The Play Is The Thing

If you are a fan of Shakespeare, then you know that the title of today's column comes from Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2, and the next line is, "In which we shall catch the conscience of the King."  That is what I intend to do today, since "all the world's a stage, and all the men and women are but actors upon't."

I assume, since the readers here are highly intelligent humans, that we all see world events from a certain perspective high above the fray.  From where we sit, things like the Ukraine situation look like silly schoolyard blustering between rival gangs.  Not to belittle the actual and very real suffering of people caught in the middle of this pissing match, but the actions of especially the Western factions look like so much unbridled testosterone flying about.

What is interesting to note about the Ukraine mess is that the West is playing poker, while the East is playing chess.  Perhaps we can call it a game of "choker".  The West is bluffing and upping antes, while the East is enacting gambits and positioning fronts.  And frankly, the East is kicking a little tail, since apparently the West is also a very bad poker player, not to mention having brought a knife to a gun fight.

Putin is oviously the superior intellect in this match.  Obama, being a vacuous creation of committees of power brokers, is hopelessly outmatched and outclassed. 

Putin is approaching the situation with a sharp and idealistic intellect.  He is an Russian Orthodox Catholic, a nationalist and steeped in history.  He is a veteran of Russian intelligence services and understands world politics and geomancy   He is viewing the world and his country's place in it from the perspective of centuries of history.

Obama, on the other hand, can barely remember his own history, much less that of nations.  He was carefully groomed by handlers to be what he is: an automaton.  He has no thoughts besides those fed to him on Tele-Prompt-R.  He serves no noble purpose outside feeding his vices and base desires.  He has no ideals or beliefs that can be discerned or expressed.  Even his "autobiography" was ghost-written by a marketing team determined to have a Manchurian Candidate at their disposal.

Putin acts as an idealistic individual who receives advice from his courtiers.  Obama is a camel - a horse by committee - incapable of acting without his strings being manipulated.

And the people of the West have only themselves to blame for having allowed, through hubris and sloth, their system of law to deteriorate to such a deplorable state.

On other fronts...

MH370.  Now this is starting to get rather intriguing.  At first, I viewed this exclusively as a theater or slight of hand intended to distract the masses and fill column inches and push more important topics off the front page.  To a certain extent, I still believe it is distraction, but only in the way it is being handled in the public sphere. 

Behind the scenes, I am coming around to the idea that no one, at any level, has any idea what is going on.  All the major players seem just as mystified as everyone else.  All the stories and details being floated about don't have the "flavor" of being scripted, unlike say the 9/11 movie of the week.

In the case of 9/11, global broadcasts were preempted for a week, the evil-doers were identified before the sun even set the first day.  The storyline was installed within hours and was only tweaked by public opinion over the next few months.

In the case of MH370, they were all caught with their pants down.  Instead of a single narrative being foisted on us from the very start, the top actors are scrambling around trying to back-engineer some plausible cover.  The longer the situation goes on, the more baffled - and even scared - the top dogs seem to be.  There's a certain smell of desperation in the way the PTB are throwing around "debris fields" and "pilot fanaticism" and "possible flight paths". They really have no clue what is going on, and the are frantically trying to concoct a story out of some bits and pieces they've found lying around.

The scripted game has been in the Ukraine, and that's where they want all of us focused to receive our mental templates.  But this damn plane thing keeps distracting everyone from their game and they are not happy about it.  Furthermore, at some level, folks instinctively know that the "authorities" have no answers, and it's undermining their power structure.  This problem is untenable to them.

The way to approach this is ask the ago-old question, "Qui bono?"  To whose benefit is this event?

The Trilateral Group (US, Russia, China) obviously want us all focused elsewhere - specifically Ukraine.  Also, if any one of them were found to have instigated this mess, they would instantly lose credibility in their Hunger Game.  I don't think we can look that direction.

Israel is an obvious culprit.  They've been losing creds faster than a Sterno-drinker at a Baptist wedding.  If we follow the Zionist playbook, we would have "disappeared" a jetliner from a fundamentalist Islamic country, floated stories about the pilots being "true believers" and then dropped the plane on the Knesset within a couple of days.  The problem is, the plane is still missing and their slavering over the prospects of finding it and using it for propaganda are dimming fast.  In other words, we got part of the scenario, but something happened...they lost the plane or it was lost for them.

Other than the Big Four, there are no real contenders for Global Domination who could pull something like this off and then use it to their benefit.  Which means...

Another player.

What we are looking at is beyond your standard 2-D chess game.  We are now in the realm of 3-D Star Trek chess with a twist - a third player whose pieces are invisible and whose presence we only detect by having accidently stumbled over a piece while playing the "independence gambit".

Ukrainian "independence" was supposed to have set off a series of similar movements (Venice, Scotland, etc.) that would have freed up the classic bankster strongholds and placed the EU firmly inside the orbit of Russia.

Instead, Putin threw a monkey-wrench in the works with the Crimea Gambit, while global headlines were - and continue to be - stolen by a missing passenger jet.

A new (or very old) player has entered the game.  The new player has been quiet for some amount of time, be it years, decades, centuries, or even millennia.  This new player has chosen a specific time to reveal itself that sends the clear message to the PTB that it can play the game just as well (maybe better) and has the advantage at the moment.

We are witnessing a most interesting set of circumstances.  An unknown power has injected itself onto the world stage at a crucial moment when the "standard" players were comfortably executing their "standard" moves.  The apple cart has been upset and everyone is slipping and tripping trying to stay upright while at the same time catch the rascal that did it.

From our position high about the fray, the usual mess has suddenly become quite a bit more interesting, and entertaining.  It bears watching to see how things will play out.  We can be quite certain, though, that anything "official-dumn" tells us at this point is wild speculation, because they haven't got a clue either.  The worm has turned.

If nothing else, we must admire the skill and timing of whomever or whatever has thrust its way into the plot.  It's almost as if this new entity is a deus ex machina.

Zombie Tools Unite!

Well, here we are: one year post-Mayan-zombie Apocalypse.  If you look around critically, you could almost believe it really happened.  The past year has been one of vast, profound and subtle shifts in the direction of history.

Global power has been shifting, sometimes like a sloth and others like a leopard, toward the East.  Increasingly, Russia and China are dictating the ways and means of the world political and economic stage.  In recent weeks, China took the lead in our celestial backyard, as it landed a rover on the Moon.

Meanwhile, the US/UK/EU axis of evil continues to live up to its name, having been revealed (yet again over the past 45 years) to be spying on everyone on the planet, including itself.  For some reason, everyone was shocked, or feigning such for the cameras.  It was hardly a surprise, as anyone who has been awake and reading the reams of laws passed in the last few decades would know this system was at work.  Looks like we've all been Snowdened.

Anyone who thinks they have privacy after posting their life histories, scads of photos and hot chats all over the social media deserves it.  It's akin to taking out a billboard on Times Square and then being shocked that anyone recognizes you walking down the street.  Remember back in the old days when people used screen names?

The Brits added another mouth to its royal tax burden, and then began protesting the tax rates there.  Bit o' news, mates.  You're subjects owned lock, stock and barrel.  Fork it over or get rid of the ridiculous pretention of a royal family.  You're paying for the trappings of empire, without the empire.

Global warming continues to be the world's biggest non-issue.  Those who created extravagant business models based on social guilt keep trying to milk it, with movies, TeeVee and Olympic ceremonies pushing a dead issue, while temps haven't risen in 16 years, polar ice caps are growing and deadly winters are becoming the norm.  Liberal agendas always seem to blow up in their faces.  Ever notice that.

Speaking of which...Obamacare.  Nuff said.

Liberals are the biggest hypocrites to be found.  They blather on about "diversity" as long as they don't have to live with xenotypes.  They beat their breasts over "equality", as long as their chosen groups are more equal.  They jet around the globe and ride in limos and own massive mansions while droning endlessly on about the "environment".  Basically, a liberal is anyone who wants you to change your lifestyle so they don't have to.

Oh, and that whole Kuumbaya rubbish about humanity coming from Africa so we can all feel downtrodden because most African nations are so corrupt and full of thieves that they continuously destroy themselves?  Modern genetics has proven beyond a doubt that it is false.  Looks like most of us came from Australia.  G'day, mate! Kind of a weird poetic beauty to that idea.  The Aboriginals I know are way more cool than most of the Africans of my acquaintance.  Take Obama, for instance...

At least conservatives are blatantly open about the prejudices, greed and hatred of all that isn't incorporated.  I can respect honesty, even when both the message and messenger are equally despicable.

The whole damn civilization is fraying and frazzled, and covered stem to stern with bubblegum and bailing wire.  Can't say I'm sad to see it go.  It's kind of like gangrenous flesh - you've got to carve it out before the healing can begin.  It's just a horribly slow and painful process at the scale of a planet.

You'd think after 6,000 years of starting governments and then living to regret the idea very much, humanity would have learned.  It is apparent that we are a masochistic species hell-bent on operating in our own worst interests come what may.

At any rate, Aquarius continues to dawn.  The year of the yin wood green horse is coming up.  The numerical value of the coming year is 7, which a lot of folks call lucky.  Maybe we'll get lucky and squeeze the big boil on the rump of the world and start the recovery for real.

In the immortal words of Shakespeare, "Jail all the bankers!"  Or was that Sven Joergensohn?  I get the two confused.

Mr. Taoiseach Take Note

Happy weekend and Happy Midsummer.  Thank God for the Irish!  I've requested an interview with Clare Daly for Radio Far Side.  Her words need to get out to the world.  By the way, she directly accuses the taoiseach, which is the Irish Gaelic word for Prime Minister...just so you understand who she is addressing.

State Of The Feral Fascist Regime Address

We love getting email like the one to follow, not only because we are endlessly puffed up by praise, but because we are so danged proud to have such smart readers around here.

Hello Bernard Bearheart:
I hope you and your family are well. Your blogs are valuable to my wife and I. Customarily we share reading them to each other over our morning espressos, which can at times cause a double hit :-).

Not having TeeVee channels, I was reduced to listening to Obama's State of the Union on the radio last night (the first time I've ever heard him after 5 years in office). For some inexplicable reason I was reminded of a scene in the movie "Waterworld" where the captain of the Exon Valdez called his crew together to renew their hopes with the promise of finding "Dry Land" soon. He got them all hyped up with his rhetoric and at the same time an assistant was sprinkling cigarettes on the crew. Love the metaphors here. So they all ran back to their oars and started rowing. The captain turned to Kevin Costner's character and said something to the effect, "that'll keep the dumb bastards rowing for several more weeks.

So during Obama's speech I was looking for his promise of "dry land," and think I fond it by counting the repetition of unusual words, something I used to do with Bush's speeches during his build up to war,

The narrator said Obama was taking an extra long time getting to the podium because he was stopping along the way and taking pictures of the audience with an Ipod. That might be the first product placement in a State of the Union address. It was a routine opening with mention of something President Kennedy said, and immediately in his next sentence he said, "a decade of war is ending--our troops are coming home" After the lengthy applause he completely dismissed the subject for the rest of the speech and went on to his version of saving the economy.

That is where he said "middle class" on 9 occasions, often referring to a renewed promise that Americans will be able to rise to middle class by their hard work and talents.

It appears that the promise of "dry land" will be the increase of opportunities to become middle class, with the guvs help and guidance of course. In our generation we never openly spoke of an American class structure. We all knew it was there but stayed in some sort of silent denial. How things have changed.

I listened to the republican speaker afterwards and his use of the term, "middle class" went off the page. He used it in nearly every sentence, told how he came from low class and rose up. I was flabbergasted.
Did he and Obama exchange notes beforehand , have the same speech writers, or what? Or is this promise of"dry land" from an agenda directed by the elite in hidden places.

Best wishes, [a great reader]

First, yes Obama and Rubio are controlled by the same agendas, handlers and shadowy figures.  There's not a whit's worth of difference between any of them, now that Ron Paul is gone.

More on that in a moment, but first a pause so that we can all get our espressi together and start chewing on the carcass du jour.  Also, a Happy Valentine's Day to all.  May we all be so lucky as to have a spouse like our great reader with whom to share espresso and articles over the morning grapefruit.

It's also the fifth anniversary of my boarding the plane to begin my self-imposed exile from a totalitarian regime by coming to wild and wooly place called Indonesia.

On to the carcass...

The State of the Union address and the 'response' of the other half (rather than side)...what a joke it has become.  Either I am more cynical (check) or these things have truly become farcical theatrics that openly mock the intelligence of the audience (check).  It turns my stomach to listen to them any more, and like our great reader, I have hardly noticed Obama's presidency other than to duly note that he once also lived in Indonesia.  But heck, even the Indonesians don't care about that any more.

I very much appreciate the great reader's comparison to the film Waterworld.  I happen to think it is very under-rated, though Kevin Reynolds' ham-fisted directing did tend to overshadow the wonderful metaphor and simile in the script, especially the scene mentioned by our great reader.  But I have to be careful or this will turn into an examination of the film rather than a critique of the Obamanator.

Since our great reader took such pains to write a great letter, we took the time (and held back the urge to upchuck) to watch the State of the Regime address.

The first thing I always notice at these annual pep rallys were the fasces and the banner of the British East India Company that framed and provided backdrop for this theater.

Duly noted were all the references to the Middle Class, but what I noted was the repeated idea that people must be 'brought up' to such status.  This tells me that the Middle Class no longer exists, since America is no longer trying to preserve it (see Reagan's SOR speeches) and is now trying to replenish it.

Another thing I noticed was the continual appeal to 'the children'.  This is a common theme with propagandists.  People instinctively want to protect their children, so it is a common weapon of fascist states to use that instinct to get the masses to rally around the flag.  Even more than 'Middle Class', Obama kept appealing to 'the cheeren' as a means to activate emotional responses and shut down reason.

The most sick-making parts of this display of media mind control were the 6 minutes of non-stop applause for a man who has stated his intent to kill American citizens and subvert the Constitution with fiat rulings, euphamistically called 'Executive Orders'.  Everyone who clapped at any time during this display of 'might makes right' is an accessory to heinous crimes.  The cut-aways to congress-critters listening in rapt attention should offer a definitive list of just who is the enemy of the people, and not one of them were al Qaeda or Muslim Brotherhood.

I didn't have the stomach to watch Marco Rubio's 'response'.  I will note that his name derives from "Mars" and "ruby" or "red".  Mars, of course, is the god of war and red is definitive color associated with Mars.  He is one of the top contenders for the 2016 republi-craps presidential nomination, so we should keep a wary eye on him.  He's following the same path that Obama did back in 2004, when he was an unknown senator from Illinois.

As a public service, we offer the following list of thoughts raised by the propaganda spectacle.  They are listed in the order in which they occurred while muddling through this clap-trap so the readers can follow along at home:

• Government is the engine of the economy
• Cutting back on government spending jeopardizes entitilements
• Soaking the rich will save everything
• We should drop the pretense of a two-party system
• New jobs can only come from outside, not from innovation in new technology at home
• 3-D printing will save America
• The president can and will issue decrees to subvert the congress' role as the legislative body
• Government will control the individual's consumption of energy for your own good
• The sole purpose of education is to produce worker bees
• No Child Left Behind is repackaged but it's still child worship\
• There is no middle class and government's job is to try and recreate it
• Immigration reform is needed to attract the smart people America no longer has
• Women are still unequal (go on pull the other one) and fathers are all deadbeats
•  America no longer needs to send troops overseas, now it can bomb civilians by remote
• Africa is a new battleground against "terrorists"
• Computers and the internet are evil and must be controlled
• America reserves the right to kill its own people but will not tolerate it in other countries
• America's military is central to American hegemony
• Lawyers will save America's electoral process
• Government will use children to achieve ANYTHING
• Government doesn't like it when the populace can fight back

 A good wordsmith can couch any amount of terror and suffering in lofty language and emotional appeals, but it doesn't change the core messages.  America is in decline.  It (the government) sees military adventurism as its only recourse for survival.  Nothing, including American citizens, will stand in the way of the government's survival.  And finally, the children are the property of the state to be educated any way the state sees fit to promote itself and its corporate sponsors.

Yes, it's a disgusting state of affairs and one about which real, unbrainwashed Americans are alarmed.  Granted we've been hearing this rhetoric so much for so many years that most of us can't remember when people had a healthy suspicion about the motives and actions of their government.

And for those, including Obama, who still worship the memory of JFK, his most famous quote is pure fascist rhetoric: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."  Compare that to:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

I rest my case.

Thanks RF!

Farce and Flatulent

It has been suspected for years, by the tin-foil crowd, that the US government has pursued a policy of using crimes involving guns to further an agenda of undermining the Second Amendment to the Constitution.


When I say "using", I am referring to the best case scenario, because the worst case scenario is that it has actually had a hand in causing the crimes in order to further a political agenda.


It is worth rereading the text of the Amendment:

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."

The first part, up to the word "State" is an adverbial phrase, providing more information about the active verb 'infringed'.  It does not limit the right, merely provides one of the conditions influencing the negation of the main verb.  Regulated, in the sense that it is used here, is a gerund (verb being used as an adjective), meaning, "to adjust so as to ensure accuracy of operation."  Militia, as defined in 18USC, is all males between the ages of 18 and 59.


In other words, all prime-aged males kept in good working order (trained) are necessary to protect a free country, and so their right to own and carry weapons (of any kind) can not be changed in any way, shape or form.


Seems pretty straight-forward to me, and with sound reasoning.  There's no ambiguity in the "shall not be infringed" part of the statement.  No weasel words or legalese...just plain ol' English (not that many folks speak it any more).


Where all this gets a bit hairy is the current administration has been caught creating crimes in order to use them to 'infringe' on the rights of individuals to own guns.  It's called Operation Fast and Furious, and the key event took place in Arizona, which seems to be a battleground right now for these sorts of things.

Seems that the federal agencies, particularly the Bureau of Alcoholics, Tobacco Subsidies, and F**k Ups (BATF), were under direct orders from the White House to violate federal law by executing 'strawman' gun purchases at local, legal gun shops, transferring the guns to Mexican drug runners, and then waiting for the inevitable murders that could be traced back to gun sales in the US.  This, in turn, would be hyped in order to create a national backlash and create more 'infringement' on personal rights.


The murders would be combined with the attempted assassination of CONgresswoman Giffords way back at the beginning of last year.  She was chosen because her husband is a big hero astronaut, so they could tie all the nationalistic pride up into it.  They used a brainwashed Jewish kid who went to the same synagogue as Giffords, and who vlogged all kinds of nonsensical claptrap and was amped on psychotropic drugs (again those damn pills).


These gun-related incidents in a state with fairly liberal gun laws would then be spun into a national froth to disarm everyone (except the criminals, of course).


But then, a BATF agent was killed in Arizona using guns that were purchased under Operation Fast and Furious.  That led to questions, which led to cover-ups, which have now led directly to the door of the Oval Office.  You may recall some time ago, Obama said that they 'had a plan to institute gun control,' just wait and see. He was obviously referring to Fast and Furious, though that egg has exploded in his face, it seems.


At this point, we're going to do a thought experiment.  I'm going to mention a term, and I want you to consciously record the images and feelings that pop into your mind.  Here goes...


ASSAULT WEAPON


Now, if you've been a good little citizen and taken your daily propaganda fix, then the images that came to mind in the first instant included military-style rifles, criminals, drugs (non-prescription), feelings of fear and anger, etc.


The legal definition of assault is to attack someone, and a weapon is anything used to hurt someone.  As such, an assault weapon can be pretty much anything you can imagine, including words, used to attack someone.  A slice of bread and duct tape can be assault weapons.  A high-ball glass or piano wire can be assault weapons.  In fact, just reading Agatha Christie and P. D. James novels will give you a veritable what's-what of assault weapons.  So why, in particular, did a military rifle come to mind?


Because you are mind-controlled.


So here's the thing: from all appearances, the White House gave the order to a federal agency to make illegal gun purchases using tax dollars, sell those guns to criminal drug runners and look the other way while they crossed the border, and then plan to use any and all murders committed with those guns to force a political agenda down everyone's throats.


Things that should be coming to mind at this point are conspiracy, RICO, high crimes and misdemeanors.  There's no way out of this one.  A BATF agent is dead, the murder weapon is a gun registered to a BATF strawman purchaser, there's recordings that make conspiracy to commit crimes and to cover them up fairly plain, and there's documents tying it all back to the White House.


This is de facto proof that the US federal government can and has conspired to kill US citizens to further political agendas.  This opens dozens of lines of inquiry into things like 9/11, OKC, Ruby Ridge, Waco and many other similar incidents.  Even the Miller incident which started gun control and created the BATF back at the beginning of the 20th century.

Add to this today's headline that the CIA targeted and assassinated an American citizen, a Muslim cleric and non-combatant living in Yemen, a country against which the US does NOT have a declared state of war.  The killing was approved by the DOJ and there were no Letters of Marque or Reprisal issued.


In fact, Anwar al-Awlaqi was a guest at the Pentagon right after 9/11 occured, and was an operative for the CIA/military.  Obviously, he was getting too expensive.


What you have here is clear proof that the federal government is no longer acting to protect its citizens, and in fact, is using blatantly criminal acts and conspiracy to target and subdue its own citizenry.  There is not the least shred of plausible deniability and the acts are clearly documented and lead to the highest offices in the government.


That anyone needed THIS level of proof is rather amazing, considering the tin-foil crowd has been crowing about this sort of thing for decades.  But the fact is now on the table and it is incontrovertible: at least some elements of the US government have acted in criminal conspiracy to target and kill US citizens, both at home and abroad, to achieve political goals.


There is only one question remaining: What are we going to do about it?


We have a long list of scandals and abuses, that individually might be written off, but which collectively display a policy of aggression at the highest levels of government against its own citizens.  At the VERY LEAST, this information should weigh heavily on your voting decisions.  But it should be causing a massive uproar demanding accountablity and jail time for those guilty, regardless of what position or authority they have.


Of course, what will actually happen is that Obama will retire to Uruguay, next to the Bushes.  Perry will be elected president, and a couple of bureaucrats will be fired with cushy pensions.


And the beat goes on...

Dog Days Of August

MUSIC UP AND OVER

THE SCENE: We establish with aerials of a remote Swiss chalet.  It is obviously the possession of someone(s) with extreme and old wealth.  The camera flies across a vast ravine and enters through a set of French doors into...

INTERIOR SWISS CHALET: A richly appointed Euro-style sitting room, all walnut and leather with animal heads mounted tastefully around the walls.

There are a number of MEN sitting in a rough circle.  They are obviously well-to-do gentlemen, with a smattering of military types.

The CAMERA peds up from shoulder height to move across their heads until a set of wooden double doors are filling the frame.  Just as the camera settles on the shot, the doors burst open and STANLEY MOTSS is standing dead center, one hand on his hip, the other holding a Yorkshire terrier.  BED MUSIC

MOTSS: Gentlemen, you're pissing on my product.

A BEAT

GEORGE C. SCOTT: Mr. Motss.  We were wondering if you'd show up.

MOTSS: (enters room, doors shut) Don't give me that crap.  You knew when I had the idea sitting on my toilet this morning.  Let's dispense with the bullshit, shall we?

PATRICK STEWART: How may we help you, Mr. Motss?

MOTSS: (puts dog on a large coffee table) You know damn well what I'm doing here.  You killed my product.  I believe we had an agreement?

SCOTT: You have to understand the 'fog of war...'

MOTSS: Do I have to waste my precious time with brass mouthpieces here?  I created SEAL 6!  You told me I had the picture rights, residuals and two sequels.  I'm just a little miffed, if I may use such strong language?  I'm already in production!  I've got crews shooting in Morocco with Dolph Lundgren right now.  Before I can even post, you've killed 'em all!  Hell, we've got action figures in development.  How can I sell dead heroes?  You can't sell dead heroes!  Nobody wants a dead hero!

CHRISTOPHER LEE:  It was unavoidable, Mr. Motss.  Pakistan was threatening to open our little cage.  The damage that could cause...

MOTSS:  I could've gotten an Oscar here!  You've shot down my dream!  Now I have to start from scratch again.

SCOTT:  We'll be happy to arrange a posthumous Oscar.

MOTSS: Threats don't interest me.  Now about my career.

LEE:  How much, Mr. Motts?

MOTSS:  This?  This isn't about money.  Do I look like I need money?  I got an Armani and I'm holding a hairy damn dog.  Trust me, I don't need money.  There's a bigger picture here.

LEE: Precisely, Mr. Motss.  One even bigger than your own.  All of our careers are at stake.  Things have gotten into the wild, and not just about your SEALs.  We are...anxious about the future, and your mantle decorations do not advance The Goal.

MOTSS: Don't lecture me about Big Pictures.  My bio-pic on Che Guevara set the bar for Big Picture!  I created Madonna for you!  I AM Big Picture!

VOICE: Mr. Motss...

(Cut to wide of massive fireplace, a la Citizen Kane.  A LONE FIGURE stands to one side, framed by roaring flames.  The camera trucks in to a tight shot of the back of his head.  He turns to reveal...JAMES MASON.)

MASON:...it seems subtlty eludes one such as yourself.  Allow me to be blunt.

(Cut to wide as he crosses to oppose MOTSS)

MASON:  Your SEALs were fine work.  We used the bios that you created, even releasing one of the photos you made for your characters.  We appreciate the quality and depth of your efforts.  But, the issue at hand is that we are losing control.  We had expected the...masses...to react differently.  We're afraid that our timing may have been off.

MOTSS:  And that's a reason to kill my best work?  I even killed bin Laden for the sixth time, and people bought it.  You saw the YouTube videos of the boneheads dancing in the street.  And the burial at sea?  That was genius, baby, genius!


MASON:  There is no denying your talent, Mr. Motss.  Our relationship has been mutually beneficial, as I'm sure you will agree.

MOTSS:  All the way up until you scrambled my Oscar hopes.  I had the speach written and everything.  I even hear Chevy Chase is hosting next year.  You can't possi...

SCOTT:  This fruitcake is raining on the parade.  I'd love to commit his suicide.

MASON: Gentlemen, please.

LEE:  You see, Mr. Motss, where one door closes, another opens.  We have another, much larger project for you.

STEWART:  We want an alien invasion.

MOTSS:  Sci-fi?  I like it.  Always wanted to do a space opera.  Who gets creature design?  Do I get ILM?

STEWART:  We've already set up most of it.  You've got a comet, an asteroid and two planets to work with.  You will have some license, but you must adhere closely to the outline.  We need a creature that is menacing, but not unbelievable. No forehead appliques or cheerleader outfits.  The...masses...must be sufficiently frightened and distracted that they cling to us like a bad smell.

MASON:  Mr. Scott will brief you shortly on Project Blue Beam.

SCOTT:  Do I have to work with this...this man?


MOTSS:  Blue Beam?  What's Blue Beam?  I need some real toys here, and your giving me ray guns?

MASON:  It will allow you to project 3D images directly on to the atmosphere simultaneously worldwide.  Each person will hear the audio inside their heads through a signal from every cellphone tower across the globe.

MOTSS:  I'm liking it.  Got a kind of Goldfinger-y feel to it.  So, what's the upshot?  What do you want?  And what about my Oscar?

LEE:  We need the entire world to be frightened to death.  It must appear that a deadly virus has been released by an alien force to eradicate Mankind.  Only we will have the cure, so they must come to us.

MOTSS:  Wicked.  Sort of Star Trek meets War of the Worlds.  We'll need some serious talent.  This won't be a job for Tom Cruise.

STEWART:  Precisely, Mr. Motss.

MOTSS:  Got any flying stuff?  I'm betting all those sightings are probably yours, right?  But they look so 50s.  Don't you have something a little more, I don't know, Maserati?

MASON:  Mr. Scott, would you please illuminate our guest?

SCOTT: (grumbles) We have faster-than-light craft.  Fifth generation.  The largest will hold 100 men.  It'll get you to Mars and back in 20 minutes.

MOTSS:  I'm getting a picture here.  Comet passes near Earth.  Media hype stirs up pre-arrival anxiety.  It's revealed to be an alien craft.  I'm thinking Godzilla-running in the streets kinda shots.  The inhabitants drop in to claim Earth as their own.  Humans must surrender or be annihilated.  We can do the alien broadcasts from Mars.  Frame it right and no one will know the difference.  How's the lighting there?

MASON:  I believe you have the Big Picture, Mr. Motss.

MOTSS: Can I use Obama?  He's not looking too busy these days.  He and Woody hit the links just the other day.

LEE:  All our operatives are at your disposal.  We'd like you to use Putin, as well.  We want him built up into a global leader.

MOTSS:  Got it.  Perfect.  I'll do a James Bond-coming out of the water shirtless kinda thing.  The women and queens will go ga-ga over it!  I'll have them eating out of my hands!  Love his accent.

STEWART:  Be careful, Mr. Motss.  We need extreme caution at this point.  This is our biggest weapon.  We can't afford to let this one get away...like the SEALs.

MOTSS:  I'm still sensitive about my SEALs...please.  I almost started believing them myself!  Now that's talent,baby!  I'll need a little religious fanaticism to pull this off.  Who do you have?

STEWART:  We've already set up Rick Perry for you.  He's on-board with the program.

MOTSS:  Him?  He's such a pretty-boy.  Don't you have someone a little rougher?

LEE:  Trust us, Mr. Motss.  We've been at this for a long time.

MOTSS:  Ok, but at the first sign of trouble, I'm bailing on Perry.  Don't trust the guy.  What about budget?  I need some serious juice for this one.

STEWART:  You will have everything you need.

MOTSS:  Right!  Well, let's get on with it.  I've got a million ideas and I need to get them on paper fast!  Where can I work?

MASON: Mr. Scott will show you to your quarters and brief you.

SCOTT:  I feel like Nixon in China.  I'll try to restrain myself.  This way, Mr. Motss.  And don't forget your damn dog.

MOTSS:  Oh, that thing?  I just rented him for effect.  He's yours.  I hate dogs.  By the way, have you done any stage work?  You have a great voice for...I don't know, a general or something.

SCOTT:  I am a general, you dolt.

MOTSS:  I knew it!  What's your sign?

(They exit)

LEE:  I feel a bit uneasy about this one.  Events are moving much faster than we anticipated.

STEWART:  This alien invasion has been planned for decades.  George Lucas and Ridley Scott have been softening the targets for years.  Our polls show people are ready for this.

MASON: Gentlemen, we have only one concern.  We must keep a tight grip on this.  The usual leaks can't be tolerated.  If anyone becomes a problem, they are to be liquidated in the usual manner as fast as possible.  Understood?

(Cut to wide as all the heads are nodding thoughtfully...then cut to a figure who has sat silently in the back of the room until now)

CLAUDE RAINS:  This could be the dawn of a new day...

(MUSIC SWELLS/FADE TO BLACK)

Okelah Kalau Begitu

Writer's block.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not the absence of ideas, it's a case of too many.  It's hard to figure out where to begin.

It's kind of like Joyce's Finnegan's Wake.  It begins and ends in the middle of a sentence, so that the entire book is a full circle.  I've always thought it would be interesting to make a movie like that, with the credits in the middle, and starting and ending in the middle of a scene.  People would be completely befuddled.  Movies and writing are linear, in that they must begin at some point and end at another point, with a series of building climaxes, until the pay-off.

At the moment, as I sit here trying to organize the bee hive in my head, it's hard to pick a point at which to launch.  I sat for an hour tonight making my world-famous spaghetti sauce, which is a pretty mindless project involving cutting up dozens of onions and tomatoes.  While I was working, my mind was pondering all the events going on the in world.  Obviously, I'm not alone.

There have been so many things happening that folks have comepletely forgotten that the world's worst nuclear accident in still in progress in Fukushima, Japan.  It's belching out piles of radioactive isotopes known to cause all sorts of horrible diseases and birth defects and other really fun stuff.  But, if you look at mainstream media, hardly a word.  Nobody remembers it.

Instead, we've been distracted with 'royal' weddings, birth certificates and farcical bad-guy baggings.  And while we are arguing over whether Obama's birth certificate is genuine, or Usama bin Laden is really dead, we're all literally cooking in our seats.

I've gotten a couple of nasty-grams from folks laughing because I like silver, and the price has dropped nearly $20 in the last two weeks.  I can only answer, "Go out and try to buy a 100oz. bar."  Can't do it.  JPMorgan can play with COMEX to save it's "too big to fail" ass, but it doesn't change the fact that they can't cover their naken shorts.  They're hiding with by playing numbers.

But it doesn't change the fact that we're cooking in our seats.

I got a couple more nasty-grams saying that I'm unpatriotic for not backing Obama and the UBL fiasco.  I can only say, "You're unpatriotic for not questioning every utterance from your government."

Meanwhile, we're all cooking in our seats.

Got one nasty-gram saying I'm seeing boogy men under every rock with all the talk about symbols and stuff.  Sorry, but that kind of stupidity and willful ignorance doesn't deserve an answer.

All the while, we're cooking in our seats.

Take a look at this link.  Don't know about you, but it pretty much takes the wind out of UBL's, Obama's and the 'royal's' sails.  It looks like Clif's web bots talking about ill winds circling the planet nine times are pretty much spot on.  I live 6 degrees south of the equator, so it'll take a little longer to get here, but that crap will eventually end up in my salad, too.

Makes me feel real good about what my grandchildren will look like, not that my genetics were GQ stock to start with, but a healthy dose of plutonium in the zygote stage sure ain't gonna help things.

But hey!  Cop-killing rappers at the White House and Lady GaGa are MUCH more important, right?

Because all the twhile, we're cooking in our seats.

Gee, you don't think THEY'd create all this noise to hide the fact that we're all cooking in our seats, do you?  I mean, just because the 'royal' wedding started at 11:11am, and certain important objects, such as Venus (the Light Bearer) was passing overhead in London at that moment, we shouldn't worry, right?  All's well, brother,  Everything is double-plus good.  Choco rations are up 15% this month!

What's really interesting is that the Untied States are setting up for a truly unique revolution, in which the States themselves revolt against the federal government.  I can't really think of it's equal in history.  It's already begun in States like Arizona, which took away the federal powers to regulate immigration, in California which took away the fed's power to regulate marijuana, in Utah which took back the power to coin money.  Little by little, the States are asserting their 9th and 10th Amerndment rights.  It's a wonder to behold from over here on the Far Side.

Hope it continues.

I think they should just dissolve the federal government and start a fresh one, using the same Constitution, but put it somewhere in Nebraska this time.  The only States that could possibly be against that idea would be, oh say, Connecticut, since they have absolutely nothing but rich New Yorkers there.

Despite all the fun and games, we're cooking in our seats.

Shouldn't we be worrying about things that will affect our great-grandchildren, instead of all this fluff and stuff that won't mean a damn thing next year?

Can't you feel the heat yet?

Birth Of A Nation

Not to take anything away from one of the first feature films ever made (D. W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation), but the whole 'birther/certer' issue is a ruse.

For those just waking up from a coma, Obama's birthplace has been an issue since before the election in 2008.  A great number of people have questioned whether he fulfills the stipulation in Article 2 of the US Constitution, to be a 'natural born citizen.'  There have been numerous lawsuits and attempts to force Obama to release his actual birth certificate, which he has spent millions of dollars to prevent.

Millions of dollars in legal fees to prevent the release of a $20 legal form, which all US Presidents have provided as a matter of course.

Obama's 'adversary,' one John McCain even had to go through Congressional hearings because he was born in Panama.  The Congress cleared him, since both his parents were US citizens, and he was born in a US hospital in what was then US territory.

"Natural born citizen," as it appears in the US Constitution, has a specific meaning.  The term was taken from a concept of international law that predated the Constitution by a few decades.  According to the Federalist Papers and the Congressional Record, the term was to have the meaning that a person had two parents with citizenship, and that the person was to have been born on a nation's territory.

Since Hawaii, Obama's purported birthplace, had been made a State a few years before his birth, there doesn't seem to be an issue there.  But where a lot of folks get derailed is the fact that his purported father was a British subject, being a citizen of British East Africa (Kenya wasn't around then, except maybe in local parlance).

In addition, Obama lost any claim to citizenship when he was adopted by an Indonesian man, becoming Barry Soetoro and taking Indonesian citizenship.  So, regardless of what citizenship he had at birth, he lost it when his mother married an Indonesian and moved to this country.

Furthermore, the purported birth certificate released the other day has a number of problems with it.  Folks have pointed out that it lists his father's race as African.  In 1961, the common term was Negro.  It lists the hospital by a name that didn't come into use until the late 70s.  It appears to have been manipulated in some form of graphic software.  The certificate number is higher than two twins who were born in the same hospital the day after Obama.  It doesn't resemble any certificates that were issued at the time (they are, like mine, black with white text...I was born two weeks before Obama).  And finally, it lists his father as being a citizen of Kenya, which didn't exist at the time.

That Obama is an illegitimate president is without question.  He failed to take the Oath of Office using the exact words proscribed in the Constitution, he has done almost nothing Constitutional, he has been seated on UN councils illegally, and he has prosecuted wars without the approval of Congress.  In other words, he is acting far outside the powers granted to his office, and is thus illegitimate.

What's really going on here?  Congress could impeach him if it acted according to law and the Constitution that empowers it.  The Supreme Court could have heard any of a number of challenges to his legitimacy.  But none of the Fools on the Hill have done their job.  So why, all of a sudden, is he releasing his birth certificate? He was secure in his position of disdain for the law, since no one was able to effectively challenge him.

Easy.  Donal Trump.

You see, the PTB/W have this thing where they steer voters to choose their darlings.  Not that any of the choices have the interests of the American people at heart, with the possible exception of Ron Paul, but they have one boy who is their favorite.  In this case, it's Obama.

Now with the current economic and social situation in the States, it's easy to see that Obama should be picking his retirement home about now.  However, the PTB/W like him.  He does what he's told and does it with flare and aplomb.  So, in order to coral the masses and make them 'choose' their man, they have to muddy the waters around him, thus making their boy the only logical choice.

Along comes Donald Trump.  The man is useless, as far as statesmen go.  But, he is very visible and has good name recognition.  On top of that, Ron Paul, whose followers created the Tea Party, and who are gaining political strength, is making a third run, and could have a good chance at the seat, which would be a PTB/W disaster.  So, they put up The Don.  And to buy him some credibility, he is told to hammer the 'birther' issue.  Lo and behold!  Obama releases the certificate!

Wow!  The Don really has some stroke!  He could do what hundreds of others could not do using the system.  He could scare Obama into releasing the certificate!  The Don is great and powerful!  Instant legitimacy.  See how that works?

Now, what will likely happen is that The Don will start to collect a large following, then some scandal will break later on, on cue of course.  His followers, cut loose and dangling will grab on to whatever 'front runner' the media have selected for the masses, and the vote will split giving Obama a clear lead, as well as disillusioning voters who were looking to the Republicrats as an alternative.

The masses, who love the idea of backing a winner, will thus flock back to the Obama camp.  By then, the media will have whipped up the 'Obama mystique' again, presenting him with halos and showing swooning females crying in the audience.  Obama wins a second term and no one remembers that he wasn't a legitimate president to begin with.

It's all really elementary mass mind control.  It's akin to the way TV preachers hypnotize their minions.  The music and lights operate at a certain rhythm, with emotional triggers being pulled and released in a certain pattern.  People are built up to an emotional peak, and then released so that they feel as if they've had some sort of mystical experience.  It's so obvious and so easy to do, as long as folks don't catch on to what you are doing to them.  They have to maintain 'willing suspension of disbelief.'

Really, media consumption classes should be mandatory in all schools.  Learning the tricks and methods of media manipulation should be basic information, like adding and subtracting numbers. We now live in a virtual flood of media, yet almost no one knows how or why it works.  The media have an incredible amount of power, as long as you don't look behind the curtain or think about whose pulling the strings.

I have many non-media friends who won't watch movies with me any more.  They say I have completely ruined the experience for them.  Now, when they watch movies, all they think about is where the camera is, whether the dialog was looped, and how much of the frame is 'live' and how much is computer generated.  They also look at the visual language.  What is the camera angle saying?  What is the composition saying?  What are the other things included in the frame saying?

It's all symbols, and all of it is manipulating you all day, every day.

It's like I keep saying...turn OFF the TV now.  Do NOT consume mass media.  You are probably not savvy enough to know when you are being manipulated.  Then, pull out some books about media and mass comm theory.  Do enough reading first, then flip it back on.  Bet you will never watch it the same again.

The whole charade around the birth certificate is Grand Theater.  It's an opera in real life.  The symbols and events are being staged and carefully managed to steer your mind exactly the way THEY want it to go.  If you really stop watching TV right now, within a week you will notice a distinct change in the way you think and perceive the world.  After a couple of months, you won't be able to watch much at all.  You'll see how insipid and crass is all is.  And if you do enough reading on media theory in the meantime, you'll be able to pull the curtain away and see the wizard for what he is.  I know.  I worked in media all my life and won awards for manipulating people's minds and emotions.

Yeah, Obama is illegitimately on the throne.  Yeah, the whole damn thing is a circus.  Yeah, Donald Trump is a spoiler to split the opposition.

The best way to fight back is not participate.  It's all a lie.  If they can't get enough people to vote, they no longer have any claim to power.  All of this is to whip up a frenzy over the next two years so that it climaxes with you in the voting booth.  Take away their climax and you can REALLY change the world.

Loki Unbound!

Loki is a rather interesting character in Norse mythology.  He is often portrayed as being Wodin's right-hand man, but with a twist.  Whenever Wodin's not looking, Loki runs around creating havoc, which Wodin then has to clean up.

As we survey the world today, it would seem that Wodin has fallen into a drunken stupor in Valhalla, a bit of deer gristle stuck in his beard, and Loki has taken advantage of the situation.

The world has gone stark, raving nuts.  I can't think of any more appropriate description.  It's not just the natural disasters.  Those are sufficient cause for alarm.  But the people are out of control, as if Loki is moving amongst them with wild abandon, whispering devious schemes in their ears.  How else do you account for the sheer lunacy?

We have a Nobel Peace Prize winner ordering the death and destruction of thousands, while acting like a tyrant, and no one seems to see the irony in that.  We have the only country in history to get nuked in war-time, nuking itself and refusing to admit the severity of it.  We have the Bear and the Panda looking for all the world like restrained adults trying to marshal the unruly children of the West.  Meanwhile, the richest, most powerful nations of the last 300 years are imploding, and they are ordering gasoline thrown on the resulting fires.

Just amazing to watch, really.  Who would have thought Indonesia would become a power-house economy?  I mean, besides me, of course.  Who would have thought India and China would be shoving each other in the hallway over who gets to be the biggest, baddest mofo?  Who would have thought Ireland and Portugal would join together to finally crash the Holy Roman Empire?

And what about Libya?  Here we have a country that was quelling some domestic protests when suddenly the  US/UK empire decided now was a good time to start blowing them up.  No one was paying any attention to Libya.  They were just going about their business feeding oil and gas to Europe and many other countries.  Then, along came al Qaeda, who are supposed to be the bad guys over there (after all, the US has been bombing them into oblivion for 11 years).  They start stirring up some noise.  Qaddafi does what any good dictator does (see Obama) and puts down the protests.  That should have earned him a gold star and extra face time on Dancing With The Stars.  Instead, the Coalition of the Desperate start flying sorties, shooting DU and arming al Qaeda.

What the hell?!

When did the axiom of war become, "The enemy of my enemy is my enemy?"  It's as if only the US can beat up on al Qaeda.  If anyone else touches them, watch out buddy!  Heck, just the ruling junta in the rebel camp is a Who's Who of bad guys right out of the infamous Deck of Cards: al Awali, bin Laden's personal driver, guys the US has shot up three countries to kill.  Now the US is protecting them in Libya and giving them money and weapons.

Pardon me if I have this really confused look on my face, but when did the libretto change?  And what's worse?  The American people are just blissfully sailing along on Hope and Change, hardly noticing what those bastards in Washington are up to.

Meantime, the US debt is now par with the GDP, which means what?  B-R-O-K-E.  But don't let that get in the way of a good spending spree.  Last month the feds spent 8.2 TIMES the monthly revenues.  Let's just pause a moment to let that sink in...  You have a credit card.  The spending limit is $1,000.  So, what do you do?  Spend $8,200, of course.  What's more, the issuer lets you do it, since you always pay the interest (though the principle has been sitting there since Kennedy was sneaking girls into the Oval Office).

Things are much better in Europe, where Ireland and Portugal stepped up to dip from the trough...again.  No one seems to mind or care that all the bail-outs do is create more bail-outs.  When do you suppose Germany will get tired of floating the whole damn continent?

On the war front, Obama, Sarkozy and What's-his-name in Britain are strutting around like a bunch of preening chickens with their 'war postures,' yet not one of them has served a single day in the military.  In fact, it's the women behind the scenes who are starting all the fights, which is what women are really good at.  Hillary and that Power woman and a few other top broads are the saber-rattlers.  The boys are just the strutters.  The really funny part is that Qaddafi is the only REAL man in the whole play.  He's holding off a bunch of so-called rebels AND the combined efforts of three countries.  And that's with his left hand.

Yup, the more you look around, the more you have to assume that Wodin has turned Loki loose.

Over here in Asia, the rupiah has steadily risen from 11,000 against the dollar a couple of years ago, to 8,600 now.  But, Asian stocks took a dump when Japan dumped radioactive water into the Pacific.  I'm waiting for specials on 3-eyed flounder in a few months.  Needless to say, the sushi industry is toast for the next 2 or 3 thousand years.

Pay no attention to the neutron beams.  Those are just part of the light show.  Pink Floyd will be coming on soon.  After all, neutrons are only released when nuclear chain-reactions occur.  That's a good thing.  It means Loki is out of control.

A long time ago, I worked with an old black man named J.C.  He was prone to sitting around in between jobs and smoking his pipe and laughing to himself.

":J.C," I asked him one day, "why are you always smiling?"

"Heh heh heh," he replied.  "I'ze jes laffin' to keeps from cryin'."

I've never forgotten those simple words.  In fact, it's probably why I can see the hand of Loki at work.  The mischievous imp is running amok making black into white and white into black.  You have to laugh.  On some level, this is all really funny.  Great theater.  After all, if you take it too seriously, you'll just die from grief and heart-break.

Loki, wherever you are, thanks!  Now we can all just laugh ourselves into oblivion.  And J.C., thank you, too.  That was one of the most profound things I've learned in all my life.

I'm just laughing to keep from crying...

Give That Man A Peace Prize!

 Pembaca Indonesia: tidak percaya kepada apa saja dari WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks adalah pelaksanaan CIA. Mereka mau membuat situasi seperti Libia di Indonesia. Kerusuhan dan protes adalah apa yang diinginkan oleh mereka untuk menciptakan karena kekayaan Indonesia bisa diterima kalau tidak stabil. Hati-hatilah informasi yang mana pun yang jelek di negeri Indonesia.

“The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation."  -Barack H. Obama, Boston Globe, December 20, 2007

This morning, as you ate your Wheaties and sipped your coffee, did you have a twinge of conscience?  Did you visualize all the men, women and children who, in your name, would never enjoy breakfast with the family again? Did it bother you at all that millions have died because of you that never attacked, nor even harbored ill will towards you, your family or your nation?

Did you vote for Obama?  Did you believe the hype about "hope" and "change?"  Were you one of the rabid supporters who castigated anyone who dared speak a cross word about such a great man as Obama?

Obama: the greatest mass murderer to ever win a Nobel Peace Prize.

Not a single Iraqi, Afgani or Libyan have been shown to have attacked the United States, nor has any proof ever been offered that any of those people had intent to do so.  Three wars have been perpetrated on the lone premise that 19 Saudi citizens hi-jacked four commercial aircraft and flew them into civilian and military targets in the mainland US.  Yet, not a single shot has been fired at Saudi Arabia.  Why is that?

And why are a good number of the supposed hi-jackers still alive?  And why are there so many questions surrounding the events of 9/11?  And what, exactly, did Libya do to the United States to deserve being attacked?

In point of fact, the US has perpetrated an act of international terrorism, attacking a sovereign nation without provocation, whose sole crime is that the country has oil and wants to sell it to whoever offers the best price.

To claim that the US is protecting rebel factions inside the sovereign borders of Libya has absolutely no weight under law or reasoned argument.  Especially when there are far more desperate places on Earth, where the citizens suffer deeply, and have done so for decades, without so much as the US batting an eyelash.  The only difference between them and Libya, insofar as the US government is concerned, is that Libya has oil.

That's all.

This fact could not be more obvious now.  Iraq, as an isolated incident, might have been arguable, but combined with Afganistan and now Libya, there can be no other conclusion than lust for the rightful wealth and resources of sovereign nations.

We must also consider the possibility that these events are nothing more than slight-of-hand, as well.  As the world focuses attention on these unprovoked, immoral and unlawful naked aggressions, what is being perpetrated behind the scenes?  Theories abound, but one can speculate that we may never know in our lifetimes, if ever.

In the meantime, global focus has shifted away from Japan and imminent nuclear disaster.  Why hasn't the US mustered its might and resources to aid in the recovery of those poor folks affected by natural disaster, and the subsequent man-made threats?  Why is it we can muster all this effort to kill and destroy, but not for peaceful and humanitarian purposes?

Oh, that's right...Japan doesn't have any oil.

If the same events has occurred in Saudi Arabia, do you think there would be a difference?  Would the global coalition be wringing its hands about cleaning up the mess and getting things back to normal?  Would such a disaster already be shunted to below the fold on the second page?

Do you feel rage?  Do you visualize the victims of your silence?  Does it make you angry that a man was elected, at least partly, on the premise of ending America's naked aggressions, who has since escalated those aggressions?  Have you done anything at all to put an end to it?

Or are you too busy enjoying your Wheaties and wheat toast with a nice latte from your home coffee bar?

Suppose tomorrow, you awoke to the sounds of aircraft and Tomahawk missiles raining down on your neighborhood.  Suppose the world, tired of the illegal criminal acts of America in so many parts of the world, had formed a coalition, rammed a resolution through the UN, and proceeded to attack your home.  Suppose, instead of your morning commute, you were picking your way through dismembered bodies and destroyed homes wondering what in the hell you did to anyone to deserve this.

Inconceivable?  Really?

"As you sow, so shall you reap."

Do you think anyone would weep for you, when you did nothing to stop the terrible death and destruction your government hailed down on so many victims in so many parts of the world?

Or do you think they would simply enjoy their Wheaties and wheat toast while brewing up another latte, and feel justified that you were receiving a just reward?

The US has not prosecuted a lawful and Constitutional war since World War II.  Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Granada, Panama, Haiti, Iraq, Afganistan, and now Libya are all illegal actions unilaterally ordered and operated by an Executive Branch of the federal government, and sanctioned by the American people, who have done nothing to stop it.  Millions have died because of your inaction.

Does your conscience have any say yet?  Have you checked your pulse lately?

The Way Things Work

You probably read the headlines: Obama's trip costs US$200 million a day, 6 aircraft, 34 warships, taking over entire hotels, army of Secret Service guarding.

You probably think that's all for Obama, that the whole thing is a show of regality for the President.

You'd be wrong.

See, here's how it works: Obama, or really any face in the Oval Chair, is just a shill. Think of him as the top sales person for corporate and banking interests. The individual is nothing more than the marketing guy for a small consortium of business and banking interests. The shill's job is to both draw and divert attention.

Obama is the curtain behind which stands the Wizard of Oz.

Take, for instance, the 6 aircraft. OK, all six land in Mumbai. One carries the Presidential Entourage, one carries press and lackies, two are carrying the Captains of Industry (aka the Wizard of Oz), and two are carrying an army of lawyers, bankers and paper-pushers. When they took over Mumbai, they rented an entire hotel, ground to roof. In each room was a representative of this group or that company. Indians with money were shuffled in and hard-sold down in the hotel bar. Once they were ready to negotiate, they were hustled upstairs to the appropriate room, where the sale took place. The contracts were signed and deals consumated.

Then, forr aircraft left for Jakarta. Two identical Air Force One's landed at the air force port on the east side of Jakarta, where all the cameras and world attention was focused. The other two landed at Soekarno-Hatta on the west side, and looked to anyone watching like standard public carriers. Those had the Wizard of Oz.

Meanwhile, the other two planes stayed in Mumbai. They were carrying all the lawyers and paper-pushers. Their job was to wrap up the business and make sure all the knots were tied.

Back in Jakarta, Obama was put up as an eye-catcher. He has no power and doesn't lead anything. He's like the appendage on an angler fish: just waved around to attract prey. His speeches were vacuous and contained little substance. But, he drew attention, and that could be capitalized on. Anyone who had passed a pre-screening that included a look at their bank accounts, and who expressed an interest in doing some business, was hustled into the appropriate hotel room, where they were hard-sold and contracts signed.

Obama's trip was a whirl-wind, 24 hour, misty-eyed affair that conveniently kept the world focused away from the Wizard of Oz. We were all watching the show and nodding at the simple Indonesian phrases, smiling at the lame jokes, and waiting for something of substance. Meanwhile, in the hotel rooms across town, the real reason for the show was occuring away from the lights and the dignitaries and the meat puppets.

Then everyone left town, and the world's gaze followed, while those two additional planes (remember those?) quietly left Mumbai and slid into Jakarta completely unnoticed. A small army of lawyers and paper-pushers descended on Jakarta to wrap up the business. If there were any sticking points that needed clarifying, or financing that needed to be completed, or additional wining and dining to complete the deal, they were here to finish up.

Yesterday, those two planes quiety slipped out of Jakarta, on to the next stop, following the Wizard of Oz and sopping up the money left behind.

To be sure, the Obama circus is grand theater. He has a good voice and can masterfully read TelePromTrs. He's handsome and charismatic, and was chosen for the job precisely because cameras tend to point at him and not at the Wizard of Oz. In the global media, there are stories upon stories about diplomacy, and human interest tales of baby-kissing, and chuckles about the one or two gaffes, but the real story is on the four aircraft that are part of the road crew, the people behind the scenes controlling your perception and doing the real business of the show in front.

Think of the whole thing like a circus. The MC, in the center ring and with a flashy suit and spotlight, with his melodious voice, keeps you entranced and focused on the dog and pony show. Meanwhile, in the dark and away from the direct attention of the crowd, the stagehands are preparing the ringing, positioning props, laying out costumes, and cleaning up elephant dung. Out front, the box office folks are counting the money, filling out the ledger, getting a head-count on the audience, and wrapping up the business. The performers are concentrating on their upcoming roles, checking costumes and make-up, making sure everything they need to perform is in place, and focusing their minds on the job at hand.

What you see seems effortless and spontaneous. The acts go off with nary a hitch. The music is timed perfectly. The MC speaks his hypnotic lines with perfection. But if you turn you gaze just slightly to the side and peer into the darkness in the next ring, you'll see dark-suited figures scurrying around setting up for the next act. If you do this enough, you can start to anticipate not only where but what the next act will be. If you squint into the vomitorium, you can see the upcoming performers getting into position. If you glance up to the orchestra, you can see the page-turners preparing the music sheets for the next piece. If you look up, you can see rigging and props flying in and out getting into position for the next piece.

You'll see it, but the rest of the crowd will only see an MC, and a dog and pony show.

The Wizard of Oz is the real show. He's in the background counting the box office. That's what the whole show is about. Oh sure, you get a smile. Your kids are thrilled and entertained. The wife is happy to be out of the house. But, the whole reason for this spectacle is to separate you from some cash. All the acts and cotton candy and clowns are there to tickly you into opening your pocket book just wide enough to spill some bills.

Try my trick. While everyone else is watching the center ring, turn your eyes just slightly to the side. You'll be amazed at all the action behind the scenes. I personally think it's more interesting than the show.

Oh, and remember those 34 warships following the circus? No, they aren't guarding the precious President. No, they aren't there to intimidate the world into submission (although there is some bonus effect). They are there to guard the cash box all the way to the bank. After all, that's the whole reason for the show.