such important stuff (oil, invasions, lies & democracy)

 .. sooo little time ...

   .. but if I don't do it ...

     .. who will? (As if anyone would care.)

-=*=-

[Designed as comment to Pipelinestan (but .gt. 4095 chars)]

I present the following in publication order, not order of importance. (IMHO, the most important theme is survival (at all costs, i.e. as highest priority, avoid a possibly terminal climate catastrophe); after that comes living in peace = justice via truth (NO WAR!)) The 'snips' I give can only ever be indicative; although it's a lot, it should *all* be read - but suit yourself, as ever. Onwards:

1) Ankara, Moscow and Washington in the Eurasian Pipeline Calculus
By F. William Engdahl
17 June 2009
  «Calculus has two main variants - derivative and integral. The Eurasian energy pipeline geopolitics between Turkey Washington and Moscow today has elements of both. It is highly derivative in that the major actors across Central Asia from China, Russia to Turkey are very engaged in a derived power game which has less to do with any specific state and more to do with maintaining Superpower hegemony for Washington. Integral as the de facto motion of various pipeline projects now underway or in discussion across Eurasia hold the potential to integrate the economic space of Eurasia in a way that poses a fundamental challenge to Washington’s projection of Full Spectrum Dominance over the greatest land mass on earth.» 
[oilgeopolitics/Engdahl]

My comment: Note the keywords, "power game" & "Full Spectrum Dominance." Petroleum (oil, gas) is useless 'in the ground' (except as in being conserved for the future); it is being 'dug up' and burned - everywhere, by everybody (fastest!) Either 'fair' markets (i.e. sharing) or 'free' markets (i.e. highest bidder) - would be arguably "OK" - but 'murder for spoil' simply isn't.

2) West’s Afghan War and Drive into Caspian Sea Basin
By Rick Rozoff
July 10, 2009
  «The Pentagon and its NATO allies have launched the largest combat offensive to date in their nearly eight-year war in South Asia - Operation Khanjar (Strike of the Sword) with 4,000 US Marines, attack helicopters and tanks and Operation Panchai Palang (Panther's Claw) with several hundred British engaged in airborne assaults - in the Afghan province of Helmand. The American effort is the largest ground combat operation conducted by Washington in Asia since the Vietnam War.» 
[globalpolicy/Rozoff]

My comment: Note the keywords, "West’s Afghan War" & "The American effort." In actual fact, there are several countries 'fighting' (= illegally invading, see 'Nuremberg') - alongside the US, including (to our great shame) Aus. But Q: "WHY?" See the use of "West." The AusBC does the same, as in "The West worries that Iran is building an A-bomb." (IF Iranian bomb THEN defensive *only*.) I scream: why do other countries associate with the (vile, criminal & murdering-to-steal) US anyway? Where is truth, honour & justice?

3) Our Wartime Propaganda
By Seumas Milne
"The Guardian" - July 13, 2009
  «From the way official Britain pontificates about the war in Afghanistan, you'd never know that most British people want troops withdrawn by the end of the year and only a minority have supported the US-led campaign for years.» 
[ICH/guardian/Milne]

My comment: We can assume the same or similar obtains here in Aus; why else did we see a 'bipartisan' show of support for 'our boys' continuing to murder for spoil in Afghanistan on the AusBC (& other-wheres) last week? Q: Did the AusBC comment? A: No, of course not (the AusBC are part of the c-word of lying propaganda being perpetrated on us, we the sheople.) Note: 'bipartisan' anything is *deeply* undemocratic - it gives us, the electors, *ABSOLUTELY NO CHOICE!*

4) Into the Inferno
Hollow Language and Hollow Democracies
What can we do, now that democracy and the free market are one?
By Arundhati Roy
July 17, 2009 "New Statesman"
  «While we’re still arguing about whether there’s life after death, can we add another question to the cart? Is there life after democracy? What sort of life will it be? By democracy I don’t mean democracy as an ideal or an aspiration. I mean the working model: western liberal democracy, and its variants, such as they are.» 
[ICH/newstatesman/Roy]

My comment: We are endlessly spruiked at, vis-à-vis democracy. Almost all and always lies; a properly functioning democracy requires at least these three: (1) a fully & honestly informed electorate, (2) a wide and honest choice of candidates, and (3) when elected, our so-called 'representatives' *must* represent us, we the sheople, all the while accounting for majority opinion & protection of minorities. What we are actually getting is *NONE* of these.

-=*=-

A final comment: Yes, there are at least four themes, (1) oil, (2) invasions, (3) lies & (4) democracy - which blend into each other, and our lives. Yes, we need oil/gas (=fuel, but see mooted 'greenhouse' calamity) - and the pipelines to deliver them; *NO*, the way to do it is *not* war (think: so-called 'free' - or any markets, *not* coercion), and in so-called 'democracies;' we the sheople should be a) fully & honestly informed (i.e. not lied to), so that b) we can extend, withhold or withdraw our approval, as to how our lives might properly mesh with our once jewel-like planet's ecosphere. But Q1: What are we getting? A: Filthy & disgusting lies, in support of wars = murder to steal.

Q2: Is that really all there is?

Bon reading!

-=*end*=-

PS Important!

Q: Why does the US murder to steal?

A: Because they simply can't ever be fair. A fair exchange is no robbery; a 'normal' resource-harvesting business would be cost-plus (i.e. some 'fair' mark-up, 10% say); the US wants to turn that on its head. Sooo, instead of the sovereign resource-owners getting the major benefit, the US wants just about the lot - less some unavoidable pittance for the natives. Naturally enough, most natives are unhappy with being so extremely exploited - thus the US murdering force...
 

descent into despair (Israel, US vs. Iraq; next Iran?)

 .. disengaged ...

   .. because disenfranchised ...

     .. we poor and powerless passenger-sheople

-=*=-

In response to DL's "Before Iraq War There Were Massive Protests, But In Run Up To Attack Iran We Do Nothing. Why?"

-=*=-

What we didn't know 'back then' i.e. before the illegal invasion of Iraq:

a) That our so-called 'leaders' - (1) would lie and (2) wouldn't listen (to us); but worse:

b) That our so-called 'leaders' - don't give us a choice (bipartisan).

c) That our so-called 'leaders' - have gone criminal/rogue.

d) That the MSM and 'our' AusBC - would lie to us.

e) That the UN - is worthless.

f) That there's no hope -

g)  and no justice.

-=*=-

Q: What made the run-up to the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq 'special?'

A: The internet; for the first time we could 'see around' the corrupt and venal MSM, with their lying pushed-paradigm propaganda.

Before that there were 'tips' available; I recall being disturbed by the way the US slaughtered Saddam's fully defeated and retreating army - trapped as they were, on the Highway of Death between Kuwait and Basra. Then there was the US/NATO bombing in bits of Yugoslavia. But the strongest 'hint,' and worst and most horrible example by far, is the so-called 'modern' state of Israel - a 61+ year long 'should not occur' situation, involving, like 'Nuremberg,' all the collected war crime evils:

  «To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.» 
[wiki/Crime against peace]

-=*=-

That is what happened in poor hapless Palestine 61+ years ago; a force of illegal aliens invaded and ejected what remnants of the legal owner/occupants they didn't immediately slaughter (see Deir Yassin massacre, say); Israel has been a supreme international crime scene ever since. Ditto lately for Afghanistan and Iraq, beginning in Pakistan and Iran (possibly? - unavoidably?) next.

The alien Zionists morphed their illegal invasion into a brutal occupation, just as the US in Afghanistan and Iraq. The illegal invaders plan to stay; no one seems capable of ejecting them, nor bring justice to the hapless inhabitants.

The UN not only failed to prevent the aggressive US invasions, it 'green-lighted' the alien Zionists' illegal invasion all those years ago. The UN is worse than useless, it is culpable.

And all the while, the MSM fed us disgusting, lying rubbish.

-=*=-

Q: What else made the run-up to the 2003 illegal invasion of Iraq 'special?'

(For one, we cried "Leave it to Blix!" - How silly we were.)

A: 'Back then' we had some hope.

Now *we do not*.

-=*end*=-

PS

Q1: Why has the human race been dragged down into this horrible pit of iniquity?

Q2: Where are the adults; those concerned with justice?

-=*=-

Ref(s):

[1] disengage —v. (-ging) 1 detach, loosen, release. 2 remove (troops) from battle etc. 3 become detached. 4 (as disengaged adj.) a at leisure. b uncommitted.  disengagement n. [POD]

[2] disenfranchise v. (also disfranchise) (-sing) 1 deprive of the right to vote or to be represented. 2 deprive of rights as a citizen or of a franchise held.  disenfranchisement n. [ibid.]

[3] despair —n. 1 complete loss or absence of hope. 2 cause of this. —v. (often foll. by of) lose or be without hope (despaired of ever winning). [Latin spero hope] [ibid.]

[cross posted]
 

continuing to defy the world community (??! USrael vs. Iran)

 .. who and why ...

   .. are the targets ...

     .. for such *idiotic* lies?

-=*=-

In plain text: What message is being sent and to whom - that couldn't be better said in plain text? (Yeah. Looping, as usual.)

In fact, I'll make the loop both explicit and infinite:

1. Q: Why lies?

IF no good answer THEN go to (1).

Building on the cognitive dissonance thus invoked, I can add further ambiguities by reusing labels:

-=*=-

1. In the first instance, lies[1] are only ever deployed to deceive.

2. There seems little point in deploying any *discoverable* lie; all lies deployed should be *utterly* believable - otherwise the liar is likely to suffer 'blow-back.'

A recent example is the *erring* accusation made by Turnbull; it turned out that the basis for Turnbull's accusation was itself a lie - and a pretty shonky[2] one, to boot. Turnbull suffered enormous (one could hope terminal) 'blow-back;' his lies blew up Oh, so publicly, right in his lip-curling merchant-banker's face. As well as Turnbull's credibility collapsing precipitously to zero, an 'asset' was 'blown,' namely the Liberal mole Grech who was thus 'outed.'

We could consider other remarkable lies, like the recent B, B & H ones - egregious lies which led to perhaps 1.3mio Iraqi deaths, or the outright and filthily festering lie which is so-called 'modern' Israel; the whole nation of hapless Palestinians targeted from day#1 in '47/8 down to the present moment, targeted to be murdered in order for the invading alien Zionists to steal Palestinian lands, 61+ bloody years of genocide with no possible end even in sight. (Horrendous injustices; thanks, but "No, thanks!" to USrael.) But moving on (however slightly), we can consider my title: "continuing to defy the world community" being aimed at Iran - or N.Korea, almost the same difference; N.Korea actually having built an A-bomb whereas Iran is 'merely' accused of wanting one.

There is no "world community" in the sense of nations cooperating voluntarily; from GWBush's "with them or against them" rhetoric, there are the US & Israeli rogue regimes plus their amorphous cloud of coerced and cowardly quislings, and then some rest. As for "defying," consider Biden's recent "sovereign nation" gaffe; USrael does what it/they want to, there is *no* concerted world-will and *no* effective international law to defy. Another Q to no effective international law: Why the b-hell not? Why talk of laws, then violate any/all at whim? Why such horrid hypocrisy?

-=*=-

"All politicians lie!" - but not only. The 'all politicians' gambit was invented specifically because of Howard; it's a *proof* - if any extra were needed - of the baffling ability of the sheople to vote against their own interests, plus an attempted 'cover-up' of the embarrassment Howard caused to some of his own 'cheer-squad.' As well as politicians lying, the (corrupt & venal) MSM gets in on the act - and again, 'not only;' big bits of the AusBC lie along with the 'corporate' MSM. Still worse; the MSM + AusBC add their own lies to the mix, making themselves active accessories to the rogue regimes' crimes. I've recently documented a few occurrences of this accessory process (keyword "Barker.")

(A note on these AusBC types: In general, they're presumed not stupid. So exactly why do they lie to us? Lying is *vastly* harder than 'truthing' - and the target of AusBC lies is us, we the sheople - who actually pay the damned AusBC's bills. It is *literal* treachery! Boo! Hiss!)

-=*=-

The rub; long story short: Consider 3 groupings; (1) the liars (attempting to conceal criminal acts), (2) the 'real' targets (i.e. those who stand to be attacked, murdered, plundered etc.) - and (3) us, we the sheople - the 'collateral' targets.

In reverse order;

3) We the sheople - are involuntarily in the Mushroom Club; kept in the dark and fed on bullshit. In the Anglo/Judaic 'world,' it doesn't matter who we vote for, we always and only get warmongers, only the *degree* of war making can differ; "NO WAR" is simply *not* on offer.

2) The 'real' targets - currently & primarily Iran & N.Korea say, but secondarily (one supposes) Russia & China - will not be deceived for the smallest part of a pico-sec.

1) The primary lying rogue regimes, spouting rubbish on the way to committing *real* crimes; genocidal murdering to thieve. (String them all up!)

-=*=-

Fazit #1: The only people who can be deceived are we, the sheople - who, in our current pseudo-democracies can't influence the active criminals one iota. Howard even dared to openly show his evil contempt for us; called us "A mob!" - and then proceeded to totally ignore our no war wishes.

Fazit #2: Since we the sheople are powerless, Q: Who can stop the crims? A: Only so-called 'leaders' *with* some power.

Fazit #3: Why, then, do so-called 'leaders' like Merkel, say, apparently cooperate with the criminals? A1: No power, or A2: No guts?

-=*end*=-

PS

Middle East
Jul 16, 2009
Behind the mind games in the Gulf
By Richard M Bennett
  «However, should an Israeli attack be a failure, a more than possible scenario, then the US may have little or no alternative but to finish the job, as a failed attack would leave Iran enraged and vengeful, and if it is not already, set it on the path to nuclear armament.» 
[atimes/Bennett, ibid.]

My comment: Looks pretty awful. Iran, as N.Korea, would *never* attack, for obvious reasons. If Iran were to have a bomb, it would be *entirely* for self-defence - *and* it would work; it would get the USraeli threat 101% "*off* the table." Iran could then relax and enjoy its universal right to live in peace. Instead, USrael keeps making these ugly, illegal threats, tending to *even more* Nuremberg-class crimes.

Then, more looping: Where are the adults??!

(...'playing' with war, while the climate-change time bomb ticks on ...)

-=*=-

PPS Being taught *not* to lie is in and of itself a vicious swindle!

PPPS (No, this is the last:) In the background, Ameri-voices on AusBC/RN; an absolute insult at any time. "We're at war!" - claims some Yank. Then, so called 'rogue elements.' But (and it's a HUGE but); both 'freedom' and 'energy security' could be gained - totally without corruption - through a properly free and honest market. What's so hard about that? There's just *no valid reason* for the US resource wars - apart from a) sheer greed and b) US criminality.

Once more and final (for today:) Where are the adults??!

-=*=-

Ref(s):

[1] lie2 —n. 1 intentionally false statement (tell a lie). 2 something that deceives. —v. (lies, lied, lying) 1 tell a lie or lies. 2 (of a thing) be deceptive.  give the lie to show the falsity of (a supposition etc.). [Old English] [POD]

[2] shonky Austral./NZ informal
adjective (shonkier, shonkiest) dishonest, unreliable, or illegal, especially in a devious way: shonky political goings on. [Oxford Pop-up]
 

criminal calculations (US vs. Iran)

 .. freedom for what ...

   .. heaven later ...

     .. or iPod now?

-=*=-

Preamble: Anyone thinking that the current US 'culture' is the end of the line; that "That's all there is," is a) presumed to be not open for argument, and b) apparently prepared to settle for *A LOT* less than even a very poor 2nd best.

-=*=-

  Janis Joplin Mercedes Benz

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?

Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Lord, won’t you buy me a color TV? 

-=*=-

Anonymous @ 5:06 PM ... underestimate the pull of Western culture ... McDonald's, blue jeans and Coco-Cola; and don't forget the rap music (spelt with a silent C.)

-=*=-

We can see what the US has wrought in Iraq:

Middle East
Jul 11, 2009
The US takes to the shadows in Iraq
By Michael Schwartz
  «Who owns Iraq?
In 2007, Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, told Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward that "taking Saddam out was essential" - a point he made in his book The Age of Turbulence - because the United States could not afford to be "beholden to potentially unfriendly sources of oil and gas" in Iraq. It's exactly that sort of thinking that's still operating in US policy circles: the 2008 National Defense Strategy, for example, calls for the use of American military power to maintain "access to and flow of energy resources vital to the world economy".» 
[atimes/Schwartz]

As usual, one should read the lot, and if one does - as obviously I have done - one finds that it appears that Iraqis have not 'just' lost their oil to the illegal, marauding invaders, but their entire economy/country 'to boot.' Not at all surprising; see Kennan's Memo PPS23:
  «Furthermore, we have about 50% of the world's wealth but only 6.3% of its population. This disparity is particularly great
...
The day is not far off when we are going to have to deal in straight power concepts. The less we are then hampered by idealistic slogans, the better.» 
[wiki/Memo PPS23]

Kennan wrote PPS23 shortly after WW2.

The US pushed-paradigm propaganda slogan is "Truth, justice and the American way," the system that they actually operate under is: hide criminal truth with lies, there is no justice, and the American way is to steal everything they possibly can, and kill any objectors.

The most recent proof is described by Schwartz above.

-=*=-

Now, I'm quite willing to allow that half of the Iranian population is slavering to join "Western culture," especially since yes, they are young; they simply never experienced the US/UK-sponsored shah - 20yrs of brutality and yes, they want iPods now - and nose-jobs for the young ladies. We know that the US and UK have been propagandising as hard as they can by broadcasting into Iran; a form of cultural *AND* psychological warfare.

But, like dogs chasing cars, would it be good for the young Iranians if they got their current hearts' desires?

-=*=-

Consider what we've got: a crippled (non!)democracy; a dumbed-down sheople, a diet that sends a whopping proportion ghastly-obese, gas-guzzling cars - producing sooo much pollution it may soon kill off our life-supporting climate, and the 'summit' of our culture is mind-killing flat/wide-screen rubbish from Hollywood.

I wouldn't wish our (Anglo/Judaic/Western) version of 'heaven' on an enemy - which, not just BTW, Iran *isn't*.

[cross posted]
 

pure (anti-war) gold (we the sheople vs. the monstrous US)

 .. found via DL's ...

   .. pointed to by Brian@12:03 AM, bravo!

     .. there are a few; are there any more such adults?

-=*=-

Presented, verbatim:

34. http://stopwaroniran.org/iran2009endorse.shtml

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden’s new public threat against Iran underlines the dangers of a new war in the Middle East and the desperate need for political clarity within the anti-war movement concerning Iran.

With his June [sic;Jul] 6 comments on ABC’s This Week, Biden opened the door to a military attack when he said that the U.S. would not stand in the way of an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, calling such an attack is Israel’s “sovereign right.” Israel, he said, was “free to do what it needed to do.”

The Geneva Conventions call it a war crime even to threaten to attack another state. This is not just rhetoric. Only with U.S. satellite, radar and the use of air space over U.S.-occupied Iraq could the Israeli bombing raid take place. Biden should be denounced as a war criminal for making such a reckless and dangerous encouragement of unprovoked war against Iran.

A U.S.-funded Israeli attack would immediately unleash a wider war. It would have catastrophic results for the whole Middle East and the Iranian people, even beyond what has already been done to the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine.

Biden’s new threat comes during a full corporate media offensive against Iran. Its timing should serve as an alert to the entire progressive and anti-war movement. U.S. aircraft carriers, destroyers, nuclear submarines, jet aircraft and drones clog the seas that wash up on Iranian shores.

In this dangerous war climate the entire U.S. and Western corporate media is again demonizing the Iranian government. It is using the media and well-funded, subversive organizations in a massive effort of destabilization and sabotage. Too often in the past this same combination of phony “human rights” organizations, who are given endless coverage in a corporate media frenzy, have helped to create a war climate through demonization, frauds and fabricated charges. This has happened before every U.S. attack or invasion, along with a concerted campaign of psychological warfare and internal destabilization in the target country.

One such organization leading this effort is the newly formed “United 4 Iran,” a fraudulent “left cover” for organizations funded by the U.S. government and big corporations. It is designed to use “human rights” and “democracy” to justify U.S. threats to attack Iran. This group has called phony “human rights” internationally coordinated protests for July 25. United 4 Iran is a front for organizations awash in money from the National Endowment for Democracy, a CIA cover organization for intervention, subversion, covert action in countries around the world. These same groups are supported by funds from Rockefeller, Soros, and Mellon foundations.

It is telling that United 4 Iran makes NO mention of the U.S. wars currently ripping apart the entire region. Hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops along with an army of private military contractors and mercenaries have created havoc in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan. U.S. funds and equipment have supported Israeli occupation and war on Palestine, Lebanon and Syria. Nor does this group mention the decades of U.S. military encirclement, sanctions, sabotage, attempted and actual coups against the people of Iran.

If these organizations were genuinely concerned with democracy, human rights and respect for elections why have they not called emergency actions in defense and support of the democratic elections in Gaza? In Gaza there was a democratic election overseen by Western international monitors. Hamas won overwhelmingly. The U.S. funded Israeli response was blockade and starvation against an entire people. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli bombardment.

How we respond to these actions is a crucial question for the movement. Are we for another brutal U.S. war or against it?

It is profoundly disturbing that United for Peace and Justice UFPJ and other anti-war organizations have chosen to add their endorsement to these actions targeting the Iranian government. These anti-war groups should be in the forefront of opposing current U.S. wars and threats of wider war.

Stop War On Iran urges them and other honest anti-war forces to reconsider their endorsement of the anti-Iran actions. Anti-war activists in the United States, while demanding an end to the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine, have an additional responsibility to oppose any military moves by the Pentagon or its allies against Iran and to oppose any moves by the former colonial powers to weaken Iran’s sovereignty.

The U.S. imperialist wars throughout the region are an effort by U.S. corporations to gain strategic domination of the vast oil and energy resources.

Since its 1979 revolution, Iran’s independence has been a thorn in the side of corporate billionaires in the U.S. and Britain and of the U.S.-funded Israeli settler state. When the Iranian people overthrew the brutal U.S.-backed shah dictatorship they finally regained control of their rich oil and gas resources. In 30 years time Iran developed industrially and vastly improved the educational and health level of the entire population.

Any intervention by the imperialist powers in Iran and any weakening of Iranian sovereignty will only diminish the rights of women, workers, and the access to democratic institutions there, just as it has happened in the rest of the region. Any intervention by the imperialists in Iran’s internal struggles is aimed either at aiding the side the imperialists see as more conciliatory to their plans, or to exacerbate the internal conflict in order to compromise and weaken the Iranian government.

U.S. wars and occupations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan have never brought democracy or human rights. They have brought only oppressive military dictatorships, massive refugee crises, torture and millions of deaths.

Also, we cannot forget that it is U.S. troops, military equipment, and bases that keep corrupt feudal anti-woman monarchies in power in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, as well as the brutal dictatorship in Egypt.

The hypocrisy of U.S. politicians is staggering, as they condemn the actions of the Iranian government while sweeping their own crimes under the rug. Iran’s elections and disputes are an internal matter, to be resolved by the Iranian people and not the governments of imperialist countries with agendas of dominating Iran and a track record of using internal issues to justify military invasion.

In this time of global capitalist crisis, when millions are unemployed and millions more facing evictions and foreclosures, we must demand that the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on current U.S. wars and the trillions that would criminally wasted in a new war be spent for jobs, health care and housing for poor and working people in the U.S. and around the world.

Comment by Karl Friedrich — July 11, 2009 @ 4:27 pm

-=*=-

My comment: I do so denounce, the rogue US regime(s) - as the rogue Israeli regime(s) - as filthy, premeditated war criminals of the Nuremberg class. Further, I call on *all* caring people, those who desire truth and justice, also to also so denounce. These criminals will not stop; they need to be stopped, and our only realistic chance is 'people-power.'

  NO MORE WAR! Put the crims in gaol!
 

enlightened freedom (AusBC + lies = betrayal)

 .. the Mushroom Club ...

   .. kept in the dark ...

     .. fed on bullshit

-=*=-

[updated 090712 - image added below]

-=*=-

Thesis: That we the sheople have been betrayed[1], and continue to be betrayed.

Lemma[2]: That there is no such thing as a 'justified' lie[3]; that any and all lies are designed to deceive, i.e. are deployed in an attempt to disguise some negative - to our enduring disadvantage.

Aim: Justice via truth; to live in peace with honour, and similarly to let all others so live. In short:

  "Fair go, ya mug!"

What & why: Our world is not merely non-optimal; we are immersed in crimes (often murdering to thieve crimes), and that's to our distinct disadvantage. A day-to-day illustration is the oil price; last year up to $US147, then down to $US33 earlier this year and now back up to $US70 or so. There is no *valid* (i.e. free market supply & demand) reason - the actual reason is price-manipulation by, among others, feckless and destructive speculators. It means that these speculators (some of the more foolish excepted) - obviously having excess money with which to gamble, are already rich possibly beyond avarice, aka obscenely rich. Yet they clearly want ever more. That's nothing other than sheer and utterly pointless greed - to our disadvantage, since we are forced to pay the manipulated excess prices - or walk, sit in the dark and/or freeze - depending on the oil-application.

I've mentioned 'murdering to thieve crimes;' there are non-capital crimes of scarcely lesser impact on us, as 'collateral' victims. Here I refer to the resource sector, mostly mining including hydrocarbons (i.e. fuels.) In 'cost-plus' accounting, something mined would be sold for what it cost to dig up, plus a (fair!) profit. When the realised price exceeds cost-plus, the amount by which it exceeds is generally termed economic- or specifically, resource-rent, also called "super" or "un-earned" profit. This is the rule rather than the exception - and it *seriously* rips-off the sovereign resource owners, namely mostly us, we the sheople. Mechanisms for recovery of the sovereign owners' due return could be by appropriate fair royalties, or by direct resource-rent tax; both also remarked by their near-total, effective absence.

A further and worse tending worst disadvantage that could mean the reverse of enduring is the still and ever more threatening excess-CO2 caused climate-change catastrophe; no, insufficient or the outright wrong response could mean a mass-extinction event - impacting not merely our once jewel-like planet's ecosphere, but directly upon us, we the sheople. Thus, the importance of truth.

-=*=-

Discussion: Q: IF betrayed, THEN how?

A: In at least these three ways;

1. Truth: Take, for example, our so-called 'democracy.' There is an implied covenant (of the people, by the people, for the people); in the Anglo/Judaic so-called 'representative' democracies, (a) voters *must* be fully and honestly informed, (b) there should be a fair selection of candidates (very difficult to nigh on impossible), leading to (c) representatives who *must* honestly represent the electorate. Note on the last: any so-called 'bipartisan' action is suspect; one which neglects a majority option (think: NO WAR!) is deeply undemocratic. Note then further, that 'under' both Howard & Rudd, 'our boys' are sent off to invade Afghanistan, Iraq, almost Pakistan and projected Iran. Returning to (a) and logically seen, a single lie pushed at the public is sufficient to destroy 'truth in politics;' when it's an avalanche of lies, we the sheople have no hope of any rational choice.

2. Justice:

Eight hours to work,
Eight hours to play,
Eight hours to sleep,
 - Eight bob a day!

No one can equitably maintain that "life was meant to be easy," nor that there's any such thing as a "free lunch." If we consider the field of human endeavour, we can do a few 'binary splits;' (a) into necessities (wardah, say) vs. luxuries (iPods) and (b) into capital vs. workers, as being here of interest. Amongst workers there're managers, artisans, slaves and bludgers - and public servants, say - the list is long and varied.

This section is to do with justice, what justice is *NOT* is inequitable prices, distributions and/or salary/wages; (a) when capital takes an unfair 'share' vs. what the workers get, (b) when some 'managers' or other predators tickle the till to the tune of squillions - when both (a) & (b) are happening to extremes - as we see that they are (especially notable at the moment in banks), then we know there's a problem. It would not be unrealistic for necessities to be provided *at cost*, and luxuries to be loaded with a rationing mechanism; what we need is fair pricing vs. what we've got, namely rip-offs right up to whatever the market will bear.

The excuse we get is "Well, profit drives entrepreneurialism;" (fairly obviously quite some truth to it), but it's also pointed out that most business 'sharks' do it mainly for the thrill; they'd hardly notice if a fair and progressive tax took most of it away.

What we *must* move to is sustainability.

3. Humanity: Reagan made it easy to sneer at any less fortunate; it's become a minor industry to identify victims & accentuate the sneering. In Aus, we've always had targets; council workers leaning on their proverbial shovels, dole-bludgers & single mothers etc.. It's part of the confected buy-off; instead of egalitarianism, we've been pushed into fake exceptionalism. It's actually a hate-crime; those who despise the less fortunate reduce themselves, and the less fortunate are driven deeper into despair. This discrimination comes as part-and-parcel with neoliberalism, as does the privatisation of necessary utilities & medicine for profit. Both these and other neoliberal mechanisms act to increase prices or decrease services or both, those on or below the poverty line must, perforce, miss out on something; think soup-kitchens, think homeless, think avoidable illnesses - or possible premature death. How humane is that?

-=*=-

Proof: "We hold these truths to be self-evident" should suffice, but we are considering our involuntary membership in the Mushroom Club ...

The 'best' (actually, of course, the absolute worst) example, is that of so-called 'modern' Israel. It is a should never have been allowed, monstrously unjust crime against the erstwhile legal owners and occupiers of Palestine. It doesn't take a genius to see that driving people out of their own houses, off their own land, at the point of a gun or worse, mass-slaughtering the poor, hapless Palestinians was a massive, genocidal crime of murder and theft. That it happened, and continues down to this very day, 61+ bloody years with no end of Palestinian suffering anywhere in sight, is a massive indictment of all those who did it, all those who support it, or all those who 'merely' fail to try everything to stop it.

The only reason that this massive crime continues is that it is continuously camouflaged - by our so-called leaders on the one hand (and recall bipartisan = deeply undemocratic), but more importantly on the other, the (quite obviously corrupt & venal) MSM - including big bits of the AusBC.

(I have listed often and elsewhere (one could try "wash your mouth out, Aunty!" as an example) - some 'objections' against AusBC reporting, one either 'believes' that the AusBC is an 'honest broker' - or not. IF the AusBC were to unfairly favour one party over another OR generally obfuscate OR report obvious untruths THEN certainly not. So Q: How do you plead, Aunty? A: ...)

Basically, all else is commentary. The exceptionalism of the Zionists ("Some g*d promised it to us!") together with the exceptionalism of the US ("Truth, justice and the American way!") - are all pure bullshit; the proof is what we see, namely murder for land and water in Palestine, murder for oil in Iraq, murder for pipelines - or 'just' for the US Empire in Afghanistan, increasingly in Pakistan and threatened for Iran; "All options!" These are the capital crimes, against which some AusBC reporting is to be measured; result: fail.

After the capital crimes come the neoliberal crimes, themselves preceded by and mixed in with the "Washington Consensus" (World Bank, IMF, WTO etc.) and colonial crimes of resource-rip-offs; the US with 5% of the world's population consumes 25% of the world's resources, some of the rip-offs are occurring here across our own wide-brown resource sectors (see Perkins' "Economic Hit Man"). These are the non-capital crimes, against which some AusBC reporting is to be measured; result: fail.

Q: Why 'fail?' A: Simply because these things have happened, 'hidden' in plain sight; the Israeli rip-off of Palestine, the US rip-off of the world, the capitalist rip-off of the workers - and I had to discover all these filthy crimes essentially for myself - because the AusBC either failed to report on these crimes, or reported in such a way so as to disguise them.

To end this section on proof, this: "Look over there! A living (actually, dying) example!" - I mean, of course, the US, and the mostly poor (getting ever poorer) denizens therein. Employment dropping precipitously; industry mostly outsourced, remaining manufacturing stuttering to a stand-still and health (actually sickness) insurance as good as unaffordable. House prices through the roof (as here too) and theirs now crashing, as is their until recently fabled consumption. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the Earthly paradise those rabid rioters were burning the streets in Iran to join; since Aus does an awful lot of "Monkey see, monkey do," it could be us in Aus, in a few years/weeks/days ...

-=*=-

Fazit: And sooo, our democracy is fatally crippled; the sheople dumbed-down, misinformed - and the AusBC up to their bottom lip in it.

-=*end*=-

PS Q: What's about "enlightened freedom?" A: Well, I was 'brought up' not to lie or cheat; theft and murder were considered sooo bad as to be literally unthinkable - yet there they are, the US as so-called 'leader' of the free world, and its illegitimate side-kick Israel, murdering and stealing for all to see. That's a contravention of all that's good, all that's moral - in other words, a contravention of The Enlightenment itself. You know, Liberté, égalité, fraternité - that sort of stuff? Also, quite recently, we had what may have amounted to an undisciplined rabble - if not insurrectionist sore-losers rioting in Iran. The AusBC, following the 'Western MSM' sided with the rabble, invoking 'freedom!' IF the insurrection was even partly a result of US covert operations, designed to undermine Iran (and on the balance of the evidence I've seen, it was), THEN the Iranian government had every right to defend its sovereignty. The AusBC should present proof that their reporting was unbiased and truthful - if it were able; I think not.

There are many possible lies, but only single truths, per event. As so-called professionals, the AusBC should be able to sort that out - one would think.

The AusBC could apply this principle:

  IF you can't say something true, THEN better say nothing at all.

-=*=-

Ref(s):

[1] betray v. 1 be disloyal or treacherous to (a friend, one's country, a person's trust, etc.). 2 reveal involuntarily or treacherously; be evidence of. 3 lead astray.  betrayal n. [from *be-, obsolete tray from Latin trado hand over] [POD]

[2] lemma
noun (PL. lemmas or lemmata )
1 a subsidiary or intermediate theorem in an argument or proof. [Oxford Pop-up]

[3] lie2 —n. 1 intentionally false statement (tell a lie). 2 something that deceives. —v. (lies, lied, lying) 1 tell a lie or lies. 2 (of a thing) be deceptive.  give the lie to show the falsity of (a supposition etc.). [Old English] [POD]

[Update - image added; see comment Jul 12, 2009 2:11:00 AM]

just whose fault is it (Israel)

 .. in response to DL @ ICH[1]

   .. (Well done & g'day Damian!)

-=*=-

From the day IL was born
 It was trouble.
 It was the thorn
 In the world's side.
 The world tried in vain
  ... but IL never caused all nothing but shame. 
[After The Rocky Horror Picture Show]

-=*=-

From my previous of 10:47 AM, Israel simply should not exist, since no authority on Earth could claim the legal right to dispossess the hapless Palestinians as was done in 1947/48 by the then new UN. It was done - but they had no right to do it; it was, if anything, an illegal deployment of force. Then, once 'in,' the Zionists went berserk, see Deir Yassin and similar, 61+ bloody years of horrifically brutal massacres.

Similarly, every square metre of Palestinian land stolen (mostly also by murdering force) since, is being illegally occupied, by the alien invading Zionists plus their immoral and irrational "G*d promised it to us!" hangers-on.

Something MLK said:

  «Without justice, there can be no peace.»

The only possible way to provide the illegally dispossessed Palestinians with justice is to reverse the original illegal act. There is no point in saying "Well, too bad: Israel exists get used to it," because (looping), there can never be peace without justice. Note here that I make an important distinction: although I maintain, as perfectly true by inspection, that Israel has *NO* right to exist, I mean no harm to individual Israelis; those guilty of murder and stealing should be gaoled, and any others should quietly fold their tents and return to whence they came. One hardly needs to be a genius to understand any of this, and the only thing that has enabled this monumentally vicious crime (i.e. the 'establishment' of Israel at the expense of the poor, innocent Palestinian people) - the only thing that has enabled this vicious crime to continue is the continuous camouflaging provided by the corrupt and venal MSM, including big bits of 'our' AusBC. Talk about shame!

But more: the corrupt and venal MSM with 'our' AusBC all up to their lying bottom lips in pro-Israel propaganda shit - could not themselves get away with their filthy lies - if it weren't for politicians - of basically all 'stripes,' and basically everywhere. Think every US president, think Aus PMs, think Sarkozy & Merkel. And now Biden, a 'heart-beat' away from being US president himself, 'green-lights' an invasion of Iran by Israel. All so-called 'democratic leaders,' all by their actions or absence of effective resistance supporting Israel - but not just, also supporting the illegal actions and threats made by every Israeli rogue regime from '47/8 to the present.

One of the few shiny examples of resistance to this filthy pro-Israeli propaganda is - ta ra! - Ahmadinejad from Iran.

Both the US and Israel continually threaten to attack Iran, using the now infamous "All options!" - phraseology which is deliberately designed to imply possible nukular.

-=*=-

I spoke of geniuses; see if any can draw the correct inference from the rest of the MLK quote:

  «He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.»

-=*end*=-

Ref(s):

[1] From the Information Clearing House front page 7Jul'09,
«The Iranian "Revolution" has failed: So it's back to the ‘Iran has nuclear weapons’ meme in order to pave the way for an attack against Iran in the hope that regime change can be affected that way.» 
[ICH]

[to be cross posted]
 

angry aunty AusBC (Orthodox Jewish mob's hate)

 .. imagine her outrage if ...

   .. place: not Israel but Gaza ...

     .. attack: not spit but DU, HE & WP

-=*=-

[Update 090715, photo below]

-=*=-

Reporter feels mob's hate in the Holy City
By Middle East correspondent Anne Barker
Posted July 6, 2009 09:02:00
  «Spit like rain

I found myself herded against a brick wall as they kept on spitting - on my face, my hair, my clothes, my arms.

It was like rain, coming at me from all directions - hitting my recorder, my bag, my shoes, even my glasses.

Big gobs of spit landed on me like heavy raindrops. I could even smell it as it fell on my face.» 
[AusBC]

I've noted Barker's reports recently, giving us the (lying!) pushed paradigm stacked up against the innocent but oil-rich Iranians. AusBC ME reporters are usually based in IL, they give us the standard slanted, one-eyed picture: Jewish good, all others (Arab, Muslim, Palestinian, extremist, insurgent, radical; anything but 'stalwart defenders of their own land, water and/or oil'). No-one, or none ever effectively, describes the actual situation 'on the ground,' which vis-à-vis IL is an alien invader (Zionists) murdering Palestinians in order to steal ever more Palestinian land.

61+ years of it: illegal, criminal; a whole Zionist race of crooks occupying stolen land.

-=*=-

Imagine Barker's discomfort, had she been in Gaza recently, when the 'Oh, so valiant, heroic and *super-moral*' IDF slaughtered around 1300 mostly innocent Palestinians. It wasn't spit raining down on the hapless Gazans, but US-donated high-explosive, possibly depleted uranium-tipped supersonic missiles, US-donated F16-delivered bombs, US-donated mortar or US-donated tank-fire, liberally sprinkled with big gobs of US-donated white-phosphorous.

-=*=-

You made your bed, Barker; sleep in it. And be thankful it was only hateful religious Zionist-morons' spit, not the hateful IDF's body-exploding DU tipped HE & flesh-burning WP.

-=*end*=-

PS What right does the AusBC assume, calling wherever it was "the Holy City?" Utterly outrageous.

Photo complements 'Barker bites' comment.

yaa, yaa, yaa (AusBC; US vs. Iran)

 .. Yankee voices on b-fast ...

   .. why do we 'buy' such rubbish ...

     .. some of it's not even *near* to the truth

-=*=-

Preamble: The 'standard' breakfast-bag has been temporarily replaced by a running-dog ring in - who's just about as bad. They could have a competition; "World's most corrupt presenter(ess)."

Thesis: that the AusBC is busily propagandising us. Well, one could say "That's a matter of opinion" AND/OR "That's opinion dressed up as fact" - both could be 'right' (as in 'correct') - but both (and worse), could be exactly how 'the right' pushes their (crooked!) paradigm. IMHO (recursion!) one simply cannot go wrong, if one assumes the worst - then at least doubles it.

To end this preamble, an injunction: Time to put up, or shut up.

-=*=-

One of the many (sneaky, underhanded) ways that the AusBC sets about propagandising us, is to broadcast stuff just the once, in out of the way time-slots, quoting other (i.e. not their own) sources, presenting opinion - or outright distortions if not actual lies - as fact, and then (damnably) by deliberately not documenting such 'infractions.' All of these sometimes come together, and so it was this morning, with a piece from CNN following the 'normal' news slot and before the 'embedded' news slot. I do not know, nor will I seek to find out, if this surreptitious piece of US-inspired slander is available as 'pod-cast;' IMHO that's an invalid form of documentation, being a) exceedingly tedious, b) expensive to download and c) non-text-searchable.

Exactly because they provide no (usable) documentation, I obviously can't 'prove' the allegation about this (blatant!) infraction; one simply needed to experience it. And as the (current) leader of the opposition found out to his enduring extreme cost, one really should try to be 101% sure of one's position. In this sense, then, I present this analogue:

Middle East
Jul 2, 2009
Iran awash with mistrust, despair
By Sara Farhang
  «"I don't see any space for civil action and organizing. How can we organize and address civil issues and concerns in a peaceful manner, when the government doesn't even take our votes into account?" he asked.» 
[atimes/Farhang]

My comment(s): First of all, it is *not* the CNN broadcast - but it contains much of what CNN said, and contains the same sort of 'blemishes.' (Distorted truth is by definition *not* the truth; that is to say, distorted truths = lies.) One easy way of pushing a distorted viewpoint is to quote 'vox-pops,' i.e. comments from 'people on the street.' There is no way of us knowing how many (100s?) of people were interviewed to select the few 'sound-bites' they do transmit.

My analysis: Under the theory we have learned, the Iranian president is a minor power wielder, if at all. In this respect, AND as both Mousavi & Ahmadinejad were allowed to run, it would not make a wet paper-bag full of difference who won. It would, however, be a total 'game-changer,' (detested Ameri-speak; spit!) - if some candidate were to be a potential (covert, corrupt) puppet. The 'supreme leader' is himself subject to control/choice (Qom); BUT the supreme leader's 'bosses' have now also lined up behind Ahmadinejad. (As has China, Russia - yeah; erstwhile US enemies - as seen by the (illegal!) interventionist US, and not so erstwhile; by nature, outlaws collect enemies.) It may well be, that many of Mousavi's supporters are genuine freedom-seeking democrats - or equally possibly, spoiled "iPod now!" inexperienced/deluded/immature youths/adults. Objecting to authority is a definition of an insurgent; those who keep it up now are really looking for trouble (i.e. 1st & foremost, Mousavi). Re-examining the protests, they went as good as immediately violent. That some militia wore no uniforms is a double-edged sword; *anyone* could go murderingly brutal - and blame the militia. We not only don't know, we can not know, what 'really happened.' Last 'but' here (and certainly not least): the US is known, by their own admission, to have targeted some $400mio for Iranian destabilisation (this doesn't count 'normal' CIA etc. budgets, nor the Oh, so super-cynical NED, say); it is 101% certain that if they wanted to they could deploy actual murdering 'black-ops' - and they are known not just to want to, they are obsessed - with attempting regime change, up to and including threats to nuke Iran, also by the illegitimate & murderingly outlaw sprog.

Means, motive & opportunity plus cui bono are all satisfied by US as the anti-Iran protagonist. Who could doubt its, or its proxies UK & especially Israel, of interference? Tell it to a judge.

To pretend otherwise, to propagandise otherwise, is to actively aid criminals - itself a crime, by the accessory mechanism.

-=*=-

One may contrast the above item and its implications, with this:

Greater China
Jul 1, 2009
COMMENT
China doesn't want Iran unstable
By Jian Junbo
  «China is an independent country; it is neither the world government nor the United Nations. Nor does it intend to police the world, despite its growing economic muscle. Hence, it is normal for China to refrain from commenting on the domestic affairs of another independent country.

Non-intervention in another country's internal affairs is a basic principle in China's foreign policy. Historically, non-intervention as a principle in international relations emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, was then affirmed by the League of Nations in 1919 and finally re-endorsed and consolidated by the United Nations in 1945.

As a developing nation-state on the road towards modernization, the People's Republic of China cherished this principle. Late chairman Mao Zedong warned his officials and Communist Party members, "We must never interfere in other countries' internal affairs but co-exist with them in equality."» 
[atimes/Jian Junbo]

As we know, the US performs a good (actually, bad) mirror-image of this balanced approach from China. For good measure, I repeat the notes to that article:

  «The Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence are:

Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Mutual non-aggression.

Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

Equality and mutual benefit.

Peaceful co-existence.» 
[atimes/Jian Junbo, ibid.]

Too bad the Anglo/Judaic US, UK, Aus & Israel totally violate these principles.

-=*=-

The proof of malfeasance is under our noses - only partly obscured by the smoke-screen of propaganda, also spread thickly by the AusBC. Shame and more: boo! Hiss! The truth may not set us free, but it can show us who the wicked perpetrators are.

As proof of AusBC perfidy, consider the crime-scene that is so-called 'modern' Israel. No just person on this planet (or any other) could have given the Zs 'permission' to occupy Palestine and eject the legal owners. Yet that's what the UN did. Similarly, no just person could have perpetrated such vicious crimes as Deir Yassin. Israel has from its inception and continues, 61+ years long now, to murder Palestinians to steal Palestine land. That the AusBC not merely 'airbrushes' but actively attempts to disguise this massive crime against humanity is such a proof of perfidy. A similar proof exists vis-à-vis the UN; despite perhaps 100s of resolutions since, it was the UN who/which originally 'enabled' Israel, as it 'enabled' the illegal invasion of Iraq - by failing to decry it (until too late), let alone by failing to stop it.

-=*=-

Fazit #1: That the AusBC propagandises us is both an offence and a tragedy; one absolute prerequisite for a properly functioning democracy is an informed electorate;

  reform - or go to gaol, Aunty.

Fazit #2: That the UN *allows* (by failing to prevent) such horrendous injustices, from '47/8 to now(!!?) is also both an offence and a tragedy;

  reform - or disband the UN. It is their supposed job to stop all war! Worse than stupid, worse than if they themselves murder; they actually provide cover for murderers. Utter disgust.

Fazit #3: There can be no peace without justice; until the malefactors are stopped, the disasters will continue - most probably getting ever worse - see Ir-Af-Pak, say.