Stirring The Hornet's Nest

Video link is here.

I have frequently been criticized for not giving equal time to Qvians in my explorations of the phenoomenon.  Truth be told, I have invited a few of the more popular commentators to debate, and I have either been declined or no answer was forthcoming. A response from an apparent Qvian came across my desk following the outstanding 2.5-hour marathon discussion I recently published on the Radio Far Side YouTube and BitChute channels.  I believe this response encapsulates many of the issues with Q I have had over the past couple of years.

In the following, all text in bold italics are from the correspondent, and what follows it is my response.  I have only edited the writer to remove identifying information  When/if I cite Q directly, the reference will be from qanon.pub, one of the Drop aggregators generally accepted by most Qvians.

I would like to put forward my reasons why I believe you are being a little over dramatic with the intentions of the Q movement.

I believe that, when compared to the writings and recordings of Qvians, I have been far more measured and circumspect, but that is for the reader/viewer to decide.

1. The host made a stupid statement saying that the only thing we all knew for sure about Q was that it stated Hillery Clinton was going to be arrested in the next 48 hours, October 2017 and Q drops were posted on 8 chan, By his own admission it was not Q that posted Killery was going to be arrested. That post was made well before Q started posting. He just speculated that it was Q.

This statement is notable in that Q Drop #1, by all accounts, detailed the arrest of Hillary Clinton.  I did not make that up, nor is it speculation.  It is widely accepted by Qvians as fact, and that Drop is listed by all aggregators as the first.  As for what I claimed to be known facts about Q, the following comes directly from my show notes and were said more or less verbatim:

• An unsigned post on 28 October 2017, using 4Chan, is generally identified as Q’s first comm (later self-identified as “Q Clearance Patriot”)
• Initial claim was that Hillary Clinton would be arrested within hours and that extradition proceedings had begun with several countries if she tried to leave the US
• Began identifying/signing as “Q” with post #64, on 3 Nov 2017
• Q moved to 8Chan in April 2018(?), a site owned and operated by Jim Watkins out of the Philippines, claiming 4Chan had been compromised
• Due to an association with the Christchurch mass shooting at a mosque, 8Chan shut down operations in August 2019, for 90 days, then re-launched as 8Kun in November 2019

For reference, here is Q1 (note Drop # in upper right corner), cited by QAnon.pub and every other aggregator I can find:

If the writer insists that this is not a Q Drop, then he or she is the first and only that I know of.  The first mention of "Q Level" was Drop 48, on 2 November 2017, and later that same say, began using the "Q" signature.  On Drop 128, 9 November 2017, Q added the trip code and began posting under the handle "Q":

All of the posts are internally consistent and self-referential, so there is little wiggle room to say Q1 is not the same actor as Q128.

All of you thenwent [sic] on to say that Q followers were brainwashed and were wasting their lives being in a religious fervor following the movement. This is simply not true. Most of the Q people I know see Q as just one part of their news source and research. Many like myself rarely look at Q posts any more because they are largely repetitive. The repetition is necessary for new followers to the movement to get an idea about the real world they are living in.

From the start, Q made remarks like, "God Bless," "God Wins," and similar lines, and from Q35, 1 November 2017, it has made extensive use of Biblical quotes:

These references are a direct appeal to Christians only.  There is no attempt to include other faiths in the US.  Q is making use of Christian Millennialism as a means to ensnare the greatest number of people, and to use both fear and anticipation of End Times mythology to pacify followers.  Using these psychological tricks, such as mantra-like repetition is by definition, brainwashing.  Q is using faith-based triggers to entrain followers and ensure receptivity and compliance.  Call it what you will - I call it brainwashing.

Repetition is a mainstay of brainwashing techniques.  It is a fundamental aspect of advertising and marketing, the corporate media use it to great effect, and political systems have made it a fundamental tool throughout history.  Oft-repeated phrases such as, "The Plan," "The Storm," and "Where we go one, we go all," are prime examples of Q using this technique.  Q virtually admits this with the phrase, "Look here, don't look there."  The Qvians interpret it for their own purposes, but from a neutral viewpoint, it is a clear statement of method.  In a sense, it is hiding truth in plain sight.

To bring the religious aspect into this, every faith uses prepetition of mantras, prayers, litanies, and creeds as a means to embed reality filters in the minds of the faithful.  Whether or not you agree with any particular faith and its filters, the objective use of repetition is an undeniable tool with a proven result.

2. Trump is very aware of everything about Q and regularly posts as Q+. We know this as fact because there have been dozens of Q+ proofs that can't be denied. For me, the 2 proofs that made me sit up and take notice were the Tip Top, Tippy Top  2018 Easter speech and then the rally where Trump called out the beautiful baby in the crowd and asked the father to hold up the baby revealing a large Q on it's back. There are many other instances I could mention and I will if you wish to know.

I am quite familiar with the Proofs, and I have dealt extensively with the Zero Delta and a technique called "front running".  As for the Q+ myth, there is nothing factual about a connection to Trump.  It is completely faith-based and circumstantial.  Yes, I know about the White House photo signed "Trump +++," the military flight call signs of "Q+," and the rest.  None of this is proof.  All is of carries plausible deniability.  It may be true or false, but at this time it is most definitely not fact.  If Trump ever signed one of his tweets with Q+, we would be obliged to revisit this item.

Trump has repeatedly denied knowing "much" about the QAnon movement, though to the best of my knowledge, no one has ever asked him directly about the nature and identity of Q itself.  If he were dodging certain admissions or revelations on semantic grounds, this would certainly indicate it.

As for the baby in a Q jumper, I will quote my dear colleague Molly Ivins, "It is part and parcel of political show business to kiss hands and shake babies."  That a baby in a rally of thousands of people might be called out by Trump AND have a Q on its back is purely circumstantial, and once again completely faith-based as a confirmation of anything but a politician's show-stopper.

3. If you actually followed Q you would realise the wild statements attributed to it by Q doubters were in fact statements made by shills and then retweeted or reposted by over zealous social media channels. A classic example of this was that Q supposedly said Hitler was Merkles [sic] Mays father. I even heard you saying Q said that.. Well Q never said that at all but did ask the Anons to research it and gave some suggestions of where to start looking. Q was simply using the massive investigative resource of the movement  to find out if it was true or not.. Like your research had already found, it ran into a dead end.

A signature of Q is the use of the rhetorical question, where the answer is self-evident or to indicate a "truth" that cannot be overtly stated (usu. Classified information).  When Q asks a question like this, then indicates a starting point to "research," it is obvious to Qvians that the answer is positive and following the indicated trail will reveal the pre-determined answer.  For example, if Q asked, "Is the Pope Catholic," then provided a link to the Vatican web site, Qvians would assume the answer is "yes" and that the web site contains at least part of the proof.

For myself, I have never repeated anything as a Q Quote without posting the actual Drop (as above).  I did not buy into the Hitler nor the JFK Jr. mythos.  All of my articles and analysis have been based solely on the actual language in the actual Drops.

4. Q has predicted many things that have come to pass. Two that come to mind were when it gave the day, hour and minute of McCaines [sic] death a month before he did die. This told me two things. Q is military because they hated No Name and the other was that McCaine was executed.under military justice 

This particular incident is one of the most disturbing in the Qniverse.  I did an extensive analysis of McCain's death in "The Qiller Q".  First, we look at the actual Drops:

It is true that Q appeared to predict Sen. John McCain's death on 25 August 2018, at 4:28pm. according the death certificate, precisely 30 days in advance.  It is also true that Q referred to McCain as "No Name," the assertion that the Senator was hated by the military is not a publicized fact, and Q is the only firm source I can find for this assertion.  While this confirmed to my mind that Q is a real entity, I found it deeply disturbing for two reasons.

First, a US Senator was either executed or committed suicide, and it was planned at least 30 days in advance.  In the former case, a US Senator was secretly executed without public trial or due process in any form I understand under American jurisprudence.  In the latter case, no attempt was made to intervene by either family or Q.  There can be no other conclusion, since predicting the date and time of someone's death a month in advance is not a routine occurrence.  In either case, Q had foreknowledge of the death of an elected official of the United States and did nothing to stop it.

Second, the news of McCain's death was greeted by Qvians with absolute glee.  At no time did Q publish a definitive case against McCain, rather it simply said he was a traitor and hated by all military personnel.  The joy among the Qvians was profoundly disturbing, since they accepted that Q was somehow involved, and they demanded no proof of McCain's guilt, much less question the lack of a public trial.

This incident exposes a theme of bloodlust and revenge flowing beneath the Q Movement that should make every sentient and empathetic human cringe with shock.  That the correspondent mentions this incident so casually and with an air of satisfaction proves my point in this respect.

In November last year Q stated in a drop that "we will soon have a two day cure for the Flu". In February the following year Trump made the Hydroxichloroquine statement in response to Fauche's [sic] CoronaVirus Vaccine statement. Q then went on to show us that Fauche had known about the benefits of HCL since 2004 exposing him for the Swamp Creature he really is.  

I went back and reread all of November 2019 Drops and found nothing having remotely to do with medicine, cures, flu, or any similar topics.  In fact, despite "knowing the playbook," Q provided no warning about a global pandemic, nor did it advise stocking up on any types of drugs, and has been relatively silent on the entire ordeal.  If the correspondent can provide an actual Drop # or some other unambiguous reference, it would be a great help.

With regard to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), a drug I have used since 2009 to cure various tropical diseases and treat symptoms of MS, a search of Qanon.pub brings up no mention of Fauci or Birx, several tangentially related to the CDC, and a handful that mention HCQ.  Perhaps the one that addresses the correspondent's remarks is Q4104, from 4 May 2020:

Q

Q's first reference to HCQ was a full three months after Trump had closed national borders.  Trump's first mention of HCQ was in mid-April.  This Drop, the first to mention HCQ, is actually a link to an article on the One News Now site published 27 April 2020, and written by Bryan Fischer.  Q's only comment was "Reconcile".

Thus, an article on a news outlet cited 16-year-old studies in the public domain that were authored by Fauci and others, 7-10 days after Trump mentioned HCQ for the first time in a press conference, and Q then provided a link to the story eight days after publication, with the imperative to reconcile.  The correspondent would credit Q with this information, when anyone with a search engine or who read the news outlet was already well familiar with the story.

This is a common feature of the Qniverse to credit Q with exposing many "deep secrets," when in fact the information was already in the public domain and Q did nothing but link to it, like a clandestine Twitter user.  This tells me that Qvians are so busy repeating their mantras and doing their decodes that they fail to notice the world around them without Q pointing the way.

One assumes that if Q has insider knowledge, knows The Playbook of the Deep State, and wants to prove the value of following it, Q would have published the HCQ information much earlier, helping Qvians avoid misinformation and possibly contracting a disease.

5. I am of the opinion that Q did expect arrests to be made back in 2018 but soon found out it was pointless doing so while the courts were so corrupted and also realising just how deep and powerful the swamp really was. Plans needed to be reassessed and many battles had to be fought before any effective, significant arrests could be made. If you remember there  was a time in late 2017 when a number of high profile people including Killery and McCaine were wearing moon boots. You may also recall the number of international flights that were turned around in mid flight and escorted back to the US. These were the pending arrests Q was talking about. Don't forget there are still 

nearly 200,000 sealed indictments waiting to be served. 

Ah, yes, the constant apologetics and refrain of X-thousands of "sealed Indictments".

Early on, Q implanted the necessity for "disinformation," because the "enemy" read the Drops, too.  The long list of predictions by Q come with their own self-correcting mechanism.  Any time (most of the time) a prediction doesn't pan out, it was disinformation, or The Plan changed, or the Swamp is much deeper than expected.  And yet, we are told "we have it all."  Q wants us to believe all the evidence is in hand, all the players are known, and all the crimes have been cataloged.  If the crimes are as egregious as we are tol and the evidence so damningd, no amount of corrupt judges could stop the intense public scrutiny of every parliamentary move to dodge justice.

Instead, the two people most responsible for bringing the corruption to light are Julian Assange/WikiLeaks and Tom Fitton/Judicial Watch.  Assange has been rotting for years because of his heroism, but he was taken out of the Ecuadorian embassy and thrown into prison (still with no crime) because the United States (under Trump) guaranteed an IMF loan to that country to allow police to go into the embassy and seize Assange.

Recently, Trump made noises about appointing Fitton to a judicial overview commission.  This is a toothless position that has never achieved anything of note and is likely a carrot to keep Fitton busy and away from Hillary.  One hopes fervently that he does not accept.

We shall mention in passing the ordeal of Michael Flynn, fired by Trump two weeks into the administration, and now rotting four years under the blatant and very public corruption of Emmett Sullivan.  Oh, and not a word in support of the McCloskys or Rittenhouse, or the many others actually fighting evil and dying in cold blood on the streets.

As for the now more than 200,000 "sealed indictments," anyone who believes that a significant proportion of the entire population of the United States is under indictment for treason and related crimes needs a reality check.  Furthermore, the only person in four years to have faced any proceedings was Kevin Clinesmith, and he was slapped on the wrist and sent on his way.

Based only on what Assange and Fitton have made public, real patriots should be storming Washington, demanding justice.  Instead, the people who really care and would do something about it are busy eating popcorn and enjoying the show, because of Q.

5. I read the comments at the end of your Far Side interview and one comment made the very valid point that for the discussion to be balanced there should have been a Q advocate included. The host replied that he tried to get such a person but everyone declined. I simply call bullshit to that statement.

As you wish, but I invited six of the most-followed commentators on YouTube.  Two declined to be interviewed and four never answered.  With three of the individuals, I have made multiple attempts, including after their channels were vanished by Google.

He also said Q had nothing new to contribute that people like yourself had not already exposed and it never gave credit where credit was due. I have suspected for some time that there is a certain amount of jealous push back to Q from established alternate researchers and this Far Side guy seems to have confirmed my suspicions.

Jealous push-back?  Interesting that the desire to save lives that has gone on for generations would make me or anyone else jealous.  Even more curious is the idea that tracking and rescuing people from human trafficking rings would be considered "alternative".

The use of children for sex slaves and forced labor is one of humanity's oldest secrets.  Along trade routes from Africa to Asia, this practice has been documented for centuries.  I suppose one could call Marco Polo an alternative researcher, since his tales include vivid descriptions.  Polo's description of how male children were prepared from birth to be sex slaves by inserting a device in their anuses is particularly memorable.  I don't recall Q mentioning that.

There was a group in the 1970s and 1980s called the Seekers, who did heroic work rescuing trafficked humans in the United States.  There was a group who uncovered a stash point in Arizona just a couple of years ago that got a few headlines, but faded fast.  Nary a mention from Q.

The use of blackmail, particularly using honeypots, is another ancient practice.  One recalls Matahari during World War I, but that is probably the most famous in recent history.  The Egytians, Greeks and Romans all documented this practice.  I suppose we could classify them as alternative researchers.

The term "conspiracy theory" originated in the wake of Kennedy's assassination.  The work of dozens of brilliant researchers over the past 50 years comes to mind in this context.  All the theories mentioned and/or espoused by Q and the Qvians all predate Q, but one could be forgiven thinking that these theories were all discovered after Octrober 2017, because none of them mention or credit the hard work all of the researchers have put into documenting such things for posterity.

Come to think of it, Q has never added a single fact or tidbit to any of the theories, just blessed them for Qvian consumption.  Jealousy?  No, just integrity.  Truth be told, I make no pretention to being a researcher of the caliber that has illuminated so many crimes.  I just happen to recognize Q for what it is and want to help others see it so they are not suckered into something under false pretenses.

6. Whether Q is a psyop or not it has awakened millions of people worldwide to the fact that evil has control of the planet. Thousands of children have been rescued from sex slavery. Hollywood has been exposed, MSM has been exposed, the corrupt political system has been exposed and more recently Gates vaccination plans have been exposed to millions as a direct result of Q posts. Where is the harm in that? 

[This response was rewritten to clarify the argument -BG] Here we have another formal fallacy: the ends justify the means.  It is a common style of argument that dismisses moral and ethical issues by saying, "You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet."  

Let us assume for the sake of argument that Jesus never existed, but Christianity has brought comfort to millions for centuries, and look at all the great art it has spawned.  The entire New Testament was fabricated to modify and control human behavior.  Does the good that Christianity has done justify the Inquisition, to select but one incident?  Are political actors allowed to wrap themselves in Christianity when subjugating people "for their own good"?  Furthermore, does inducing humans to behave a certain way under false pretenses justify the lack of candor?  Would the reader prefer good results when the motives of a controlling entity are unclear or obfuscated?

For a pop culture reference that is particularly apropos, I suggest the Star Trek TOS episode, "The Return of the Archons."  Is society's peace and tranquility justified by the utter lack of Free Will and individuality?

Neither Q nor any Qvian rescued children, nor am I aware that Q or any Qvians did research that led to the rescue of any children.  As mentioned above, child sex trade has been known for centuries and rescues have been ongoing for all or some of that time.  Q did nothing to expose it, and the Qvias have done nothing but talk about it.  To my knowlege, none have discovered names, dates, routes, storage, costs, customers...in fact, nothing.

I could have told you about the corruption of the MSM back in 1981, when footage I shot of a family feud in Transvaal was used on one of the Big Three nets in the US as images of race riots in South Africa.  William Randolph Hearst and his Spanish-American War to sell papers comes to mind.  The movie "Broadcast News" comes to mind.  Nothing new there.

Hollywood was founded by the mob and the place itself started as a land swindle (see Hollywoodland).  The amount of crime and corruption in show business is the stuff of legend, dating back centuries (again).  The first major sex scandal that I can think of was Fatty Arbuckle in the 1920s.  The recent Tarantino film "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" fictionalizes one of the biggest murder scandals of the 1960s, in Hollywood.  Sex, drugs, murder, scams...those crimes are synonymous with Hollywood.  Nothing new there.

As for political corruption, I suggest you read or see William Shakespeare's brilliant play, "Julius Caesar".  Wherever money and power have aggregated throughout human history, corruption quickly follows.  I believe it was Lord Acton who observed that, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  Christ Himself was tempted with worldly kingdoms and wealth beyond imagining.  Nothing new there.

As for Gates, one need only scratch around a bit to find evidence that his organization killed, maimed and sterilized hundreds of thousands across Africa and India.  A bit harder to find, but still known for years.  Nothing new there.

For any of the above to be a surprise or revelation to anyone means they would have to be willfully ignorant and certainly unable to crack a history book.  It is rather hard for me to imagine anyone being that ignorant or naive without willful intent.  I certainly didn't need Q when a library would suffice.

Catherine and Joseph are speculating that Trump is simply a creature from another swamp. So in reality people who follow your reasoning are  just as brainwashed as Q followers. It can be speculated that Catherine is under the control of the deep state in return for her being protected from further persecution from it. After all she did go through hell trying to defend herself. Joseph has admitted that he has been contacted by people trying to bribe him for his silence. What speculation can we derive from that?

I observe that Catherine is still fighting for truth and Joseph is not silent, thus they appear to have not taken the bait.

As for my own persecution, I paid a heavy price for not giving in, and I can tell you with frightening assurance that Satanism does exist.  If, however, someone wants me to shut up, I have a number in mind and it's not much in the Great Scheme of Things, but it would sure do my right.  Just sayin'.  I have the greatest respect for anyone who can resist that one.

  I see no harm in people having their views as long as people can advocate their positions in a balanced discussion not a one sided beat up.

I did not intend a beat up and I apologize if that is how you took it.  In my thought processes to arrive at my opinion, I argued both sides of the equation and came up with the solution that I have expressed here and elsewhere.  Perhaps my background in media and marketing makes me less susceptible to manipulation, or perhaps it was the amazing teachers who have come through my life and gifted me with critical thinking skills.

Perhaps I'm completely wrong, and if so, I will eat every word I have written on the topic.  I'm rather confident that won't happen, though.

My offer is open.  If someone who can put forth a solid argument in favor of Q steps forward and wants equal time, I will happily oblige.  I have proved that by responding to this missive.  If not, then I will assume folks have taken the following commands from Q:

In conclusion, Q claims that it is a function of military intelligence that recruited Trump to run for president and is attempting a counter-coup against elements of the US government collectively known as the Deep State.  So let's examine these claims.

First, Q is military intelligence.  So, a group of spies within a military organization that has been used since the days of the Old West to expand and maintain an empire is feeding us information that we are supposed to trust.

Second, if this group indeed recruited Trump to run, then we must assume that Trump won because this group interfered with election results to ensure their chosen candidate won, and that Trump's true allegiance is to this group.

Third, a counter-coup run by military intelligence implies a covert ruling junta that has yet to prove there was indeed a previous coup to justify itself.

Despite Q's commands to "use logic" and "think for yourself," few if any Qvians do it.  If the implications of Q's assertions are run to their logical conclusions, then we should be doing everything possible to expose this operation and demand accountability.  In fact, the entire Qniverse is built on assumptions based on previous assumptions, and few if any Qvians think for themselves.

The success of the Q Phenomenon tells me that it is a highly sophisticated psy-op that is collecting, disseminating and weaponing information to fight a war few of the Qvians can clearly articulate.

We have no clear idea whether Q is friend or foe, but when it operates in the shadows and will not identify itself or its goals, we should keep far away from it and examine it in a bright and objective light.

Reader Wrights

View from the Writer's hut

You know, sometimes all the effort to sit here in my jungle hut, with monkeys on treadmills generating electricity and four wives hounding me to go pick fruit or something useful, is just worth it.  That's especially true when I get great email from readers that let me know I'm having some effect on the world, that is just a four-day canoe ride through dengue-infested backwaters away.

Ever see African Queen?  That scene where Bogart and Hepburn are swarmed by mosquitoes?

Like that.

Anyway, I digress.  I blame my 20-year-old newest wife who is picking my nits and getting me rather frothed up.

So, reader email.  That's where we were a moment ago.

We received this email from long-time reader and supporter R.F., while he was attending a luau on Malibu beach, I think:

Hello Bernard:

I hope you are well, safe and prosperous. Your blogs are a blessing, and I wouldn't know where to start if I were to comment on them.

When Henry the 8th criminalized the Roman Catholics my Irish ancestors were rounded up and shipped off to the penal colony of Australia as convicted sheep thieves, along with thousands of other young Irish men that were at the time "kicking up their heels" or as they say nowadays, existential threats. So I might have inherited a dissident gene or two as a result, and that might be why I like your blogs so much.

As you did I tossed out the TV decades ago, but I watch movies (and I have several thousand in my library). I love movies and analyze them for the content that influences the feelings. I watch the background as much as the foreground mis-en-scene, listen to the the music, and watch for metaphors, allegories, symbols and other triggers and effects.

Of course this drives any family members crazy because I will lurch for the remote to stop a film at odd moments to replay scenes while they are trying to become immersed in the story. My analytical approach always seems much more entertaining and rewarding to me than what others seem to get out of films. I believe movies are an extension of theater and wayang, and movies, theater and wayang are often used to guide society--in pre-Facebook times of course :-)      Wasn't The "Gospel of John" a perfect model of the Greek 3 act play? The last act has the curtain drawn symbolizing the hereafter. (please comment if that is correct). "The Third Man" takes us around in a full circle just like life does. "Chushingura" seems liken to the Bagavad Gita issue of duty in conflict with honor, (possibly a reflection of your father's inner conflict.) A flood of examples comes. Your message is clear, but I must limit this note. 

As with theater and films, in your "Sorcerer's apprentice" blog you remind me that politics is another of the "glamours" as defined in the Maleus Maleficarum. A spell, an illusion causing people to see things differently from what they are. Hence, to cast a glamer is to cause a visual deception. (--wickisomething or other) 

This can be proven: when the glamour fades that scraping sound we hear in the middle of the night are the neighbors in the confines of their garages scraping off Clinton, or Bush, or Obama bumpers stickers. In the forthcoming reboot they will replace them with the newest glamour of Hillary or Trump or whoever bumper stickers.

Thanks for the blogs.

Sorry for the momentary pause there.  The tears running down our cheeks shorted out the "good" laptop and electrocuted the monkey.  Had to put wife #3 on the job and whip out the antique laptop.

It's letters like this that keep us going.  And we love that our readers are intelligent and well educated.  We even had to use the rotting copy of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 1948 edition to understand half this stuff.

Of course, we knew about Botany Bay from watching Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, but the rest of it, well...

We have a massive movie collection too!  All sorted by genre, writer, director, lead actor, even director of photography and editor.  And yes, the film format is a direct extension of the proscenium, or picture frame stage, which is about 2,300 years old.  The psychological effect is of an invisible "fourth wall" that allows the audience to observe the action without being a part of it.

One of the best theories I've ever found (and am still looking for again) for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, was that the "monolith" represents the picture frame, whether stage or screen.  It's dimensions are almost exactly the same as 65-mm film frames, and the narrow depth represents the bare reality of the third dimension in film.

Thus, by extension, Stanley Kubrick was creating a magical working on the audience, through the picture frame, showing us (and bringing us along) an alchemical transformation of anyone who participates in the process (watches it).

All great works of art are transformative.  In fact, one cannot call something art unless it transforms.  That is the whole point.  And yes, there are dark arts and light arts: people who vomit on canvass, and Leonardo da Vinci.  One crushes the spirit, the other elevates it.

I agree with R.F., analyzing the magic makes for a much richer and enlightening experience, at least for me.  In some way, it is also a protection from the magic.  By understanding how it is done helps me maintain a mental distance from its effect.

I would rather watch Citizen Kane a thousand times, than a thousand lesser movies.  When the craft is performed at its peak of skill and artistry, it is truly magical.  Would you rather have one da Vinci or Rembrandt or a thousand Warhols?  Think with your mind and spirit, not your investment portfolio here.

At any rate, you see what happens now when we get great letters like this.  We start thinking (finally?).

Many thanks to R.F., both for reading and for sending us the occasional brain-bombs.  We save these things and dust them off on rainy days, you know.

And thanks to all the readers.  We had our second-best month ever in July, with an average of 800 hits per day, and this past weekend was the most heavily trafficked ever, with over 3,000 hits in two days.  Somebody out there likes us.

Don't forget to pass on a link to your friends and enemies.  You can hook up with us on half a dozen "social media" outlets to keep up with our doings, the archives date back seven years and over 1,000,000 words, and there's some great stuff coming, including events in which you can participate.  So keep tuned.

Onward through the fog!

And yes, the photo at the top is the view out our writer shack deep in the jungles of Borneo.  Ish.

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!

Simple Questions, Complex Answers

One of our long-term readers and correspondents, LK, has done it again by sending a huge, loaded question using their regular economy of words:

"What is your take on the military and CIA and how O is getting rid of them?"

I could take the easy route out of this one and say that Obama is paving the way for the Anticrhrist, and I'd have backup, but I'll resist the temptation and delve a bit deeper into this issue.

Let's dispose of the Petaeus case first.  In case you've been under a rock for the past decade, and a lot of folks are, David Petraeus was the US general sent into Afghanistan to oversee the "Quiet Surge" against Afghan "Taliban warlords and strongmen", and prevent the Anglo-American Empire from becoming yet another victim in the long line of historic empires who met their doom in that land.

Forget for a moment that under the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 80s, it was known as "military escalation" against "Taliban freedom fighters".  See Tom Hanks in "Charlie Wilson's War".

In a desperate attempt to keep the American public on track with the war effort, Petaeus was built up into a military genius and his "Surge" was considered highly successful, though facts tend to disagree.  As a reward, Petraeus was handed the reins of the CIA, figuring he'd be a compliant sort, lest the PTB take away his glorious mantle.

Well, it seems that Petraeus knows a great deal about the events in Benghazi and the death of the Libyan ambassador there.  So much, in fact, that he was called to testify before Congress.  My guess, and this is a good bet, was that he stated to his handlers unequivocally that he wouldn't lie under oath.  This wouldn't do, since it would undermine the five or six officious versions of those events and even lead to Obama being brought up on criminal charges before Congress (often called impeachment).

For damage control, Petraeus was pushed...er, fell on his sword to bury a few big skeletons in the US closet.  We can assume this since having an extra-marital affair is about as unusual in Washington as cockroaches in a New York brownstone.  Hell, if Bill Clinton could get away with leaving "DNA evidence" on Monica Lewinsky's blue dress, not to mention JFK's dalliances, we can easily assume much deeper motives in this case.

Of course, this is all speculative, but history and the evidence presents a strong argument.

Now, as for the larger question of disassembling the military, we will have to climb a bit further out on the limb of speculation, but I believe the cumulative events of the past 20 years will support the weight.

First of all, we must define current events.  There are basically two major groups vying for world domination.  One is the Socialists (often called communists, which is a gross misnomer), and the other is called the Fascists.  The Socialists envision the world dominated by the State and operated by a central steering committee.  The Fascists see the world dominated by corporate interests and run by a Board of Directors.  The central goal is the same, this is only an argument over who's heel the world will be squashed under, and how it will be done.

In the US, these interests are represented by the Democratic and Republican parties respectively.  In other countries, they have different names, but in nearly every case, there are two dominant parties who simply trade reins back and forth in things euphemistically called 'elections'.  The Socialists want to unwind the military and middle classes of strong Fascist economies in order to subject everything to the States.  The Fascists want to build up the militaries and middle classes in order to prosecute their wars of domination over Socialist strongholds.

The Socialist faction is centered around Russia, China and parts of Europe, while the Fascist segment is headquartered in the US and UK.  The recent US elections were a victory for the Socialists, which is why the corporate media and business interests are wringing their hands.  The firing of Petraeus and other efforts to undermine the US military are also related to the Socialist efforts to bring the corporate war machine to heel.  By discrediting Fascist military leaders, the Socialists can advance their people into key positions, and with Obama being a lame-duck president, he is free now to begin the pogrom in earnest, having fooled enough of the population into supporting him.

The Socialists have also gone out of their way to undermine the middle classes of the US and Europe.  The Socialists want something similar to Orwell's dystopia in "Nineteen Eighty-Four", while the Fascists envision a strong middle class controlled by creature comforts and gee-gaws.  In actuality, we are seeing a sort of amalgam emerging globally, with the growth of Asia's and the subversion of the West's middle classes.  In effect, the independent Fascist middle classes must be brought to heel, while the cowed populations of Socialist states can be allowed to enjoy some rewards in order to keep them tied to the wheel of state.

In order to create the fusion of Socio-Fascism, the US/UK military might must be crushed and a new leadership with more compliant and less nationalistic allegiances must be installed.

Given the growth of Asian middle classes and the soon to be complete destruction of Western middle classes, plus the balancing of military strength across the planet, that some kind of truce has been made at the highest levels of global domination, with a fusion of the two competing economic and political systems being the consensus outcome.  Eventually, probably sooner than later, an equilibrium will be struck globally with power being shared between corporate and state interests.

Whether this will be a successful marriage of opposites (not complete since they share the same overarching goal) remains to be seen.  Certainly, the masses seem content when they have disposable income, TeeVees and little blinky lights in a box to distract them.  However, there seems to be a need on the part of the PTB to completely expunge the independent spirit still flickering in certain Western cultures.  Those people must be completely dismembered and rebuilt in the image of the PTB.

For their part, the PTB seem to have come to a consensus.  The Socialists see the value of creature comforts and hypnotic toys in keeping the masses controlled, while the Fascists have witnessed the value of forced production and consumption.  And certainly both sides are happy with the re-election of Obama and the fall of Petraeus, since it advances the goal of subduing the West into the global empire.  The Obamacare tax beginning next year will be the final nail in that coffin.

On the other side is a small but growing number of people who realize that slavery is slavery, whether the chains are gold or steel.  There is a definite war going on with the Socio-Fascists on one side and the free humans on the other.  The Ron Paul campaign exposed a great number of them, and that may in fact have been the purpose of allowing Ron Paul to be as successful as he was, whether or not Paul was aware of it (and I haven't decided which yet).

The free thinkers have been drawn into the open now.  Their positions and strongholds have been revealed.  If you perceive the PTB being a little cockier and more at ease, this is why.  The final battle for global domination can begin in earnest now, since all sides and see each other clearly.  The problem is that most free thinkers don't know what they've done yet.  People like Assange and Paul have smoked out the resistace and the PTB can target them at last.

Where is all this leading?  Well, that is entirely up to you, dear reader.  First, you must decide if you are a Socio-Fascist or free thinker.  Then you must determine what defensive and offensive positions you will assume.  Finally, you must take positive action to join one side or the other.  The time for fence-sitting is finally past and the Big Showdown is at hand.  The only weapon the free thinkers have is creativity and culture.  The PTB have shown their modus operandi over the past 500 years.  It only requires a commitment to study on your part to get up to speed.

As usual, LK has opened a large can of worms with a simple question.  The answer requires every non-zombie to face the decision of what price they are willing to pay for "peace and security".  The evidence and strategy are plain enough to support this speculation.

So, which is it?  The freedom to choose your own path?  Or the security of having it chosen for you?  The former will require you to leave everything behind, while the latter will see everything taken from you by force.  By 'everything' I mean dignity and self-achievement, not toys and gee-gaws.

Petraeus served his masters well, and we see the price of his loyalty.

As for me, give me liberty or give me death.
==================================
This just in from another long-time reader, correspondent and benefactor of our efforts...

"Hello Bernard:

Again, we appreciate your blogs. Keep up the vigil.

In your Y2K+12+Doom rant you posed a good point about all those instantly disappearing dissenters, such as the many Ron Paul supporters, following the Obama 2.0 selection. Like thousands of others I believe had done, I wrote in my vote for Paul. However there is not one mention in the media or alternative media about him that I can find.

I wanted to send you a link to an interesting article that you might not know about because it is on a financial website.

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/cris-sheridan/big-data-meets-big-government-moneyball-world-now

Along with moneyball and and scientific advances in neuromarketing techniques being used by the media there isn't much hope for all those Facebook members armed with Ipods and a deficit in critical thinking skills, which is just about everybody. Remember in "The Manchurian Candidate" when everybody in the company was going around parroting the same phrase, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." Well, a lifelong friend emailed me after the election and said enthusiastically, "Did you hear Obama's acceptance speech? He is the kindest, warmest, most wonderful man!" The heartfelt letdown is that my friend really meant what she said and there was nothing I could say for an answer without being terribly insulting.

Sometime I feel very alone, but your website is a great lift.

Best wishes,
RF

P.S. You know what I miss the most about Indonesia. Riding on a crowded public bus with all those gentle, sensitive people,,,and durian...I miss durian.

Excellent points there.  Especially the one about the strange Obama zombies.  All very worrisome, indeed.

As for the durian, I know just what you mean.  And that brings up another simple question.  Who was the first person to look at a football-sized fruit with lethal spines all over it that smelled like month-old gym socks stuffed with rotten onions and contained yellow, slimy worm-like fruit and think, "Hey, that looks good to eat!"