could not exist without it.
Yes, I hear your cry; if they finally manage to kill all the Palestinians their perpetual motion machine will surely quit. Hardly. They still have on their agenda wars to conquer Lebanon, Syria, Jordon and Saudi Arabia and bring them into a "Greater Middle-Eastern Co-Prosperity Sphere". At their current rate that should keep the machine humming for hundreds of years to come or until the world gets tired of the Zionazis and bombs them back to the Bronze Age so that Israel can become one with its bronze age god, Yahweh! You remember Yahweh, the god of wandering, barbarian, syphilitic, sheep herders. A crazy god, created by crazy people (and people with endstage syphilis are certainly crazy and may see and talk to burning bushes and the like!), for crazy people, which explains why he is still so popular today with Christians, Muslims and Jews!
No, we've endured this perpetual motion machine for over 8,000 years; the question is how to turn it off!
In Other News
The "New Boss" has been busy of late giving speeches and making TV appearances. Often speaking about looking forward and not backwards at the War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity and Crimes against the US Constitution and Bill of Rights committed by the current Junta. So, unless his Rethuglican puppet masters give him the ok, the thousands of crimes, acts of treason and acts of sedition will all be forgotten! What's important now is to drop all two party pretence and get everyone work together to screw and enslave the US populace!
Another theme Barry's on about is how we're all going to have to make sacrifices. Not the corpo-rats, not the billionaires who have robbed us all blind during the last eight years, no there will be tax cuts for them. Not the Pentagoons who "misplaced" several trillion dollars. No they'll be fully funded! It's you and I who are all but bled dry who are ask to bleed some more. Nor should you worry about losing your home. You'll soon have a roof over your head, a brand new cot and three squares a day of healthy saw-dust bread when you get to the "Happy Camp!" Oh, and don't expect him to implement any of those changes he was on about during the election cycle. Like impeachment, all of those changes are now off the table. The words, "gullible mother f-ckers" screams, and then echoes, through my mind!
One wonders how it feels to be an Obama supporter after being betrayed again and again. Do you suppose they're beginning to lose their faith? I wonder how long they can keep lying to themselves? Of course, the hard core followers will, just like Bush's 20%, go to their graves saying he was the best no matter what happens. No matter how many new wars he starts or how many existing wars he ramps up. No matter how bad the economy gets they'll still cheer him on and on.
As Cheney says to W in "W The Movie," "Sir, you can never go broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." To which W replies, "Amen to that!" Thanks to the Sheeple we are sooooooooo f-cked!
And Finally
I see where the Frito Bandito has gotten totally out of hand across Mexico and the boys down at the Pentagoon are making plans accordingly. In fact, according to a new report from the U.S. Joint Forces Command, "Mexico is in danger of a rapid and sudden collapse due to criminal gangs and drug cartels."
The report goes on, "In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Forces and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico." I knew that Obama had dreams of a Pakistan invasion, but Mexico?
"The Mexican possibility may seem less likely, but the government, its politicians, police and judicial infrastructure are all under sustained assault and pressure by criminal gangs and drug cartels," the "JOE 2008" report continues.
"The outcome of that internal conflict in America's southern neighbor will have a 'major impact' on the stability of the Mexican state over the next several years." The Joint Forces Command, is a Defense Department combat command that includes all military service branches, both active and reserve.
The report warns that "any descent by Mexico into chaos would demand an American response based on the serious implications for homeland security alone." Well, so much for that wall. This is just in time for the North American Union anyway! Got your Ameros yet, America?
Page --- 409 --- 01-23-09
We Will Have These Moments To Remember
By Ernest Stewart
When other nights and other days
May find us gone our separate ways
We will have these moments to remember
Moments To Remember ~ The Four Ladds
"Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States. And I will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount.." ~~~ Barrak Obama to Al Arabiya
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
Cos I promised myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone
Almost Cut My Hair ~~~ David Crosby
Your Issues & Alibis staff
Back on December 12th, 2000 when I decided to put my life on hold and do what I could to stop the judicial coup d'etat that had just gone down I never imagined I still be at this today. Surely, I thought that the Sheeple would soon rise up and overthrow the coup, either in the streets or certainly in the 2004 elections, my naïve ass! I figured that on January 20th 2005 I could resume my old life and finish the books I was working on, but as Robert Burns once said,"The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley!"
When the 2004 election was stolen electronically I looked forward to 2008 thinking that by then the people would have finally awoken to these acts of sedition and treason and would have installed someone in the White House that would put these traitors on trial for their many crimes against humanity and the Constitution. I should have listened to H. L. Mencken who said, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." Or remembered what Will Rogers once said, "I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat."
Here it is eight years later, putting out our 411th edition and I'm no closer to being able to get back to my life than I was on February 1st 2001 issuing our 1st edition!
Our current boss has a lot more in common with George Bush than he does with the American people and is continuing most of the Bush junta's crimes. Of course I expected nothing less having learned years ago that the fix is in and has been in since before "the Revolution" and just because our new boss is of a different color doesn't mean he is any different than the white "good old boys" in the backroom who are still pulling the strings. All the fuss and fury coming from the far right side of the aisle is merely smoke and mirrors for one of their own! If a Rethuglican doesn't tell at least 10 lies a day, they'll explode!
So it's back to the trenches I go, fighting the good fight for you and the world, hang tough America; it looks to be a long and bumpy flight!
L~R cub reporter Mike Wrathell ~ Victoria Stewart ~ Uncle Ernie
In Other News
The New Boss was out and about the other day taping an interview with our lap dog news network in Arabia, the Al Arabiya network, based in Dubai (and owned by an old Bush crime family Saudi friend) to convince Islam that were really not the Great Satan after all and you really have nothing to fear when our bombers fill your skies. He went to Al Arabiya, as did the old boss, to try and shuck and jive the Muslims because Al Jazeera would have laughed in his face and besides Al Jazeera was busy documenting the Israeli war crimes inside the Gaza Ghetto!
Barry gave this song and dance the same day they were burying women and children from his latest attack inside Pakistan which not only pissed off and turned into terrorist all the surviving family members but sent another shock wave across Pakistan which had been teetering on the brink of a reactionary Muslim revolution.This revolution will make our CIA controlled stooges "Al Qaeda" look like alter-boys by comparison and will have that lovely nuclear inventory which will no doubt be the beginning of a very short and very loud WWIII. This will be followed by a very quiet and peaceful period until the dolphins evolve one more step and invent the espresso machine!
In between pledging, his undying allegiance to Israel, Barry trotted out his family heritage and talked about his Muslim family something that he tried to hide during the election and his own experience as a Muslim in a Muslim world. It's too bad that it's his white, Christian half, that has his finger on the launch button and will direct an otherwise bored teenage girl sitting inside a box out in Nevada to launch a "Hellfire missile from a predator remote controlled air platform and another group of terrorist children, hiding out in a kindergarden classroom, will join Allah in the afterlife.
Is it just the old "carrot and stick approach," good cop, bad cop or is Barry just counting on all of Islam not to have seen, (banned by fatwa) the "Wizard of Oz?" Ergo, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." You know, the one that's pulling Barry's strings!
And Finally
This has been one of those weeks when there was way too many things to do and too little time to do them, what with the special edition and all. This third piece was going to be about the 50th anniversary of the day that music died, i.e., the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. However, since "the music" didn't really die (just the above three rockers) on February 2, 1959 I looked for something else. I didn't have far to look!
Because when the news that the BBC and Sky News refused to run a charity ad for the Disasters Emergency Committee on the Gaza Ghetto reached me I decided to explore that instead and wrote the BBC a long, nasty letter that they actually responded to. They responded with a typical song and dance as to why they, like the American media, want to stay neutral or at least that's what there Zionist controllers wanted them to say. However, their BS and Zionists control like American medias, i.e., CBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and PBS Zionist control is again hardly news. I'd trust the BBC to tell the actual truth about as far as I could comfortably spit out a very large sewer rat!
Finally daughter Ariel suggested that her mom and I write blogs in our copious free time. Since Ariel recently got her masters and her mom and I fell just a little short of obtaining ours, we did give it some thought. After all these "whiz kids" could be right!
I've been asked may times over the years why I don't write a blog and I concluded that I didn't find myself all that fascinating to support a blog and what with the 60 hours a week I spend on the magazine I certainly don't have the time. I would have the time, i.e., the 20 hours a week that it would take if I put down the magazine. I would also have that remaining 40 hours a week to find gainful employment at the newspaper down the street whose been looking for an editor for the last 6 months or I could go back on radio (or in "nudie bars")as your "Hard Rock" ~ "Rockin' Blues" wicked old Uncle Ernie did for some 30 years. Either of which would soon fill our empty coffers, something the readership has failed to do this year! My conclusion is it's like David Crosby said in "Almost Cut My Hair" because "I feel like I owe it to someone!" Peace, Ya'll!
Page --- 410 --- 01-30-09
We Will Have These Moments To Remember
By Ernest Stewart
When other nights and other days
May find us gone our separate ways
We will have these moments to remember
Moments To Remember ~ The Four Ladds
"Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States.
And I will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount.." ~~~ Barrak Obama to Al Arabiya
But I'm not giving in an inch to fear
Cos I promised myself this year
I feel like I owe it to someone
Almost Cut My Hair ~~~ David Crosby
Your Issues & Alibis staff
Back on December 12th, 2000, when I decided to put my life on hold and do what I could to stop the judicial coup d'etat that had just gone down, I never imagined I'd still be at it eight years later. Surely, I thought, the Sheeple would soon rise up and overthrow the coup either in the streets or in the 2004 elections. My naïve ass! I figured that no later than January 20th, 2005 I could resume my old life and finish the books I was working on but, as Robert Burns once said,"The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley!"
When the 2004 election was stolen electronically, I looked forward to 2008 thinking that by then the people would have finally awoken to the acts of sedition and treason and would install someone in the White House who would put the traitors on trial for their many crimes against humanity and the Constitution. I should have listened to H. L. Mencken who said, "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." Or remembered what Will Rogers once said, "I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat."
Here it is, 2009, we're putting out our 411th edition and I'm no closer to being able to get back to my life than I was when our first edition came out on February 1, 2001!
Our current boss has a lot more in common with George Bush than he does with the American people and is continuing most of the Bush junta's crimes. Of course, I expected nothing less having learned years ago that the fix is in and has been in since before "the Revolution." Just because our new boss is a different color doesn't mean he is any different than the white "good old boys" in the backroom. The same people are still pulling the strings. All the fuss and fury coming from the far right side of the aisle is merely smoke and mirrors! If a Rethuglican doesn't tell at least 10 lies a day, they'll explode!
So, it's back to the trenches I go, fighting the good fight for you and the world. Hang tough America; it looks to be a long and bumpy flight!
L~R cub reporter Mike Wrathell ~ Victoria Stewart ~ Uncle Ernie
In Other News
The New Boss was out and about the other day taping an interview with our lap dog news network in Arabia. Based in Dubai and owned by an old Bush crime family Saudi friend, the Al Arabiya network aired Obama's speech to convince Islam that we're really not the Great Satan, after all, and no one really has anything to fear when our bombers fill Arab skies. He went to Al Arabiya, as did the old boss, to try and shuck and jive the Muslims because Al Jazeera would have laughed in his face. Besides, Al Jazeera was busy documenting the Israeli war crimes inside the Gaza Ghetto!
Barry gave this song and dance the same day Pakistanis were burying women and children dead from his latest attack inside Pakistan which not only pissed off and turned into terrorists all the surviving family members but sent another shock wave across Pakistan which had been teetering on the brink of a reactionary Muslim revolution. This revolution will make our CIA controlled stooges "Al Qaeda" look like alter-boys by comparison and will have that lovely nuclear inventory which will no doubt be the beginning of a very short and very loud WWIII. This will be followed by a very quiet and peaceful period until the dolphins evolve one more step and invent the espresso machine!
In between pledging his undying allegiance to Israel, Barry trotted out his family heritage and talked about his Muslim family, something that he tried to hide during the election. He also talked about his own experience as a Muslim in a Muslim world. It's too bad that it's his white, Christian half that has its finger on the launch button and will direct an otherwise bored teenage girl sitting inside a box out in Nevada to launch a "Hellfire" missile from a "Predator" remote controlled air platform and another group of terrorist children, hiding out in a kindergarten classroom, will join Allah in the afterlife.
Is it just the old "carrot and stick approach," "good cop, bad cop" or is Barry just counting on all of Islam not to have seen, (banned by fatwa) the "Wizard of Oz?" Ergo, "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain." You know, the one that's pulling Barry's strings!
And Finally
This has been one of those weeks when there were way too many things to do and too little time to do them, what with the special edition and all. This third piece was going to be about the 50th anniversary of the day that music died, i.e., the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. However, since "the music" didn't really die (just the above three rockers) on February 2, 1959 I looked for something else. I didn't have far to look!
Because when the news that the BBC and Sky News refused to run a charity ad for the Disasters Emergency Committee on the Gaza Ghetto reached me, I decided to explore that instead and wrote the BBC a long, nasty letter that they actually responded to. They responded with a typical song and dance as to why they, like the American media, want to stay neutral or at least that's what their Zionist controllers wanted them to say. However, their BS and Zionist control, like American CBS, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and PBS Zionist control, is again hardly news. I'd trust the BBC to tell the actual truth about as far as I could comfortably spit out a very large sewer rat!
Finally, daughter Ariel suggested that her mom and I write blogs in our copious free time. Since Ariel recently got her masters and her mom and I fell just a little short of obtaining ours, we did give it some thought. After all, these "whiz kids" could be right!
I've been asked many times over the years why I don't write a blog and I concluded that I didn't find myself all that fascinating and what with the 60 hours a week I spend on the magazine, I certainly don't have the time. I would have the time if I put down the magazine. I would also have that remaining 40 hours a week to find gainful employment at the newspaper down the street that has been looking for an editor for the last 6 months or I could go back on radio (or in "nudie bars")as your "Hard Rock" ~ "Rockin' Blues" wicked old Uncle Ernie did for some 30 years. Either of which would soon fill our empty coffers, something the readership has failed to do this year! Still, my conclusion is it's like David Crosby said in "Almost Cut My Hair" because "I feel like I owe it to someone!" Peace, Ya'll!
*****
We don't sell our readers new cars, fancy homes or designer clothes. We don't advocate consumerism nor do we offer facile solutions to serious problems. We do, however, bring together every week writers and activists who are not afraid to speak the truth about our country and our world. The articles we print are not for the faint of heart.
As access to accurate information becomes more difficult and free speech and the exchange of ideas becomes more restricted and controlled, small publications and alternative presses disappear. Issues and Alibis may soon join that list.
We aren't asking for much-not thousands of dollars a month, not tens of thousands a year. What we need is simply enough money to cover expenses for the magazine. A few thousand dollars a year. A few hundred dollars a month. We cannot continue to go into debt to publish Issues and Alibis but at the same time we cannot, in good conscience, go quietly about our daily lives, remaining silent in face of the injustices perpetrated by our leaders and our government. So we need your help. We need your spare change. A dollar, five dollars, whatever you can contribute. Every penny makes a difference.
Ernest & Victoria Stewart
Page --- 411 --- 02-06-09
Amid Laughter And Merrimnt
By Ernest Stewart
We'll murder them all amid laughter and merriment.
Except for the few we take home to experiment.
Poisoning Pigeons In The Park ~~~ Tom Lehrer
"Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to 'meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,' an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse." ~~~ Paul Joseph Watson
"The bottom line is, we all work for the president of the United States in this chain of command, and he has signed an executive order which has made abundantly clear that until these reviews are done all of this is on hiatus." ~~~ Geoff Morrell Pentagoon spokesman
The truth is finally coming out about Israel's latst group of war crimes. They had little to do with the bottle rockets fired at Israel in desperation from the Gaza ghetto. Israel sparked that reaction by closing down all access to the ghetto and allowing the Palestinians inside to slowly starve and freeze to death as part of Israel's final solutions to the Palestinian question. The lap dog Palestinians in the West Bank will soon be forced to either leave or find themselves moved to Gaza as well when Israel consolidates the West Bank into Israel. All Palestinians, whether in the territories or inside of Israel, will find themselves country-less or dead.
What Israel was actually doing in Gaza was killing the Palestinians in clever, new ways by using brand new American ordinance against the women and children trapped inside. Of course, they've been field testing new American designs for decades in Palestine and Lebanon. Trouble is, they're getting ready to start the final solutions of the Lebanese and Syrian questions in a dual-pronged war that will destroy all of Lebanon and Syria, regardless of whether they're Israeli clients, Muslims or Christians. This will be followed with attacks against Jordon and a thorough nuking of Iran.
To help them accomplish this we'll be giving them some of the new mini battleships, the Littoral Combat Ships. Although Corvette sized, the LCS's are bristling with various destructive weapons from torpedoes to nuclear tipped missiles and are capable of close in support a few yards off the beach, launching landing craft and troop-carrying helicopters. We'll supply, as well, a brand new group of rockets, missiles and artillery rounds that will leave innocent men, women and children blown to tiny bits. Your tax dollars at work, America.
Of course, no one will do anything about this. The Europeans have all been threatened that if they oppose Israel their capital cites will be nuked in retaliation and, of course, Israel is just crazy enough to do just that. Like Frankenstein, we've created a monster that's gotten out of control and I have no doubt that if we were to end all aid to Israel or try to stop them then we'd be under attack from them, too. But that isn't going to happen. It won't happen because they now control the media, the banks and all three branches of government from the Capital steps to the White House.
Driven by right-wing politicians and rabbis that quote the old testament, baby killing is not only legal but demanded by their god. It is only a matter of time before Israel and surrounding areas are turned into a glow-in-the-dark parking lot that will be uninhabitable for the next 250,000 years. Making it the final solution of the Israeli question! As "Pogo" once warned, "We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us!"
In Other News
I see where they're going to be ramping up construction on some new "Happy Camps" on old military bases. This is in conjunction with building new camps and existing FEMA Camps.
Alcee Hastings Demoncratic Con-gressman from Florida (I bet you thought that only Rethuglicans were behind the new Happy Camps, huh?) has introduced his "National Emergency Centers Establishment Act" H. R. 645. into the 111th CON-GRESS. H.R. 645 establishes:
(a) In General- In accordance with the requirements of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish not fewer than 6 national emergency centers on military installations.
(b) Purpose of National Emergency Centers- The purpose of a national emergency center shall be to use existing infrastructure
(1) to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster;
(2) to provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of Federal, State, and local first responders;
(3) to provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations; and
(4) to meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security.
This also calls for the Secretary of Fatherland, oops, Homeland Security to be, ".....capable of meeting for an extended period of time the housing, health, transportation, education, public works, humanitarian and other transition needs of a large number of individuals affected by an emergency or major disaster' as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security."
The Germans had a similar law, "Article 48" of the Weimar Constitution, that Hitler used to open the first concentration camp Dachau. (Oh, and by-the-way, Dachau was based on American Civil War Happy Camps) In Article 48, "the government was given authority to curtail constitutional rights including free expression of opinion, freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and the privacy of postal, telegraphic and telephonic communications. Constitutional restrictions on searches and confiscation of property were likewise suspended."
Does that ring any bells about recently passed laws by 109th Con-gress, America? For example, Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122)." Did I mention that Public Law 109-364 won't be removed from the books by Barry? Still wondering why Barry voted for the FISA Bill?
And Finally
There comes the strange, twisted tale of Army Colonel James Pohl. Colonel Pohl was appointed Chief Inquisitor for that three ring circus down in Gitmo by the "Smirked One" on January 9th. Sort of Bush's way of saying f*ck you to Barry's intent of closing down that national embarrassment. James heads the Kangaroo Court which was recently told to cease and desist for 120 days so that the new Junta could get it together about what to do with those poor wretches we've been torturing confessions out of for years and years! The other two judges immediately complied with the order and shut down their courts.
When given Barry's request to relax for 120 days, James said, no way Jose, stuck his thumbs in his ears and added "nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!" While that may have given hard-ons to some of James' superiors and Rumsfeld's leftover fascists in the Pentagoon, it will no doubt cost James any chance he has to get his star, even though he's saved up thousands of box tops!
James, being the lawyer scumbag that he is, thinks he can hide behind semantics while defying orders from his Commander in Chief. True, Barry didn't give him a direct order to stand down but the intent was clearly there. Standing just on the edge of treason and sedition is not a very tenable position, even when as power mad as James undoubtedly is.
Geoff Morrell, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that there were "no ifs, ands or buts" about adhering to the president's executive order and that there would "be no proceedings continuing down at Gitmo with military commissions."
James thinks that the same court system in America is unqualified to handle the Gitmo waifs even though the first groups of WTC bombers are all doing life in various "Super Maxs" without any problems at all. No one has tried to blow up the prisons and free the inmates nor have any been released to seek revenge. And none of the new prisoners will give the federal prison systems any problems either. There are no escapes from "Super Maxs"so the best thing James can do, if he has any honor at all, is simply and quietly fall upon his sword and end this monstrous chapter in American "justice!"
Page --- 412 --- 02-13-09
Afghanistan: Destroyer Of Empires
By Ernest Stewart
"I am involved in the land of a 'Leonine' (lion-like) and brave people, where every Foot of the ground is like a wall of steel, confronting my soldiers. You have brought only one son into the world, but everyone in this land can be called an Alexander." ~~~ Alexander the Great, regarding Afghanistan, in a letter to his mother.
"We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground." ~~~ Leon Panetta ~ 2008
A contract ain't a contract anymore.
They been and throwed the concept out the door.
You can write it down and sign it,
But the way that Ford defines it.
A contract ain't a contract anymore.
A Contract Ain't A Contract Anymore ~~~ Robert D. Stubbs
The candidate for "Change" is continuing same ole, same ole, as it turns out. In fact, not content with the thousands of innocents' deaths in Afghanistan and a teetering economy, Barry has decided to "surge" ahead in Afghanistan. Apparently there are still a few mud huts standing and we certainly can't allow that!
With an economy all but destroyed by Bush's illegal, immoral wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the banking collapse and NAFTA sending all our good paying jobs overseas, why would Barry want to ramp up the Afghanistan incursion and double our involvement there by cooling down the war in Iraq and sending those troops not home, but back to Tora Bora which, by-the-way, translates to the "Black Cellar." With the exception of "Alexander the Great," who had the brains to stay away from that and other mountainous areas and still spent three years on the plains before cutting his losses and moving off to India, every invading army since lost their troops and treasuries trying to conquer Afghanistan. The British, for example, tried it three times. The first time they lost an army of 18,000. Only one Englishman, a doctor, escaped to India while the rest of the army lay dead. As Rudyard Kipling said in his poem, "The Young British Soldier,"
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
I guess Barry never read any Kipling? It was the third British war with Afghanistan that finally destroyed the Empire so that by the time WWII rolled around a few years later, there was little left to fight the Germans with. The empire would have ended there and then but the U.S. entered the war and saved England from speaking German. So, when WWII ended, so did the British Empire!
Ask the USSR how their empire fared after ten years in Afghanistan. Oh, oops my bad, you can't ask the USSR as it no longer exists because of it adventures in Afghanistan. What does exist is Russia, which wants to "help" us out by giving our supplies access routes and thereby assure that we, too, will end up the way they did. Helping us to lose our troops and treasury there and it won't take very long before the American Empire is gone too!
The only thing to ever "conquer" Afghanistan was religion. First Zorastism, then Buddhism and finally Islam. Maybe Barry could convince the Afghans to join his cult of personality, Obamaism?
In Other News
Obama's DOJ seems to be no different than Bush's as was proved in court the other day with their "State Secrets" play, something that candidate Obama swore to "change" when he took power. He's since decided he will keep those acts of treason by Bush on the books so it's no surprise that his choice for CIA director, Leon Panetta, will continue the secret kidnappings, renditions, murder and torture of the Bush Junta as well.
Of course, Leon lied about renditions to start with but when further questioned on the subject decided he'd keep those war crimes intact in the CIA's little bag of dirty tricks, too.
I'm sorry but could someone remind me exactly what is the difference between Barry and W? I'll be damned if I can figure out any substantial change. Of course, I never really expected anything more than a little window dressing. A "kinder, gentler machine gun hand!" Still, it is rather amusing to see people who know better try to defend one policy outrage after another.
Panetta, who has exactly zero experience as a spook, must be qualified as he had plenty of experience as a lackey in Slick Willie's Junta. Leon first told the Senate Intelligence Committee that President Barack Obama forbids what Panetta called "that kind of extraordinary rendition -- when we send someone for the purpose of torture or actions by another country that violate our human values." When word came down that it would soon be obvious that Barry actually embraced rendition and torture as the DOJ proved the other day, Leon, without missing a beat, changed his position 180 degrees. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Not!
Leon went on to assert that he wouldn't be bringing any charges of torture or murder against CIA spooks, "Those individuals ought not to be prosecuted or investigated if they acted pursuant to the law as presented by the attorney general." Ergo if some fascist politician tells you it's okay to torture and murder, it's okay. I seem to remember that we hung and shot a lot of Germans and Japanese who, in similar circumstances, were "Only Following Ze Orders!" I also recall the American judges at Nuremberg going on and on about how that defense, wasn't a defense at all, don't you? Methinks Mr. Panetta is what Tweety Bird called a hypo-twit!
And Finally
I see where corpo-rat America has finally triumphed over American labor with the coming destruction of labor unions. With the bailout money paid, a paltry $14 billion, they've bought the destruction of the United Auto Workers. With the combined help of the Bush Junta, every Rethuglican and most Demoncrat politicians, our beloved Fuhrer (now I know what he meant by change) and the UAW leadership thus begin the end of the middle class.
Now whether you loved or hated the middle class, be advised that it was the only thing standing between the Kings and the serfs. Now you'll either be a King or a peon and which do you think you'll be, America? Oh, and let me remind you that there will be very few open slots for Kings!
Unlike the Bankers and their trillion dollar bailout, a good percentage of which they spent on themselves with no personal scarifies, the auto bailout comes with a huge scarifies to all hourly employees. Basically, a 2/3 cut in pay making wages just above the minimum wage and loss of most health insurance and other benefits as well. All this personal destruction comes even though the cost of labor is about 5% of the cost of the car or truck. Didn't hear anything about this from your union leadership, I'm not surprised!
Of course, you don't have to take the pay cuts. You can retire at Chrysler with less than one year's salary, $50,000 and a coupon for $25,000 off the price of a car or $75,000 if you give up all insurance benefits for you and your family. At General Motors, you'll receive substantially less. The UAW assures Barry and the new "Auto Czar" that they'll give Ford Motor Company the same packages. In addition, did I mention most all retirees would loose all their benefits, too! Are we having fun yet? How do you like dem changes? I didn't think you would.
Of course, you don't have to take the buyout; you can stay on and then get laid off and lose the $100 grand or so and get only unemployment. All the current lay off conditions will no longer be there, you'll not get paid for not working and all new hires will make about $10 an hour without any benefits. Oh and did I mention that strikes won't be allowed? They have "vays" of making you cooperate!
Now, now, now, let's have no talk of bloody revolutions or you'll soon find yourself and your family in one of those new Happy Camps(tm) (And you though that they were for the Mexicans?) where you can get a job manufacturing whatever Big Brother wants for $0 dollars a hour and all the sawdust bread you can eat. Just one suggestion, America, when you get to the "Happy Camp(tm)" stay out of the line for the showers!
Page --- 413 --- 02-20-09
We Are The Predators!
By Ernest Stewart
I am a predator
I am a predator
That's one thing for sure
I am a predator
You better lock your doors
We are the predators
I Am A Predator ~~~ Ted Nugent
"Night after night, on radio talk shows, disgruntled, self-identified progressives call in to inform the host and her audience that we (the American people) can - in fact - "walk and chew gum at the same time" (a response to the argument on the part of some Obama defenders that now - in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades - is simply not the right time to focus our energies on a task of this magnitude - that such an effort would be an irresponsible distraction). Those folks, many of whom, frankly, invoke images of villagers wielding torches and pitchforks, are sadly missing the point." ~~~ Cynthia Boaz
"Good day, EH! And welcome to the Great White North! Take off ya hoser!" ~~~ Bob and Doug McKenzie
Our good friends and partners in crime, the Pakistanis, have decided to stop their attacks on Al Qaeda camps and the Taliban in general and instead give them an area of the country about 400 miles long and 100 miles wide to rule via sharia law pretty much the way they did in Afghanistan. So much for the last seven years and all that blood and treasure wasted in support of our puppet government in Kabul, eh? This blackmail payment insures that the Taliban and Al Qaeda will leave the government alone and live happily-ever-after, right? Wrong! What it means is they are one step closer to getting their hands on the nukes, which is, of course, their goal!
This also gives the aforementioned CIA sponsored terrorists a huge planning and staging area for their attacks on our surge in Afghanistan, which is just what our corpo-rat goons in the military/industrial complex desire, i.e., a never ending war! Barry insured this by announcing he's sending in an extra 17,000 soldiers and Marines this spring, just as a start on his surge!
Sure, our otherwise bored boy and girls sitting inside windowless buildings out in the Nevada desert now have a vast array of new targets to acquire. A strange thing happened the other day. I hear when they were routinely bombing school buildings they actually hit one full of soldiers instead of children. As once was said about disco "music," "If you throw enough sh-t against the wall some of it's bound to stick." So high-fives all around!
We started using the Predator aircraft, which are unmanned drones, to save our billion dollar junior birdmen for flying the big corpo-rat owned airliners when their enlistments run out. It used to be that pilots would actually risk their lives against enemy pilots to bomb schools, orphanages and the like from 50,000 feet but since there has been no opposition during all of our latest wars, why risk those future airline pilots to "speed balls" and equipment failure when we can kill the same non-combatants with drones from 12,000 miles away? At least when we were firebombing Europe, Japan, Korea or Vietnam there was a little sport involved from enemy pilots, ack-ack guns or missiles. Now death from the skies is just a sophisticated video game, which is why our sons and daughters are the new pilots! From Pac Man to Predators--one easy step away! I wonder if they get to sign their initials after blowing up a wedding party? Do you get an extra 5,000 points if you kill both the bride and the groom?
In Other News
Pundits like Joe Conason and several politicians like Sin-ator Patrick Leahy want to set up truth commissions to bring the Bush Junta's crimes to light. Others, like Obama, want us to forget about these outrages; forget about them and roll over and go back to sleep until the vans come to take us off to a "Happy Camp!"(tm)
One of these is college prof Cynthia Boaz who wrote a little piece of trash called, "Obama's Justice: Reconciliation, Not Retribution." In it Cynthia say Barry can't prosecute the Junta for their hundreds of acts of treason, war crimes and the like because it would be deemed by the rat-wing controlled press as political. Well duh, but so what? I wrote Cynthia a letter:
"Hey Cynthia,
Just finished reading your little rant about not bringing the Crime Family Bush to trial for their various acts of treason and sedition as to do so might seem political. After all, since it was our corpo-rat masters and our elite who committed those war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against the Constitution, crimes against the Bill of Rights, mass murder, genocide, concentration camps, mass kidnapping, official torture, theft of trillions etc. we should look the other way and concentrate on putting those pot smokers and thieves stealing a loaf of bread to feed their starving families in the death camps instead, huh? I'm guessing you were paid the traditional 30 pieces of silver for your rant? How do you look into the mirror in the morning without cutting your throat? Or don't you wear makeup?
Obama and the Democrats aren't going after Bush because he and they are as guilty of the same war crimes as Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell, Rice and the rest are. Our anti-war president voted for every war bill that came his way, knowing full well what he was supporting, voting to suppress the Bill of Rights by backing the F.I.S.A. bill, a definite act of treason, etc. etc. etc. If Barry doesn't bring these monsters to justice by giving them all 6 years down in Gitmo to be water boarded and have broom handles shoved up their asses, (I wonder if that would be considered torture when applied to them?) followed by a quick people's tribunal and some very slow, painful executions on PBS then this country is doomed. If not, then the last 8 years will be repeated again and again and again. If there is no prosecution for those crimes then Obama must open every cell door in every jail and prison in America and let everyone go because if you added up all the crimes committed by America's two million prisoners they would be a small fraction of what was done by the Bush Junta. Either we are a nation of laws or we are not. One set of rules for everyone or anarchy! We voted for change and got the same ole, same ole! There are dozens of laws and treaties that demand that Obama bring charges for these crimes and for him not to do so is a serious crime as well!
The only thing that will bring this country together is not a truth commission, like the cover up of 911, but capital, criminal trials. The hundreds of thousands of dead, the millions of wounded and the millions of displaced cry out for justice. Can't you hear their cries Cynthia, or are you deaf as well as blind?
Sincerely yours,
Ernest Stewart
Managing editor
Issues & Alibis magazine"
If the good professor replies, I'll share it with you!
And Finally
It's that time of the year again when those holier-than-thou sophisticated knuckleheads to the north take a break from torturing their native population (The suicide rate amongst Canada's native population is higher than that of any other group of aboriginals in the world) and begin joyfully clubbing to death three week old baby mammals for fun and profits.
The Canadians, who spend most of their time looking down their noses at America and Americans, drop the pretense, grab a case of "Labatt's Blue" and stumble across ice flows in search of helpless, defenseless puppies and then beat out their brains with clubs and hakapiks. A "hakapic" is a particularly nasty instrument looking like something out of an old Vincent Price horror movie. They scurry from seal pup to seal pup killing as many as they can, sometimes killing as many as three or four a minute, wiping out every single one upon the ice flow before moving off to the next flow. They're also allowed to "hunt" on various islands and are protected from animal lovers and the press by the Canadian Navy.
The reason given for this annual mayhem and slaughter is that the government cannot create jobs for these hunters so it's either this or they'll starve to death. Bullsh-t, of course, but even if it were true, what would the loss be? They could draft all of these he-man killers, send them off to Afghanistan and have them attack the Mujahideen with a hakapic. Now wouldn't you like to see that, eh?
The Europeans have had about enough of this and have made noises about ending the importation of these skins and starting boycotts of other Canadian products like tooks, beer and bacon! That, of course, is the only way to put an end to this. Stop buying products made from these babies and boycott all things Canadian from Celine Dion to William Shatner, (again hardly a loss) until they put an end to this terrible slaughter!
Meanwhile the folks over at PETA have plans of their own to stop the slaughter. I was hoping that would be a bunch of naked PETA ladies throwing themselves between the seals and the hunters but no such luck. Here's their plans.
PETA TO TARGET VANCOUVER OLYMPICS IN CAMPAIGN TO END CANADA SEAL SLAUGHTER
Group Calls Vancouver News Conference to Unveil Year-Long Campaign That Will Run Through the 2010 Winter Games
Vancouver, B.C. - As the world's attention turns to Canada in anticipation of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, PETA is hoping to switch some of the focus from Canada's Games to Canada's shame-the annual massacre of hundreds of thousands of baby seals. At a news conference in Vancouver on Wednesday, PETA will announce a relentless year-long campaign leading up to and through the 2010 Games. The group will unveil its new parody of the Olympic logo targeting the seal slaughter, screen video footage, and display photos of the annual slaughter.
The following are just a few aspects of the new campaign:
· PETA will join forces with its international affiliates in the U.K., Germany, France, India, Australia, and Asia. On behalf of every animal protection organization in the world, it will focus attention on the massacre by staging protests and sending action alerts to millions of supporters.
· The group will use the campaign's logo-a parody of the Olympic logo showing a hunter clubbing a baby seal next to a blood-dripping rendition of the five interlocking Olympic rings-on trading pins and billboards and at pre-Olympic events around the world.
· Activists will write letters to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to ask for its help in persuading Canadian officials to end the hunt, which places Canada in the worst possible light.
The world looked on in horror as the Canadian government permitted the killing of more than 205,000 baby harp seals last year, primarily on the ice floes off Newfoundland and Labrador. These gentle animals have their heads bashed in or are shot, and they are often skinned alive while their wailing mothers look on helplessly.
"If Canada wants to clean up its world image for the Olympics, the first thing it should do is call off the universally condemned seal slaughter," says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. "We want to make sure that everyone who's interested in Canada's Games learns about Canada's shame." For more information, please visit .
I still like the naked ladies on the ice flows idea better!
Page --- 414 --- 02-27-09
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Inquisition!
By Ernest Stewart
The Inquisition what a show
The Inquisition here we go
We know you're wishin' that we'd go away.
But the Inquisition's here and it's here to stay!
The Inquisition Song ~~~ Mel Brooks
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." ~~~ Albert Einstein
"Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors." ~~~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy
They knew from day one that he was innocent but that didn't stop them from kidnapping and torturing him. In fact, they were still torturing him right up until the time they let him go. Weeks after Obama was sworn in and had promised to end torture, they kept at it, torturing Binyam Mohamed.
Binyam, whose crime turned out to be that he once read a satirical article on how to create an atomic bomb by swinging uranium around and around in a bucket, was first tortured by the Pakistanis after a British security agent from MI5 interviewed Binyam. Binyam, who had recently converted to Islam, left London in 2002 to get away from bad influences and had gone to Pakistan to see what life was like in an Islamic country. He soon found out! After the Pakistanis' tortured him for spell he was victim of a special rendition for torture in Morocco, then he was sent to the "Happy Camp" at the Bagram US Air Force base in Afghanistan to be tortured some more before ending up in Gitmo where he was tortured until his release this week.
Unlike America, Britain still obeys a few laws and treaties and that very well may spell the end of the Labor government that has been in power for the last ten years. In addition, two senior British judges, have reopened a case investigating whether 42 secret U.S. intelligence documents shared with Britain should be made public. These 42 "secrets," document various kidnappings, renditions and other violations of international laws by Tony (the poodle) Blair and the Bush and Obama governments.
Of course, Binyam's, story is typical. For example, of all the thousands of poor souls that have gone to Gitmo, (not to mention the hundreds of other black sites that we maintain by ourselves or with other terrorist governments) 98% were released but only after many years of confinement and torture. Meanwhile Obama is hemming and hawing about closing Gitmo and sending his flunky, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, down to Gitmo. Holder said in a statement, with words to the wise in England:
"The friendship and assistance of the international community is vitally important as we work to close Guantanamo, and we greatly appreciate the efforts of the British government to work with us on the transfer of Binyam Mohammed."
Meanwhile the infamous Abu Ghraib prison has reopened with a new name "Baghdad Central Prison" and a new coat of paint to cover the bloodstains. You may recall that we were going to close Saddam's house of torture down six years ago but we had so much fun there that it's still in operation today! I wonder if, and when, Gitmo will close? Even if it is shut down, it's just one of many "Happy Camps"(tm) that we operate at home and abroad. The only difference is that it was the most infamous camp. The other secret ones, which are just as bad or worse, will remain open for business!
In Other News
I didn't bother watching the "Changeling" on TV Tuesday night as we're down to one old TV set and I really can't afford another one so rather than risk throwing a brick through the screen, I left the room. I did, however, go to the "White " and read the speech.
In the speech Barry said:
"So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you - I get it."
Apparently, he doesn't or he wouldn't make such a stupid statement. As good old Dr. Einstein has said the definition of Insanity is, "...doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Barry seems to have this down pat. For not only is he going to throw somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of a trillion of your tax dollars at the banks, again, but he is also revving up our un-winnable war in Afghanistan and starting a new war in Pakistan while leaving enough troops in Iraq to keep the Iraqis enslaved and Iran surrounded for the soon-to-come Israeli inspired war. Of Afghanistan and Pakistan he said, "With our friends and allies, we will forge a new and comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan to defeat Al Qaida and combat extremism, because I will not allow terrorists to plot against the American people from safe havens halfway around the world. We will not allow it."
The Rethuglicans, of late, have been running one of their little scams about Barry's stimulus package. Stating that if you spent a million dollars a day since Jesus was born, (which couldn't be all that much as he's barely 40 or did they mean some mythological character of 2000 years ago and not the guy down the block?) you wouldn't spend near as much as we're spending on the stimulus package! Perhaps. But you'd need to quadruple that amount to find the cost of the war in Iraq which they started and which has cost well over three trillion dollars so far!
If he truly wanted to balance the budget, the first thing he'd do is bring all the troops home. Every one from a thousand bases around the world. Think of the savings. We wouldn't be in a recession heading into a depression; he actually could balance the budget and create a surplus. Unfortunately, Barry has long since sold his soul and our treasury to Wall Street, the bankers and the military-industrial complex. He plans to throw hundreds of billions of dollars at the banks, which will just hasten our decline, and trillions more for needless, immoral, imperial wars of conquest which will no doubt lead to WWIII. Ya'll recall what old Albert said about WWIII? Herr Einstein said, "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." Roll that around in your mind for a moment!
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the Senate Banking Committee the other day that, "there is a reasonable prospect that the current recession will end in 2009." What Ben failed to mention was that, at this rate, the recession will turn into a full blown 1930's style depression by 2010! So while we're quoting Albert let me end with this final thought of his, "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."
And Finally
We'd like to welcome a couple of new authors to the magazine:
Barbara H. Peterson is into self-sufficiency out on her ranch in Oregon and has the Surviving The Middle Class Crash site. Barbara joins us with another nightmare brought to us by those evil swine, the Monsanto corpo-rats.
In addition, we'd like to welcome another new friend. From Canada, Arthur Topham who joins us via the Captain May piece. Authur runs The Radical Press ezine and lives out in British Columbia. Arthur has run afoul of the infamous Sec. 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act for daring to speak the truth about Israel, a seriously punishable crime in Canada where telling the truth about something isn't a defense to prosecution, much like the draconian laws in England.
Welcome to Issues & Alibis, Ya'll!
*****
We'd like to thank "Paul from Chicago" for his generous donation! However we are still way behind on paying our bills.
We don't sell our readers new cars, fancy homes or designer clothes. We don't advocate consumerism nor do we offer facile solutions to serious problems. We do, however, bring together every week writers and activists who are not afraid to speak the truth about our country and our world. The articles we print are not for the faint of heart.
As access to accurate information becomes more difficult and free speech and the exchange of ideas becomes more restricted and controlled, small publications and alternative presses disappear. Issues and Alibis may soon join that list.
We aren't asking for much-not thousands of dollars a month, not tens of thousands a year. What we need is simply enough money to cover expenses for the magazine. A few thousand dollars a year. A few hundred dollars a month. We cannot continue to go into debt to publish Issues and Alibis but at the same time we cannot, in good conscience, go quietly about our daily lives, remaining silent in face of the injustices perpetrated by our leaders and our government. So we need your help. We need your spare change. A dollar, five dollars, whatever you can contribute. Every penny makes a difference.
Ernest & Victoria Stewart
Page --- 415 --- 03-06-09
A Disaster In Search Of A Strategy
By Ernest Stewart
"Team Obama's Plan For Afghanistan Is A Disaster In Search Of A Strategy." ~~~ Jim Hightower
"There's class warfare, all right. But it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning." ~~~ Warren Buffett
"That God Damn Uncle Ernie!"
W The Movie ~~~ W to The Judge
Our war criminal president, who claimed to be anti-war during the election but as a Sinator voted every chance he got for our illegal, immoral, imperialistic wars, has taken the wars he inherited from Dubya and made them his own!
Word has come down from on high that although we'll be pulling out our combat troops from Iraq, around 50,000 of our non-combat troops (I guess we're leaving behind boy scouts and cub scouts) will remain in Iraq forever. This is, of course, an old American tradition dating from the Spanish American War and has resulted in about 1,000-armed US bases around the world. Regardless of anything Smirky signed off on in Iraq, we'll be going nowhere soon.
Meanwhile, we'll being sending 17,000 of the "combat" troops who are being moved from Iraq into Afghanistan and maybe into Pakistan as well. Pity is that Obama is a lawyer and not a historian because if he were he'd know what a mistake he is making. Much to the Russians' delight, I might add! You may recall that Russia tried the same tactics for ten years back in the seventies and eighties. When we "surge" we'll have about 15% of the troops (including NATO troops) that Russia had on the ground and in the air. Afghanistan is what broke the back of the former USSR and turned it into a shadow of its former self. The very same fate awaits us if we don't pull out very soon and save what is left of our treasury!
We've been there for 7 years and the situation just keeps getting worse. Every time we slaughter some innocents, the Taliban gets hundreds of new recruits. We actually control very little outside of the cities of Kabul and Kandahar. The Taliban or the Northern alliance of "war lords" controls all the rest. In other words, we're just like the British were when they tried to control Afghanistan in the 19th and 20th centuries. You'll remember that the cost of trying to do so in three wars destroyed their empire, too.
Ask the President what our goals are and you get platitudes about self-governance like our hand picked (not the peoples' picked) ruler or perhaps some song and dance about the war on terror, a war we started in the Middle East many decades ago. Had we not overthrown the duly elected government in Iran or supported Saddam in Iraq or single handedly been responsible for Israel and the rape of Palestine, there would have been no Arab or Muslim terrorists. They are a direct effect of our own actions. Now we get Hillary's current song and dance in Palestine, which is the same song and dance we've been giving to the world since the 1940s. Back at home we have a government which on one hands chides Americans about not having a racial dialogue but on the other hand obeys the orders of their Zionazi puppet masters by refusing to send delegates to the April 2009 Geneva United Nations World Conference Against Racism. Well, so much for dialogue, eh, Herr Holder? So it's do as we say, not as we do? So much for change. It's really just the same ole, same ole political bullshit!
In Other News
It's been quite obvious that the Rethuglicans have been grasping for straws as of late. It's also obvious that they just don't have a clue!
For example for a weekend they started calling Barry, Robin Hood as that would somehow cause a rebellion against the Demoncrats. Yes, I'm sure that would drive the people up-in-arms. Imagine the most beloved rouge in all of literature being linked to Barry. Baron Robin of Loxley, a member of the elite, who rather than sit idly by and enjoy his good life, went out and raised a rebellion against the injustices of his fellow royals. The Rethuglicans kept saying like Robin Hood, Barry wanted to rob from the rich and give to the poor! Yeah, that will get the people out on the street with pitchforks, axes and torches, all right! After a few days, someone explained this to the talking heads on Fox, MSNBC and CNN and it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
Of course, being the brain dead, fear mongers, that they are, they soon found a similar theme, i.e., Class Warfare. They said Barry was starting a Class War because he would let the tax cuts for the 2% of the wealthiest end and even raise their rates by 4%. Bad, bad Barry!
Somehow, they forgot that for 20 of the last 28 years they had practiced class warfare against the middle and poor classes with all the gusto they could muster, the end result of which is our current financial disaster. They then claimed that the economic stimulus package, which would actually put people to work rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, schools, park systems and the like, would kill the golden goose. However, throwing away trillions of taxpayer dollars by giving their fellow billionaire bankers and insurance groups money to repair the damage their greed did to the world financial systems by buying them all new corpo-rat jets and the like, is a good thing. Ergo, they proclaim, giving money to people who pay taxes and who need it, is bad and giving money to people who don't pay taxes and who don't need it, is good.
Then they wonder why they've been overruled in the last two elections by the people. The elections should tell them they are null and void and a luxury we cannot afford any longer. They thought by placing a black man in charge of their party and letting an Indian Bubba make their reply to Barry's speech they could prove that they weren't the racist bigots they are. Although people of color make up less than 1% of their membership, they thought by putting these tokens in place, they could show that the Rethuglicans now have a big open tent. Of course, anyone who is a little to the right of Darth Vader, with the brains of a duck, (but then I'm repeating myself) is welcome. Well, with the exception of those masochistic "Log Cabin" Rethuglicans. So they trot these tokens out and let them speak and, by doing so, they let the cat-out-of-the-bag, showing just how far from the mainstream they really are! Sure, Barry, too, is a corpo-rat elitist but when compared to Michael Steele, he's a man of the people!
The Rethuglicans are truly poster boys for that old saw, "Give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves." Now that the Sheeple have awakened and are somewhat paying attention, the more the Rethuglicans rant the worse it becomes for them. When they let the great comedian Tush Limbaugh become their spokesman, you know that the jig is up!
And Finally
For those of you who live in the NYC area, here's your chance to see "W The Movie"...
Tickets for "W the Movie," premiere with the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival are on sale now!
"W" will be showing at the Village East Cinema on FRIDAY, March 20th at 10 pm. You can go to the site, listed above, click on film schedule, then go to Friday, March 20th (first date that pops up), Screen Seven, 10 pm.
Please forward this to anyone and everyone as we would like to have a sell out show.
You can also click on location for the Village East Address.
We hope to see you there!
"'W the Movie' is by far the best adaptation on film chronicling the corrupt presidency of George W. Bush. Strangely bizarre and extremely psychedelic, this movie presents itself like a beautifully artistic acid trip gone wrong while a TV is stuck on The Fox News Channel...A must see for stoners, political activists and indy cinema enthusiasts, I would strongly suggest that you check this one out when you get the chance! This is the REAL W movie that Oliver Stone didn't have the balls to even imagine of creating!" ~~~ Claytron-Putrid Reviews.
"The beauty of W The Movie is that Eaker doesn't base this in reality at all, while everything is familiar, it's also very strange, which I'm sure is symbolic of how he feels in a country that's as out of control as we seem to be right now. If you're a political junkie, you're gonna love this!" ~~~ Brian Morton-Rogue Cinema.
"Nightmarish, provocative and imaginative. Best Character: Eaker as Blue Mahler, a free-thinker who dares to take on a tyrannical government." ~~~ Joe Shearer-Indianapolis Star; .
"W: The Movie," on the other hand, is an apocalyptic, psychotic, pop skull of a flick about the nightmarish world that we birthed during the eight year reign of George W. Bush and his army of clones. I wish I could describe "W: The Movie" for you. I simply can't. What I can say is that "W: The Movie" is an awesome, frightening, enlightening, insightful, colorful, trippy, entertaining, educational and experimental film that will challenge you in ways you've never been challenged while watching a film." ~~~ Richard Propes ~ The Independent Critic
"W the Movie" is a surreal, apocalyptic nightmare on the 8 year Bush administration and the effect it has on intrepid reporter Blue Mahler, his life, and his family. W and his party of No unleash a world of chaos, subduing free thought with the staff of Issues and Alibis opposing him every step of the way. Our strange tale beings with the stolen elections of 2000 and ends with Obama and the party of Yes reclaiming the White House with hope for a better future.
"W the Movie" is Pink and Blue Films production, in association with Liberty or Death productions and Asylum productions.
Produced by Alfred Eaker, Whitney Eaker, Wendy Collin Sorrin, Steven Sorrin and Ernest Stewart.
Directed by Alfred Eaker and Ross St. Just.
Written by Alfred Eaker, Ross St. Just, Ernest Stewart and inspired by the books "Strange things begin to happen when a meteor crashes in the Arizona desert" by Michael Basinski and Wendy Collin Sorn, and the "Anti-War Manifesto" by Dr. John M. Bennett.
Cameras: Nick Hess, Matt Lattore, James Mannan, R. Penet.
Visual art by Wendy Collin Sorn, Ian Pyper, Mike Wrathell, Alfred Eaker, Linda Stein, more.
Music by DJ Monkey (courtesy Squid Music) and Gustav Mahler (courtesy Tahra Records/Myriam Scherchen) and HARS.
Starring:
Alfred Eaker
PinkFreud
John M. Bennett
Ernest Stewart
Michael Basinski
Ross St. Just
With:
Jason Hignite
John Loyd
Gary Pierce
Wendy Collin Sorin
Mindy Steele
Brother Brown
Mike Wrathell
James Mannan
R. Panet
Tristan Ross
Randy Cox
and Mikey the Puppet.
"NEVER AGAIN, NEVER FORGET. BEFORE THE FILM... THERE WAS THE MOVIE, UNLIKE OLIVER STONE, WE HAVEN'T LOST OUR BALLS AND THIS "W" TAKES A SIDE!"
Home website:
W The Movie
YouTube trailers:
W The Movie Trailer
W the Movie Official Trailer
2009 Greeting card to George W. Bush (& Oliver Stone) from THE Alternative "W the Movie"
W The Movie_teaser1
3rd World War Video
DJ Monkey's music video for " W The Movie," "3rd World War," has been nominated for BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR by the South Bay Music awards.
Be there or be square, America!
Page --- 416 --- 03-13-09
Imperial America
By Ernest Stewart
"Not since the 1846 attack on Mexico in order to seize California has an American government been so nakedly predatory." ~~~ Gore Vidal ~ Imperial America
"The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." ~~~ Nuremberg Principle IV
"An act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void" ~~~ Marbury v. Madison, Feb 1803.
The Pentagoons recently announced that Obama is pulling 12,000 troops out of Iraq during the next six months, leaving somewhere beyond 130,000 troops' behinds, behind. Meanwhile we'll be sending 17,000 plus troops to be wasted in Afghanistan. The remaining 130,000 Iraqi troops are to be pared down to about 50,000 by the 2012 elections but we won't be going below that. We're in Iraq to stay, no matter what their parliament says. In fact, if they don't like it their parliament will be replaced with a new one that thinks it's just peachy keen for us to hang out there, just you wait and see.
Of course, Imperial America has been doing this since we hit the international stage back in 1588 and proceeded to remove the Indians from their lands from sea to shining sea! In 1846, we turned our attention south with our little incursion into Mexico where we relieved her of California and bits of Arizona and New Mexico. Of course, we didn't really become a worldly pest until we had made war upon ourselves and developed things like the machine gun and our "Great White Fleet," so that in 1898 we relieved Spain of most of it's "white man's burden" and made it our own.
Consider 110 years down the road we have over 1000 bases with over 1,000,000 American boys and girls suppressing the freedom of peoples from Europe to Asia and everywhere in between! Of course, the Pentagoons say we just have 761 bases but then again, they're not counting our bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan! In Germany alone, these 64 years after WWII, we have 268 bases manned by 70,000 troops. In Japan there are currently about 50,000 US personnel on 124 bases. In Korea, we have 30,000 personnel on 87 bases. Etc., etc., etc.!
Consider that at the height of the Roman Empire they controlled most of the known world with just 36 military bases. Et tu, Barry?
Needless to say, we don't need any of these bases at all. If we closed them up and brought our kids back home we could solve the current economic crises in a couple of years with the trillions saved and be every bit as secure as we are now. We still have more nuclear weapons than the rest of the world combined so no nation in its right mind, or otherwise, will attack us. Had the Bush Junta gone after the 911 attackers instead of helping them out, all of Al Qaeda would have been rounded up and imprisoned or executed as the original attackers of the WTC were. Didn't need any armies, didn't have to bomb anyone anywhere, the police had them all behind bars in a couple of months and most in a couple of days. Of course, Clinton wasn't helping them as Bush and the CIA was helping Osama!
Not to mention that bringing the troops home would cool off a lot of hatred that their presence in other countries spawns. 911 was a direct result of building bases in Saudi Arabia after the first Bush oil war in 1991. If Obama wasn't owned and operated by the military/industrial complex he would close up the bases, stop the useless, costly, wars and bring the kids home, but he is and he won't! We're still hooked on "Manifest Destiny" and we will be until it brings about the fall of the American Empire!
In Other News
As of late we've been getting a peak inside Obama's "Just Us" Department under Eric Holder and it's a pretty scary vision. In fact, Barry's been going out of his way to keep things exactly as they were under Bush, which should raise the hairs on the back of your neck!
Lawyers from Justice have been using the old Nuremberg Defense in various torture cases in front of the courts. You may recall that the Nuremberg Defense is a legal defense that essentially states that the defendant was "only following orders" or in German "Befehl ist Befehl," literally "order is order" and is therefore not responsible for his crimes. Some Germans kept repeating that chant right up until the trap door opened underneath them!
The American jurists in charge at Nuremberg didn't buy that defense saying, "The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him." Since we were using the same arguments in our services, the United States military adjusted the Uniform Code of Military Justice after World War II. They included a rule nullifying this defense, essentially stating that American military personnel are allowed to refuse unlawful orders. While you may have that right and duty, I wouldn't advise you to try it from a practical point of view unless you like being inside a military prison!
Of course, whenever we violated this rule it was generally overlooked as in the My Lai massacre and in the Bush and now Obama Justice Department. Not only at Justice but over at the CIA, Leon Panetta has stated categorically that there will be no prosecutions for torturers. Asked by The Associated Press if that was official policy, Panetta said, "That is the case." So much for change, eh?
Of course, the reason for all of this is so Barry can do the same as Smirky did, hence his various votes in the Senate that I warned you about back then. In addition, he'll continue to tap your phone, email, snail mail etc, which is why he voted for that FISA Bill Act Of Treason, etc. He'll continue to kidnap, disappear and torture which is why his lawyers are currently defending the Bush acts of treason. Not to mention the Bush Junta will never be brought to trial under Barry as to indict Bush will be to indict most of Con-gress including Barry, Biden, Clinton and the rest!
And Finally
I've been getting a lot of mail as of late warning of this or that bill before Congress that steals our rights to own and keep various types of guns and ammo for this reason or that. Bullshit!
As it says in the Bill of Rights:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. ~~~ Amendment II to the Constitution Of The United States.
I'm going to repeat that again for those of you on drugs, "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
You'll notice that there are no asterisks there. There are no stipulations that this can be changed under certain circumstances. Con-gress, short of a Constitutional Convention, cannot in anyway change that and to do so would be an obvious act of TREASON! And yet, in every session of Con-gress there are some who do their very best to do so.
Oh, they do it for good sounding reasons. It's always for our own protection, for our own good. Just like the Nazi's in Germany and every other fascist state, they're always taking away the common man's ability for self defense just before they open up the ovens. Imagine what would have happened had the Jews been fully armed when the Gestapo showed up on their doorsteps. Sure, a few thousand Jews would have been killed but certainly not 6 million. After a few thousand Gestapo goons had been blown away that sh*t would have stopped.
The founding fathers knew full well why it was necessary for each person to have a means of self-defense, not just against robbers and such but against their own government. They had just escaped a similar fate from England. We had no standing army at the time but volunteer citizens signed up for a designated period of time, generally between harvest and planting, and ergo, we have the militia statement. One doesn't take on the capital by oneself but with his or her neighbors in a people's militia. In the beginning, there were no plans to fight external wars, so there was no need for an army. The Militia was a defense against the government!
Trouble is and was, we had a corpo-rat not a people's revolution and in a short time, the corpo-rats took control of our politicians. Ever since, they've been trying to strip us of our Second Amendment rights. They can pass their laws against guns but they are all really illegal. The law is on our side but only we the people can make them enforce the laws. Remember, America, "An act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void." They cannot take away our rights to keep and bear arms, PERIOD! Unless, of course, we let them!
*****
Page --- 417 --- 03-20-09
One Million And Counting
By Ernest Stewart
"The FBI's Terrorist Screening Center acknowledged this week that there are more than 1 million names on its official terrorist watch list, a number that suggests the vast scale of the police-state measures undertaken by the US government on the pretext of waging a 'war on terror.'" ~~~ Patrick Martin
"Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us."
~~~ Seymour Hersh ~ about the J.S.O.C. ~~~
Eat The Rich
There's only one thing that they are good for
Eat The Rich
Take one bite now - come back for more
Eat The Rich
I gotta get this off my chest
Eat The Rich
Take one bite now - spit out the rest
Eat The Rich ~~~ Aerosmith
Here's something that we told you about last summer and the FBI is finally admitting. According to their "Terrorist Screening Center" they've acknowledged that there are more than 1 million names on the official terrorist watch list.
This is a list that has very little to do with actual terrorists but is all about Americans as well as foreigners who are considered an enemies of the state for political reasons. Actual terrorist are not on the terrorist list as the government doesn't want to tip its hand about whom they are actively pursuing! Now isn't that special?
Some famous folks who've made the list include politicians such as Senator Edward Kennedy and members of the House of Representatives, John Lewis, Loretta Sanchez and Don Young. Or any journalist who has spoken out about the last two Juntas such as James Moore, author of a critical biography of Karl Rove, entitled Bush's Brain, and CNN reporter Drew Griffin who found himself on the list in May 2008, shortly after he did a series of reports critical of the Transportation Security Administration. A couple of other well known folks on the list are Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, and Evo Morales, currently president of Bolivia. I'm sure there are more but we're not allowed to see this secret list and only find out when someone is harassed because of it. Even though I made Nixon's enemies list I'm apparently not on this one yet as I got my passport last year which surprised me to no end!
There is no legal restriction on who can be placed on the watch list nor is there presently any legal right to have your name removed from the list once it appears. You may recall that children have been stopped from boarding planes, in one case, an eight-year-old boy was deemed a terrorist because of the list, so you can see how well it works!
According to a 2007 report by the Government Accountability Office, "an individual may be nominated to the list if they are subject to an ongoing counterterrorism investigation, or if the individual is the subject of a preliminary investigation to determine if they have links to terrorism." The second category potentially includes the entire population of the world, as after all, we're apparently just six degrees of separation apart! Of the million plus currently on the list at least one hundred thousand are Americans, many because they've spoken out against Bush, Israel, the wars or because someone on the nominating committee doesn't like them! This means the other nine hundred thousand or so must belong to Al Qaeda which gives them more troops than the US Army. Strange to say the least, as the last count I had there were about five hundred members in Al Qaeda.
The FBI has stated that they removed thirty three thousand last year but since they're adding several hundred thousand a year it may take decades to get your name off the list once it gets put on! While there currently aren't one hundred thousand American terrorists (my guess would be less than fifty), if this kind of big brother sh*t keeps up there soon will be one hundred thousand American terrorists or more as one man's terrorist is another man's patriot!
In Other News
Are you hip to the "Joint Special Operations Command?" If not, let me hip you!
They say they're, "...a joint headquarters designed to study special operations requirements and techniques; ensure interoperability and equipment standardization; plan and conduct joint special operations exercises and training; and develop joint special operations tactics." Joint Special Operations Command was established on December 15, 1980, in the aftermath of the failure of "Operation Eagle Claw," the unsuccessful attempt to rescue the 53 hostages from the American embassy in Tehran, Iran. The Joint Special Operations Command is located at the Pope Air Force Base, Fort Bragg complex outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina.
They're really combat teams of professional killers like the Green Berets or the Navy Seals but their targets aren't military but political! They've recently been thrust into the spotlight in a question and answer period at the University of Minnesota after a speech given by Seymour Hersh. Seymour said of the CIA's Special Activities Division and the Joint Special Operations Command in general:
"After 9/11, I haven't written about this yet, but the Central Intelligence Agency was very deeply involved in domestic activities against people they thought to be enemies of the state. Without any legal authority for it. They haven't been called on it yet. That does happen.
Right now, today, there was a story in the New York Times that if you read it carefully mentioned something known as the Joint Special Operations Command -- JSOC it's called. It is a special wing of our special operations community that is set up independently. They do not report to anybody, except in the Bush-Cheney days, they reported directly to the Cheney office. They did not report to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff or to Mr. [Robert] Gates, the secretary of defense. They reported directly to him. ...
Congress has no oversight of it. It's an executive assassination ring essentially, and it's been going on and on and on. Just today in the Times there was a story that its leaders, a three star admiral named [William H.] McRaven, ordered a stop to it because there were so many collateral deaths.
Under President Bush's authority, they've been going into countries, not talking to the ambassador or the CIA station chief, and finding people on a list and executing them and leaving. That's been going on, in the name of all of us.
It's complicated because the guys doing it are not murderers, and yet they are committing what we would normally call murder. It's a very complicated issue. Because they are young men that went into the Special Forces. The Delta Forces you've heard about. Navy Seal teams. Highly specialized.
In many cases, they were the best and the brightest. Really, no exaggerations. Really fine guys that went in to do the kind of necessary jobs that they think you need to do to protect America. And then they find themselves torturing people.
I've had people say to me -- five years ago, I had one say: 'What do you call it when you interrogate somebody and you leave them bleeding and they don't get any medical committee and two days later he dies. Is that murder? What happens if I get before a committee?"
Your tax dollars at work, America!
And Finally
I see that the likes of David Brooks, Bill O'Reilly and Tush Limbaugh have crawled out from under their respective rocks to whine about the "poor" wealthy finally having to pick up their fair share. Well, Boo Hoo! Suddenly, we're in a "class war." Oh really? Where have you fascist brain deads been for the last 40 years? You didn't mention it then or any time since until just now, until the extremely wealthy were asked to share a tiny bit of the burden, to actually pay taxes without writing everything off!
These whining toadies are moaning about Obama's proposal to up the taxes by 4% on the richest 5%. Instead of raising the taxes on the other 95% who have been paying all the taxes and seeing their paychecks shrink to almost nothing for forty years. There has been a steady downward trend on the average person's paycheck since the "Trick" took us off the gold standard to pay for his five-year extension of the Vietnam War.
I'm so old, folks, that I can remember when I could feed myself and feed myself well on $15 a week and then the "Trick" came along and we've been heading downhill ever since. It really began to pick up speed when that old Dementia Head began un-leveling the playing field. He was followed by Papa Smirk, Slick Willie and Smirky, each one taking all the taxes off the elite and taxing the middle class and lower class to the max. They also unleashed the bankers from sensible laws, resulting in millions of bad mortgages and loans and the end of capitalism as we knew it! Where were the above-mentioned turkeys when this class war was going on? Oh yeah, Messrs Brooks, O'Reilly and Limbaugh as well as the rest of the talking heads at CNN, CNBC and Fox Spews are part of the wealthy elite, so as long as they were winning the "class war" there was no problem with "class wars!" Now that the tables are beginning to turn, even this tiny bit "class wars" are suddenly bad. Huh, imagine that!
I say Obama isn't taxing them enough. When I was a youth there was a 90% tax bracket for the millionaires which is why there were only one or two billionaires not hundreds and hundreds of them. Also have you heard a peep out of David, Billy or Tush about the AIG taxpayer rip off of giving one hundred and sixty five million in bonuses, over and above their salaries, to the very same group of greedy monsters who caused our current financial situation? Bonuses! They ought to have their heads chopped off and put on stakes. But they're the best and the brightest and they'll go elsewhere I hear pundits say in reply. Yeah right, let them. Who on the planet would hire these losers? Oh yes, I forgot, the American taxpayers who will be giving them the extra bonuses for destroying the world's economy, that's who! And gosh, there's nothing Barry can do about it! It boggles the mind! I have a simple solution, Barry, as Steven Tyler said, "Eat The Rich!"
Page ---- 418 --- 03-27-09
The More Things Change
By Ernest Stewart
The more things change, the more they stay the same. ~~~ Old Proverb
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the Legislature is in session." ~~~ Gideon J. Tucker
"You can't resolve it with the distribution of condoms. On the contrary, it increases the problem." ~~~ Joey Ratz
The Changeling is at it again; trouble is there isn't any change. While Barry talks of change, so far it's been pretty much same ole, same ole! Sure there have been a few cosmetic changes but when it comes down to it, it's Bush I & II, Clinton & Reagan all over again. The major difference is that it's packaged differently.
On the war front, our wars keep going on with one rapidly expanding and the new one in Pakistan ramping ever upwards. Our anti-war candidate may be turning down the war in Iraq but he isn't ending it. Even though we're supposed to be totally out of there by 2011, we'll be staying on to the tune of 50,000 or 60,000 soldiers as a "residual force." Can you imagine what would have happened if General Cornwallis announced in 1783 that he was staying on as the "British Provisional Authority" with a residual force of 50,000 Redcoats to provide protection and training for Washington's government? Can you? Well that's Barry's plan for Iraq. Well actually, it was Smirky's, but Barry adopted it!
In Afghanistan our puppet governor appointed by Bush, Hamid Karzai, is beginning to make too many demands, i.e., that we stop slaughtering innocent citizens. Ergo Barry and NATO are going to appoint another puppet of their own as a Prime Minister to usurp Karzai's power since it looks as if Karzai is a shoe-in to remain president after September's election. Hence, just as in the Gaza ghetto when the Palestinians democratically elected someone that wouldn't do Israel's and our bidding, we'll make an end run around the problem and appoint someone who will do our bidding, no matter what Karzai says!
Meanwhile the printing presses are running 24/7 printing out trillions more worthless dollars for "Barry's Banking Buddies." China, Russia and most of the world are demanding a new financial system that isn't based on our worthless money so it's only a matter of time before hyper-inflation makes the dollar worth less than the German mark during the Weimar Republic. You may recall that then people were paid twice a day and went shopping at lunch because by the time they got off work the prices would have doubled or tripled. It took a wheel barrow of money to buy a loaf of bread. Sure the $800,000,000,000.00 for reconstruction of our crumbling infrastructure, school system, green power, etc. is a good and a needed thing but the rest of the bailout is just throwing good money after bad and will make this "moving paper fantasy" of ours come crashing to the ground, taking most of us with it!
Consider the following quotations if you will...
For those of you on the right remember what George Wallace said:
"There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican Parties."
For those of you on the left remember the words of Gore Vidal:
"It makes no difference who you vote for - the two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people."
And for everybody else, remember the words of your dear old Uncle Ernie:
"The word Politics comes from the Latin, 'Poli' meaning 'Many' and from the English 'Tics' meaning 'Blood Sucking Creatures,' Poli-Tics."
Finally I should note that there has been a new change in the status quo. The Washington Post reports, that in a memo e-mailed this week to Pentagon staff members, the Defense Department's office of security review noted that:
"This administration prefers to avoid using the term 'Long War' or 'Global War on Terror' [GWOT.] Please use 'Overseas Contingency Operation.'"
There will be no real change, America, a change that we desperately need, unless we the people make it so. The poli-tic-ians never will!
In Other News
I've wasted a lot of my time writing my Con-gressmen, Sin-ators and the like, asking them to explain their actions. Since we moved down here to Trinity, South Carolina I've spent more time than usual with the likes of Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint in the Sin-ate and Governor Mark Sanford residing in the state shack! I could write several tomes on each and their peculiar ways of screwing the people but I'll leave that for another time. Today's rant concerns my Con-gressman John Spratt.
John proudly tells anyone who will listen to his rambling about his support for the "State Children's Health Insurance Program" (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act. No doubt a worthy cause but ask John about his support for NAIS HR 1105, a bill to run the small farmer, and especially organic farmers, out of business and leave us to the tender mercies of Monsanto, Cargill and Tyson and the like. All you'll hear is the "Sound Of Silence!" John not only supported HR 1105 but was a co-sponsor, too. Needless to say, I wrote John a letter asking him to explain his actions. And surprise, surprise, I've yet to receive an answer. Here's the letter:
I see that you are a co-sponsor of NAIS HR 1105. Why would you do such a thing to America, John? I'm sure you know very well what will happen if this act of treason passes the Senate. It will, without a doubt, destroy the family farm, which, in turn, will end up poisoning us all, i.e.,
NAIS was designed by NIAA (the National Institute of Animal Agriculture), a corporate consortium consisting of Monsanto, industrial meat producers such as Cargill and Tyson and surveillance companies such Viatrace, AgInfoLink, and Digital Angel. The NAIS scheme fits agribusiness, biotech, and surveillance companies to a T:
1) They are already computerized, and they engineered a corporate loophole: If an entity owns a vertically integrated, birth-to-death factory system with thousands of animals (as the Cargills and Tysons do), it does not have to tag and track each one but instead a herd is given a single lot number.
2) NAIS will only be burdensome and costly (fees, tags, computer equipment, time) to small farmers and that helps push them out of business thus leaving more market to giant agribusiness.
3) Agribusiness wants to reassure export customers that the US meat industry is finally cleaning up its widespread contamination. NAIS would give that appearance ... without incurring the cost of a real cleanup.
4) NAIS will allow total control over the competition: Owners of even a single chicken would be required to register private information, the Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of their 'premise' and if any animal leaves its 'premise', the owner will be required to obtain an ID number for it and have the animal micro-chipped. All information, including 24 hour GPS surveillance would be fed into a vast corporate data bank, allowing for ease of false slaughter to hide true problems or to substitute biotech's genetically engineered animals.
5) NAIS may allow plundering of farmers through required DNA samples: DNA samples would be invaluable to Monsanto and biotech corporations genetically engineering animals. Farmers who raise heritage breeds would have no say in how their distinct DNA would be used and to the sole profit of biotech companies.
6) The advantage for the surveillance companies is obvious: Compulsory tagging of 6 million sheep, 7 million horses, 63 million hogs, 97 million cows, 260 million turkeys, 300 million laying hens, 9 billion chickens, and untold numbers of bison, alpaca, quail, and other animals -- and new animals being born creates a massive self-perpetuating market.
What would possess you, John, to do such a thing? Monsanto, one of the evilest corpo-rats in the world will be happy to destroy us all with their manufactured poisons. You are supposed to be working for the people, not be a puppet for them! Now we're left to the tender "mercies" of the corpo-rats and the FDA, an agency that was bought and paid for decades ago by the corpo-rats. Thanks!
Explain yourself!
I'll let you know if I ever get a reply.
And Finally
I see where der Panzer Pope has escaped once again from the Vatican and is off to Africa to do what he can to increase AID's amongst the native population. Joey Ratz thinks that upholding dogma is more important than accepting the reality that condoms are a proven and inexpensive method of preventing the spread of AIDs and over-population. Joey says that far from preventing AIDs, "it increases the problem." More importantly, it doesn't matter that it dooms millions of his followers to slow, horrible, agonizing deaths. Just so long as the laws of his mythology aren't broken. It's good to be king!
Finding himself on a roll, he said of African mythology versus papal mythology:
"So many of them are living in fear of spirits, of malign and threatening powers. In their bewilderment they even end up condemning street children and the elderly as alleged sorcerers."
Listen up, people, here's something Joey knows about. If you don't believe me then just ask those Jewish wizards that suffered under the righteous Torquemada or ask Galileo how this works. Of course, I've always thought that people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones but then again, what do I know? Am I saying that Joey Ratz is a hypocrite? Why, yes I am! How many women were burned at the stake for being witches or the "devil's handmaidens" over Catholic dogma? How many died a similar death as heretics? Do you know the number of midwives who were slaughtered for the crime of being women with knowledge?
You say the church has changed and I say somewhat, but official disregard of reality goes ever onward. Joey wants to revive a Church for the ultraconservatives, those earnest souls who yearn for a simpler, stricter, stronger Church, led by an omniscient, omnipotent father, someone like der Panzer Pope! An imperialist, dogmatic, institution where you abandon reason once you enter its doors to a land of wizards, witches, demons and devils. Yes, hypocrite and liar pretty much sums up Joey, don't you think?
Page --- 419 --- 04-03-09
The Hour Is Getting Late
By Ernest Stewart
"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
All Along The Watchtower ~~~ Bob Dylan
"Nail'em up I say! Nail some sense into them!"
The Life Of Brian ~~~ Michael Palin's character "Ben"
"It was the least thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush, the tyrant criminal who has killed two million people in Iraq and Afghanistan."
"Our defence of Zaidi will be based on the fact that the United States is occupying Iraq, and resistance is legitimate by all means, including shoes." ~~~ Khalil al-Dulaimi ~ Muntader al-Zaisi's attorney
The Changeling and wife have left the building and are out and about Europe for a little shopping. She for the latest fashions, he to see who'll buy his BS!
First stop was the G20 summit in London where he was met by protestors protesting his bailout plans for America and for them! The protestors battled police and took over an office of the Bank of Scotland while sending the opposing police a nice lunch of organic hens' eggs and fruit!
Barry met with fellow war criminal, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown who exuded optimism about a global deal to help pull the world out of recession while downplaying a rift with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Barry said there was "enormous consensus" between the world's rich and emerging countries on plans to kick-start the global economy. However, Sarkozy warned that neither his country nor Germany would align with any "false compromises."
Barry and Michelle then headed off to a Buckingham Palace audience with Queen Elizabeth II where they'll discuss the latest European fashions with Liz.
Then they're off to the continent where he'll give speeches in France and attend the NATO summit meeting where Albania and Croatia are the newest members. Doesn't it give you peace of mind to know that Albania and Croatia now have their fingers on the button, too? The summit marks 60 years of wasting huge sums of money on NATO and guarantees that we will continue to do the same in the future!
Then it's off to Turkey, providing, of course, that Avigdor Lieberman gives his approval. Barry will host a round-table session with students while becoming the first US President to visit a Muslim country without first bombing it to rubble!
During his eight-day, five-country trip, Obama is scheduled to meet with European leaders who split with the United States over the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan and the torture of our kidnap victims being held down in sunny Gitmo and other locations. After Bush's many road trip shenanigans, this trip will be considered a success if Barry manages to keep his hands off the German Prime Minister's shoulders and doesn't cause Russia to nuke Poland!
In Other News
I see where the best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley! So goes Barry's plans to ignore the last Junta's many war crimes and such. Barry may have to change his plans as criminal proceedings have begun in Spain against six senior officials in the Bush administration for the use of torture against detainees in Guantanamo Bay and at other locations. Baltasar Garzon, the counter-terrorism judge whose prosecution of General Augusto Pinochet led to his arrest in Britain in 1998, has referred the case to the chief prosecutor before deciding whether to proceed.
The case is bound to threaten Spain's relations with the new administration in Washington, but Gonzalo Boye, one of the four lawyers who wrote the lawsuit, said the prosecutor would have little choice under Spanish law but to approve the prosecution.
"The only route of escape the prosecutor might have is to ask whether there is ongoing process in the US against these people," Boye said. "This case will go ahead. It will be against the law not to go ahead."
The six officials named in the case include the most senior legal minds in the Bush administration. They are: Alberto Gonzales, a former White House counsel and Attorney General. David Addington, former Vice-President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Douglas Feith, who was under-secretary of defense. William Haynes, formerly the Pentagon's general counsel, and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who were both senior justice department legal advisers. I know there are so many more deserving traitors but at least this is a start in the right direction! Pity is that it had to come from Spain!
Court documents say that, without their legal advice in a series of internal administration memos, "it would have been impossible to structure a legal framework that supported what happened [in Guantanamo]."
Boye predicted that Garzon would issue subpoenas in the next two weeks, summoning the six former officials to present evidence: "If I were them, I would search for a good lawyer."
If Garzon decided to go further and issued arrest warrants against the six, it would mean they would risk detention and extradition if they traveled outside the US. It would also present Barry with a serious dilemma. He would have to either open proceedings against the accused or fight an extradition request from Spain.
Administration officials have confirmed that they believe torture was committed by American interrogators. The president has not ruled out a criminal inquiry, but has signaled he is reluctant to do so for political reasons.
"Obviously we're going to be looking at past practices, and I don't believe that anybody is above the law," said Obama with tongue firmly held against cheek! "But my orientation's going to be to move forward." After all what's a few hundred acts of treason, sedition, war crimes, and crimes against humanity as long as they were done my members of the elite? Letís forgive forget and move on, eh America?
Philippe Sands, whose book Torture Team first made the case against the Bush lawyers and which Boye said was instrumental in formulating the Spanish case, recently said...
"What this does is force the Obama administration to come to terms with the fact that torture has happened and to decide, sooner rather than later, whether it is going to criminally investigate. If it decides not to investigate, then inevitably the Garzon investigation, and no doubt many others, will be given the green light."
The lawsuit also points to a direct link with Spain, as six Spaniards were held at Guantanamo and are argued to have suffered directly from the Bush administration's use of torture in violation of international law.
The lawsuit claims that the six former aides "participated actively and decisively in the creation, approval and execution of a judicial framework that allowed for the deprivation of fundamental rights of a large number of prisoners, the implementation of new interrogation techniques including torture, the legal cover for the treatment of those prisoners, the protection of the people who participated in illegal tortures and, above all, the establishment of impunity for all the government workers, military personnel, doctors and others who participated in the detention center at Guantanamo."
"All the accused are members of what they themselves called the 'war council,'" court documents allege. "This group met almost weekly either in Gonzales's or Haynes's offices."
In a notorious legal opinion signed in August 2002, Yoo and Bybee argued that torture occurred only when pain was inflicted "equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death."
Another key document cited in the Spanish case is a November 2002 "action memo" written by Haynes, in which he recommends that Rumsfeld give "blanket approval" to 15 forms of aggressive interrogation, including stress positions, isolation, hooding, 20-hour interrogations and nudity. Rumsfeld, being the kinky sadist that he is, approved the document.
The 1984 UN Convention against Torture, signed and ratified by the US, requires states to investigate allegations of torture committed on their territory or by their nationals, or extradite them to stand trial elsewhere. I can hardly wait to see how Barry worms his way out of this one!
And Finally
Don't you just love certain customs and traditions? Gathering the family together for Thanksgiving. Coming together to watch the 4th of July fireworks. I see that our neighbors to the north adopted an old Iraqi custom. Colette Lemieux of the Canadian Peace Alliance reports upon this new Canadian "tradition."
Colette reported that...
"Three Canadians were arrested and others threw shoes in protest against George W. Bush on Tuesday when he gave his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.
The footwear was tossed at an effigy of the 43rd US president outside a Calgary conference center where Bush was to speak to some 1,500 people at a luncheon, said Colette.
Some 200 protestors from across the country had gathered for the demonstration against Bush's invasion of Iraq and rendition of terror suspects, she said in a telephone interview.
They traded insults with guests lined up around the building, and "three people were taken away by police," she said. "It was a heated rally, but not a violent rally," she added.
A Calgary police spokeswoman said one protestor had been charged with obstruction and assaulting a policeman. Charges against two others were not announced.
"We had shoes sent in (to us) from across the country," Lemieux said, charging Bush is a "war criminal" who must be prosecuted for his former administration's policies in the US "war on terror."
"It doesn't matter that he is no longer president," she added. "A bank robber who stops holding up banks can and must still be prosecuted for his crimes." The same applies for Bush, she said."
The address, billed as "A Conversation with George W. Bush," was the first of at least 10 speeches to be announced in Canada, Asia and Europe, so expect to see more shoes sailing majestically through the air!
Bush's booking agency Washington Speaker's Bureau, which is organizing his post-presidential speaking tour, listed the Calgary event simply as "Remarks by George W. Bush."
In its profile of the former president, it says: "President during a momentous period in American history, George W. Bush offers his thoughts on eight years in the Oval Office, the challenges facing our nation in the 21st century, the power of freedom, the role of faith, and other pressing issues."
Local media said guests paid as much as $400 Canadian dollars ($315 US) each to attend.
Instead of staring vacant eyed at his cell room walls as he awaits the headsman's axe George is off on a world tour to gain more from his many war crimes and such. Seems a pity that Muntader al-Zaidi just lobbed shoes at Smirky instead of bricks, does it not?
Page --- 420 --- 04-10-09
200 Motels
Or touring can make you crazy.
By Ernest Stewart
200 Motels ~~~ Frank Zappa
"Mr Speaker, I smell a rat; I see him forming in the air and darkening the sky; but I will nip him in the bud."
~~~ Sir Boyle Roche Member of the Irish Parliament ~~~
"Night after night, on radio talk shows, disgruntled, self-identified progressives call in to inform the host and her audience that we (the American people) can - in fact - "walk and chew gum at the same time" (a response to the argument on the part of some Obama defenders that now - in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades - is simply not the right time to focus our energies on a task of this magnitude - that such an effort would be an irresponsible distraction). Those folks, many of whom, frankly, invoke images of villagers wielding torches and pitchforks, are sadly missing the point." ~~~ Cynthia Boaz
As Frank Zappa concluded in the movie "200 Motels," "Touring Can Make You Crazy!" Seems a pity that the Changling isn't hip to Zappa. If he were, he wouldn't have said, "The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam," in a speech to the Turkish government.
Barry said this in spite of the fact that is exactly what we've been doing for the last 18 years directly, and indirectly for more than 60 years in occupied Palestine and through out the Middle East. That he could say it with a straight face is amazing and that the assembled Turkish officials didn't laugh aloud in reply is even more amazing!
With the exception of our lapdogs, the British, Barry's "Love America Tour" hit a brick wall with the governments in Europe when he tried to con NATO into joining him in his "crusades" in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Instead of the large commitment of combat troops for a long duration from NATO, he got a handful of training troops until the September elections. Ergo Afghanistan will be America's war, bringing even more death and destruction to those poor, miserable people as we play seek and destroy throughout the country, looking for Al-Qaeda troops that have long since departed for Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Barry's bombing of a few freedom fighters and a whole lot of innocent women and children has created another mass exodus. About one million terrified residents have been forced to leave most of their poor possessions behind in order to flee our bored teenagers and their missile- launching drone attack craft.
Speaking of which, didn't Barry"s response to North Korea's attempt to put a satellite in orbit seem just a bit hypocritical. After Barry got his "3 a.m. wake up call" he said, "Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to stop the spread of these weapons." I don't suppose he was referring to what the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials had to say about the war crimes that he's been committing, do you? He wasn't referring to the major indictments that they hung a bunch of Germans for? You'll recall things like:
1. Participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of crime against peace.
2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace.
3. War crimes.
4. Crimes against humanity.
No, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean that unless he wanted it to apply to him. No, it was about North Korea doing what every other country is allowed to do. It's always been, "do as we say but not as we do!"
Barry was fond of saying during the campaign, "People will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy." While what you build is important, what you destroy is far more telling. Especially if it's the lives of millions of innocent human beings that you're destroying just so your corpo-rat pals can make a financial killing!
In Other News
I see where the once honorable Ted Stevens walked from his prison sentence, thanks to Superior Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan and the Bush and Obama Justice Departments.
The fact that Judge Sullivan was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia on October 3, 1984, should set alarms bells to ringing.
After overturning the verdict against Stevens, Judge Emmet Sullivan said that he was opening criminal proceedings to investigate Brenda Morris, William Welch and the other prosecutors in the case for withholding exculpatory evidence from the defense. "This is indeed a dramatic day in a case that has had many dramatic and unfortunately shocking and disturbing moments," he announced, spitting out his words with disgust. "In nearly 25 years on the bench, I've never seen anything approaching the misconduct and mishandling that I've seen in this case."
Emmet went on and on but never addressed the fact that even though the prosecution committed some errors, as they always do in any case, the fact remains that Stevens took a rather large bribe. So one may wonder what this is really all about. Did the prosecution make mistakes or were they calculated mistakes to get Ted off the hook? This was, after all, the Bush Justice Department bringing charges against one of their own, one of their loyal insiders!
I don't want to sound paranoid but what if the prosecutors did it on purpose? It was assured Ted would be brought up on charges and was guilty as sin but these mistakes made sure Ted would win on appeal and all charges would be dropped. Nah, they would never do that, would they? Well actually, they already had. You may recall what happened to Dan Rather?
Dan, you'll remember, made the mistake of taking records from one of Cheney's men, one that was full of the truth about Bush's service records, reams of material all of which was true, except for one tiny file which was false. This planted file was overlooked when checking the facts and was Dan's downfall, just as Cheney had planned. Even though 99% of what Dan reported was true, Bush's spin masters seized upon the one percent that was false and Dan was out a job. Moreover, with Dan discredited, all the facts about Bush's desertion in wartime were dismissed and Smirky went on to steal another election.
And now Stevens gets to spend his declining years inside his mansion instead of a cold Alaskan prison cell where he belongs! Coincidence?
I wonder if Obama's Justice Department will now begin setting poor innocent prisoners who were railroaded by crooked prosecutors free? What do you think?
And Finally
Back in mid-February in Issues & Alibis Vol 9 # 8 (c) 02/20/2009 I wrote a short rant on Obama's apologists which, you may have noticed, seem to be fewer and farther between since reality set in, i.e., that there will be no war crime trials and, in fact, Barry is determined to commit some war crimes all of his own. Their standard song and dance was Barry was too busy to deal with the two things that he had been elected to do. He was busy saving us all from the bankers by giving all our money, our children's money and our grandchildren's money etc., to his banking puppet masters instead of ending the wars and prosecuting the Crime Family Bush and their corpo-rat pals. In edition 413 I wrote about a particular piece written by Cynthia Boaz entitled "Obama's Justice: Reconciliation, Not Retribution" which was basically the letter that I sent to Professor Boaz and ended the piece saying, "If the good professor replies, I'll share it with you!" The good professor has replied and I'll share her thoughts and mine with you. Here's Cynthia's reply...
"You completely misunderstood my point. I was not arguing that anyone should be allowed to walk away, only that Obama should not be expected to lead the charge, and that when it is done, it should be carried out in the spirit of the rule of law, not political motive.
If you read my previous work, you will see that I am fully in support of TRCs, but they have to be handled with care.
There's certainly no call to be rude.
Cynthia"
Actually, Cynthia, I think I got your point exactly. Wasn't it that there will be no change as Barry is first and foremost a politician and will do what all the other politicians do. He will represent the 4% of the people who pull his strings while doing everything possible to enslave the other 96%? He'll do it with pretty words, he'll be charming and everything our beloved west Taxus prairie monkey was not, and he may even wield a kinder, gentler machine gun hand but nothing has changed nor is it likely ever to change so do roll over and go back to sleep. Was that about it? After all, to call for a "Truth" Commission, which you say is a "serious matter," is in reality nothing more than a cover-up, as was the 911 "Truth" Commission! Evidence abounds of their many war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes against the Constitution, genocide, concentration camps and official torture so why isn't Barry's "Just Us" department going after them with everything they've got? Would it be they work for Barry and Barry doesn't want them charged, as he is as guilty as they are?
True, mayhaps, I was a bit rude but what goes around, comes around, does it not? For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, is there not? As you said of us over on the left, you know, the people without a candidate, Ever!...
"Those folks, many of whom, frankly, invoke images of villagers wielding torches and pitchforks, are sadly missing the point." Or. "...disgruntled, self-identified progressives call in to inform the host and her audience that we (the American people) can - in fact - 'walk and chew gum at the same time.'" Or "It is simply not the style - politically or personally - of this president to seek the same sort of 'justice' desired by the pitchfork-wielding villagers."
You belittle and reduce people crying out for justice, people demanding that the law apply equally to our masters as it does to us peons, to B-movie caricatures. That seems fairly rude to me. Cynthia, as you said, "Obama is, in the truest sense, a unifier." I was wondering how that unification thing is working out for you?
Your radical pal,
Ernest
Page --- 421 --- 04-17-09
Tilting At Windmills
By Ernest Stewart
Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.
Happy trails to you,
Until we meet again.
Happy trails to you,
Keep smiling until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song, and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you,
Till we meet again.
Happy Trails ~~~ Roy Rogers
Once I built a railroad, I made it run, made it race against time.
Once I built a railroad; now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Once I built a tower, up to the sun, brick, and rivet, and lime;
Once I built a tower, now it's done. Brother, can you spare a dime?
Brother Can You Spare A Dime ~~~ Yip Harburg ~ Jay Gorney
Johnny's in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I'm on the pavement
Thinking about the government
Subterranean Homesick Blues ~~~ Bob Dylan
I've always been a sucker for lost causes. This explains why I dropped everything after the 12-12-2000 coup d'etat to start this magazine. I knew it would change nothing and the only ones I would reach were the already saved! Most people would say, hey wait a minute before you throw it all away. Most people would but not yours truly. A high IQ is no guarantee of common sense. *
I enlisted in the Army during Viet Nam as did so many others but with the draft on, we were in the distinct minority. I've never bitched about the service because I was there by my own stupidity. There is a reason why the armies are mostly made up of children. Children are easily manipulated by authority symbols and if fed a steady diet of lies all their lives, they will, like the sheep that they are, obey any command no matter how evil. Unlike most who were brainwashed during boot camp, I came to my senses, although a little too late. The brainwashing had the exact opposite effect on me and a few others. Which is why when I got out of the Army and went to school I joined every radical group I could find short of the Weather Underground, to stop the war and get rid of the "Trick."
When Nixon resigned, I got out of politics, dropped my poli-sci major and became a DJ. To me music is the only thing humankind does as a whole that's worth a damn. It is the universal language. Everybody on the planet has his favorite tunes that help to keep them sane in all this madness. There I stayed happily oblivious to the political madness that just kept on and on. When Tony (light-fingers) and his brother and sister shills appointed der Fuhrer to the throne something inside me snapped and off I went in search of windmills!
At least Don Quixote had an excuse for his madness, his poor eyesight. I alas, have none. I've been studying poli-sci since the age of 12 and I, of all people, know the folly of our actions. Here's your PhD thesis in poli-sci in 12 words. It says all you'll ever need to know about any political situation and what is bound to happen in the outcome.
"Remember the "Golden Rule." He who has the gold makes the rules!"
It was true in 6,000 BCE. It was true during the Revolutionary War and it is certainly true today.
The good ole United Snakes was designed from day one to be a Roman styled Empire. The US was never meant to be a democracy nor has it ever been one. It was made to let the rich rule and rule they have, and rule they will. The illusion of a two party system is just that folks an illusion. As Gore Vidal once said,
"It makes no difference who you vote for.
The two parties are really one party representing four percent of the people."
Or for those of you on the right as George Wallace once said,
"There's not a dime's worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican Parties."
It may be the only time in his life that George ever spoke the truth but speak it that time he did!
When I started this magazine I hadn't worked full time in three years, other than 50 hours a week writing. I had been busy writing several books but had only finished one, "Uncle Ernie's Hollywood Daze," a book, though very popular with any who've read it, couldn't get past the agents, which you need to get it in front of a publisher. They all said to a man that they enjoyed the book, found it very funny and couldn't put it down but because I told the truth in it and named the names of various "stars" no publisher would touch it. This isn't exactly true, a paperback publisher who ran across it at an internet site wanted to publish it but it had too many pages for his press. Several other of my books looked like they would be published when they were finished but I had to put them down to do this as there just wasn't any time to finish them. I'm going back and finish them now.
Even though I was broke I kept publishing after doing the film as the magazine plays a prominent part and I was hoping after it was released we'd get some money coming in but it's obvious now that's not going to happen. I no longer have the luxury to do the magazine; we had to borrow money last year to keep it afloat. Some of you have been very generous with your donations and have kept us going but just barely and most of you would help us if you could but have enough financial problems of your own and I do understand. I did this because I had to and I could, I no longer can. Ergo this will be the last edition of Issues & Alibis unless manna falls from the sky. I will continue to write a weekly essay but that's all I'll be able to do. I want to thank you all for tuning in every week for over eight years and sending in all your thoughts, which were, I'm happy to say, 99 to 1 in favor of the magazine! Still, I know that this is going to make some folks very happy indeed!
Finally, I think that we are in deep, deep shit boys and girls. The Changeling turned out to be just another politician with feet of clay and has adopted most of the Crime Family Bush's acts of treason as his own. Everything now is in place for the permanent dictatorship of this country. Americorp is the reality and any chance of stopping this is long since past. Like Uncle Duke said,
"Big Darkness, Soon Come!"
So my friends, love yourself, love your neighbors and live in peace!
I'd like to thank all the writers and artists who gave so much of their time and talent to the magazine. Without your kind help all of this would have been impossible. Thank you all so very much!
* See also Bill Clinton!
In Other News
Just like old Yogi, I'm beginning to have a deja vu all over again. This time it's about the "Great Depression" and our current not so "Great Depression!"
The Wall Streets shills down in Foggy Bottom have been throwing several trillion dollars of our hard earned money at their wealthy masters. These billion dollar boys have taken this money and spread it amongst themselves, giving bonuses to one another. These bonuses for creating this financial disaster are a single year bonus and are worth more than the average person will make in his or her lifetime! Your tax dollars at work, America!
Trillions of dollars that no one knows where they're going, much like the money already lost, that all magically disappeared. And suddenly we discover that all of the hard-earned money that was supposed to have restarted the economy wasn't used for that purpose and, in fact, no one knows where it is or what it's being used for! Meanwhile the Sheeple are rallying behind Wall Street's media pals to have "Tea Parties" because Obama has threatened to raise the taxes on the ultra wealthy almost as high as they were under Ronald Ray-guns instead of marching on Wall Street! Imagine that if you can? Zeus knows the American Sheeple are without a doubt the dumbest creatures on the planet! Imagine these brain deads going out to rally for the rich who are doing all they can to enslave these morons. The mind just boggles!
Meanwhile, Obama will no doubt up the ante on Somalia, throwing tens of billions of dollars into a useless war against the pirates who are playing right into the hands of our corpo-rat masters as well. Instead of addressing the underlying problems that led to the rise of these modern day Captain Jack Sparrows, Barry has decided upon the tried and true method of keeping this sideshow at the top of the news while he and both parties continue to rob us blind.
What caused this brouhaha to begin with was factory fishing vessels which came into Somali waters and stole all the fish the Somali fishermen were using to feed the starving Somalis, and by European governments paying Italian Mafioso's to dump their radioactive garbage by the thousands of barrels off the Somali coasts, thereby murdering thousands of innocent Somalis with radiation poisoning. The Pirates started out as a coast guard to prevent these two acts of war! Instead of putting a stop to this, we pretend it never happened and haven't a clue why these starving dying people would do such a thing. In reality, it's all really about us getting revenge for "Blackhawk Down!"
Meanwhile, along with the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the soon to begin war in Iran (after the Zionazis in Israel attack Iran and she goes berserk and destroys most of the gulf states including most of the oil capacity therein!), this cost adds to the heavy drain on our all but bankrupt treasury.
Unlike the Great Depression that lasted 12 years until the start of WWII, I don't look to the start of WWIII to save us from our current "Great Depression" this time around, do you?
And Finally
A few hundred of my neighbors, way down here in Trinity, South Carolina, came out Wednesday to rally at a new "tea party" put on by Fox Spews and the saintly Ron Paul over in the Trinity library parking lot. For a lot of them it was the their first trip to the library but they didn't go inside! I missed this "rally" which was probably a good thing as I'm sure my redneck brothers and sisters would have done me in had I known about it in advance and made my thoughts known to the raucous mob! I only found out about it after it's finale, bummer!
As you know, brother Paul has proposed using an obscure Constitutional provision called "Letters of Marque and Reprisal" wherein Congress can authorize private ship-owners to act on behalf of the United States against pirates in exchange for both loot and bounties, i.e., as privateers! Privateers are a bit like Mouseketeers only with guns and cannons! You may recall the pirate Jean Lafitte during the War of 1812? If not then Yul Brynner in "The Buccaneer?" A sort of sea going Blackwater, just what we need, how nice, NOT! All of this and other smoke and mirrors to keep the real news out of your grasp while the empire dies and the elite lock themselves behind their iron gates!
For example, the G20 leaders have agreed to support a general "SDR" allocation which will inject $250,000,000,000.00 into the world economy and increase global liquidity. SDRs are "Special Drawing Rights," a synthetic paper currency issued by the International Monetary Fund that has lain dormant for half a century.
In effect, the G20 leaders have activated the IMF's power to create money and begin global "quantitative easing." In doing so, they are putting a de facto world currency into play. It is outside the control of any sovereign body. Conspiracy theorists will love it, I know I do! Trouble is, it means what the Chinese have finally figured out, that the dollar is all but worthless. So, while all about me is going to hell in a handbasket let me remind you what we've tried to warn you of one last time.
Along with keeping you up with the important news, we've shown you how to plant a garden, how to make clean water, create electricity, use and build alternate forms of transportation. We've explained why you should buy only heirloom or heritage seeds and where to buy them. I hope you were paying attention because now is the time to buy those seeds, 50 pound bags of rice and beans, water distillation systems, extra clothes, extra ammo, solar power, a good place to hide etc. before the economy crashes and your money is totally worthless! If not you still have one option. You may recall the last thing to do before an atomic attack? The defense we learned way back in grade school, that is to, put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye!
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Page --- 422 --- 04-24-09
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We Have Met The Enemy: Earth Day 2009
By Ernest Stewart
We have met the enemy and he is us! ~~~ Pogo
O beautiful for smoggy skies
Insecticided grain
For strip-mined mountains' majesty
above the asphalt plain
America, America
Man sheds his waste on thee
And hides the pines
with billboard signs
from sea to oily sea ~~~ George Carlin
"That son-of-a-Bush did what?"
W The Movie ~~~ Uncle Ernie
It's that time of the year again. Time when we all become "tree huggers" for a day and we try to get our self-centered children to take a look at the world not through the lens of commercial TV cameras but with their own eyes. Yes it's "Earth Day" again, America!
US Senator Gaylord Nelson D/Wisconsin was the driving force behind the first "Earth Day." Nelson had been building on an idea since 1962 and when he turned to thousands of colleges and universities which had been organizing protests against the deterioration of the environment his idea became a reality. He brought together groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife. They suddenly realized that they shared common values and "Earth Day" was born.
As important as these groups were, another group of folks were also behind the first Earth Day, i.e., the aluminum can manufacturers who were being run out of business by the "Ban the Can" environmentalists. The manufacturers, strangely enough were some of Nelsons biggest backers! With those "Earth Dayers" picking up their litter their problems soon went away, imagine that!
Still at least for a day we are forced to look at our environmental footprint and to make resolutions to do something about it. No real actions mind you, just resolutions, hey it's the American way! Just like on Christmas as Tom Lehrer says:
"On Christmas day you can't get sore. Your fellow man you must adore. There's time to rob him all the more. The other 364!"
So for at least one day we realized that we're all in this together, the people that is, not the governments which use this day to continue their nefarious schemes to enslave us and part us from our money!
While old Pogo's wisdom was directed to what we've done to the planet from an environmental standpoint it could be equally said about our downfall because of our political ambitions throughout the world. Got some oil and some brown people? Look out, if we haven't already begun to change your environment, have no doubt we soon will! You'll soon be meeting and coming to fear our teenagers and their strange ability to kill men, women and children because some clown in a Girl Scout beanie told them to! We'll be poisoning you with various toxic gases, chemicals and explosives regardless if it's Earth Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, Cinco de Mayo, and be especially wary if it's the 4th of July!
Without a doubt, old George Carlin said it best about Earth Day. Here are George's thoughts on saving the Earth:
We're so self-important. So self-important. Everybody's going to save something now. "Save the trees, save the bees, save the whales, save those snails." And the greatest arrogance of all: save the planet. What? Are these fucking people kidding me? Save the planet, we don't even know how to take care of ourselves yet. We haven't learned how to care for one another, we're gonna save the fucking planet? I'm getting tired of that shit. Tired of that shit. I'm tired of fucking Earth Day, I'm tired of these self-righteous environmentalists, these white, bourgeois liberals who think the only thing wrong with this country is there aren't enough bicycle paths. People trying to make the world safe for their Volvos. Besides, environmentalists don't give a shit about the planet. They don't care about the planet. Not in the abstract they don't. Not in the abstract they don't. You know what they're interested in? A clean place to live. Their own habitat. They're worried that some day in the future, they might be personally inconvenienced. Narrow, unenlightened self-interest doesn't impress me.
Besides, there is nothing wrong with the planet. Nothing wrong with the planet. The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are fucked. Difference. Difference. The planet is fine. Compared to the people, the planet is doing great. Been here four and a half billion years. Did you ever think about the arithmetic? The planet has been here four and a half billion years. We've been here, what, a hundred thousand? Maybe two hundred thousand? And we've only been engaged in heavy industry for a little over two hundred years. Two hundred years versus four and a half billion. And we have the CONCEIT to think that somehow we're a threat? That somehow we're gonna put in jeopardy this beautiful little blue-green ball that's just a-floatin' around the sun?
The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worldwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE!
We're going away. Pack your shit, folks. We're going away. And we won't leave much of a trace, either. Thank God for that. Maybe a little styrofoam. Maybe. A little styrofoam. The planet'll be here and we'll be long gone. Just another failed mutation. Just another closed-end biological mistake. An evolutionary cul-de-sac. The planet'll shake us off like a bad case of fleas. A surface nuisance.
You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.
The planet will be here for a long, long, LONG time after we're gone, and it will heal itself, it will cleanse itself, 'cause that's what it does. It's a self-correcting system. The air and the water will recover, the earth will be renewed, and if it's true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, "Why are we here?" Plastic...asshole.
So, the plastic is here, our job is done, we can be phased out now. And I think that's begun. Don't you think that's already started? I think, to be fair, the planet sees us as a mild threat. Something to be dealt with. And the planet can defend itself in an organized, collective way, the way a beehive or an ant colony can. A collective defense mechanism. The planet will think of something. What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let's see... Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh...viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction.
Well, that's a poetic note. And it's a start. And I can dream, can't I? See I don't worry about the little things: bees, trees, whales, snails. I think we're part of a greater wisdom than we will ever understand. A higher order. Call it what you want. Know what I call it? The Big Electron. The Big Electron...whoooa. Whoooa. Whoooa. It doesn't punish, it doesn't reward, it doesn't judge at all. It just is. And so are we. For a little while.
In Other News
I'd like to thank all of you who have written in to pledge your support. When enough checks clear the bank to publish the magazine we will begin again, hopefully that won't be too long. If you can, please send in what you can, as soon as you can!
And Finally
"W The Movie" won a best film award. The New York International Independent Film & Video Festival announced it's winners this week and "W The Movie" won best experimental film. "Hooray for our side!"
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Until the next time, Peace!
(c) 2009 Ernest Stewart a.k.a. Uncle Ernie is an unabashed radical, author, stand-up comic, DJ, actor, political pundit and for the last 8 years managing editor and publisher of Issues & Alibis magazine. In his spare time he is an actor, writer and an associate producer for the new motion picture "W The Movie."
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Page --- 423 --- 05-01-09
Much Ado
By Ernest Stewart
When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,
And the women come out to cut up what remains,
Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains
An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.
The Young British Soldier ~~~ Rudyard Kipling
"What would you do if you were the planet? How would you defend yourself against this troublesome, pesky species? Let's see... ...Viruses. Viruses might be good. They seem vulnerable to viruses. And, uh... ...viruses are tricky, always mutating and forming new strains whenever a vaccine is developed. Perhaps, this first virus could be one that compromises the immune system of these creatures. Perhaps a human immunodeficiency virus, making them vulnerable to all sorts of other diseases and infections that might come along. And maybe it could be spread sexually, making them a little reluctant to engage in the act of reproduction." ~~~ George Carlin
"With his latest explanation for the continued confinement of almost 500 detainees at the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba, President Bush sounds like the proverbial teenager who killed his parents and then asked for mercy from the court because he was an orphan." ~~~ LA Times editorial staff
Another one of those out of the frying pan and into the fire scenarios is happening in Pakistan thanks to the last two regimes. You may recall Dick (the psycho) Cheney offered a bribe to the Taliban for safe passage of a gas pipeline through Afghanistan from what used to be the USSR to the gathering hordes in India. You also may recall that the Taliban came into being when we abandoned Afghanistan after the CIA's hit teams, aka "al-Qaida," led by Osama Ben Laden, drove the foolish Soviets out of Afghanistan. This led to the breakup and destruction of the USSR in 1992. Thanks, Papa Bush! Nine years later Cheney's offered a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs (you know, the old stick and carrot approach) to the Taliban.
When the Talibanners didn't sign on quickly enough (They dared to ask what we would do with Osama if they gave him to us, wondering if he would be treated fairly) we began to bomb into dusst the few remaining mud huts left after the Russian pullout. After our illegal, immoral invasion, we drove the Taliban out of Afghanistan and across the border into Pakistan where al-Qaida had been in training for years.
The Taliban, who held, in reality, barely a quarter of Afghanistan, were given a quarter of Pakistan to do with as they pleased. Apparently, this wasn't enough and they are now closing in on Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Unlike the Vietnam era weapons of Afghanistan, the Pakistanis have state of the art NUCLEAR WEAPONS at their disposal and those weapons could be in the hands of the Taliban with just a quick coup d'etat! Talk about upping the ante! Barry looks to keep meddling around until we have the start of WWIII. If we're lucky, we may get out with just America's collapse into a depression, one that will make the Great Depression in the 1930s look like a "Swiss Picnic" by comparison. Have you got your victory garden planted yet, America? If we are unlucky, there will be a whole new crop of mushroom clouds sprouting all over America. Was this the kind of change you were looking for, Mr. & Mrs. America?
So far, all the changes brought to the region were those of the very bad situations made by Bush and Cheney becoming even worse. The only change that will work right now is to pull all of our troops out of those areas and bring them home. That's a change the whole world could live with. It would be a change, in the right direction for "the Changeling" and for America!
In Other News
I see where they're going through a dry run on the flu pandemic to come. That's the real scary part of this test; it's obviously a test, a test, no doubt, staged by the CIA or perhaps some Pentagoon inspired spooks. It has all the earmarks of such an operation. If this is (on the other hand) just merely paranoia, then why all the ado about nothing?
As a killer, so far this strain is of the very mildest varieties. So far, no one has died from it in this country as they were doing in Mexico, which is in itself a bit odd as on average we lose 36,000 Americans to the flu each and every year. Most curious is that normally you never hear much about them. No deaths, yet much ado! The figures are that every year, typically, some 200,000 folks end up in the hospital with serious cases of the flu. I'm sure that you'd triple that number if you included poor people who have no insurance and have to live or die with over the counter remedies. Still, rich or poor, 36,000 die each year from complications, usually from pneumonia variations that are brought on by the flu.
Some thought that Barry was a carrier, as one of the folks he greeted in Mexico City dropped dead the next day from the flu. Now, however, that death is being blamed on an American owned (Smithfield Foods) pig farm an hour's drive west of Mexico City. Reports out of Mexico say Smithfield has been infecting folks in the Mexico City area since early December 2008. (I can't blame Barry for that) A cover up that goes to the heart of the Mexican government, and who knows, the American government, as well!
Homeland Security was quick to make an announcement meant to sooth our fears, but it is, no doubt, one of the scarier things to come out so far. The Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, announced that the new strain of influenza commonly called "Mexican Swine" Flu constitutes an "incident of national interest" to US security! Need I repeat that again for those of you on drugs?
Ya'll may remember that imperial law passed back just before the election in 2006 that gave der president new powers? Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which Smirky signed on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony allows the President to declare a "public emergency," in fact to define what is a "public emergency," and station troops anywhere in America. He may take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder." This is, of course, in violation of several federal laws!
At the very same time, Bush signed the incredibly evil, "Military Commissions Act of 2006." Section 1076 grants the Pentagon another $500-plus-billion for its ill-advised adventures, is entitled, "Use of the Armed Forces in Major Public Emergencies." Section 333, "Major public emergencies; interference with State and Federal law" states that "the President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of "refuse" or "fail" in) maintaining public order, "in order to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy."
So, at Barry's whim, "enforcement of the laws to restore public order" means to commandeer guardsmen from any state, over the objections of local governmental, military and local police entities, ship them off to another state, conscript them in a law enforcement mode, and set them loose against "disorderly" citizenry - protesters, possibly, or those who object to forced vaccinations and quarantines in the event of a bio-terror event. Say from a flu panic, where they'd need to quarantine vast numbers of INFECTED Americans, perhaps in Happy Camps(tm) until they all got better or were made to take a "shower!"
So you think things are bad enough, huh? Well here's the Hitchcockian twist, guess who stands to make billions in profits from the world's misery? Former "deputy fuhrer" Donald Von Rumsfeld! Rummy, former CEO and major stock holder of Gilead Sciences pharmaceutical, the manufacturers of Tamiflu. Gilead previously cleaned up with Tamiflu in 2005 - 2006 during the bird flu scare. Funny how patterns emerge!
No, this was just a run through for the time when the 1918 virus will be perfected in some US Army lab for the real pandemic to come. So why the ado? Perhaps to cause just a little more trouble for our economy. With everyone avoiding malls, professional sports, music concerts, movies etc. this should be another nail in our economic coffin!
Still, now might be a very good time to stay home and work on the garden!
And Finally
Last fall I wrote Sin-ator Carl Levin asking him about what Con-gress was going to do over our torturing of thousands of innocents down in Gitmo and elsewhere. Well, Carl finally wrote me back with this song and dance...
Dear Mr. Stewart:
I thought you might be interested in knowing that the Senate Armed Services Committee released its full declassified report on its investigation into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody earlier this week. The report, which was approved by the Committee on November 20, 2008, has been under review for declassification by the Department of Defense.
The Committee's report represents a condemnation of both the Bush administration's interrogation policies and of senior administration officials who attempted to shift the blame for abuse, which occurred at places such as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), and in Afghanistan, to low ranking soldiers. Claims, such as the one made by former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that detainee abuses could be chalked up to the unauthorized acts of a "few bad apples," were simply false.
The truth is that, early on, it was senior civilian leaders who set the tone. On September 16, 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney suggested that the United States turn to the "dark side" in our response to 9/11. Not long after that, after White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales called parts of the Geneva Conventions "quaint," President Bush determined that provisions of the Geneva Conventions did not apply to certain detainees. Other senior officials followed the President and Vice President's lead, authorizing policies that included harsh and abusive interrogation techniques.
The record established by the Committee's investigation shows that senior officials sought out information on, were aware of training in, and authorized the use of abusive interrogation techniques. Those senior officials bear significant responsibility for creating the legal and operational framework for the abuses. As the Committee report concluded, authorizations of aggressive interrogation techniques by senior officials resulted in abuse and conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody.
In a May 10, 2007, letter to his troops, General David Petraeus said that "what sets us apart from our enemies in this fight... is how we behave. In everything we do, we must observe the standards and values that dictate that we treat noncombatants and detainees with dignity and respect. While we are warriors, we are also all human beings." With last week's release of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) opinions, it is now widely known that Bush administration officials distorted Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) training, a legitimate program used by the military to train our troops to resist abusive enemy interrogations, by authorizing abusive techniques from SERE for use in detainee interrogations. Those decisions conveyed the message that abusive treatment was appropriate for detainees in U.S. custody. They were also an affront to the values articulated by General Petraeus.
SERE training techniques were never intended to be used in the interrogation of detainees in U.S. custody. Some have asked why, if it is okay for our own U.S. personnel to be subjected to physical and psychological pressures in SERE school, what is wrong with using those SERE training techniques on detainees? The Committee's investigation answered that question.
On October 2, 2002, Lieutenant Colonel Morgan Banks, the senior Army SERE psychologist warned against using SERE training techniques during interrogations in an email to personnel at GTMO, writing that:
[T]he use of physical pressures brings with it a large number of potential negative side effects... When individuals are gradually exposed to increasing levels of discomfort, it is more common for them to resist harder... If individuals are put under enough discomfort, i.e. pain, they will eventually do whatever it takes to stop the pain. This will increase the amount of information they tell the interrogator, but it does not mean the information is accurate. In fact, it usually decreases the reliability of the information because the person will say whatever he believes will stop the pain... Bottom line: the likelihood that the use of physical pressures will increase the delivery of accurate information from a detainee is very low. The likelihood that the use of physical pressures will increase the level of resistance in a detainee is very high...
Likewise, the Deputy Commander of DoD's Criminal Investigative Task Force at GTMO told the Committee in 2006 that CITF "was troubled with the rationale that techniques used to harden resistance to interrogations would be the basis for the utilization of techniques to obtain information."
Other newly declassified emails reveal additional warnings. In June 2004, after many SERE techniques had been authorized in interrogations, another SERE psychologist warned: "[W]e need to really stress the difference between what instructors do at SERE school (done to INCREASE RESISTANCE capability in students) versus what is taught at interrogator school (done to gather information). What is done by SERE instructors is by definition ineffective interrogator conduct... Simply stated, SERE school does not train you on how to interrogate, and things you 'learn' there by osmosis about interrogation are probably wrong if copied by interrogators."
If we are to retain our status as a leader in the world, we must acknowledge and confront the abuse of detainees in our custody. The Committee's report and investigation makes significant progress toward that goal. There is still the question, however, of whether high level officials who approved and authorized those policies should be held accountable. I have recommended to Attorney General Holder that he select a distinguished individual or individuals - either inside or outside the Justice Department, such as retired federal judges, to look at the volumes of evidence relating to treatment of detainees, including evidence in the Senate Armed Services Committee's report, and to recommend what steps, if any, should be taken to establish accountability of high-level officials, including lawyers.
My complete floor statement and a link to the full report can be found on my website at [].
Sincerely,
Carl Levin
I wrote Carl back...
Hey Carl,
Congratulations Carl. So you've finally figured out what we've known all along. Just a couple of thoughts for you to consider...
ONE: 98% of these people you call detainees we call shop clerks, taxi drivers and teachers who ran afoul of the local war lord and were sold to us to be kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the thousands and then branded as terrorists before being released. And you're wondering what to do about the people who did these things?
TWO: Let me suggest that they be immediately brought to trial, then in addition of their regular sentences have the same things that they did to others done to them. Any politicians that supported the two war crimes, i.e., "Operation Steal The Oil" in Iraq and "Operation Secure The Pipeline" in Afghanistan which brought about this torture, treason and madness should do hard time down in Gitmo for a couple of decades! Anything less is a travesty of justice! Of course, that would mean most members of Congress past and present would get the same treatment that they OK'd for others but fair is fair, is it not?
However I can see that you, Barry and the rest of Con-gress are on the road to another cover up like the one you pulled over 911, another CIA strike against the world and the American people! Carl, who do you think you're jiving with that cosmic debris?
Your radical Pal,
Ernest Stewart
Don't Mess With A Nation...
I'm going to repeat that again for those of you on drugs...
By Ernest Stewart
"Hi, we're America! We build monster trucks for fun! We developed the top fuel dragster, zero to three hundred thirty miles an hour in under five seconds, cause, pffft, we were bored. Piss us off, heh, and see what we build! And we may feel bad about it later! Ask Japan. But before we feel bad... we're gonna jack you up! And then we're gonna send you FOOD! 'Cause we're America; we're schizophrenic. Don't mess with a nation that needs medication!'" ~~~ Christopher Titus
I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. ~~~ Hannibal Lector
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~~~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
As Robin Williams said in "Good Morning Vietnam" "We Americans, we're a simple people . . . but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities." That's been the story of the Americas ever since whitey showed up in the late 15th century CE. Do as we say or we'll totally destroy your tribe. After hitting the world stage in the late 19th century we changed this mantra slightly to "We Americans, we're a simple people . . . but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities but then we'll rebuild them and send you food!" I wonder which is worse?
Or perhaps as Greg Lake foresaw back in those "days of future passed" of our immediate future...
Blood rack, barbed wire
Polititians funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.
There's no doubt about it, folks, we're as crazy as can be. We demand that everybody be democratic unless, of course, they do as the Palestinians did, have free, open elections and elect someone that won't do our bidding; then all bets are off. By all means, do as we say, not as we do! Methinks Tom Lehrer said it best in, "Send The Marines..."
For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
'Till somebody we like can be elected.
Another good example was the election in Iraq. We took Saddam's regime out and replaced it with one that was best friends with our worst enemy, Iran. Out of the frying pan... This was bad enough but as the world watched, we took our good friends, people we had supported and who had gladly done our bidding, and hung the lot of them. The lesson for the world was the quickest way to get your cities bombed to rubble and your leaders hung is to become friends with the US. Brilliant move, simply brilliant. NOT!
Meanwhile in Kabul, Afghani President Hamid Karzai announced that his choice for Vice President is the warlord Mohammad Qasim Fahim. I guess Darth Vader wasn't available? Oh, the tangled web we weave...
Another stable regime we replaced was in Pakistan, a country now on the edge of anarchy. Obama seems totally oblivious to this as we keep attacking Pakistan with wave after wave of Predator drones, creating a surge in recruits for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Of course, this is all necessary to keep the endless war going. If we didn't keep bombing innocents then eventually there would be no need for the military/industrial/media/banking complex, which is something that just won't do, America. Besides, it's not like we're killing white people! Well, a few in the Army but as Hank Kissinger once said of the troops, "Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy." You may also recall Henry's words as he sniffed Tricky Dick's jock strap, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." Some think that Hitler let the Kissinger family go to America as an act of revenge, but I digress!
What Vietnam taught our betters was to go with an all-volunteer Army. No draft, no problems! With the temporary ramping down of the wars so that the National Guard and Army Reserves are on hand just in time to back up plans for the various quarantines and round ups for the Happy Camps(tm) to come! We've always had a love/hate relationship with the world but now we have it with ourselves as well!
In Other News
I see where the "Just-us Department" is recommending that there be no criminal prosecution for Bush-era torturers, their bosses and the lawyers. Perhaps, just maybe, but nothing is certain, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, but definitely not Steven Bradbury, just might, perhaps could be disbarred but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen if I were you!
Of course, a few weeks ago on "Beat The Press" White House Chief of Staff and Israeli 5th columnist, Rahm Emanuel, said despite their many war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the authorization of torture and kidnapping, no one from the Crime Family Bush would be prosecuted for any crime as the ruling elite is above the law, or words to that effect!
A few days later, the Changeling said much the same thing. He has also had his "Just-us Department" fight in various federal court cases to uphold the various acts of treason, war crimes and such that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft, Powell, Tenet, Goss, Hayden, Mueller, Gonzales, Holder and the rest committed for their corpo-rat masters. All done just to frighten us and make a buck by murdering millions of innocents!
Again and again, we find that there will be no changes from the past, at least no important changes, and Foggy Bottom will go on as always by screwing the people and making themselves wealthy. Obama is just the latest in a very long line of criminals who have held the Oval Office, just another white male, as always! Cynthia and Rosa would have brought real change but few people listened to them. As old Pete Seeger once asked, "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" My guess is that they'll never learn, which is exactly what our masters are counting on!
And Finally
We're down but not out thanks to the generosity of Jack Kash, Doctor Phil and Mary Lou all who sent in generous donations to the cause last week. This is a good start but only 1/3 the money we need to start up again and about 10% of what we're going to need to pay for the magazine for a year.
If everyone on the mailing list sent in just twenty dollars a year, not a week or a month but a year, we'd be solvent again. The same could be said of the group. If they sent in $20 a year, we'd be fine. Or if the readership all just chipped in a buck, we could keep the magazine going.
The trouble with publishing a radical/liberal magazine is that the very people who read it are usually poor as radicals and liberals traditionally have little money except for food and a roof over their heads, if they're lucky. The right, which is made up of millionaires, billionaires and really stupid middle class and working class people, is swimming in cash, having stolen it from the radicals and liberals, so Rush and the rest won't ever have to worry about if they're going to make their bills.
Way back when I started the magazine I, too, was middle class and had no need to periodically beg for funds but thanks to 8 years of the Crime Family Bush, my bank accounts have grown quite empty. For a while, we did manage to attract a few leftists with disposable income who kept us afloat but unfortunately they, like Elvis, have left the planet and those funds are gone. Of course, on top of all this, is the Bush Depression, which is filling the streets up with the newly homeless, including many of our past supporters. No one is going to send in a donation for an Internet magazine when they can no longer get on the Internet to read it!
So, if you still have a good paying job, do sit down today and send us in what you can. If enough of you do so, we'll be back up and operating just as soon as you do. Bringing you the information that you cannot live without!
Page --- 424 --- 05-08-09
Don't Mess With A Nation...
I'm going to repeat that again for those of you on drugs...
By Ernest Stewart
"Hi, we're America! We build monster trucks for fun! We developed the top fuel dragster, zero to three hundred thirty miles an hour in under five seconds, cause, pffft, we were bored. Piss us off, heh, and see what we build! And we may feel bad about it later! Ask Japan. But before we feel bad... we're gonna jack you up! And then we're gonna send you FOOD! 'Cause we're America; we're schizophrenic. Don't mess with a nation that needs medication!'" ~~~ Christopher Titus
I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. ~~~ Hannibal Lector
"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." ~~~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
As Robin Williams said in "Good Morning Vietnam" "We Americans, we're a simple people . . . but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities." That's been the story of the Americas ever since whitey showed up in the late 15th century CE. Do as we say or we'll totally destroy your tribe. After hitting the world stage in the late 19th century we changed this mantra slightly to "We Americans, we're a simple people . . . but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities but then we'll rebuild them and send you food!" I wonder which is worse?
Or perhaps as Greg Lake foresaw back in those "days of future passed" of our immediate future...
Blood rack, barbed wire
Polititians funeral pyre
Innocents raped with napalm fire
Twenty first century schizoid man.
There's no doubt about it, folks, we're as crazy as can be. We demand that everybody be democratic unless, of course, they do as the Palestinians did, have free, open elections and elect someone that won't do our bidding; then all bets are off. By all means, do as we say, not as we do! Methinks Tom Lehrer said it best in, "Send The Marines..."
For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
'Till somebody we like can be elected.
Another good example was the election in Iraq. We took Saddam's regime out and replaced it with one that was best friends with our worst enemy, Iran. Out of the frying pan... This was bad enough but as the world watched, we took our good friends, people we had supported and who had gladly done our bidding, and hung the lot of them. The lesson for the world was the quickest way to get your cities bombed to rubble and your leaders hung is to become friends with the US. Brilliant move, simply brilliant. NOT!
Meanwhile in Kabul, Afghani President Hamid Karzai announced that his choice for Vice President is the warlord Mohammad Qasim Fahim. I guess Darth Vader wasn't available? Oh, the tangled web we weave...
Another stable regime we replaced was in Pakistan, a country now on the edge of anarchy. Obama seems totally oblivious to this as we keep attacking Pakistan with wave after wave of Predator drones, creating a surge in recruits for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Of course, this is all necessary to keep the endless war going. If we didn't keep bombing innocents then eventually there would be no need for the military/industrial/media/banking complex, which is something that just won't do, America. Besides, it's not like we're killing white people! Well, a few in the Army but as Hank Kissinger once said of the troops, "Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy." You may also recall Henry's words as he sniffed Tricky Dick's jock strap, "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac." Some think that Hitler let the Kissinger family go to America as an act of revenge, but I digress!
What Vietnam taught our betters was to go with an all-volunteer Army. No draft, no problems! With the temporary ramping down of the wars so that the National Guard and Army Reserves are on hand just in time to back up plans for the various quarantines and round ups for the Happy Camps(tm) to come! We've always had a love/hate relationship with the world but now we have it with ourselves as well!
In Other News
I see where the "Just-us Department" is recommending that there be no criminal prosecution for Bush-era torturers, their bosses and the lawyers. Perhaps, just maybe, but nothing is certain, John Yoo and Jay Bybee, but definitely not Steven Bradbury, just might, perhaps could be disbarred but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen if I were you!
Of course, a few weeks ago on "Beat The Press" White House Chief of Staff and Israeli 5th columnist, Rahm Emanuel, said despite their many war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the authorization of torture and kidnapping, no one from the Crime Family Bush would be prosecuted for any crime as the ruling elite is above the law, or words to that effect!
A few days later, the Changeling said much the same thing. He has also had his "Just-us Department" fight in various federal court cases to uphold the various acts of treason, war crimes and such that Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Ashcroft, Powell, Tenet, Goss, Hayden, Mueller, Gonzales, Holder and the rest committed for their corpo-rat masters. All done just to frighten us and make a buck by murdering millions of innocents!
Again and again, we find that there will be no changes from the past, at least no important changes, and Foggy Bottom will go on as always by screwing the people and making themselves wealthy. Obama is just the latest in a very long line of criminals who have held the Oval Office, just another white male, as always! Cynthia and Rosa would have brought real change but few people listened to them. As old Pete Seeger once asked, "When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" My guess is that they'll never learn, which is exactly what our masters are counting on!
And Finally
We're down but not out thanks to the generosity of Jack Kash, Doctor Phil and Mary Lou all who sent in generous donations to the cause last week. This is a good start but only 1/3 the money we need to start up again and about 10% of what we're going to need to pay for the magazine for a year.
If everyone on the mailing list sent in just twenty dollars a year, not a week or a month but a year, we'd be solvent again. The same could be said of the group. If they sent in $20 a year, we'd be fine. Or if the readership all just chipped in a buck, we could keep the magazine going.
The trouble with publishing a radical/liberal magazine is that the very people who read it are usually poor as radicals and liberals traditionally have little money except for food and a roof over their heads, if they're lucky. The right, which is made up of millionaires, billionaires and really stupid middle class and working class people, is swimming in cash, having stolen it from the radicals and liberals, so Rush and the rest won't ever have to worry about if they're going to make their bills.
Way back when I started the magazine I, too, was middle class and had no need to periodically beg for funds but thanks to 8 years of the Crime Family Bush, my bank accounts have grown quite empty. For a while, we did manage to attract a few leftists with disposable income who kept us afloat but unfortunately they, like Elvis, have left the planet and those funds are gone. Of course, on top of all this, is the Bush Depression, which is filling the streets up with the newly homeless, including many of our past supporters. No one is going to send in a donation for an Internet magazine when they can no longer get on the Internet to read it!
So, if you still have a good paying job, do sit down today and send us in what you can. If enough of you do so, we'll be back up and operating just as soon as you do. Bringing you the information that you cannot live without!
Page --- 425 --- 05-15-09
Shlomo Hears Everything You Say!
By Ernest Stewart
"Israel does not spy on the United States of America."
~~~ Mark Regev, a spokesman at the Israeli embassy in Washington ~~~
"We do not target personnel with white phosphorus, which is a conventional weapon in the arsenals of many nations, generally used for screening, marking, and illumination." ~~~ Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette
Oh... I get by with a little help from my friends,
I'm gonna try with a little help from my friends
I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,
with a little help from my friends!
With A Little Help From My Friends ~~~ The Beatles
One of the results of having the last five US administrations riddled with Israeli fifth columnists and Mossad spies is that Israel has been listening to every phone in America for years. The same Israel that Obama, Biden, Clinton, and most members of Con-gress have been bowing down to has the technology to monitor and record any call, anywhere in America. This no doubt explains why our politicians are bowing low! Israel subcontracts billing and directory services for phone companies around the world, with 90 percent of American phone companies as clients. The kicker is that even the NSA and FBI have complained about Israel's power to spy on them for years with no noticeable result from Con-gress. Again we know why!
Before 9/11, the FBI had discovered the presence of a massive spy ring inside the United States run by the government of Israel. This is just Israel's way of saying thank you for all of our support and the billions of dollars we've given them. Another Israeli response to our kindness was trying to sink the USS Liberty back in 1968 while they were busily stealing our atomic secrets, secrets which they sold to the USSR in order to get them to let more Jews immigrate to occupied Palestine.
Israel took our billions and set up government subsidized telecommunications companies, which operate here in the United States. One of these companies is the Amdocs. Amdocs' main computer center for billing is actually in Israel and allows those with access to do what intelligence agencies call "traffic analysis," a picture of someone's activities based on a pattern of who they are calling and when.
Another Israeli telecom company is Comverse Infosys, now called Verint (after a FBI investigation), which subcontracts the installation of the automatic tapping equipment now built into every phone system in America. Verint maintains its own connections to all this phone tapping equipment, insisting that it is for "maintenance purposes" only. However, Verint has been named as the most likely source for leaked information regarding telephone calls by law enforcement that derailed several investigations into not only Israeli espionage, but Israeli drug running in America as well.
Still another Israeli telecom company is Odigo, which provides the core message passing system for all the "Instant Message" services. Two hours before the attacks on the World Trade Towers, Odigo employees received a warning to stay away from the towers. Odigo has an office two blocks from the former location of the World Trade Center.
As Lindsey once said of Israel:
"I think there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing -- although that was part of it -- by a sovereign foreign government... It will become public at some point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now." ~~~ Sin-ator Lindsey Graham
What this means is that the billions of our tax dollars sent to Israel (while American men, women and children sleep in their cars and eat out of McDonalds' trash bins) have bought and paid for a monstrous phone tracking and phone tapping system that can eavesdrop on any phone call in America. Even the White House phones are tapped and monitored. This makes the NSA, FBI, CIA, FISA, and Cheney's tapings seem almost benign by comparison! Your tax dollars at work, America!
In Other News
I see where our peacenik the Changeling has been roasting children alive in Vietistan, er, Afghanistan by using illegal white phosphorus bombs in chemical attacks against civilians and supposed Taliban fighters. Forgive me; I'm having a former Youth-in-Asia, déjà vu, flashback! This roasting alive of Afghani children continues the decades old US tradition, a tradition that we've practiced against the children of Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, (remember Fallujah?) and in the "Gaza Ghetto" with the US supplied white phosphorus shells that Israel used to cremate Palestinian children earlier this year.
Both NATO and US commanders admit using this banned material in Afghanistan at least four times this year alone. Of course, they say they only use it to light up targets at night, which apparently is "legal" and even if true the results are the same. Scores of dead innocent civilians burned hideously to death. Trouble is, that most of the uses this year have been in the daylight when you don't really need to drop ordinance to see! Both US and NATO troops have been using white phosphorus in artillery shells as well as rockets and bombs to attack Taliban positions, i.e., schools, hospitals and market places.
Of course, US spin has it that the Taliban is using white phosphorus against their own and civilian positions. They've bombed themselves and their senior leadership four times this year alone with white phosphorus. If true then why are we still in Afghanistan? I mean if the Taliban are killing themselves why do we need to be there? Funny, isn't it, that they haven't been bombing themselves or the Pakistani army with white phosphorus across the border in Pakistan, eh?
Yes, we are surely winning the hearts and minds of the Afghanis! Even Afghani women are reminiscing about the good old days under the Taliban, where you were at least safe from the rape gangs and white phosphorus! Oh yes, they love us everywhere we go!
And Finally
People keep asking me where the magazine went. It went where a lot of leftist publications have gone, into oblivion for lack of money to continue it. However, thanks to people like Barbara and Jack Kash, we maybe returning in late June? You may recall that Jack, Dr. Phil and others sent us nice checks last week and old Jack sent us in some more this week so we're at about 35% of our goal to get up and running but only about 10% of what we need to publish for a year.
I'm still having trouble filling up all the empty hours that I use to spend putting the magazine together, even with the editing of three books that are just about to publish or are ready to seek out a publisher. Working on getting W a distributor and getting ready to move from our digs here in Trinity, South Carolina back to the misty mountains outside of Asheville where we may form the "Uncle Ernie and his ole Lady Commune" and go back to nature before the "Big Darkness" comes!
If you like to stay connected with us and get an early warning before the "Big Darkness" comes then send in what you can and if you send in at least a picture of old Ben Jammin' Franklin or it's equivalent in check or postal money order I'll send you one of my few remaining copies of "W the Movie" and you won't have to wait until next Christmas to buy the DVD or download it as an MP4. Be the first on your block to hear me say, "That son-of-a-Bush did what?" Or hear W curse me saying, "That god damned Uncle Ernie!" I guarantee that you've never seen anything like "W the Movie!"
Page --- 426 --- 05-22-09
No Change For The Changeling
No Change for America
By Ernest Stewart
"Change: transitive verb 1 a: to make different in some particular : alter b: to make radically different : transform c: to give a different position, course, or direction to2 a: to replace with another b: to make a shift from one to another : switch c: to exchange for an equivalent sum of money (as in smaller denominations or in a foreign currency) d: to undergo a modification of e: to put fresh clothes or covering on ." ~~~ Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
"We spent hundreds of millions of dollars building an appropriate facility with all security precautions at Guantanamo to try these cases, I do not believe they should be tried in the United States. We should at the right time close Guantanamo, but I don't think that it should be closed in terms of transferring people here." ~~~ Sinator Jim Webb D/Virginia
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone
Big Yellow Taxi ~~~ Joni Mitchell
The Changeling has been at it again! Not only is he not bringing needed change but he seems to be going out of his way to keep and cherish the very worst parts of the Bush Junta's various war crimes, acts of sedition, and treason!
His latest 180 degree turn involved those soon-to-be-released torture photos that they're trying desperately to keep secret even though there are court orders to make them public. Barry is doing everything in his power to cover up these war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by his puppet masters, "The Crime Family Bush." He seems to think that photos of happy GI Joes and GI Janes anally raping prisoners with broom handles and all those hot lesbian torture photos might upset the Sunday-go-to-meeting crowd. Zeus help us if the religiously insane started demanding an end to war, murder, and coveting thy neighbors oil supplies as their "good book" says! Yes, I know, that's hardly going to happen but still you never really know, do you?
Instead of appointing a prosecutor to bring the former Junta up on "capitol" capital crime charges for mass murder, genocide, illegal wars, etc. Barry is trying his best to sweep it under the rug and out of sight of the Sheeple whose attention span is about 12 seconds. This 12-second span explains why some 62% of Americans still thinks Obama's doing a good job! He is also arm-twisting over in Britain so they don't spill even more of the beans about their involvement with the "Crime Family Bush" and the U.S. Con-gress in these crimes. It's truly a worldwide cover up and one going on at the behest of our government! Your tax dollars at work, America!
Of course, Barry has had to do some pretty tricky acrobatics to keep from bringing charges for the stuff we hung a bunch of Germans and Japanese for doing. And we even imprisoned U.S. soldiers for doing the same thing in the Philippines. And then there is his support of illegal wiretapping of US citizens. You'll recall his flip/flop on the FISA bill? In barely 100 days, he's broken dozens of major campaign promises. Ergo I wouldn't be surprised if someday soon we see Obama look into the TV cameras and then zip down a zipper and out of what has plainly been an "Obama Suit" steps Old "Deadeye Dick" Cheney who looks into the TV camera and tells America, "Go fuck yourselves!"
In Other News
Oops, is that trouble in paradise I see? It seems that not only the Party of No is against closing Gitmo but so are the leaders of the Demoncrats as well. The Dems have cut off funding to close our concentration camp in Cuba so Barry can't bring the tortured to our shores for more of the same. What? You don't think we torture people in American prisons? Think Again!
The real reason for not bringing them here and trying them fairly in a court of law rather than in a military kangaroo court is, if brought here, the truth would come out about our string of concentration camps throughout the world. Not to mention the fact that over 95% of those we've kidnapped, tortured, murdered, and maimed were innocent. It's not that our super maxes couldn't hold them. Even the few real "terrorists" that we have would be no different or difficult then any American mass murderer. 40 years down line and Charlie Manson and his "family" are still behind bars without a single problem.
For the same reasons that Obama isn't revoking and repealing the many acts of treason from the Bush Junta, the Senate and House won't allow the prisoners to come to America and be given their day in court. It has nothing to do with security and everything to do with keeping the truth from coming out. Have we had trouble holding the group that tried to blow up the WTC in 1993? We have not! Of course, famous fascists like U.S. District Judge John Bates, a 2001 Bush appointee, says we don't have to charge some prisoners at all and can hold them forever, even after death, regardless of what the Constitution says. You'll recall that as Smirky said, "It's just a fucking piece of paper" after all! You may also remember that Bates got appointed in February 2006, by Chief Justice John (the enforcer) Roberts to serve as a judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Kangaroo Court. Like Bates, Roberts is another "Crime Family Bush" appointed toady.
If your Sin-ator or Con-gress person is against closing Gitmo and bringing them here you might want to write them and seriously question them as to their motives while pointing out the truth to them and see what their reaction to the truth is. As old "Mark Twain" once said:
"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly American criminal class except Congress."
And Finally
As the best "French Kisser" in all of Chile Verde once said, "Life Senior, she is a bitch!" and so is raising money in this day and age! Fortunately, some of you have responded and have put us on the path to our goal but most of you have not! On what we need for a year's operation most other magazines couldn't run for a week!
I realize, of course, you being who you are, are no captains of industry or you wouldn't be here to begin with. You don't buy the bullshit that the corpo-rat owned mainstream media sends "oozing out of your TV sets," or radios or computers. If you lived inside a Walt Disney inspired happy bubble of "someday my Prince will come" you wouldn't be here as I'd certainly burst that bubble. You're hip and the reason you tuned into Issues & Alibis was you don't need lectures, but "just the facts, Ma'am!"
For over eight years, we have provided this essential service at no cost to any of our readers. For the last three years we have had to ask ya'll to chip in and help defray the five grand in costs we incur getting it out to you. We need to raise about a grand by June 12th and we can be publishing again by June 19th. We'll still need to raise about three grand more by the end of September to publish another year. We're working on a Café Press site to sell books, DVDs, panties, coffee mugs and such with the profits going to pay the magazines bills, in the meantime...
Do what you can do! Oh and, Up the Revolution!
Page … 427 … 05-29-09
The Lies That Bind
By Ernest Stewart
"... in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying." ~~~ Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. 1, ch. 10
"Promising equal treatment to some is fundamentally different from promising equal treatment for all. Promising treatment that is almost equal is fundamentally different from ensuring truly equal treatment." ... California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno in descent
"A vacation is what you take when you can't take what you've been taking any longer!" ~~~ Unknown
I see where our beloved Changeling (or as some have called him "Bush Lite") is breaking more campaign promises and adopting even more of the last Junta's acts of treason as his own.
For example, Barry has started issuing "Signing Statements," something the Demoncrats used to whine about and say were illegal under the "Crime Family Bush." Barry used one this week after signing legislation aimed at curbing financial fraud in the mortgage industry. This includes a provision that creates an independent panel to investigate the root causes of the nation's economic downturn. A panel that would have subpoena power; it would be independent of Congress. Barry is reserving the right to claim executive privilege if the commission seeks information or documents that the White House considers to be beyond the bounds of public information and/or privileged communications and negotiations within the executive branch. I'm having a déjà vu. How about you? This is the first one I'm aware of but there will be many more to follow no doubt!
Next Barry decided that some people, like the ruling elite, are above the law, and others, like the defendants in following case, are beneath the law and can't be tried in a US court but can be held forever and ever with out trial. This is because they have no evidence and just don't like these folks. I mean, we have tortured them hundreds of times and yet they still haven't told us what we want to hear. My guess is Barry and the boys will eventually bring back those witch trial tortures. You know, the ones where prisoners are thrown into a pond and if they drown then they're innocent but if they swim, they're guilty. It's close enough to waterboarding that I'm sure many Rethuglicans will sign on to it! The administration has floated a possible plan with Congress that would seek legislation allowing the government to hold suspected terrorists without trial indefinitely on U.S. soil. Civil liberties and human rights groups who criticized the Bush administration's detention policies are definitive in their opposition to Barry's bright ideas. "It's really crossing a constitutional Rubicon," said Jonathan Hafetz, of the American Civil Liberties Union. Now couple that with Barry's ability (inherited from Smirky) to call anyone he likes a terrorist and thus all rights to a speedy trial as guaranteed by Amendment VI to the Constitution will be gone. You'll remember that Amendment VI says:
"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
Let's not forget about Robert Gates' appearance on the "Today Show." Bob has been busily preparing a first strike against Iran at Barry's bidding and Tel Aviv's prompting. Gates said:
"Presidents always ask their military to have a range of contingency plans available to them. And all I would say is that, as a result of our dialogue with the president, we have refreshed our plans and "all options" (see nuclear first strike) are on the table."
So how do you like the "Changes" so far, America? Me neither!
In Other News
I see that bigotry and stupidity won out in Kalifornication. The California extreme court upheld the proposition 8 debacle that said some people aren't equal under their law, thereby legalizing second-class citizenry. The court went on to say the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples married before this lunacy was voted upon will be allowed to stay married but those who weren't no longer have the rights others have. This is the same bunch of whackos that made the Groppenfuhrer their fearless leader and now face bankruptcy for their stupidity. Of course, eventually proposition 8 will be overturned by ballot and the bigots will have to direct their hatred elsewhere.
In the meantime maybe they'll try again to outlaw marriage between blacks or Jews or you name it. What is good for the goose is good for the gander as we really don't need to be equal under the law, do we? In Michigan they stole the rights of children of gay and lesbians couples. Oh they didn't mean to do it but they did and it still stands. Even if the children are straight, they have no rights and this was done in the name of Jesus, too! Which is funny to me because from what I can see, Jesus and his 12 boy friends were obviously gay. These Nazi bigots may be in for quite a surprise when they get to their heaven and Jesus talking with a lisp tells them to go to hell!
The gay folks could, of course, take themselves and their taxes to one of the many states that have decided that everyone is equal and let California sink into the ocean where it belongs. Imagine, Iowa is far hipper than California! I know if I were gay and living in California, they could kiss my lily-white ass before I'd pay a penny in any tax to the state. Can you see the boycott that's coming California? If you think your economy sucks now, just wait! Then again, it just may set off the revolution that this country so desperately needs! You can bet that the sh*t just hit the fan and I guarantee that this isn't the end of anything but rather the beginning. And for the smug brain-deads who voted for this disaster, remember if they can take these people's rights away, they can take your rights away, too, and no doubt will!
And Finally
I'm going on a housesitting vacation of sorts for the next two weeks. The lad and his better half are getting married and going on their honeymoon so I'll be going back to Asheville to watch over the mountain and Frannie the dog and Polly the cat. I've not had a vacation since 1996 and after spending a year with Sheriff Lucas Buck and the strange folks down here in Trinity, South Carolina, even housesitting will seem like two weeks on Waikiki beach! Trouble is, my better half, Victoria, must stay behind to labor in the salt mines of Trinity to keep a meager roof over our heads and food upon the platter!
If during this time we receive enough money, we'll restart the magazine and publish a new issue on or about June 19th. If not, I'll have a new rant and will continue to pester ya'll for money until we get enough to continue! Providing, that is, that Barry hasn't ended the world or Internet during the next few weeks!
Page … 428 … 06-19-09
The Doctor Jekyll Presidency
By Ernest Stewart
"All human beings... are commingled out of good and evil." ~~~ Dr. Henry Jekyll
"A group of medical opportunists have taken upon themselves the dictatorial authority to declare the threat of a sweeping epidemic of SWINE FLU which they said was similar to or related to the 1918 epidemic of Spanish influenza which wiped out 20,000,000 people world-wide. This declaration was supposed to scare all the people into their vaccination centers to be shot full of experimental vaccine poisons, while they, the promoters, raked in the profits." ~~~ Eleanora I. McBean, Ph.D., N.D. ~ 1976
Watching the full moon crossing the range.
Riding The Storm Out ~~~ REO Speedwagon
Just like that master of the English language, Yogi Berra, who once said, "This is like deja vu all over again," I'm having similar thoughts about the Changeling! Haven't I seen this all somewhere once before?
Doesn't Barry's ability to promise one thing, then turn right around and do the very opposite ring a few bells, America? I've been having "flash backs" on the 19th century Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson who published his most famous novella way back in 1886. You'll remember it was, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." You may recall that it was the story of a very intelligent man, a doctor, in fact, who, when he took a drink of his "special formula" changed into a monster. I know a lot about this as my ex-wife Georgia had a similar problem with alcohol too! She could take a single sip and go from a caring, intelligent, wonderful person to a raving, maniacal monster right before your eyes! Stevenson disguised the booze as a potion the doctor made but I think it was probably just a Harvey Wallbanger that Dr. Jekyll mixed up!
Which brings us to Barry.
Barry, like the good doctor, is an intelligent man with similar degrees, i.e., B.A., LL.B, J.D., LS.D, and seems by all outward appearances to be the people's candidate when nothing could be farther from the truth! Barry, you may recall, was swept into office promising change and has delivered pretty much, same ole, same ole! He decried all of Bush's various acts of treason and yet has defended most of them with all the vigor that he posses. So much for change!
Of course, it was obvious to anybody who took the time to investigate Barry's actions as a Sin-ator that he was just shucking and jiving and was already bought and paid for by the bankers, telephone companies and other corpo-rat goons! While some call him "Bush Lite," I'm not so sure that he is even that. He's more fanatical about the Zionazi's in Tel Aviv than was the "Crime Family Bush." At least Papa Smirk kept Israel on a leash but under Barry, it's the other way around. Every day I keep hearing Yogi's words echo in my mind and every day we keep getting deeper and deeper and deeper into the doo doo. You may recall that Stevenson's doctor met an unhappy fate and I'm afraid so will we, America!
In Other News
I see where they're getting ready to inoculate school children with some designer poison to protect them from Mexican swine flu. You'll recall that this flu is now a pandemic and is without a doubt the least deadly flu in the history of mankind. Which makes me wonder did it come from an American owned pig farm outside of Mexico City or from a beaker in some lab in Langley?
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Cerberus er Sebelius (I get those two confused, don't you?) wants all American schools to schedule inoculations for all of our children with something that isn't even ready yet or perhaps is waiting just for an excuse much like the "Patriot" Act was.
What's wrong with this you might ask? Well, for one thing, normal yearly flu, in the time that this flu has been here, i.e., six months, would have killed around 18,000 to 20,000 Americans. This flu has killed a couple of dozen, so why the hurry to give the children shots that they obviously don't need? What's really behind this? Why has the media which seldom reports the regular flu gone bonkers over this? What are their corpo-rat masters up to? Why is the hair on the back of my neck standing up?
Some think this round of flu is just the first step for a killer flu that's waiting in some CIA beaker for phase two. I think even if these new inoculations are being done out of the goodness of the government's heart (yeah I know) that more kids will die from the inoculation than have died from the flu and that's the upside. With the elite wanting to get rid of about 6 billion of us what better way to start than this? Along with the economy, which is heading for a place that will make the 30's depression look like a "Swiss Picnic" by comparison, several new wars to fight until the funds run out, and the North American Union etc. etc. etc. I think I'd keep the kids out of school that day, just to be on the safe side!
One last thought, you may recall the last time we had one of these flu scares it was the "Bird Flu" which was going to kill us all. That time "Crime Family Bush" member deputy fuhrer Donald Von Rumsfeld made over $5 million dollars profit on "Tamiflu!" I wonder who will cash in on this scare, don't you?
And Finally
I'm feeling much better now! After a ten-day vacation, high in the Blue Ridge Mountains (yes there is more than one meaning for this statement) I've returned to Trinity, refreshed, relieved and ready to rock!
While the lad and his better half flew off to Costa Rica for their honeymoon, I sat upon the front deck of "Spider Cottage" observing nature as the sun, moon, stars and red tailed hawks circled lazily overhead and lulled me into a peaceful, restful, mind clearing, laze! Just the thing I needed to reface the political horrors of these here United Snakes!
While the magazine lay dormant for the last two months, saving us about a grand, we managed to take in just enough to start it up again. With one bill paid, we still have two bills to go before we can settle in and just publish the facts, Ma'am, just the facts!
Whether we can afford to do this is totally up to you as we can no longer afford to publish out of our own poor pockets. We can barely afford to keep hearth and home together and some porridge in the pot!
With bills coming due in July and September this maybe a very short run unless we can get your help. So send us what you can as soon as you can and we'll keep on sending you the truth, the important facts that you need to know to survive in this "Brave New World!"
Page --- 429 --- 06-26-09
The War Is Here To Stay
By Ernest Stewart
Hurray I awake from yesterday,
Alive but the war is here to stay.
1983 ~~~ Jimi Hendrix
"And when I say "all," I mean everyone - young and old, from every background, all across the country."
~~~ President Barack Obama ~~~
"I could digress and say that you have the ability to give magnificently gentle kisses, or that I love your tan lines or that I love the curves of your hips, the erotic beauty of you holding yourself (or two magnificent parts of yourself) in the faded glow of night's light - but hey, that would be going into the sexual details we spoke of at the steakhouse at dinner - and unlike you I would never do that!"
~~~ Mark Sanford to his Argentine lover Maria ~~~
I see that the war in Afghanistan will soon be over! After all the Changeling has sent in the Marines and I'm sure that already the "situation is well in hand!" They'll soon do to the Afghanis what they've already done to the Iraqis, i.e., blow everyone into tiny bits in order to save them from themselves!
I remember as a lad in the U.S. Army meeting my first "sea going bellhop" and his "thousand mile stare!" They called it that in those days (a thousand mile stare) although today most would say that "his lights were on but there was nobody home!" Unfortunately for the Afghanis Barry has sent thousands of these automatons into the south and they are spreading out and are attacking everything that moves.
Add to them our junior birdmen who are bombing everything that hasn't already been bombed to dust (and some things that have) from Kabul to Lahore and we have another example of Barry doing just the opposite of what the public elected him to do! You remember that was to end the wars and prosecute the "Crime Family Bush." Our latest trend is first to bomb some village, school, or day care, then wait 'til they bury the dead and bomb the funeral! I guess that's to keep the relatives of the recently dead from joining the resistance? You really have to admire those Pentgoon planners. NOT!
Barry, assured the Egyptians the other day that we're not making war on Islam just on Islamic countries. Look out Iran! If our CIA backed "green revolution" doesn't overthrow the elected government of Iran, we'll send in our Israeli lackeys to nuke a few Iranian cities into a radioactive dust that will settle over our good friends the Indians. I hope that New Delhi can take a little joke, don't you?
But all you tree hugging, pinko, anti-war types take heart as, at the rate we are going, we'll soon have to end the wars because we're several steps beyond bankrupt! So when the Chinese, Russian, and British call in their markers and the DOW hits 100 we'll be bringing the troops back home. Of course, they may have to hitch hike to get back but back they will come just in time to round us all up for the work camps, er, "Happy Camps!" Don't you just love change, America?
In Other News
Speaking of change I got this letter from Barry the other day...
Dear Friend,
Last week, I announced United We Serve - a nationwide call to service challenging you and all Americans to "volunteer" this summer and be part of building a new foundation for America.
And when I say "all," I mean everyone - young and old, from every background, all across the country. We need individuals, community organizations, corporations, foundations, and our government to be part of this effort.
Today, for the official kick off of United We Serve, members of my administration have fanned out across America to participate in service events and encourage all Americans to join them.
The First Lady is rolling up her sleeves and getting to work too. But before she headed out today, she asked me to share this message with you.
A Message from the First Lady...
Our nation faces some of the greatest challenges it has in generations and we know it's going to take a lot of hard work to get us back on track.
While Michelle and I are calling on every American to participate in United We Serve, the call to service doesn't end this fall. We need to stay involved in our towns and communities for a long time to come. After all, America's new foundation will be built one neighborhood at a time - and that starts with you.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama
Yippee, I guess we've all been drafted into the "Brown Shirts", or will be if we don't volunteer! Ya'll remember what happened to the Brown Shirts when they weren't needed any more? 1984 has finally arrived, 35 years late but better late than never, huh?
And Finally
We're getting ready to move from our digs here in Trinity, South Carolina and I can't really say I'm going to miss it all that much, with one possible exception. That exception being the Looney Tune adventures of South Carolina's governor, Mark Sanford. If you thought Sarah Palin was cuckoo you ain't seen nothing yet, folks!
If you don't know who Sanford is? He's like a cross between Jerry Lewis on acid and Adolph Hitler, i.e., he's a bad joke. Sanford, you may recall, refused $700,000,000.00 from the stimulus fund to get things going in this chronically depressed state where unemployment is running neck and neck with California and 38 of the state's schools are among the very worst in the nation. When asked why we wouldn't take the money, Mark compared supporters of the stimulus package to Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. You're saying that Mark and that statement makes no sense? Well, Duh! Do you see what I'm on about?
The Republicans who control the state legislature have revolted against Mark on many occasions and overrode his veto on the stimulus package. That sent Mark off in a tizzy.
Mark disappeared the other day without telling anyone where he was going which left the state leaderless (in this case not a bad thing) and ran off to Argentina. Mark first said that he went to Buenos Aires to drive the costal highway. Trying to drive along the coast could frustrate a visitor to Argentina. In Buenos Aires, the Avenida Costanera is the only coastal road, and it's less than two miles long; not something, that would take up a week's time!
His disappearance caused much anxiety amongst the politicians and much laughter and speculation amongst the populace. He told his office he was going to hike the Appalachian Trail but his car was found at the Atlanta airport causing many to think he was off to Argentina to hit on a few cocktail waitresses as his wife and family hadn't a clue where he was. When he returned Mark finally admitted what we thought to be true all along, that he was having an affair with an Argentinian, the surprise was that it was a lady and not the traditional Republican male prostitute. Apparently, Mark rejected Obama's stimulus package as he had one of his own! After his announcement, Mark resigned as president of the Republican Governors Association. This is a bit confusing to this reporter because to my way of thinking this makes him the perfect choice to head the Republican Governors Association! I mean, doesn't it? Whether or not he can hang on to the South Carolina governorship remains to be seen, especially as he apparently used tax payer monies for his trip!
Yes, we'll no doubt miss the antics of Mark when we're gone, so I'll just close with... "Don't Cry for Mark, Argentina!"
*****
We don't sell our readers new cars, fancy homes or designer clothes. We don't advocate consumerism nor do we offer facile solutions to serious problems. We do, however, bring together every week writers and activists who are not afraid to speak the truth about our country and our world. The articles we print are not for the faint of heart.
As access to accurate information becomes more difficult and free speech and the exchange of ideas becomes more restricted and controlled, small publications and alternative presses disappear. Issues and Alibis may soon join that list.
We aren't asking for much-not thousands of dollars a month, not tens of thousands a year. What we need is simply enough money to cover expenses for the magazine. A few thousand dollars a year. A few hundred dollars a month. We cannot continue to go into debt to publish Issues and Alibis but at the same time we cannot, in good conscience, go quietly about our daily lives, remaining silent in face of the injustices perpetrated by our leaders and our government. So we need your help. We need your spare change. A dollar, five dollars, whatever you can contribute. Every penny makes a difference.
Ernest & Victoria Stewart
2009 part a
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