Lauren Johnson Wrote:He seems to model himself after Berlusconi, minus the bunga bunga parties -- so far.
Each dictator to his own. I wouldn't be surprise to see Trump's name in lights (flashing ones) on the White House, and casinos in or near D.C. I think Trumpf will make Berlusconi look like an a small-time politician-thug....but yes, they suffer from the same personality disorders and lack of care for those they were elected to help. They both are billionaires intent on using office to make themselves even richer and more powerful as the goal.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
Perhaps we should hope that there will be a similarity, because Berlusconi ended up in court facing three cases for fraud, abuse of office and bribery of Senators. His trial for abuse of office lapsed due to the statute of limitations.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
24-11-2016, 10:30 AM (This post was last modified: 24-11-2016, 12:34 PM by Cliff Varnell.)
Cliff Varnell Wrote:
Peter Lemkin Wrote:
David Guyatt Wrote:
R.K. Locke Wrote:Strange that there hasn't been any terror attacks or mass shootings in recent months. Maybe all the crazed loners are preoccupied at the moment.
Or a stand down order was sent... ::hush::
...or they are not needed to scare the People...Trump is doing a good enough job of it.
Here in the US we had a workplace revenge shooting by folks who just happened to be Muslim, and we had a guy who couldn't handle being both gay and Muslim freak out in a nightclub.
That's it.
There are mass shootings all the time in the States, but on that rare occasion the gun nut (and they're always gun nuts) happens to be Muslim the right-wing loses their shit in fear.
Jihadi terrorism may be a problem in Europe, but over here it's practically nothing.
The 9/11 attacks look like a Saudi intelligence operation aided and abetted by Dick Cheney.
The Boston Marathon bombers were not devout Muslims by any means, and a lot of folks think it was a US intel drill.
The Chattanooga shooter and the Fort Hood shooter were Jihadis.
The Buena Vista Township killer isn't a proven Jihadi -- the victims were not killed by beheading.
2011 Waltham throat slittings are unsolved.
In terms of actual Jihadi attacks in the U.S. there is practically nothing compared to killings by right-wingers -- the OKC bombing in '95, the Atlanta Olympics bombing in '96, the 2015 Charleston church killings, the 2015 Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs and other abortion provider killings, the 2014 Jewish Community Center killings outside Kansas City, the 2012 Sikh Temple killings outside Milwaukee, the 2008 Tennessee Valley Unitarian church shootings, countless gay bashings, and nowadays scores of Trump-inspired hate crimes across the US.
What's more of a threat in the USA -- Radical Muslims or Radical Christians?
David Guyatt Wrote:Or a stand down order was sent... ::hush::
...or they are not needed to scare the People...Trump is doing a good enough job of it.
Here in the US we had a workplace revenge shooting by folks who just happened to be Muslim, and we had a guy who couldn't handle being both gay and Muslim freak out in a nightclub.
That's it.
There are mass shootings all the time in the States, but on that rare occasion the gun nut (and they're always gun nuts) happens to be Muslim the right-wing loses their shit in fear.
Jihadi terrorism may be a problem in Europe, but over here it's practically nothing.
The 9/11 attacks look like a Saudi intelligence operation aided and abetted by Dick Cheney.
The Boston Marathon bombers were not devout Muslims by any means, and a lot of folks think it was a US intel drill.
The Chattanooga shooter and the Fort Hood shooter were Jihadis.
The Buena Vista Township killer isn't a proven Jihadi -- the victims were not killed by beheading.
2011 Waltham throat slittings are unsolved.
In terms of actual Jihadi attacks in the U.S. there is practically nothing compared to killings by right-wingers -- the OKC bombing, the Charleston church killings, the 2015 Planned Parenthood attacks in Colorado Springs, the 2014 Jewish Community Center killings outside Kansas City, the 2012 Sikh Temple killings outside Milwaukee, the 2008 Tennessee Valley Unitarian church shootings.
What's more of a threat in the USA --Radical Christians or Radical Muslims?
There are grounds for agreement here, but also grounds for disagreement.
Generally I agree, although my interpretation of many of these events would - again generally - be far more cynical than yours. However, the point being made was that most of the ones I originally noted several days ago are officially categorized as Jihadi/Muslim nut-job terrorist acts (and not accidentally so in my opinion). But since you choose not to define your terms, I choose to respond in that same vein.
By the way there are some very good threads here (and elsewhere) on the Oklahoma bombings that you might wish to peruse --- because we are entering into the discussion of a subject matter that is deeply political in nature.
But if we're going to now discuss these US events in the context of what is genuine jihadi attacks and what are not, then the playing field needs to be even.
Thus it is important to point out that in Europe it is equally the case that there are huge questions hanging over the Charlie Hedbo attack, the Jewish supermarket killings, the Belgium airport bombings, London 7/7 etc., etc.
Back in the day of Gladio the assumed perpetrator of x number of terrorist bombings/attacks were fingered as the "Red Brigades" who were "associated" with the nassy ol' Soviet Union. In fact, the terrorist attacks were organized under the auspices of NATO to create a "strategy of tension" to ensure that popular democracy did not exert itself and vote for communist or left leaning governments in western Europe.
Thus, returning to the supposedly Jihadi and other acts of terror you mention, what I and many others suspect is that most of these were also Gladio style strategy of tensions events --- that have been activated in both the US and the EU --- presumably to keep the military-intelligence funding faucet gushing as well as keeping the public in fear and compliant as democracy is slowly choked and fascism/oligarchical control exerts an ever greater grip.
Ergo: the original premise (offered several days ago) was flawed to begin with.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Peter Lemkin Wrote:...or they are not needed to scare the People...Trump is doing a good enough job of it.
Here in the US we had a workplace revenge shooting by folks who just happened to be Muslim, and we had a guy who couldn't handle being both gay and Muslim freak out in a nightclub.
That's it.
There are mass shootings all the time in the States, but on that rare occasion the gun nut (and they're always gun nuts) happens to be Muslim the right-wing loses their shit in fear.
Jihadi terrorism may be a problem in Europe, but over here it's practically nothing.
The 9/11 attacks look like a Saudi intelligence operation aided and abetted by Dick Cheney.
The Boston Marathon bombers were not devout Muslims by any means, and a lot of folks think it was a US intel drill.
The Chattanooga shooter and the Fort Hood shooter were Jihadis.
The Buena Vista Township killer isn't a proven Jihadi -- the victims were not killed by beheading.
2011 Waltham throat slittings are unsolved.
In terms of actual Jihadi attacks in the U.S. there is practically nothing compared to killings by right-wingers -- the OKC bombing in '95, the Atlanta Olympics bombing in '96, the 2015 Charleston church killings, the 2015 Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs and other abortion provider killings, the 2014 Jewish Community Center killings outside Kansas City, the 2012 Sikh Temple killings outside Milwaukee, the 2008 Tennessee Valley Unitarian church shootings, countless gay bashings, and nowadays scores of Trump-inspired hate crimes across the US.
What's more of a threat in the USA --Radical Christians or Radical Muslims?
There are grounds for agreement here, but also grounds for disagreement.
Generally I agree, although my interpretation of many of these events would - again generally - be far more cynical than yours. However, the point being made was that most of the ones I originally noted several days ago are officially categorized as Jihadi/Muslim nut-job terrorist acts (and not accidentally so in my opinion). But since you choose not to define your terms, I choose to respond in that same vein.
By the way there are some very good threads here (and elsewhere) on the Oklahoma bombings that you might wish to peruse --- because we are entering into the discussion of a subject matter that is deeply political in nature.
But if we're going to now discuss these US events in the context of what is genuine jihadi attacks and what are not, then the playing field needs to be even.
Thus it is important to point out that in Europe it is equally the case that there are huge questions hanging over the Charlie Hedbo attack, the Jewish supermarket killings, the Belgium airport bombings, London 7/7 etc., etc.
Back in the day of Gladio the assumed perpetrator of x number of terrorist bombings/attacks were fingered as the "Red Brigades" who were "associated" with the nassy ol' Soviet Union. In fact, the terrorist attacks were organized under the auspices of NATO to create a "strategy of tension" to ensure that popular democracy did not exert itself and vote for communist or left leaning governments in western Europe.
Thus, returning to the supposedly Jihadi and other acts of terror you mention, what I and many others suspect is that most of these were also Gladio style strategy of tensions events --- that have been activated in both the US and the EU --- presumably to keep the military-intelligence funding faucet gushing as well as keeping the public in fear and compliant as democracy is slowly choked and fascism/oligarchical control exerts an ever greater grip.
Ergo: the original premise (offered several days ago) was flawed to begin with.
I seriously question whether San Bernadino or Orlando were actual Jihadi attacks.
I know they are officially considered such, but I'd speculate these gun nuts would have gone off anyway.
7/7 was so fishy it'll make ya grow gills.
I suspect a real false flag attack is in the works by people under Trump, who they'd treat like a mushroom.
Cliff Varnell Wrote:Here in the US we had a workplace revenge shooting by folks who just happened to be Muslim, and we had a guy who couldn't handle being both gay and Muslim freak out in a nightclub.
That's it.
There are mass shootings all the time in the States, but on that rare occasion the gun nut (and they're always gun nuts) happens to be Muslim the right-wing loses their shit in fear.
Jihadi terrorism may be a problem in Europe, but over here it's practically nothing.
The 9/11 attacks look like a Saudi intelligence operation aided and abetted by Dick Cheney.
The Boston Marathon bombers were not devout Muslims by any means, and a lot of folks think it was a US intel drill.
The Chattanooga shooter and the Fort Hood shooter were Jihadis.
The Buena Vista Township killer isn't a proven Jihadi -- the victims were not killed by beheading.
2011 Waltham throat slittings are unsolved.
In terms of actual Jihadi attacks in the U.S. there is practically nothing compared to killings by right-wingers -- the OKC bombing in '95, the Atlanta Olympics bombing in '96, the 2015 Charleston church killings, the 2015 Planned Parenthood attack in Colorado Springs and other abortion provider killings, the 2014 Jewish Community Center killings outside Kansas City, the 2012 Sikh Temple killings outside Milwaukee, the 2008 Tennessee Valley Unitarian church shootings, countless gay bashings, and nowadays scores of Trump-inspired hate crimes across the US.
What's more of a threat in the USA --Radical Christians or Radical Muslims?
There are grounds for agreement here, but also grounds for disagreement.
Generally I agree, although my interpretation of many of these events would - again generally - be far more cynical than yours. However, the point being made was that most of the ones I originally noted several days ago are officially categorized as Jihadi/Muslim nut-job terrorist acts (and not accidentally so in my opinion). But since you choose not to define your terms, I choose to respond in that same vein.
By the way there are some very good threads here (and elsewhere) on the Oklahoma bombings that you might wish to peruse --- because we are entering into the discussion of a subject matter that is deeply political in nature.
But if we're going to now discuss these US events in the context of what is genuine jihadi attacks and what are not, then the playing field needs to be even.
Thus it is important to point out that in Europe it is equally the case that there are huge questions hanging over the Charlie Hedbo attack, the Jewish supermarket killings, the Belgium airport bombings, London 7/7 etc., etc.
Back in the day of Gladio the assumed perpetrator of x number of terrorist bombings/attacks were fingered as the "Red Brigades" who were "associated" with the nassy ol' Soviet Union. In fact, the terrorist attacks were organized under the auspices of NATO to create a "strategy of tension" to ensure that popular democracy did not exert itself and vote for communist or left leaning governments in western Europe.
Thus, returning to the supposedly Jihadi and other acts of terror you mention, what I and many others suspect is that most of these were also Gladio style strategy of tensions events --- that have been activated in both the US and the EU --- presumably to keep the military-intelligence funding faucet gushing as well as keeping the public in fear and compliant as democracy is slowly choked and fascism/oligarchical control exerts an ever greater grip.
Ergo: the original premise (offered several days ago) was flawed to begin with.
I seriously question whether San Bernadino or Orlando were actual Jihadi attacks.
I know they are officially considered such, but I'd speculate these gun nuts would have gone off anyway.
7/7 was so fishy it'll make ya grow gills.
I suspect a real false flag attack is in the works by people under Trump, who they'd treat like a mushroom.
Hope they stay out of my neighborhood...
Not just those in my view. Most we have mentioned have elements that point towards false flag, including the Boston Marathon bombing, Charlie Hedbo and so on.
If more false flags take place it'll mean business as usual is continuing as usual. Whether under an Obama, a Clinton or a Trump the national security state will continue to manipulate events to suit their own agenda.
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
27-11-2016, 01:43 PM (This post was last modified: 27-11-2016, 02:22 PM by Magda Hassan.)
Appalling choice and totally unsuited. For every reason imaginable. Good bye public education.
However, I just found out her brother is Eric Prince. Prince of Darkness. Ex Blackwater. Ex Xi.
Edited to add during the Bush Administration she spent two years as the finance chairman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and worked closely with the Administration on "various projects." What ever that is...
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx
"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.
“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Interesting commentary from the SunTelegraph/Torygraph if u prefer
Martin Luther King - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Albert Camus - "The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion".
Douglas MacArthur — "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
Albert Camus - "Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear."
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: What I saidand sometimes it got taken out of contextis that there was an investigation going on and that I wanted to spendthat history, 10 years from now, trust me, no one will remember these damn emails. What they will worry about is people not having healthcare. They'll worry about climate change. They'll worry about poverty. They'll worry about infrastructure. And my point wasand the media often doesn't play that whole statementI said, you know, "I'm sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails, because that's what the whole campaign is about. Why don't we talk about, A, the collapse of the middle class, income and wealth inequality, healthcare, education, how we move the country forward?" And that was the thrust of my point. It is not my styleand sometimes, amazingly enough, I get criticized for itfor running, you know, ugly and negative ads. I prefer to stay on the important issues facing the American people. There are other areas we could have gone, as well, that Trump went into, that we chose not to do it, because I think, in my own state, I can tell you that people do want to hear a serious discussion on serious issues. That's what we tried to do.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, let me tell you the reason I ask this now. This issue that was hijacked by the right-wing media and Trump himself, but the issue of the secretary of state setting up this private email server, and she has her husband, who's the former president and running a multibillion-dollar foundation, meeting with heads of state, as well, and yet they don't have accountability herewhat this means not only for them, but if this becomes a model, for example, for President Trump. He runs a vast business empire.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Absolutely.
AMY GOODMAN: He is the top government official. If he decides to set up his own private email server and decides that he can disappear tens of thousands of email, there won't be a government record of what is actually going on.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Right, right. I mean, I think that's a fair point. And I think, with Trump, the major point is this guy has business enterprises all over the world. And you're looking just at immense, immense conflict of interest. Every decision that he makes is going to impact his bottom line of some business that he owns all over the world. So it remains a huge issue. And I got your point, too, obviously, you know, and that is the valid criticism of having a private email when you're doing government business.
AMY GOODMAN: And now his Cabinet appointments, your thoughts on the direction he's going?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, I think this is whereand what our job isin fact, as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to be, I think, in Indiana on Monday night. And we're going to go to the Carrier plant, where you have a situation where Carrier isyou all remember air-conditionersthey make furnaces in Indiana, actually. And they decidedthey announced last year they're going to shut down two plants in Indiana, throw 2,100 workers out on the street. This is a company that pays top dollar to its CEOs, head guy makes $14 million. Couple of years ago they had a severance package for a former CEO. You know what the guy got as a golden parachute? $171 million. And now what they want to do is shut the plants down and move to Mexico and hire people in Monterrey for three bucks an hour. So it becomes symbolic of a disastrous trade policy. And we're going to be there.
But to answer your question, what we have got to do now, to those people who voted for Trump, because they said, "Well, you know, this guy sounds reasonable"Trump sent out a tweet where he says, "I am the only Republican candidate for president who will not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid." Right? Well, believe me, every American, every person in this country, if I have anything to say about it, will know precisely what is going on with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, because, as you've indicated, they are beginning to appoint people who are typical right-wing Republicans who want to privatize and cut Social Security. And our joband we've got it. We've got every statement that Trump made during this campaign. And we are going to hold him accountable. Every person in this country will know what he said and what he is doing. Trump said, "One of the issues that I think a whole lot of people are deeply concerned about is the high cost of medicine in this country." Trump said during the campaign he was going to take on the pharmaceutical industry. He was going to allow for Medicare to negotiate prices with the drug companies, allow people to reimport medicine from Canada and other countries, where the price is often half as much as it is in the United States. Well, you know what? We are going to remind the American people of precisely what Donald Trump said about that and many other issues.
AMY GOODMAN: So now you have someone like Betsy DeVos chosen to be the new secretary of education, sister of Erik Prince, who, you know
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Blackwater.
AMY GOODMAN: is founder of the mercenary firm Blackwater.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: And multibillionaire, a multi, multibillionaire, I think, very active in politics in Michigan.
AMY GOODMAN: And massive supporter of voucher system for education. And then you have Mike Flynn, the national security adviser nominee. And this goes to another point ofthough it's critical to hold Trump accountable, starting with the Democrats, on the issue of the kill list, President Obama's kill list, his using extrajudicial powers, executive powers, to kill peoplecan be Americanswithout a judge, a jury, without them being charged with a crime. That's President Obama, and he's extending those powers. Your thoughts on President Obama's use of the kill list and then the idea of President Trump using his kill list?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS: Well, look, you know, when we talkobviously, I disagree with Obama in usingunilaterally deciding who's going to live or die. And, look, it goes without saying that, you know, we are concernedI am deeply concernedabout virtually everything that Trump is talking about and has talked about in his campaign and the kind of people that he is appointing. But what's going through my mind right now is to figure out the most effective way that we can fight back. That's really what I am focusing on right now. And what I will say, and what I believe to be the case, the Republicans are many things, but they're not dumb. And if millions of people begin to stand up and fight back, they're going to be thinking twice about doing very bad things.
I'll give you just one example, Amy. A couple of years ago, sad to say, not only allvirtually all Republicans wanted to cut Social Security. There were a number of Democrats who did, as well. And some of us in the Senate, organizing a defending Social Security caucus, we worked with senior groups all over this country. We got millions of signatures on petitions coming in. And you know what? They backed off. They did not cut Social Security.
So, I think if there'sif there's a lesson to be learned right now, when we are fighting for huge stakeswe're fighting for the futurefuture of the planet in terms of climate change. We're fighting for the future of American democracy. We have got to mobilize people and rethink our commitment in terms of what our role is in the political process. And the message I just want to make here in Philadelphia and across this country is it is not good enough to say, "Well, hey, I vote every two years. I vote every four years." That's fine, but that is not good enough. What we need to do is to be thinking every day the kinds of role we can play in educating and organizing and mobilizing people to defeat this horrific agenda. And I do believe that if millions of people do stand up and fight back, we can stop him from doing some really awful things. And that's what I am trying to do right now. And we've got to mobilize people to do that.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
A conservative activist organization named Turning Point USA (TPUSA) has released a "Professor Watchlist" to provide information about university academics across the United States who "advance leftist propaganda in the classroom." Turning Pointa nonprofit organization that promotes right-wing values of free markets and limited government and connects with young, college-age conservativestargets nearly 200 professorsfor purportedly displaying liberal bias. The sources of the information are primarily news sites such as Campus Reform, The College Fix and Hypeline, which is also run by Turning Point. The offenses of the professors listed include promoting a ban on guns, shutting down hate speech, blaming patriarchy for sexual assaults, linking Donald Trump with slavery, and suggesting that children should be raised without racial prejudices. Turning Point doesn't just give the professors' names and supposed bias incident. The list also includes where they teach, what they teach and publicly available photos of them. The work is being done to "expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students," according to the TPUSA website. The creation of the watch list is still in progress, and students are encouraged to submit names of professors. However, only those who "have already been reported somewhere else" will be added. The website says the organization's aim is to protect students and expose professors who attack conservative beliefs. "TPUSA will continue to fight for free speech and the right for professors to say whatever they wish," the website reads. "However, students, parents, and alumni deserve to know the specific incidents and names of professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls." Matt Lamb, a regional director of Turning Point, told The New York Times, "We aim to post professors who have records of targeting students for their viewpoints, forcing students to adopt a certain perspective, and/or abuse or harm students in any way for standing up for their beliefs." Though the timing of the watch list coincides with white nationalistsgathering to celebrate Donald Trump's election victorywhile Trump himself has "disavowed" white nationalist movementsTurning Point does not have ties to the "alt-right," according to its founder, Charlie Kirk. Slate's Rebecca Shuman reports:
[Kirk] told me in no uncertain terms that he "denounce[s] completely" last weekend's nauseating neo-Nazi Woodstock, and that the watch list's launch had been planned for "months." Its dovetailing with the white nationalists' coming-out partyand the corresponding rash of grim, incredulous press coveragewas an unfortunate coincidence, and one that caused an unanticipated surge of traffic thanks to heightened media attention in the wake of the launch's inauspicious timing. The intention, he said, is not to threaten or harm the professorshis commitment to free speech means he'll "fight to the death" for their right to disagree with himbut to raise "awareness" for students and the parents who often pay their tuition.
No matter the intentions, Schuman wrote, the watch list is damaging. "Intentionally or not, the Professor Watchlist, simply by being a self-styled watch list, has aligned itself with the ugly, frightening new political status quo," she wrote. The targeted professors have denounced the list for critiquing their published writings rather than their work in the classroom. "I learned that I'm a threat to my students for contending that we won't end men's violence against women if we do not address the toxic notions about masculinity in patriarchy … rooted in control, conquest, aggression," wrote University of Texas, Austin, professor Robert Jensen. "This rather thin accusation appears to flow from my published work instead of an evaluation of my teaching, which confuses a teacher's role in public with the classroom." On her Facebook page, Heather Cox Richardson, a professor in the history department at Boston College, defended herself from accusations of being leftist, writing, "I made the list not because of complaints about my teaching, but because of my public writing about politics. … I also teach the history of American conservative beliefs, as well as those of liberalism." President-elect Trump has not commented on the list, but his supporters have shown their support for outing "leftist" professors
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
