Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Cue Tears For Fears...

Since the end of the proverbial "Cold War" in the late 80s and early 90s, most people would seem to agree that there has been one surviving 'superpower'.  Most of those self-same people would also identify that surviving 'superpower' as the United States.

But, as is usually the case, the majority is completely wrong.  Not that it's entirely their fault.  The majority is deeply involved in twitting the contents of its breakfast and the timing of its bowel movements to a breathlessly awaiting world.  The majority doesn't have time for such piddling details like who actually runs the Western hemisphere.

The only remaining 'superpower' is, of course, Israel, and curiously enough, since the end of the "Cold War", Israel has been struggling mightily to get someone else to bomb Iran into glass blobs.  If you don't believe me, then log off Twitter just for a moment and go and look up how long Israel has been trying to get someone else to fall on their sword in Iran.  From what I've found, it was around 1993.

Now you may disagree with me that Israel is a 'superpower', or THE 'superpower', but history and current events would argue against you.

Israel dominates US politics.  In the past week, that little sliver of desert on the eastern Mediterranean has been all over the news huffing and puffing at the UN General Assembly (for lack of a better term).  During one of Iran's presidential speeches, Israel stormed out of the chamber and was incensed that no one followed.  They did a little back-room arm twisting, and during the second speech, the US dutifully followed its puppet-master.

Another example can be found by (I know this is painful, but...) turn on any of the 'christian' broadcasting networks and check out John Hagee, or Benny (the Doo) Hinn, or any of the other useful idiots.  Listen to the amazing hoops these 'people' will jump through to defend and apologize for Israel.  Thanks to a convicted felon named Scofield, they have so badly mangled the Bible - which is amazing considering how mangled that document already is - that they have millions of gullible folks believing that Israel has the right to slaughter anyone it doesn't like because Gawd has ordained it.

It's gotten so absurd, in fact, that the 'Star of David' has virtually supplanted the 'cross' as the corporate logo of this bastardized form of 'christianity'.

Needless to say, these 'people' receive scads and oodles of money from the Israeli lobby to keep the rubes in line and voting with Israel's foreign policy, which is best summarized as, "Death to all who don't toe the line!"

So, why has Israel spent the better part of the last 20 years trying to get our sons and daughters to be cannon fodder in Iran?

As we all know, the tag line in the Israeli advertising that passes for a Free Press is that Iran is trying to produce an atomic bomb.  *GASP*  An atomic bomb, you say?

The laughable part is that we've been told this for literally 20 years!  This implies that either Iran is hopelessly inept when it comes to nuclear research, or they just aren't doing it.  Surely after 20 years, you'd think they'd have come up with some kind of pop gun by now.  Hell, Pakistan and India and even North Korea have gotten that far.

Let's also set aside the emotional hot button that they want an atomic bomb.  Frankly, an atomic bomb in today's world is hardly worth playing with.  When the perceived enemy has particle beams, masers, missile defense shields, autonomous drones, cruise missiles, bunker busters, and hydrogen bombs that make little atom bombs look like kid toys, why bother?  There are many more productive lines of research to blow your defense shekels on.

Obviously, there's another agenda, but what could it possibly be?

Well, let's look back at Israel.  Here we have an arid strip of land with virtually no natural resources.  In order to grow food, it must heavily irrigate the land, which takes copious amounts of fresh water.  There's little to no oil, though just up the coast, recent discoveries include very large oil and gas fields just offshore.  Israel has no natural boundaries or defenses, just literal lines in the sand and the occasional massive concrete walls.

In other words, Israel's neighbors are gifted with fairly decent natural bounty, while Israel itself must import pretty much everything but air.

On top of that, given Israel's 60-odd year history of militaristic expansionism, its neighbors have developed the habit of beefing up defenses.  They've done such a good job at it, that when Israel invaded southern Lebanon twice in the past few years, it had its Zionist butt handed to it right quick like.

And why did they invade Lebanon?  Well, it wouldn't be all that sparkly clean fresh water just over the border from its collective farms, would it?  Nor would it have anything at all to do with all the juicy delicious oil and gas sitting just up the coast, would it?

And why does Israel want to destroy Iran?  Well, it wouldn't be that Iran is the largest source of funds and supplier for Hizbollah, who recently handed Israel its Zionist butt twice, would it?  Oh, and Hizbollah also happens to be a mover and shaker in Palestine, which also happens to be Israel's real name.

When you think about it, Israel is one of the largest dealers in death and destruction, at least in the region, if not the world.  Its hands are dirty with so many false-flag attacks (USS Liberty anyone?), cyber attacks, stealth wars, and so forth that if any country should have sanctions leveled against it, Israel would be it.

Furthermore, that Israel runs the US, and the US runs the EU, it literally controls much of the western hemisphere's power and wealth centers.  Add to that Israel has its hands deep in that peculiar form of American 'christianity', and successfully manipulates great numbers of people through religious channels, as well.

It clearly leads one to conclude that any incumbent politician in any election in any western country should be soundly defeated.  One must further conclude that the replacements should be thoroughly vetted for their stances on the Israeli question.

One can only speculate what wonders of peace and harmony would follow, should Israel's iron grasp on the west suddenly fail.  For one thing, we would all be finally free of such notable ego maniacs as Nutty-yahoo.  In addition, the Mossad's ability to undermine regimes and create wars would be severely hampered.  These effects alone would nearly ensure a fresh, new take on things.  Almost certainly, great gobs of peace and love would be bursting forth all over the place.

Something to ponder on a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Beats football, at any rate.

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Sunday Funnies
Been a while, but finally got a good one...

Dear all,

It has come to our attention that some employees have wrong perception on the use of clothing in accordance with our dress code policy as stipulated in the firm’s staff handbook.

Please find attached pictures for your reference on the dress code which we expect you to wear to be in line with the firm’s policy.

Skin Deep

Indonesia is probably one of the most racist places I've ever been.  Yes, that's right.  Racist.

I've been to 46 countries on five continents (Australia is still a continent, isn't it?).  I've lived in several US states, Mexico, Ireland, England, Spain, Germany, and Indonesia.  I grew up in Texas in the 60s with a father who was Depression Era (the first big one) and a WWII vet.  To him, a racist epithet was a common adjective used to describe people of all stripes.  I went to school in lily white Catholic institutions where we had one Asian, four blacks and a South African (still white, but...).

Through all of this, I managed to maintain a fairly egalitarian point of view, thanks to my mother.  I don't look up to anyone, nor do I look down on them.  We are all God's children, as far as I'm concerned.

When I stepped off the plane here in Indonesia, it was my first experience in Southeast Asia.  When I looked around, I saw one of the most homogeneous societies I had ever experienced.  I know it's trite, but they all looked the same to me.  In fact, if I had to describe an Indonesian for a police report, the best I could do is, "Dark hair, dark eyes, brown skin, and about 5'-4"."  I've just described 99.9% of the indigenous population.

So how could these people be so freakin' racist?

The first thing you learn here is that if you are white, you are dripping money all over the place and you hand it out like candy at the dentist's office.  We tip what, 15% or so?  A really good Indonesian tip is 10 cents.  So when a foreigner comes along handing out tips in the amounts that we are used to, then we train everyone we come in contact with that we are filthy rich on our worst days.

So, the first form of racism you encounter here is that, as a white guy, you can literally make people look like cartoons, because dollar signs appear in their eyes as soon as they see you walk in the door.  Is that racism? Sure.  It only happens to white guys.  On top of that, Indonesians will blatantly lie, cheat and steal from you because you are so filthy rich.  The irony?  Many of the middle class here are much richer than most of their counterparts in the West now.  And even some of the poorest still own land and there is no property tax here.

OK, so enough of that.  That's the obvious stuff.  It's easy to pick out a white guy in a group of 300 million brown ones.

But it goes much deeper than that.  Indonesians are deeply prejudiced against each other, based on which kampung they are from, or island, or (get this) skin color.

The most discriminated group here is the Chinese.  There are two primary groups, other than foreigners.  There's the pribumi, or aboriginal, and the "others".  The others are composed mostly of Chinese, who have been coming here and intermarrying for centuries.  Doesn't matter.  If the eyes are a certain shape and the skin a certain shade of yellow, they are Chinese and are generally reviled.

During the economic crisis of 1998, the Chinese were murdered wholesale and their homes raided for anything that was portable.  Didn't matter that they had been here for generations, they were Chinese and deserved to be attacked for that reason alone.

My wife's grandfather was mainland Chinese.  He married a Java girl and they raised a family in central Java.  My wife speaks fewer words of Mandarin than I do, but she is fluent in Javanese and Indonesian,  Yet, she was attacked and had to have round-the-clock guards for her and her kids back in 1998, for not other reason than she looked Chinese.  Even now, I've heard the worst kind of insults hurled at her simply because there is Chinese blood in her family three generations ago.

OK, so we've knocked out the obvious.  White guys stand out like sore thumbs.  The Chinese, once you learn how to look at people here, can be discerned by the shape of their eyes and other superficial features.

But, I said this was the MOST racist place I had ever been.  How can the pribumi folks be prejudiced against each other?  Well...

The darker brown you are, the lower your station in life.  The implication is that dark skin means outdoor labor, and if you work outdoors, then you must be low class, right?  The lowest of these are the Ambonese and Papuans.  These folks look a lot like the Australian aboriginals and even pure Africans.  Being quite dark, they are universally reviled throughout the country.  As a consequence, they are some of the most violent folks here, since they have to defend themselves from near-constant taunts.

Next up are the somewhat lighter brown folks from the hinterlands.  These include most of the outer islanders and country folks.  Some are quite a bit shorter, as well, even to other Indonesians.  Once you know what to look for, you can usually spot them right off.  In fact, most of the maids, nannies and other domestic help fall into this category.  They are spoken to and treated accordingly, which is to say rough.

As you move up the skin shades, you get into office workers and such.  Even here, there's a pecking order that is so subtle as to take years to be able to perceive the differences.  At this level, we usually find the Java and Sumatera folks.  One level of distinction might be the number of generations away from jungle dweller you are.  Around these parts, that may be as little as one for a lot of folks.  You may have a degree and an office job, but you are still at the bottom of the totem pole because your folks still live in the forest.

The next level of discrimination is religion.  Now this gets downright nasty sometimes.  The Christians are pig eaters.  The Muslims are exclusionary.  They square off constantly in politics and culture, with Muslims bombing churches and the Christians constantly trying to convert everyone.  The Hindus stick pretty much to Bali and east Java and the Buddhists are pretty quiet, but everyone gets their share of the fun.  After all, the Buddhists are usually of Chinese decent (see earlier point).

When it gets right down to it, it reminds me of the old Star Trek episode with Frank Gorshin.  Two aliens, the last of their kind, are locked in mortal combat and hatred.  The crew can't tell them apart, but we eventually learn that their black and white halves are exactly opposite.

It's not unlike white folks who discriminate against each other for being rednecks, or white trash, or blue collars, or white collars.

It leads one to conclude that everyone is hard-wired to find someone else to shit on to make themselves feel good.  Thankfully, Indonesia doesn't suffer from Political Correctness, so all this is still out in the open where it can be dealt with.  In the West, it's been chased into the closet so you never really know what someone else really thinks or feels.  Nor can it be dealt with, since it's all hidden and no one really knows who thinks what about whom, so we can discuss it and fix it.

There's still hope for Indonesia.

If you are routinely attacked by people wearing red coats, then you learn to stay away from anyone wearing a red coat.  Some prejudices are earned.  Others are inherited from old generations and the reasons for the hatreds are long forgotten.  Isn't it time we all took a hard look at our prejudices and think about whether they are earned or just old wives' tales?  Perhaps we could dispense with a lot of the world's problem if we just took everyone at face value.

I try to live by very profound words from a man with his head screwed on straight.  His name was Will Rogers, and what he said was, "I never met a man I didn't like."  Think about that one for a long time and see if those aren't some of the wisest words you've ever heard.  If we all live by that, might could actually achieve some good stuff on this planet.

But frankly, I still hate beets and nothing you say or do will convince me otherwise.

INTERVIEW: John Perkins on Radio Far Side

Is the empire fraying around the edges?  Is the China/US rivalry just a good cop/bad cop ruse for a higher power?  Is a global transformation in the process of happening?  All this and more on this edition of Radio Far Side. 


Guest Bio:
 John Perkins’s latest book, Hoodwinked, is a blueprint for a new form of global economics. The solutions are not “return to normal” ones. Instead, John challenges us to soar to new heights, away from predatory capitalism and into an era more transformative than the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. Hoodwinked details specific steps each of us can take to create a sustainable, just, and peaceful world.  

John's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, which spent nearly a year and a half on the New York Times bestseller lists and has been published in more than 30 languages and has sold over a million copies worldwide, is a startling exposé of international corruption. His The Secret History of the American Empire, also a New York Times bestseller, details the clandestine operations that created the world's first truly global empire.  

John is founder and board member of Dream Change and The Pachamama Alliance, nonprofit organizations devoted to establishing a world our children will want to inherit, has lectured at universities on four continents, and is the author of  books on indigenous cultures and transformation, including Shapeshifting, The World Is As You Dream It, Psychonavigation, Spirit of the Shuar, and The Stress-Free Habit.  

John's courage in writing these books and speaking out against his former bosses exemplifies the courage shown by our Founding Fathers and Mothers when they stood up to the British Empire. Like them, John defied threats and bribes and took action. His courage serves as an example for all of us. As he proclaims at the end of Secret History, "Now is the time for us to change the world."
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Additional links:
John's Homepage
Dream Change
Greg Palast on John Perkins
Sarapan Ekonomi - A different take on John Perkins

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Gullibility Of Innocents

I'm going to wade into troubled waters here, because I think there's some things that need to be said about the recent 'unrest' across Islamic populations.  I'm assuming that readers are mature and able to discuss issues dispassionately in order to come to clear conclusions.  I may be wrong, but it wouldn't be the first time.

First of all, if you are Muslim, and many readers here are, then stop being so hot-headed.  Full stop.  When Muslims fly off the handle at every little supposed insult to Islam, the only thing it really achieves is entertaining the self-appointed elite who love watching us squabble and fight.  That Muslims are so predictably easy to set off makes you a tool of the people who want to control you, me and all the rest of us.

This past Monday, there were violent protests outside the US embassy here in Jakarta.  What did it achieve?  Well, it injured a few Indonesians, destroyed Indonesian property, and cost Indonesian taxpayers good money to mount a police presence.  In other words, it did absolutely nothing to change things nor harm the supposed transgressors.

Because of that incident, four FPI members were arrested for inciting to riot, while FPI claimed it was framed for the whole thing.  I'm inclined to believe the FPI claim.  Why?  Because I think that whole incident has been manufactured to stir up 'unrest' and cause more and deeper rifts among us people of the world.

The thing is that no one here in Indonesia (unless you've really dug into it and use a VPN) has seen the film, "Innocence of Muslims".  In fact, from what I can find, no one has seen the film anywhere at anytime.  The most I can find of it are two short clips, called "trailers" implying a longer film, that look as if they were produced by some drunk college kids playing with chroma-keying.

What's more, these clips have been self-censored by Google Indonesia, which means none of the protestors have seen these videos.  Therefore, we can only conclude that these well-meaning folks have been misled by someone(s) who has given them hearsay information that the clips insult the Prophet.

In other words, all of this violence and 'unrest' has been caused by rumors concerning a movie that doesn't seem to exist and, if the clips are anything to go by, would be so badly produced as to get little or no attention otherwise.

In the end, if you are Muslim and are angry and moved to protest over this matter, you are being used.

Think of a bully.  He calls you out, starts insulting your mother, calls into question your heritage, makes fun of your clothes.  You grow increasingly angry and your reason shuts off and emotion takes over.  In rage, you throw down your books and rush at him.  He is prepared for this, because he provoked it.  You are doing exactly what he wanted you to do, and so he can use it against you.  In the end, you are left in a heap on the ground with a bloody nose, humiliated and seething with anger, but you achieved nothing and really nothing was done to you until you attacked.

Furthermore, since you were the one who initiated violence by attacking, he can justify his response in beating you to a pulp because of it.  So really, you lose twice.

Who or what started all this is a matter of conjecture.  There are plenty of theories out there and you can pick any one of them you like.  The point is, that someone picked this fight in order to get you into a rage and react with violence because it serves whatever end that someone intended.

Since Muslims have reacted to this 'film' in a predicable and emotional way, their anger and indignation can be used against them, much like a bullfighter provokes the bull to charge so that he can lance the beast repeatedly until it dies in a bloody mound.

Even if you live in a country that has not censored this 'film', you have the ability NOT to click the link and watch it.  If you do, then you have the responsibility to maintain your reason and respond to it in such a way that it can be constructive and beneficial to others. 

Violent protests and murder only serve to reinforce a perception are mindless hot-heads.  This defeats any ability of Muslims to engage in constructive dialogue that fosters understanding and appreciation of the faith.

Someone with a cheap video camera and some chroma-key software invested a couple of hours to make two short clips that are supposedly from a longer 'film'.  For that minor investment of time and equipment, they have managed to enrage the entire Muslim population, and in the process, cause great damage, both real and to reputations.  On a cost-benefit basis, whoever created this 'film' has gotten a huge return on investment.

The small investment on the part of the 'filmmakers' has paid off with worldwide disgust at the mindless violence that it has sparked.  It is a perfect example of asymmetric warfare.  A tiny investment has paid off in great harm to the other side.

All any of this has done is to make Muslims look like mindless beasts repeatedly charging red capes while getting lanced again and again until the beast collapses and dies.  Is that really what Muslims want others to think?  I doubt it.

Time to put down the rocks and Molotov cocktails, go home to your family and enjoy a peaceful life.  By NOT reacting with violence and mindless destruction, Muslims can show the world that they are thinking, reasoning beings capable of blowing off minor insults and petty taunts, because their faith is much stronger than that.

Whenever one encounters a provocation like this, one should immediately stop and ask, "Who is doing this and what do they exect to achieve, and what reaction are they trying to provoke?"  This immediately takes the power away from the provocateur and places it firmly in your hands.  Then you can react with precision and forethought to achieve the greatest good for you from the situation.

You have an opportunity to do that now.  A French magazine has published cartoons poking fun at Islam.  Don't react.  First, ask yourself, "Why are they doing this, and why now?"

The answer is they are trying to make money by selling magazines, and then make more money by producing articles on the reaction.

Don't react.

If you do nothing, say nothing and pretend it never happened, you take all the fun and profit out of it for the bloated little jerks sitting in the board room laughing all the way to the bank.

Sure they'll change tactics, but every war, whether physical or of ideas, is won by a series of battles.  The 'movie' is one battle.  The cartoons are another.  You can start winning these battles by simply taking away the thing they want...PROFIT.

To borrow a phrase, what would Mohammed do?

UPDATE: Breaking News - Large Explosion in Jakarta

Here's the story so far, as received in text messages from my friend who lives in east Jakarta:
2:48AM
"Bomb exploded in building next to where I live: whole building taken down!"

2:51AM
"Hoping it doesn't spread. Collosus [name of building - B] in flames.  Powerful explosion! Hold on our power just went out."

2:54AM
"Could have been gas main?  Huge blast...Terrorism?  It's a school."

It's currently 4:22AM.  I've not received any further news and several calls and texts are unanswered.  Still nothing online or on TeeVee.

It could very well be the Middle East fun spreading here, but without further info, it's hard to tell.  A "bomb factory" blew up six days ago in Depok (far east Jakarta), injuring six people. (https://www.google.co.id/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=blast+jakarta&oq=blast+jakarta&gs_l=hp.3..0i30l2j0i5j0i5i30.3137.6628.0.6782.13.12.0.0.0.0.366.2144.1j8j2j1.12.0.les%3B..0.0...1c.1.SVXOUnL9wEg&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.&fp=abba778de950e9d9&biw=1150&bih=684)

I'll keep you posted as fast as I get any news.  We're prepared (as usual) to head to the mountain headquarters far south of town if need be.

==developing==

Sunday, 10PM
It's really bizarre.  I can't find any stories on the blast, but I went and looked at the school from my buddy's balcony, and half the school was blown away.  The most either of us have been able to find was a brief mention on detik.com in which a neighbor (no officials or authorities) said he thought an electrical short on the ground floor ignited a gas pipeline leak.  Now how a neighbor who lives 100 meters away deduced all this is also a mystery.

My buddy described hearing the explosion and getting to the window fast enough to see a fireball rising up from the building.  He said that, having been in the vicinity of several bombs, this one didn't have the shock wave he would have expected from a bomb.

What has both of us confused is that the media has been virtually silent on the event despite at least three of the local stations being on the scene about three hours after the fact.

Another oddity is that the fire brigade was on the scene within minutes.  Keep in mind that if you call the fire or police, the first thing you must do is negotiate how much you will pay them to show up.  It could be up to an hour or more before fire trucks show up to a fire.  This was less than 15, according to my buddy's recollection.

At any rate, a number of anomalies surrounding this one.  I'll let you know if anything new comes along, but for now, that is literally all I can give you after spending most of the day very near the scene trying to figure out what happened.
===more?=====
The US embassy in Jakarta was being pelted with molotov cocktails and about 1,000 people were throwing rocks at the walls and police this afternoon.

Most of the violence was caused by members of two groups, who paid a band of peaceful protestors to provide cover so they could bring in the fire bombs and rocks (which are normally cleared away in the area).  To give an example of how serious this all is, by sundown, most had gone home to have dinner and watch themselves on TeeVee.  I doubt seriously you could find two people there who had even seen the video that supposedly started all this, especially since Google voluntarily blocked it in Indonesia.

The Indonesian president has called for the UN to make laws banning religious slander, instead of calling on people to calm down and quit being used by banksters and military nutjobs.

At any rate, there were flag burnings and other pointless exercises in various other cities that destroyed nothing of value to the US nor to the filmmakers.  In fact, all it did was destroy the private property of Indonesians and get a few Indonesians hurt.

It leads one to believe that the explosion early yesterday might have been something other than a gas pipeline.

Are You A Weena?

Back in the early Bronze Age, when I was a kid, I was absolutely enthralled with George Pal's original film adaptation of "The Time Machine".  My teenaged heart melted for Weena and I reviled the cannibalistic Morlocks, with their blue skin and glowing eyes.

My heart raced as the hero frantically tried to save Weena from the Morlock dinner bell.  I was reviled when the dead Morlock decayed before our eyes as the hero raced through time to escape a horrible fate.  I was on the edge of my seat when Filby and the housemaid examine the tracks in the study floor and surmise that the Traveller had drug the machine inside to be outside the future Morlock cave.

I was so enthralled, I ran out and bought the box set of H. G. Well's novels.  All the greats, like First Men in the Moon, In the Days of the Comet and The Invisible Man.  Of them all, The Time Machine was my favorite.

I was comforted by the fact that none of that could ever happen.  Humans would not move underground and eventually evolve into cannibalistic beasts who preyed on the innocents of the outside world.  Humans would retain, I though, their innate desire to fight for a better world...to create a real paradise, where we all live in harmony and peace.

Until...

White House finishes mysterious underground project

Over the past couple of decades, there seems to have been a massive effort on the part of certain self-proclaimed elites to build massive underground refuges...from what we are not allowed to know, apparently.

All across the globe, governments are undertaking unknown subterranean construction projects.  They are installing enormous subway systems, bunkers in the hearts of mountains, long-rumored cities under major airports, and seed and DNA banks (often called 'arks') deep in the Arctic tundra.

As I watch with growing apprehension, it seems that Well's nightmare future is coming to life before our eyes.  The predatory elites are driving themselves underground, for whatever mysterious reason, while the ancestors of Weena...us...frolic like spring lambs in the fields, unaware and uncaring that some part of the human race is burying itself, using our money and labor, in anticipation of...what?

In 2,000 years, would we emerge from our sparkling, Victorian era time machine to find that the elites have now become slave-driving cannibals who herd us Eloi like so much cattle, until we are fattened enough to grace the dinner table with a little gravy and potatoes?

There are a multitude of stories of these elite building underground cities.  There is ample evidence that they consider us to be mindless cattle.  There's whispered rumors that they enjoy our flesh as a succulent main course.  And a visit to any elementary school will convince us that we are being trained for pavlovian response to their 'dinner bells'.  Even the title of 'blue bloods' implies an overall blue cast to their skin at some point in the hazy realm of the future.

Perhaps its time we should heed Wells' warning and begin to fight this horrible fate while we still have our wits about us.  Being forewarned by such a brilliant writer, we can act now to ensure that our future generations do not fall prey to man-eating troglodytes who are even now moving themselves underground.  We should resist with all our strength the trained responses we have been installed with to fatten our carcasses and deliver them to the elite dinner tables.

Wells' Traveller went back to the future to be with his beloved Weena and to fight the evil Morlocks head-on.  However, it might have been more effective to stay in his own time and fight the weed when it is only a seed.

Yet, as Wells points out, the people of the Traveller's own time were incredulous and thought it a wild fantasy spun by a half-crazed and overworked inventor.  But if we become the Filbys, finding solid proof that the Traveller's story was true in the tracks scratched into the laboratory floor, and the missing books from the shelf, and finally believing the wild tale spun at dinner, then maybe we can join the Traveller's efforts by working in our own time to stop the decay into such a horrific future.

When Mary (Percy) Shelley penned Frankenstein, did anyone seriously think that just a short century later, we would be battling patented life-forms and GMO crops?

Science fiction, especially the high-quality variety by such geniuses as Wells, often point the way to our actual future.  After all, 50 years ago, who could have imagined the Orwellian dystopia currently unfolding before our eyes?  Who would have thought 40 years ago that Star Trek communicators and phasers would become commonplace?  Which of us marveled at Kubrick's Floyd sitting on a space station having a video chat with his daughter?  How many people scoffed 100 years ago at Jules Verne's vision that men would climb into rockets, in Florida no less, and step out on the surface of the Moon?

It would be unwise to dismiss the musings of great minds.  Not only do they often perceive real trends and possibilities, their musings frequently become the inspiration for future generations to make real the stuff of dreams...and nightmares.

It's easy for us to be thrilled by these cautionary tales from the quaint past, and to just as easily dismiss them as fantasies and fictional adventures.  But when we see them start to take form around us, can we toss them aside as fanciful musings from an unenlightened time?

Take heed, World, fiction is often truer than reality.

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire

UPDATE: Closing the barn after the horses get out.  All of this is to reinforce the fear that has controlled the populace for the past 11 years.  Especially on the college campuses.  Gotta terrorize the younger generation to keep them signing up for military service.  What bunk.

And don't forget the convenient excuse this all presents to shut down open communications on the internet.  Just like gun control, gotta have victims to justify tyranny.
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Remember that classic kids' story about the boy who cried wolf?  It's been running over and over in my head for the past couple days.

The whole Libya/Arab Spring, etc. et al., reeks of psy-op, and it's hard to convince myself otherwise because of the 'boy who cried wolf' syndrome.  Hell, I even find myself reminiscing about Bill Clinton.  I mean, he just lied about getting a little stimulus in the Ovum Office.  Since then, we've had Shrub, who lied about the perpetrators of 9/11 and his justifications for invading two sovereign nations, and even the "mission accomplished" lie.  And now we have the Obamanation, who frankly is, in and of himself, a walking lie.

So, when the headlines blare the story of an attack on the US embassy in Libya, in which the ambassador was killed, and other attacks and violence at other embassies in the region, I just sit back and start to wonder how much of all this is real.

Don't get me wrong.  I ask not for whom the bell tolls, because every man's death diminishes me.  But what really happened?  I don't trust a single word that comes from the Potomac Swamp, and it is a policy that has served me well over the years.

After all, this is the same government who lied to the people about the Sand Creek massacre.  It lied about Majors Eisenhauer and Patton attacking and killing WWI vets who were protesting in the Bonus Army.  It's lied about Lincoln being a hero.  It's lied about just about anything you can think of, and that's not a very good track record for engendering trust in the extant matter.

That's the thing about psy-ops.  They become so entangled and byzantine that after a time, you either give up and swallow the bait, or reject everything out of hand.  I fall into the latter camp.  The Middle East has been manipulated by Western powers since at least the mid-19th century.  The Arab Spring/Soros "Color Revolutions" are just the latest round.

Knowing that North Africa and the Mediterranean coastal countries have been targets of CIA/al-Qaeda interference, how do we unwind the embassy attacks?  Were they an intended or unintended consequence?  Is the US response now and in the future predicated on manipulating US elections, or a result of actual policy?

What I see is a complex attempt by the Israeli/US military-industrial complex to justify invading Libya, Egypt and Syria.  This would, in turn, draw Iran out and once her footing is the slightest bit off balance, then the justification turns to invading that country.  In other words, all of this is to generate world opinion in favor of an Iran attack through the back door.

Given that the particular group of thugs running the show (and I'm not talking about the Libyans) and their track record over the past century or so, one has to assume that they are trying to achieve multiple goals with a single catalyzing event.  Thus, turning world opinion, drawing out Iran, invading MENA, and deflecting attention from the ever-declining US economy might all be part of this, and much more.

But wait! you scream.  How do you know this is a psy-op in the first place?

Glad you asked.

All of it is predicated on a YouTube video that supposedly (I refuse to watch it...just like KONY and the Olympics) trashes Muhammad.  The video was at first anonymous.  Then it was revealed to be the work of an Israeli-American, who was then outed as an Egyptian student or some such non-sense.  That little side-show alone tells me there's something really fishy going on here.  That YouTube refuses to pull it down, when they sit with their fingers on the button ready to black out any video that even remotely offends the most sensitive of viewers tells me that they are being well-paid to keep it running long enough to inflame the entire Islamic world.

It is all textbook mental mind-f%$^@k material following the script to the letter.  And if they have to crack a few eggs (assuming the ambassador and others actually died), well...so be it.  All the better to crank up the war drums.  Heck, let's even throw in a little public feud between Bammy and Nutty-yahoo just to make things interesting.  Adds the plausible denial aspect to the mix, so Bammy can ride war to victory in November, while still claiming to be the 'Man of Peace'.  Listen for, "My hands are tied.  We must respond with force."

I hope that Muslims the world over can see how they are being manipulated and used to advance the Anglo-American empire.  All that video is, is a geopolitcal version of "neener neener your mother wears army boots" taunts to pick a fight.

I hope that Americans are jaded and war-weary enough that they don't buy this clap-trap, and instead turn against ANY candidate for president who talks war or signs orders to that effect.

And I hope that the ambassador's ignominious death will become an icon of awakening for those still under the spell of the Death Merchants.

Most of all, I hope we, as a global population, can uninstall the emotional hot-buttons that the media tools have installed in us, so that we stop reacting so predictably to situations like this.

There are signs of hope.  Almost within hours of the 'Batman' shooting fiasco, the whole thing was exposed as a political false-flag.  Now even the most blow-hard anti-gun CONgress-critters won't touch it, and the headlines have all but faded from view.

The wild card in the latest operation are the Muslims who haven't yet learned to let a minor insult pass in order to achieve a greater purpose.  Control your anger and take away their power.  It's very effective.

At some point you have to realize that the kid crying wolf is only doing so because your response is so entertaining to him.

INTERVIEW: Christopher Tyreman on Radio Far Side

Suppose everything you knew was wrong.  Suppose the proverbs, sayings and quotes at the core of our culture didn’t exist in the source material cited.  Suppose Earth was a terra-forming project and was now at the center of a massive legal battle.  Stay tuned…

On today’s program, our guest is Christopher Tyreman.  Christopher and his crew have stumbled on what they think is a new way to translate ancient Hebrew.  What’s more, they’ve set out to re-translate the Torah and other books in what we commonly call the Bible.  What they’ve found so far is, to say the least, Earth-shaking.  It challenges our core beliefs and moves us far outside our comfort zones.

Their efforts are called The Chronicle Project, and you can find links below that lead to their site and other resource information.  Warning: some people find this information very discomforting, but here on the Far Side, we examine any well-reasoned argument.  Listen to what Christopher has to say and decide for yourself.

Part of what intrigues us here on the Far Side is that this is a home-grown effort by every day folks who found a really unique bit of information that unlocked a whole new way of answering the question, "Who are we?"  For that reason alone, they are worth hearing out, but they also have a well-reasoned argument that deserves extra thought, especially when it throws open a philosophical line of inquiry that seems to have exhausted itself two hundred years ago.

What gives them added credibility in our estimation is they aren't hawking books, speaking engagements, DVDs, or channeling aliens.  When someone goes to this effort because they want the Truth, then our ears perk up.

The Chronicle Project

Criticism of The Chronicle Project

Tranlating ancient Hebrew

Is Earth a terraforming project?

We certainly hope you enjoyed this program, and stay tuned for some great conversations coming up in the next couple of months.

If what you see and hear on The Far Side is to your liking, then we hope you'll visit the PayPal donate button in the sidebar and throw a buck or two in the bucket.  We're pushing our effort into new realms of information and entertainment, and trying to do it all without advertizing or member-only areas.  We guarantee all donations to the cause will show up in more and better content and delivery.

In the meantime, keep enjoying Life on the Far Side and Radio Far Side.  If you have suggestions for guests or topics, send them to luap.jkt@gmail.com, subject line SUGGESTION.  We will do everything we can to create a show just for you.

Sampai jumpa!

If I Were King Of The Forest

Any man who goes about with "constitution" on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding.  So say I.

I think constitutions are an evil plot by a secret cabal to take over the world.  After all, they are about as effectual as lashings with wet noodles.  They are, in the end, only pieces of paper that are only as good as those who purport to uphold them, and the people who are supposed to keep their governments chained to them.

Constitutions are, in fact, useless.

Here in Indonesia, you can't get two people in a room who have actually read this constitution, much less who are willing to actively hold the government to its strictures.  In fact, I am probably one of the few people who have ever read the thing, including elected office holders.

Not that it matters much, since laws in Indonesia serve only one purpose: to spark creative circumvention of the laws while profiting from it.

On the other hand, in the States, it used to be required reading in school.  In civics classes, one had to be able to enumerate the Bill of Rights on command.  Yet, there is hardly a school child in the whole country who is aware that Lincoln destroyed the constitution, and that the country has been on a downhill slide ever since.  Most kids will tell you that Lincoln was a hero, if they still know who he was.

The thing about constitutions is that none I have ever read have any hooks in them.  They rattle on in glorious prose about the limits of power and the rights of the people, but what happens if the legislative bodies violate its strictures?

Go on...tell me what punishments are written into the constitution of your favorite country to discourage the lawmakers from violating its tenets?

You...the American over there lurking in the corner...can you point out the line where it says, "Congress shall make no law abridging the right of...and if they do, they will be flogged in the public square and branded with the word 'Idiot' on their forehead, and listed on the National Constitution Offender website."

I didn't think so.

You see, laws without punishments are just pleasant suggestions, like the cashier saying, "Have a nice day," as she hands you your change.

If I were writing a constitution for my eventual island nation in the South Pacific, I would start the whole thing off with this:

"This here document is the Supreme Law of the Land.  If any law passed by Congress is found to be unconstitutional, then everyone who voted for it shall be skinned aline and salted, and if any judge is found to have mumbled and circumlocuted declaring a law unconstitutional for self-serving purposes, that judge shall be waterboarded while a car battery is wired to his/her most painful body parts.  This paragraph may not be amended, altered, abridged, or changed in any way."

What's the bet that my Congresscritters will read every single letter of every single line of every single law 17 times, and vote against any that have the slightest ambiguity in them, in terms of constitutionality?  I'd be willing to bet the little chicken turds wouldn't pass more than two laws a decade, which should be just about right.

Furthermore, I'd make it the Law of the Land that if any individual or group tried to amend my constitution to take away my God-given rights, like drinking alcohol or playing with guns, or both at that same time, then they would be hog-tied face down in horse manure for no less than one week.  No excuses.

My Bill of Rights would have 419 line items, and state clearly that it was only a partial list, and that just about anything else you can imagine is also a right, as long as it doesn't harm another's life or property, or bugger the neighbor's livestock.  And if there's even the slightest bit of doubt, then it's a right, so leave it alone.

The best part about my constitution is that there will only be one representative for every 500 registered voters.  That should take a while just to get one.  But to make sure, then anyone who registers to vote shall be put in a dingy and cast out to sea during a typhoon.  That should ensure that no Congresscritter ever gets seated and able to do any damage while still allowing me to claim my little country is a constitutional democracy, so we can get some of that yummy IMF money.

You want a passport?  Make one and I'll stamp it "offishul".  You need a driver's license?  Find a graphic artist with a laminator.  You want a birth certificate?  Write up the details and get it notarized.  You want Social Security?  Get a job, save your money, and maintain close family ties.

The best part is my little nation's space program.  Anyone who wants a cushy job with fat pension while calling themselves a 'bureaucrat' will be bolted into a rocket and sent on a one-way trip to colonize Mars.  Ain't that fun?

Now...unless you can show me a constitution that looks something like what I've outlined here, then honestly you are living a complete lie.  You have no sacred document, no lawful government, no social contract.  Just a bunch of hype and hot air.  You certainly don't have a constitutional republic, since there's nothing to make the Congresscritters adhere to the law.  Eventually, sooner than later, they'll trash the thing and go do whatever lines their pockets the deepest.

If you need examples of what I'm talking about, select any nation-state on Earth at this moment.  There you go.

Does Your Burger Match The Picture?

One of the things that has entertained me since coming to Indonesia is looking at the American fast food chains and how they've reinvented themselves over here.

The 7-11 chains in Jakarta are like mini-grocery stores combined with deco diners.  They are usually two-stories tall, with the food court on the ground floor and a slick chrome and formica dining area upstairs.  They are popular hang-outs for the late teen set, who load up on hotdogs and Slurpies, or even a beer or two, and then sit around in cliques for several hours at a time.

The only people hanging out at 7-11s in the states are panhandlers roughing up customers for loose change.

Pizza Hut is really quite a shocker.  You'd be hard-pressed to find a Pizza Hut dine-in joint back home, but here they have hostesses and menus and a whole range of unique designer pizzas

The Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King are pretty much like home, except you can buy rice balls and get hot sauce instead of ketchup with your fries.  The big difference here is that your food looks just like the pictures.  It is perfectly assembled and packaged with care and a bit of artistry.  The staff are friendly and helpful, and will bring the food to your table if you have to stand more than 30 seconds.

It makes me flash back to all the slopped together rubbish and the surly staff at most of the fast food joints I ever went to in the states.  None of it every looked like the photos.  The staff always give you the impression that they hate their job, and you too, and that it is a tremendous imposition on them to serve you.

I guess what it all boils down to is that America, at least in my lifetime, has been a place of vacuous promises with no real substance.  When you watch TeeVee, none of it resembles real life except that the characters look somewhat human, though far more quaffed than any of us real folk.

Service industries promise 'service', or at least we are led to believe that by the name of the industry.  Yet, the actual experience is far below what I would call 'service'.  You either get gum-smacking gansta wanna-bes, or overly cloy prepsters who are constantly auditioning for the next M-TeeVee 'reality' show.

Even American politics are hollowed out carnivals with endless haggling over a 'party platform' that is summarily trashed within 30 seconds after the oath of office has been read by rote.

About the only think one can think of that America has promised and actually delivered is the "American Dream".  It is, in every sense of the word, a dream, and just as tangible and real as a dream.  It's the "land of the free" with armed drones buzzing overhead.  It's the "home of the brave", where the populace is cowed by roving thugs with spiffy uniforms.  It's the defender of freedom and 'democracy', even if it means an offensive strike that contravenes all international law and convention to set up puppet dictators by fiat.

America is that great 'land of opportunity' where fully half the population takes some sort of government largess.  It is the place where Mom and Pop can't run their shop anymore because they have been regulated out of business.  The license fees, taxes, regulatory burdens, and mandatory insurance has complete gutted the meager profit they were able to eek out after the mega-box-stores rampaged through their market share and turned all their customers into wage slaves who can't afford to shop with Mom and Pop anymore.

We were told in school that in America, anyone could be president.  I suppose I missed all the footnotes about having to be a CIA spook or a bankster crook first.

We were told that America's greatness lay in the pages of her magnificent Constitution, yet even mentioning that document in a court of law will get you thrown in jail for criminal contempt (believe me I know).

I have to admit, though, that the man who promised 'hope' and 'change' delivered on his promises in spades. Now everyone 'hopes' he'll get thrown out of office and we can 'change' the administration.  Not that it matters much.  Obamney is the same thing with a pile of elephant dung behind him, rather than donkey.

Come to think of it, I have to believe the current occupant's new promise, as well.  "I'm not done yet," he says.  And indeed, there are still some tattered bits of the old Republic left to be discarded.  But again, even the promise of a premature Nobel Peace prize was a hollow and vaporous symbol, notable only for the magnificent sky show on the eve of the award ceremony.

Even the promise of 'we the people', for all its symbolism of a united citizenry striving together to perfect their union, is a fantasy.  When 'we the people' aren't at each other's throats over profound idealistic differences, we are being targeting and herded by the very federal offices created to protect our Natural Rights, which are now called civil rights and can be amended any time the 'civil authorities' feel threatened.

So it comes down to a choice, if one can abuse that great word thusly, between the current party in power that endorsed slavery, created the welfare state, bruought us the Federal Reserve and income tax, and gave us unlimited bloody human sacrifice (otherwise known as abortion), or the other party controlled by the oligarchs and corporatists whose only redeeming quality is that they would subdue the world for profit rather than club us to death with heart-bleeding idealism.

Once, America was the envy of the world.  It had government that at least had the veneer of lawful operation.  It's middle class lived lifestyles that were, in some cases, even beyond those of the rich in other parts of the world.  It promised endless upward mobility and ever increasing consumption.  It's technology and innovation were far beyond the capabilities of all but a handful of countries.
Now America's government is awash in blatant corruption, not unlike your favorite third-world dictatorship.  The world's middle classes are quickly catching up to that mythical suburban lifestyle, with most families able to afford breeder buses and full refrigerators and the latest electronic gee-gaws.  Even countries that were just a decade ago celebrating indoor plumbing are now sending folks into space and probes to other planets.

Is there nothing left for America to promise?  Or is its new promise to the world a war of endless carnage and remote-operated death machines?

It is times like these when nations serious about survival should turn to the deepest form of self-critical thinking.  But America seems intent on cataclysmic self-immolation instead.

The Spirit of 1776 is just that, another in a long line of fantasies and phantasms that bear little relevance to current reality.  The worst part about great dreams is that one must always wake up from them.  It's time to make the burger match the picture again.