Oct. 13, 2009
IF I TELL YOU ABOUT IT, I MUST KILL YOU.
PART 2.
My first section dealt with the creation of the state of Israel and the role of blackmail. I did not intend to follow up the story, but I received numerous comments asking me, what other historical facts do I know that may be hidden from common knowledge. I felt stymied for lack of reason why I should go into other similar stories, but by the strangest of coincidences I am prompted to tell you another story.
Today’s local paper, The Fayette County Record, has a front-page story, with color pictures, celebrating the grand opening of the Czech Cultural Center in La Grange, Texas.
“ A people that have forgotten their past have no future,” said Fayette County Judge Ed Janecka. This gives me the opening to tell a chapter of Czech history that is not well known and fits into my first description of the creation of Israel.
“Stalin, the British, Rockefeller and the US State Department fully expected that attacking Arab armies equipped by the British would immediately destroy the new state.” “Arms shipments to the newly formed state were blocked by the British fleet and frustrated by the FBI.” (from #81)
In the immortal words of Paul Harvey, “Here is the rest of the story.”
Israeli leaders anticipated the attack against the new state and tried to acquire arms, planes and even tanks to stop the combined British trained and armed Arab states from instantly pushing them into the sea. Stalin hated the Jews and was furious that he had to agree to establish Israel. He was convinced, however, that his approval was just symbolic, because the Jews would not last a week.
History books tell you that the 1948 Israeli war for independence was fought with American weapons and homemade weapons from underground factories in Palestine. It was a victory of brave Jews against much better equipped Arabs.
Unfortunately that part of history is an illusion. Most of the guns came from the Czechs and not the Americans. America had an arms embargo against Israel and the FBI working with the British made sure that no American weapons reached the Jews. The Americans would not allow weapons for the Jewish State because the US State Department was convinced that all Jews were communists. The Russians would not allow weapons for them because Stalin was convinced that all Jews were working for the Western Imperialists.
The Czech Foreign Minister, Vladimir Clementis, hated Stalin and decided to help arm the Israelis in 1948. (In 1952 he was hanged by Stalin for being an agent of “Western Imperialists.”) The Czechs had American cargo planes and used them to transport the fighters by packing the fuselages inside the cargo planes. In addition to ammunition and artillery, the Czechs gave the Jews the cream of the Nazi air force, the Messerschmitt Bf-109, which was built for Germany by the expert Czech arms industry. The Israelis now had tanks, fighters and “Flying Fortress” bombers.
Czechoslovakia was the only nation in the world that came to Israel’s aid with everything it had. They even provided a fully operating military airfield in Czechoslovakia. Jewish American pilots, with World War II experience, flew missions, code name “Jockstrap,” to Israel, code name “Oklahoma.” Within a few years, those Czechs involved paid for it with their lives. In 1952 a vengeful Stalin executed virtually the entire Czech government.
Like it, or not, it is a fact that if it wasn’t for the Czechs of 1948, Israel would not exist today. With war imminent in the Middle East 60 years later, it is good to know the story behind the story. I could go on and on, but I am ready to eat a kolache and call it quits.
Those of you computer literate may find more interesting details on the Internet.
I LEARNED Before I was 10 years old, that when you dig in the ground you’ll find old Roman coins and you can sell them at the Museum for a lot of money. One day I found a gold coin and it got me a new bicycle and a month’s worth of candy and ice cream…
I LEARNED By the time I was 20 that war can destroy estates, families and fortunes, and that all you can find in its wake are the gold coins buried in cellars and under thresholds by the victims…
I LEARNED By the time I was 21 I found out what rampant inflation means: The price of dinner going up while you are eating at a restaurant; Payrolls that had to be made daily; A pair of fancy riding boots cost an equivalent of 7.5 grams of gold plus 20%, so the merchant has enough time to reach the black market to convert the currency into gold before it loses its value; Devaluing money means that you have to buy a 50¢ stamp and put it on a $1 bill to make it worth $1 dollar again; Government printing money and buying gold with it on the open and black market and printing more money as the price of gold rises.
I LEARNED By the time I was 25, that a money belt is a belt around your waist with little holes where gold coins can be fitted and you carry it on you at all times. You could live well on one coin for a month or more…
I LEARNED By the time I reached 30, that if you only make $37.50 a week in New York while learning the language and the ways of America, you could still save money and put it in the bank at 4% interest…
I LEARNED By the time I was 40, that gold is a non-constructive investment. Money deposited in banks makes a country grow but money buried in gold does not. Gold is a defensive investment for times when you are more concerned about the return of your money than the return on your money…
I LEARNED By the time I reached age 89, that gold coins saved my life and made it possible to write this vignette of a different world. I am now sad to realize that in this new world gold coins had become life savers again.
Ceterum censeo: Throw the bums out!
Oct. 29 2009
MILITARY INTEL OF THE WEEK OCT.19-25**
WASHINGTON DC.
Congress has been finding it difficult to find those extra dollars to fund their pet project earmarks back home. So they dipped their fingers into the military appropriation that purchase bullets, bombs, support items, clothing and equipment for our troops now in combat. These congressional weasels took $3 billion away from our armed forces overseas to fund 778 earmark projects in their home districts. Revolting. (See item IRAQ below.)
IRAN
Earlier this year, an Iranian nuclear scientist went to Saudi Arabia on the Haj (pilgrimage to Islam's most holy shrines), and never returned. Iranian attempts to find out what happened to their man were not answered by Saudi Arabia. Two years ago, a senior Iranian government official, with knowledge of the nuclear program, disappeared in Turkey. These two incidents indicate that Western intelligence officials have a very good idea of what goes on in the Iranian nuclear program. The Arab nations on the west coast of the Persian Gulf also have a good informant network inside Iran. There aren't as many secrets in Iran as the Iranians would like.
SYRIA
Given Syria’s desperate water needs, the Assad regime might resort to an adventurous war with Israel in order to capture the Sea of Galilee. Syria has underground storage and launch facilities for its arsenal of over a thousand SCUD missiles. The Syrians have a large network of camouflaged launching sites for the mobile launchers. Iran and North Korea have helped Syria build underground SCUD manufacturing and maintenance facilities. The Syrian missiles are meant to hit Israeli airfields, missile launching sites and nuclear weapons sites, as well as population centers. Syria hopes to do enough damage with a missile strike to cripple Israeli combat capability. The Israeli government has been passing around, to local governments, a war planning document. This study assumes a future war with Syria, and gives the local officials an idea of what to expect. Currently, the Israelis estimate that there would be as many as 3,300 Israeli casualties (including up to 200 dead) if Syria tried to use its long range missiles against Israel. If the Syrians used chemical warheads*, Israeli casualties could be as high as 16,000. Over 200,000 Israelis would be left homeless, and it's believed about a 100,000 would seek to leave the country.
TURKEY
In a major, militarily dangerous move for the Mid-East, the once pro-Western, dependable Muslim democracy, Turkey, officially left the Western alliance and became this week a full member of the Iranian axis. On Monday eleven Turkish government ministers descended on Syria to sign a pile of cooperation agreements with Iran's Arab lackey. Syria announced it was entering a military alliance with Turkey and would be holding a joint military exercise with the Turkish military.
Turkey also withdrew its ambassador from Israel. Turkey’s sudden move was caused by the Obama administration, which since entering office in January had abandoned US support for democracy activists throughout the world in favor of a policy of pure appeasement of US adversaries at the expense of US allies. In keeping with this policy, President Barack Obama paid a humiliating visit to Ankara where he effectively endorsed the Islamization of Turkish foreign policy. As a direct result Turkey moved into the arms of Teheran's mullahs.
IRAQ
Homeland Security and Defense Departments are concerned about the patches worn by many members of the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. The patches “Oath Keepers” and “Three percent” may represent the influence of two new organizations. According to the organizations:
“Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution.” Oath Keepers have a specialized mission focused on the oath and to convince members of the military to refuse obeying unlawful orders.
The three percent group are “hard-line gun owners who are done backing up and will not comply with further infringement of any of their rights.” It also alludes to the three percent of the colonists who took to the field against the King during the Revolution, and the estimation that at least three percent of modern Americans will actively fight, if it comes to it, to preserve liberty. Ominous Obama Opposition.
SECRET SERVICE.
An internal congressional report, questioning the ability of the Secret Service to continue fulfilling its duties, was leaked to the Boston Globe. The report says the Secret Service is strained by a drastic increase in threats to President Obama, coupled with deep budget cuts. According to the report, threats against President Obama are up 400 percent from the number of threats levied against former President George W. Bush, while the size of the agency's staff has only increased by 5.3 percent.
PS
* Israel has no chemical weapons. In the event of a chemical attack on Israel, they announced retaliation with nuclear weapons.
**If sufficient interest is shown by my readers in any of the above items, I will furnish additional details.
Ceterum censeo: Throw the bums out!
Oct. 24, 2009
WARNING! This is not an official State Department document. Although the names are factual, the contents and form are not intended to resemble actual State Department communications.
Briefing Update on Negotiations with the Iranian Delegation in Bandar Abbas.
Status: Priority. FYEO.
To: (REDACTED)
Deputy Secretary of State
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
From (REDACTED)
Senior Field Desk Officer, Middle East
Transmitted by KG-3X encryption.
Re O: P5+1 non-proliferation and disarmament.
Re C: Mutual Security Agreement and enrichment approval agreement.
The scheduled weekly meeting to work on details for official acknowledgement and endorsement of uranium enrichment in Iran had been postponed due to sudden developments with a potential negative impact on recent progress. Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie has been fired and we had to arrange an impromptu meeting with Mehdi K. and Ahmad T. to learn of the facts upsetting the Iranian delegation.
We notified Yael D. of the IAEC and Ali Asghar S, of the delay.
Here is the summary of issues disclosed to us:
Sunday's suicide bomb attack on a conference hall in the Pishin region of Sistan and Balochistan province was a major blow against the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). At least 48 people were killed in the attack, among them four of the most senior commanders of the IRGC. They include Generals Noor Ali Shooshtari (the deputy commander of IRGC land forces), Rajab Ali Mohammad-Zadeh (the commander of IRGC forces in the Sistan and Balochistan province), Hossein Moradi (commander of the IRGC garrison in the county of Iranshahr) and Ali Alavian (the commander of the IRGC's "Sarallah" Corps - a prestigious infantry unit). The loss of Noor Ali Shooshtari is the most damaging, since he was the deputy commander of IRGC land forces at a national level.
Responsible for the attack were the Jundallah with close links to the US Central Intelligence Agency's network and other secret military American agents, (some of them considered “rogue”,) and security contractors. In addition "Saudi money" and "American spies" who "have tried for years to raise ethnic tension in the region” are believed by the Iranians to be involved. Iranian Baloch insurgents from the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) and other Iranian Baloch organizations, associated with Jundallah are a major concern for the Iranians and the CIA using Jundallah as a proxy army, as the new "Balochi contras".
In the Kalakot area Dost Mohammad, an underground leader of the MEK, now working in coordination with the Americans against Iranian interests in the region. The alliance of the Iranian Jundallah with American secret agents and Pakistani agents of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is numerous and beyond dispute. In addition to the CIA, highly specialized and secret branches of the United States military, have met key Jundallah operatives and commanders on numerous occasions in remote hideouts on the western fringes of Pakistani Balochistan. Moreover, the Americans have supplied the group with communication devices, in particular encrypted laptops, and large sums of cash.
The covert operation of the magnitude mounted against Iran on Sunday and allegedly supported by US Special Forces based in Afghanistan runs the high risk of provoking Tehran to retaliate. We expressed our official position that the US provides no funding to the groups allegedly involved, which would require an official presidential order from Pres. Obama. They pointed out that that money from foreign sources was being funneled to the Jundallah leadership through "Gulf states" especially the Saudis. We believe that this should be considered a conjecture, not impairing deniability.
The brother of Abdul Malik Rigi, the Iranian Balochi leader of Jundallah, has been captured and has confessed to links with US intelligence. They did not deny torture involved.
We believe that these developments complicate, but do not impair the proposed mutual security agreement. We expect that Iran may again raise the level of demands from guaranteeing Iran’s security against any attack, to putting Israel’s nuclear capability under UN supervision. Yael D. repeatedly stated in the past that such proposal is a non-starter with Tel Aviv.
We expect to resume our meetings as soon as a replacement for GHME is selected.
In addition to the firing of GHME, three other cabinet members resigned, or were fired. Pres. MA has been under extreme pressure and at his last cabinet meeting engaged in screaming exchanges with some of the ministers. Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi, who was also fired, expressed concern about MA’s mental stability, which combined with the illness of AAK points to the possible resurgence of Cleric Rafsanjani.
COMMENT: The above alleged activities by the CIA, AI, DIA, and MCI and by private security contractors indicates a reluctance of these organizations to follow Department guidelines and Presidential objectives. In my opinion, the “rogue” CIA units maybe members of the Sayeret Matkal.
End of communication.
- Nov. 1 2009
CANCER AND SURVIVAL.
Everybody reading this must understand that they have potential cancer cells in their body. These cells are continuously attacked and destroyed by the body’s immune system. Every time you have a wound and it heals by forming scar tissue, you are watching the process of cell growth similar to the growth of cancer. When the wound is healed the cell growth is stopped. When the body is unable to stop the growth of cells, tumors develop.
I spent most of the least ten years telling you that the secret of survival is to adjust to circumstances. My autobiography, THE VISION, goes into great detail how I used this concept to survive during World War II. The second rule of survival is to understand the circumstances that you must adjust to.
To survive cancer you must understand the circumstances and adjust to them. I was diagnosed with two types of cancer in 1996 and after my years in researching the cancer “terrain” I just found a book that may prove to be the most important book affecting your survival. Written by an oncologist suffering from cancer, it reminds me of another doctor who 150 years ago was first ridiculed, then attacked and finally his recommendation not only became the standard of the medical profession, but you are advised right now to use his method to avoid getting the flu.
I highly recommend that you read “Anti Cancer. A new way of life.” By David Servan Schreiber MD.PhD. It may save your life and your children’s life. You will learn that it is not heredity but your own way of life that controls your health. A concise explanation of what makes cancer cells thrive and what inhibits them, and drawing on both conventional and alternative ways to slow and prevent cancer, this book is revolutionary. www.anticancerways. com.
I also recommend that you read about the tragic life of a Hungarian physician, Dr. Ignác Semmelweis. When you are told to wash your hands to prevent the spreading of the flu, you should hear the voice of Dr. Semmelweis who first recommended it to a medical profession, which ridiculed him and eventually destroyed him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis
Since I want to do more than sincerely wishing that you lived a long and prosperous life , I am advising you to read the book. If it helps you survive, someday you may be hearing my voice telling you: “I told you so.”
Ceterum censeo: Throw the bums out!
Nov. 2 2009
MILITARY INTEL NOV. 2 2009
FOLLOW THE MONEY- WE DO!
One of the murkiest intelligence tasks in the war on terror is trying to locate, and neutralize, sources of money for the Islamic terrorists. While the Taliban has lots of income sources (heroin production and smuggling, kidnapping, extortion of local businesses), al Qaeda is more dependent on contributions, often from donors far away (in the Persian Gulf, Europe or North America.) Al Qaeda has lots of competition for that money. Hamas and Hezbollah are popular recipients, and it’s considered bad form to criticize competitors for precious terrorist charity dollars. Al Qaeda has another problem, in that have a well earned reputation of being infiltrated. That puts donors at risk from local police. It wasn’t always that way. Before 2003, the Arab governments generally looked the other way when wealthy locals donated money to Islamic charities that were known to be fronts for terror groups. But in 2003, al Qaeda broke the unofficial (but very real) truce with their Arab host countries, by carrying out attacks on Saudi oil facilities. That was a big mistake, because even religiously conservative Arabs understood that without the oil wealth, there would be no there there in Saudi Arabia (and most of the rest of Arabia.)
Al Qaeda has to move large amounts of cash out of the Persian Gulf, because many of the traditional methods (like the Halwa system and commercial banks) were under heavy attack by Western counter-terror organizations. The money was hard enough to obtain, without using while getting it to the terrorists who needed it. When Iraq was the main battlefield, it was much easier to deliver the money. But now the destinations are Afghanistan, Pakistan and points east. And the counter-terror operatives are waiting, and watching, and ready to pounce. Seizures of money is often deliberately kept out of the news, because it’s been learned that sometimes the trusted courier can’t be, and disappears with the cash. Al Qaeda can never be sure if the courier was a thief, or a victim of good intelligence.
Al Qaeda has a hard time getting new, and safer, collection and movement methods out to the fund raisers and couriers. The new methods must be posted on web sites. These are hidden, sort of, but not from the counter-terror operatives. Another problem is that the Taliban, who don’t get on well with al Qaeda, have a lot more cash. But it’s so humiliating for the Arab dominated al Qaeda to beg the Taliban for cash. The Arabs consider themselves superior to the Afghan tribals, and the Afghans have grown to greatly dislike Arabs because of this.
The battle against al Qaedas bank account has been a success. Over the last few years, those who monitor pro-terrorist web sites, have seen more pleas from al Qaeda groups for cash to keep the killing going. But the cash isn't arriving nearly as frequently as it used it, and that has played a major role in reducing the number of major terror attacks in many parts of the world.
TREASURE FINDINGS IN WAZIRISTAN
As Pakistani troops advance through South Waziristan, they are coming across quickly abandoned facilities apparently long used by Islamic terror organizations. South Waziristan, and its pro-Taliban Mehsud tribe, has long been a place where government officials only went with permission of the locals. And the locals apparently believed their own propaganda that government troops would not get far if they tried to invade the area. Army artillery and helicopter gunships, aided by air force fighter-bombers, proved more than a match for the tribal warriors, who soon fled to the safer hills. The Islamic terrorists fled with them, often failing to destroy documents and computer files. So Pakistani troops found passports used by Islamic terrorists.
The Pakistani army released the names on some of those passports, and were surprised when Western officials (and some news organizations) pointed out that some of those names belonged to wanted terrorists, some of them as a result of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and subsequent attacks in Europe and in North Africa. The Pakistanis were taken aback by this, as they had long insisted (without ever going in to confirm it) that no terrorists were hiding out in North or South Waziristan. Meanwhile, Pakistan has promised to share, with Western allies, any terrorist related information found in Waziristan. The U.S. is quite insistent on this, and has threatened to cut billions of dollars in military and economic if the Pakistanis do not share. Pakistan needs this money, as over a decade of tolerating Islamic terrorist groups in the country, has led to the terrorists trying to take over. The American money, and aid (military and intelligence) is needed to minimize Pakistani casualties and speed the destruction of the Islamic terror groups. Meanwhile, opportunistic Pakistani politicians are excoriating America for causing the problem in the first place (the reasoning behind this is rather murky), and for not giving Pakistani enough foreign aid, with no strings attached (so it's easier to steal), to deal with the problem.
ROBOTS IN THE AIR.
Air force generals around the world see the unpiloted jet fighter as a way to break the monopoly the U.S. Air Force has had on air supremacy for the last sixty years. Most Americans don't even think of this long domination of the air, but potential enemies of the United States are well aware of it, and that domination has a profound effect on how those nations do their military planning. In effect, if you think about going to war with the United States in the immediate future, you take for granted that American aircraft will control the skies above. Robotic jet fighters could change that. And this is forcing American air force generals to confront a very unsavory prospect; a sixth generation fighter that is flown by software, not a pilot.
It's not just that most of the those American air force generals began their careers as fighter pilots. No, the reason is more practical. American air superiority has largely been the result of superior pilots. The U.S. didn't always have the best aircraft, but they always had the most talented and resourceful pilots. And that's what gave the U.S. its edge. Will that translate to software piloted fighters? Research to date seems to indicate it will.
Meanwhile, simulations, using fighter flown by software, versus those flown by humans, have been used for over two decades. The "software pilots" have gotten better, and better. Moreover, a fighter without a pilot is more maneuverable (because some maneuvers are too stressful on the human body.) UAV fighters can be smaller, cheaper, stealthier and more expendable. But the key to software pilots is the development of superior tactics, and artificial intelligence (AI) that is more capable than anything your opponent can come up with.
The U.S. Air Force, and several other air forces, have already created fighter pilot software, and now the United States, and Russia, are creating pilotless fighters. Many air force generals are convinced that the pilotless fighters will perform as well for real, as they have in the simulations. So convinced are U.S. Air Force generals, that they are seriously considering a sixth generation fighter that will not carry a human pilot. Otherwise, enemy pilotless fighters would have an edge over the U.S. sixth generation aircraft.
The potential superiority of U.S. pilotless fighters is partly driven by the fact that most American fighter pilots are geeks. Many can create software, and have a deep understanding of the many computers, and their software, that modern aircraft contain. It's the fighter pilots who will play a key role in creating the best "software pilots." Thus the thinking is that American control of the air will be maintained by a new generation combat aircraft controlled by software, not someone in a cockpit.
December 9, 2009
THE NEW WAY OF DYING.
In my autobiography (THE VISION) death and last words of people facing death are often discussed. On his deathbed Heinrich Heine, the German poet was asked if he expects to be forgiven by God. His answer: “Dieu me pardonnera. C'est son metier." [God will pardon me. It is his trade.] These were the same words the German Gestapo agent said to me when contemplating his future near the end of the war.
When my late wife was waiting nude in front of the gas chamber to be executed within minutes, she heard people’s last words, their last expressions facing inevitable death. She tried to forget but could not forget their last words. The world has always been fascinated by what people say at the moment of death and a little research on the Internet provides an array of interesting quotes.
http://www.mapping.com/words.html
The Internet has apparently also provided a new way to say good-bye. A good friend of mine is dying. The medical profession has given up on him and he now continues to live with hospice treatment. Pain pills make his last days tolerable. In his recent message he says:” I may be full of cancer and realize the inevitable, but God wants me to fight it everyday.” He then goes into great detail showing how he is living his life to the fullest in spite of pain and weakness. Diagnosed 5 years ago with cancer of the esophagus he now has lived the best 5 years of his life in spite of all the pain and unsuccessful attempts to cure. He also sent along a current picture showing the ravages of chemo and other treatments and the metastasized cancer on his physical body.
He is a young man and computer savvy. Most of my previously departed friends were less than computer friendly primarily because of their ages and lack of electronic knowledge. Could this be the forerunner of a new trend?
In the recent past we have lost the ability to accept death as an integral inescapable part of life. How much more would memory, family friendship, love mean to us if death could be met head on and not be made palatable and easily digestible in the great American tradition like sugarcoating cereals. If death could be treated as high fiber, to remind us that some things must be rough for our own sake, perhaps there would be less self-destruction by dope and alcohol.
Perhaps this new way of chronicling death on the Internet will alleviate the need for the traditional camouflage of cosmetics, fancy caskets, big productions, cascading flower arrangements that try to hide the challenge of how to make peace with death’s inevitability. Perhaps there will be less need for statues and monuments as part of a feeble desire to achieve immortality by spending wealth as if to bribe the future. When we die we must live in the hearts and minds of others. What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is grafted into the lives of others.
As I am watching the last days of my friend as he struggles with the spread of his disease and read about his love for his family and friends, I see a new trend. Dying on the Internet may make us, the living, better people and give us a better acceptance of God’s will
On the other hand will we suddenly be overwhelmed by offers of “Get Your Dying Website” and “Last Breath Websites in Color with Music 50% off!”? We already have video headstones. You may now have a solar powered video headstone that talks to visitors at your grave. I just added this paragraph to make this message softer. Like the guy who put straw inside a concrete pipe he uses as a pillow.
December 23, 2009
CHRISTMAS MEMORIES OF A DIFFERENT KIND.
You have heard me say often that inability to forget is far worse than the inability to remember. You can always force yourself to remember something and in due time your subconscious will serve up the forgotten memory that was on the “tip of your tongue” anyway. There is no way, however, to force yourself to forget. People have tried many ways using alcohol, dope, hyper-activity or hypnosis with little results.
Some people may suppress bad memories, but eventually they come back and may bite really hard. Many suicides are caused by the inability forget. Military and Holocaust survivors live with such suppressed memories and it is a standard joke among such survivors to declare that they consider themselves a little bit insane, mostly due to such suppressed, but unforgettable memories.
Luckily there are, however, good unforgettable memories. Many of those are connected with happy occasions, with Christmas being one of the best memory generators.
What is Christmas really about? About one-third of the world will celebrate Christmas, but at least another third of the world has never heard of Christmas.
BUDAPEST CHRISTMAS 1944
Unfortunately most of those who celebrate do not have an understanding of the true meaning of the Christmas spirit. One of my fondest Christmas memories is a night during the street fighting in Budapest in 1944 during a bitter cold storm when survival was on everyone’s mind. Frozen dead bodies littered the streets and shadowy figures hunched next to carcasses of frozen horses probing for food. It was a scene of future nightmares; The fog and smoke of war with its odor of cordite, sewage and decay, the gruesome brilliance of fires and searchlights and the lightning like flashes of gunfire. We were cautiously walking dark streets with our full survival attention sharpened to the sounds of war: the ripping silk sounds of incoming mortars, the sound of engines, the rumbling of distant artillery and the occasional whistle of a harmless bullet passing through the accursed and blessed smog hiding us and our enemies
My partner suddenly froze and instantly so did I. Then I heard something so out of the ordinary and contrary to my expectations that I just stood there paralyzed. The sounds of Silent Night came drifting through the noise. Without hesitation or discussion we both moved towards the sound. It came from a cellar.
All I remember now after 65 years is that we found a group of people around a small tree. Burning candles were attached to some of the branches and we saw women and I think even a child. The relief and feeling of peace came upon us so suddenly that we did not even realize that some of the people did not sing “Csendes az éj” in Hungarian, but “Stille Nacht” in German. The song kept repeating as more and more people came into the cellar. Hungarian and German soldiers, armed young men of the resistance, some of whom we recognized.
I no longer recall if we shared a drink or food. I remember the Hungarian “Szaloncukor” decorations of candy wrapped in colored shiny paper hanging on the tree and especially remember the spirited conversation, because we found out somehow that the Russians had totally encircled the city and the final stages of battle were about to take place. Alas, it was three more weeks before the end, but this was the first time we understood that the end of the war was near. A great Christmas to remember! We all stood around in peace, shared hope and also foreboding. We certainly shared the spirit of Christmas before returning to the fight for our lives. I often wondered how many of those in the cellar survived and remember those incredible moments and for how many that was the last moment of hope before a cruel destiny.
Celebrate the joyous spirit of family and friendship this Christmas. May your hopes be renewed as you share them, just as I share my joyous memory with you after 65 long years.
January 4 2010
POLO IS DEAD.
Often when I read obituaries I wish I could have known the departed so impressed I am with their accomplishments and talents. Unfortunately there are no obituaries for dogs or cats except many great books written about the relationships between a loving human and their pet. This short obituary is not about a pet I owned. I don’t think Polo was owned by anyone.
Polo was an independent contractor, dressed in the suit of a Great Pyrenees he walked through life with nobility, courage and disdain for mere mortals. At least that is how I first saw him walking slowly and deliberately like a man on a mission.
It all started when a human couple had marital difficulties and part of their assets was a herd of goats. The female human asked our daughter if we could keep the herd at our ranch while the domestic crisis fomented. Our ranch has often been the last resort of animals in crisis. Orphan deer brought in by game wardens; emus and ostriches abandoned by disgruntled investors; broken winged eagles found struggling in ditches; wounded critters of many kind are rehabilitated by our daughter.
One day a cacophony of goat cries alerted me that one of our pastures was occupied by a new group of refugees. I noted also with dismay, that they were put in a small pasture next to a creek where coyote families could often be heard yipping and howling at night.
I was assured, however, that the herd was safe. Their protector, Polo, who came with the herd, was guarding it.
I was curious to see this Polo, but he was seldom seen. I heard his baritone bark at night sometimes. They told me that Polo slept during the day and guarded the perimeter at night against all intruders. Coyotes could not bite him because his fur was so heavy that at best a coyote could get a mouthful of fur before facing the furry of his 120 lb. attack.
After a few weeks I saw Polo walking mightily and I called his name. He gave me a glancing view and a cold shoulder. When I tried to approach him later, he would always send me a message that he was not interested in meeting me. His fur was matted and in some places brown. After every heavy rainfall, however, I noticed he was snow white again in contrast to his black nose and amber eyes.
My 80 lb. retriever, Murphy, slowly developed a relationship with Polo. He would jump and trounce around, while Polo would quietly tolerate him, like an older brother puts up with a teenager.
All went well until the human domestic crisis culminated in the male human suddenly showing up and claiming the goatherd. He drove off with the goat filled trailer, but did not take Polo. The guardian lost his job and was forced to find another task for his life. I don’t know if he mourned for the loss of his protégées, but certainly he did not apply for unemployment insurance, He was an independent contractor and created himself a new job. Protecting the entire ranch. He now expanded his nightly patrol to cover the perimeter of more than 300 acres and enlarged his job to protect the chickens, the geese, the peacocks, the Australian Shepherds and the people living in his protectorate. Soon the coyotes and javelinas seem to have disappeared.
After trying for months I finally succeeded in giving him a dog cookie. Slowly, with patience, our relationship gradually got better. He started to come for dinner and let me pet him,
One day to everyone’s surprise, I was able to groom Polo. His fur came out in bunches and by the bucket full. He liked the grooming and soon started to come for breakfast and dinner plus the dog cookie ritual we jointly developed.(Smart dog.)
I owned and buried many good dogs in my long lifetime and learned a way with dogs. Polo and I became friends. At this point people would write long books about their relationship and shared love with their pets. This story, however, is not about a dog. It is about the end of our guardian’s life.
On the weekend of January 3rd my family came to celebrate my birthday. In the morning I gave Polo a special breakfast in celebration of my special day. Real turkey mixed in his food. He was so happy that he would not leave the deck and greeted me every time I came out of the house. Hoping for more turkey, or saying good-bye? Then my family arrived in several cars and Polo did not shy away from them. They could pet him and admire him. That is the last time I saw him. The celebrations of my birthday took up the day.
At an unknown time that day a vehicle on the highway in front of the ranch hit Polo. There were no skid marks. His body is now burried on the property he protected. I am sure he found a new job and is now protecting a much larger territory. We will forever see him waiting for us on the deck with his enormous white tail waving at us from a distance. Polo, the independent contractor. We miss him.
January 11, 2010
MIDDLE EAST BACKGROUND INTEL.
SUICIDE BOMBER PROBLEMS.
Suicide bombing continues to be the most popular weapon among Islamic terrorists
This effort has become the second largest suicide attack campaign in the last century. The largest was the Japanese use of suicide pilots, in air attacks on the U.S. Navy (and some allied ships) during the later stages of World War II. Some 2,800 suicide pilots died. They managed to sink 34 ships and damage 368 others. About 4,900 sailors died. Only about 14 percent of the Kamikaze pilots survived U.S. fighters and anti-aircraft fire, to actually hit a ship. The Kamikaze always attacked military targets, while the suicide bombers tended to avoid anyone who could shoot back.
With both the Kamikazes and Islamic suicide bombers, the idea was to demoralize the opponent, and force an end to the conflict, or at least reduce the extent of the attackers defeat. The tactic failed in both cases, although both Kamikazes and Islamic "martyrs" are admired for their courage. In the case of the Islamic suicide bombers, the tactics backfired in that the civilian population, which was getting hurt the most, turned on the terrorists. The many attacks on Iraqi security forces were supposed to demoralize them, but that, by-and-large, did not work. The same story is playing out in Afghanistan, as it did in other countries where the Islamic Kamikaze weapon was employed.
Palestinian terror groups are having a hard time recruiting suicide bombers. So they are making a pitch to women. The two major Palestinian political parties; Fatah (which controls the West Bank) and Hamas (which controls Gaza), both use their mass media to praise those who die while trying to kill Israelis. But these efforts have been increasingly unsuccessful, and Palestinians are less eager to volunteer for suicide bomber duty. Last year, for example, not a single Israeli was killed, inside Israel, by a Palestinian terrorist.
Palestinian leaders have been expanding the suicide bomber recruiting propaganda directed at children. Terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan have tried using kids as young as nine or ten as suicide bombers (often without telling the kids exactly what would happen to them).
Families of the bombers are usually paid at least a few thousand dollars, to "honor" the heroism of their child. Very poor families see this as a win-win situation (losing one of many children that were difficult to care for, and making a whole lot of money). There is also social pressure, with everyone encouraged to show respect to the families of suicide bombers. The reality is different, but in places like Iraq, Gaza and Afghanistan, reality doesn't count for much.
Hamas, and Hezbollah have not given up on suicide bomb attacks, but have recognized that the new Israeli counter-terror tactics (go after the leaders and specialists, build walls) are unbeatable. So both groups are stockpiling thousands of long range rockets, with the intention of launching a massive, joint, attack. Hezbollah did this in 2006, but was chased out of southern Lebanon and suffered major damage. Despite this, Hezbollah declared a victory, believed their own propaganda and are ready to go again. Hamas believes that when Israel responds to a large scale rocket attack, the UN and some European nations might be persuaded to prosecute Israel for war crimes. This is more likely than any kind of battlefield victory.
Israel suffered no Islamic terror attacks within its borders in 2009. That's the lowest level of Islamic terrorism for Israel since the Palestinians began their current round of violence in 2000. The Israelis developed tactics to defeat the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign (after Palestinian leaders refused to accept a recently negotiated peace deal), and keep improving those methods, as well as adapting to new Palestinian tactics. What the terrorists really want is to avoid any more of the Israeli tactics that shut down their terrorist operations. This included going after terrorist leaders and technical specialists, and either capturing or (failing that) killing them. Raids and air attacks were made against buildings used by the terrorists, and tight security on Israelis borders were instituted. This last measure crushed the Palestinian economy, which put popular pressure on the terrorists to stop their attacks, and promise to keep it that way. That hasn't worked, but Israeli counter-terror techniques continue to.
The Israelis also set up an increasingly effective intelligence system inside the Palestinian territories. What the Israelis basically did was "take the war to the enemy." This is an application of the old maxim, "the best defense is a good offense." This particular war is still going on. The Israelis implemented their winning tactics in 2003, and two years later the terrorists were rendered largely ineffective. Israel has a large number of counter-terror agents who spoke Arabic. These were Israeli Jews who had grown up in Arab countries, or had parents who had done so. The Israeli police agents who looked, and spoke like, Palestinians, could circulate in Palestinian areas, recruiting informants, and making arrests.
IED PROBLEMS
The war against IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices, mainly roadside bombs and mines) is playing out in Afghanistan as it did in Iraq. The Afghan terrorists have been using IEDs more, to less effect (against foreign troops), while killing more civilians. Three years ago, one foreign soldier was killed for every 29 IED used. This year, with eight times as many IEDs being used, it took 36 IEDs to kill one foreign soldier. In 2007, it took 55 roadside bombs to kill one American in Iraq. The trend in Iraq was similar to that is now unfolding in Afghanistan. The much higher civilian toll in Iraq turned the civilian population against the terrorists to the extent that overall attacks, and casualties, dropped 90 percent.
The Taliban have tried to avoid civilian casualties by using most of their roadside bombs in isolated areas. But these are more frequently detected and avoided or neutralized. The bombs in populated areas are more likely to work, to the detriment of nearby civilians. The Taliban do not really care that much about civilian casualties, as they believe anyone who does not agree with them, deserves to die, and isn't a real Moslem anyway. It was this attitude that made Islamic terrorists the most hated group in Iraq, even among the Sunni Arab population that provided most of their support and manpower.
US MUSCLE GROWS AGAIN - HOW ABOUT US WILL?
The deployment in the Middle East of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group in the first week of January adds muscle to the words of Gen. David Petraeus, CENTCOM commander, on Jan 10 that Iranian nuclear infrastructure, albeit strengthened against attack with enhanced underground tunnels, wasn't fully protected.
THE PLOT THICKENS.
China is expected to deploy military forces and bases in the Middle East in the coming decade as part of an effort to protect its access to valuable resources like oil. The intervention of the United States in Yemen - in whatever form it takes - is not simply a matter of hunting down al-Qaeda. The focus on this strategic country, along with engagement with Somalia and Kenya, is a manifestation of the three-way US-Israel-India alliance that is the emphatic counter to China's surge.
January 24, 2010
When I received this cartoon the other day, I had a good laugh and put the message in the trash. Ever since, however, I kept remembering the criminal behavior of the political elite and decided to remind you of some of it. My first reaction was recalling when Al Gore was running for president and his arrogant pontification about the "Social Security Lockbox" that he is going to protect if president. I remember yelling at the TV screen" "You lying bastard. You know there is nothing in that lockbox!
At that time most of the American public did not really know what kind of a scam the conniving political establishment was perpetrating. Thanks to the awakening caused by the arrival of the Chicago crime syndicate into national politics, most people now know that the money put into the lockbox by the taxpayers was stolen and replaced by an IOU signed by the taxpayers. That is a better scam than Bernie Madoff's. He just stole the money but did not get every victim to sign an IOU for the money he has stolen. The American taxpayer sucker has paid cash into the Social Security lock box and the politicians then signed the name of the taxpayers to an IOU and merrily spent the money.
The Chicago gang thought that they could repeat the scam. They came up with an ingenious plan to repeat the process. Under the guise of health care reform they planned to collect insurance premiums from every taxpayer, could steal the money and have the suckers sign an IOU for the money stolen. They even had the chutzpah to extort the money from everybody under penalty of the law. You don't pay your premium; you pay a fine and/or go to jail. A better scam than the protection racket in the Chicago 'hood.
It was so obvious; that a child could have cried out that the king had no clothes. They planned to collect premiums for four years without providing any insurance benefits. The scam was, however, more devious than the movie where the insurance company just collected premiums and did not pay any claims. The Chicago gang would collect the money and spend it. A new "lockbox" would be set up and they would put IOUs into that new box signed with your name.
This scam had another purpose even more sinister than the theft of the sucker's money. By not providing insurance for four years, the sucker would not find out that the plan would fail miserably, as compared the private sector insurance plans most Americans are accustomed to. If the taxpayers had seen the failure of the new insurance scam in the first four years, they would have revolted and would have thrown the bums out by the next election.
This was an ingenious triple play plan. Steal the money - replace it with IOUs - get re-elected before they wise up.
Over 20 years ago I wrote small booklet of "Old Hungarian Sayings". It had 100 sayings by an Old Hungarian. In the meantime I became 20 years older, but the sayings may still be valid. Here are some examples. You decide.
"There is a limit to human wisdom. Only stupidity is unlimited."
"Crime does not pay, you do."
"The jug will keep going to the well until it breaks."
The day I received the cartoon and got another message with a song attached to it. It had the answer. No, it wasn't blowing in the wind. But it sounded good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=UZkvkLmkYVg
"He who digs a trap for another, will fall in it himself."
"It is not the prevailing wind that determines where your ship is going, but the way you set your sails."
February 18, 2010
IN VINO VERITAS
“I had traveled many places,
I had looked at many faces,
Had good steaks and
Tasted fancy wines.”
From the unreleased recording by the Danny Ward Orchestra: The song “Gigolo or Sugar Daddy” composed and performed by Tibby Weston. (When he was young!)
If you are a wine connoisseur who can tell the different wine bouquets and if the wine is light or heavy, thin or full, rich or crisp; this story is not for you. If you can tell if the aroma is floral, fruity, vegetative, nutty, woody, caramelized, earthy, spicy, or chemical; this story is not for you.
If you know red wine from white wine, sweet wine from awful tasting wine; this story is for you.
My story starts with the news that shocked the sophisticated world of wine:
Twelve French wine industry figures were convicted Wednesday of selling 18 million bottles (13.5 million liters) of falsely labeled wine to US wine powerhouse E&J Gallo at an inflated price. The wine was ultimately sold under E&J's ubiquitous "Red Bicyclette" Pinot Noir label.
The convicted were sentenced by a French judge, who gave them suspended jail sentences and fines ranging from 3,000 to 18,000 euros apiece. They had made seven million euros from their massive fraud.”
This story prompted me to raise my finger to get your attention.
Last year I found a magnetic gadget that you put on the neck of a cheap bottle of wine and it makes it taste expensive and good. I tested it blind on some people and they insisted that the same wine tasted better when poured through the magnetic gadget. This convinced me that some people actually can tell the quality of wine. I just wonder why the experts could not spot the fake Pinot Noir in the Gallo bottle? How about 13.5 million bottles?
I am not an expert, but I read in a medical journal that the healthiest red wine is the Pinot Noir. It even has anti cancer ingredients. For that reason we buy inexpensive Pinot Noir wines at HEB and serve it through our magnetic gadget. It sure seems to be working for my wife.
My tastes in wine have changed through the years. Having been raised in Hungary I am very fond of sweet Tokay wines. In my younger years we always drank fake champagne,’spritzers,’ which was white whine mixed with Seltzer Water. Then I got hooked on Liebfraumilch. Hungarian wines still get me excited: Egri Bikavér, Szürkebarát. Of course a variety of Rieslings I liked are not sophisticated, but I have never met a sophisticated drunk. Do people getting drunk on Château Lafite Rothschild have their valet vomit for them?
Another interesting fact is that the earliest evidence of wine production comes from Iran. Carbon dating estimates that Iran built wine centrifuges that date back to approximately 5000 B.C. The technology soon spread and even Noah had a vineyard. The Israelis also acquired the technology but their wines were so bad, that they could not export them without adding all sorts of fruits. Finally the Arabs conquered them and put an end to the production of bad Israeli wines for 1200 years. I found this useful information on the Internet.
If all of the above sounds a little incoherent, I confess that I am not having any wine. I found out (also on the Internet) that yeast attacks cancer cells, so I am on the attack using some Shiner Bock beer. I am sending out this missive right now, before the effect of my anti cancer attack wears off.
"I have always been against abortion; it’s not possible for me in my own concept of Christ to believe that Jesus would favor abortion." If this were the only criteria to be considered a conservative, then the person who spoke those words should be a likely candidate. He is a born again Christian, a Sunday school teacher and a true believer. None of the above, however, makes Jimmy Carter a conservative. Unlike Islam, Christianity is a philosophy of life, but it is not also a philosophy of government.
I have often wondered about the so-called Conservative Base of the Republican Party. Could it be that they are single-issue voters interested only in abortion? I am opposed to abortion and the Federal Government’s involvement. Let’s assume, however, that Hillary would suddenly announce that she will be running for the Presidency in 2012, and that God talked to her and that she is now pro-life and Reverend Jackson assured us that she means it and has become a fundamental Christian by joining the most fundamental of churches. Should a Republican candidate for President who agrees that abortions be allowed if the mothers life is in danger or if the child is to be born monstrously handicapped - who would you vote for? Search your soul and answer that question and you will know if you are a single-issue voter, but it won’t determine whether you are a conservative.
Which brings me to the issue: who is a conservative? This is not an easy subject and nobody has really been able to answer it because it is a moving, evolving target hard to define. At best one can make a snapshot of today's conservative ideas because they will not be the same in the next generation. This is one of the determining factors of being a conservative. We change with the times, adapt to conditions.
The communists, the socialists, the liberals, starting with Marx, have a fundamental faith that in a truly socialist society there will be no conflicts or contradictions. By taking from those who have and giving to the have-nots all further conflicts would be resolved. Any ideology that promises that once it succeeds there would be no more problems and no more inequality of any kind is utopian and cannot be conservative
We see a "Cost to Benefit" world and a "Give and Take" world and a “Life is not Fair” world. Liberals seem not to understand economics, because it is based on competition and profits, rather than the lack of it in the socialist world. They loathe the concept of free-market because it results in different outcomes based on competition rather than government fiat. We understand that there must be a constant give and take in this world with winners and losers. A conservative is really a bit of a cynic who sees things as they are, not as they would be under the utopian socialists. We know that “Life is not Fair.”
Unlike a socialist world, in our conservative world everybody has an opportunity to become a winner. If you are rich or have more money than most of the people, then in the socialist world you must be a crook, dishonest, or lucky in the lottery of life. In the socialist world to be rich is not allowed and fundamental measures are designed to punish you if you are successful. Our income tax system was designed on this principle directly adopted from the Communist Manifesto.
I became a conservative fighting the communists. Today’s conservatives no longer face communists who declare themselves openly, but we now have a stealth-communist enemy hiding behind numerous names and covers. Lets call them neocoms. Their beliefs don’t change, only their names. They want equality in outcome not equality of opportunity. They want a world united in socialism and the abandonment of “chauvinistic“ national pride.
If you want a united world without boundaries, how could you be a patriot? Without doubt the neocoms are not patriotic. Being a patriot does not necessarily make you a good person and patriots of different nations may hate or eventually kill each other in the name of patriotism. Conservatives are patriots because they believe that we are nation with laws and institutions designed to guarantee our individual liberties.
The neocoms believe in the United Nations and would gladly and immediately surrender our sovereignty to the UN and make us join the world community in equality rather than continue to be a “racist and imperialistic oppressor.” They believe that there should not be Third World countries, but we should all be equal, without conflict and contradictions.
In their zeal to accomplish the goal of equality they have infested our educational system poisoning the minds of the young by promising a world where there are no losers; no Fs; only As. They do not keep score in sporting events because there should not be any losers.
We conservatives do not believe that the goal of life and of a nation should be to ensure equality. The neocoms believe that equality is best accomplished if the State owns and regulates everything for the benefit of all. Big Government is deemed the answer because we as individuals have unequal abilities to cope with life and only with the guidance and assistance of the party leaders shall we accomplish our life’s goal: equality.
Generations of Soviet workers labored under inhuman conditions for substandard salaries because the State promised glorious equality in retirement that never materialized. Communism brought equality of misery, which today’s neocoms would like you to forget.
We conservatives are more or less united because we understand that life consists of conflicts and contradictions. Conservative Christians and Jews call it God’s will. Others call it the mechanism of the free market. We live with it and adjust to it.
The neocoms want to eliminate the conflicts and contradictions by making us all equal under the wise leadership of Big Government and it’s political elite. Without fail equality must always be enforced at the point of a bayonet by a totalitarian system.
I am sure there is more to be said about who is a conservative. If, however, your loyalty is to a single issue, abortion, at the price of abandoning all other issues, then you cannot be considered a conservative in the American political arena of ideas.
March 24, 2010
WILL A DOMESTIC CRISIS TRANSFORM OUR GOVERNMENT?
Throughout the country the division is mounting and more and more are talking about the possibility of civil unrest, violence and a coming chaos. Many are frustrated with the flagrancy of corruption in the political establishment. Polls clearly indicate a division with a widening gap.
I thought it would be time to revisit an issue that I discussed during the Bush presidency:
How could the nation survive a domestic crisis and what powers does the president have to maintain order?
The American President, should he need them, possesses awesome powers. Those powers potentially in effect create a "constitutional dictatorship." Our system of government works best in times of peace, when there is debate, compromise, and deliberation in forming governing rules, regulations, and policies. It seems Congress has already decided that we are not at domestic peace.
The history of democratic governments, from the ancient republics of Greece and Rome to the modern states that have replaced earlier totalitarian governments, show that governing by committees, or legislative bodies, never works in times of crisis. Our Founders were aware of this when they designed our system.
While our constitution contains no express provision for "emergency" or "crisis" situations, such a provision is not necessary. The U.S. Supreme Court made clear in Ex Parte Milligan, following the Civil War, that "the government, within the Constitution, has all the powers granted to it which are necessary to preserve its existence."
Past presidents by exercising their powers in time of emergency, have expanded their authority as necessary to meet emergencies they faced. They have, in essence, created the law in times of crisis, not always in the manner envisioned.
Lincoln launched the Civil War unilaterally, without Congressional action, following the secession of seven Southern states. Only later did he obtain Congressional approval. His critics called him a dictator.
The distinction between a "constitutional dictator" and a strong president is remarkably thin, if not non-existent because there are few checks on the Commander in Chief.
Constitutional dictatorship is a dangerous thing because once it is created it is difficult to terminate without the consent of the “dictator.”
By creating the USA PATRIOT Act Congress laid the groundwork for the American equivalent of a constitutional dictator in the White House if the President so chooses by declaring a national emergency and assuming such dictatorial powers.
The Founders well understood the difficult tradeoff between safety and freedom. "Safety from external danger," Hamilton declared, "is the most powerful director of national conduct. Even the ardent love of liberty will, after a time, give way to its dictates. The violent destruction of life and property incident to war; the continual effort and alarm attendant on a state of continual danger, will compel nations the most attached to liberty, to resort for repose and security to institutions which have a tendency to destroy their civil and political rights. To be more safe, they, at length, become willing to run the risk of being less free." The Federalist No. 8, p. 33.
It is, however, the President’s prerogative to determine that liberty give way to security in times of a national crisis by declaring internal danger sufficient to invoke dictatorial powers.
Of course, the very concept of a "dictatorship" has been offensive and inimical to the political thinking of most citizens of this country. The question is whether Americans could tolerate the undemocratic ways of a constitutional dictatorship if it is construed to be essential to the preservation of the state?
###
March 24, 2010
TRIVIA WORTH NOTICING
PAKISTAN
The most terrifying aspect of the current war is the increased success of American UAVs, and their Hellfire missiles, for killing Taliban and al Qaeda leaders. This makes it kind of personal for the leaders, and paranoia has been rampant. The Taliban tend to believe they are tracked mostly by local informants, and are always looking for suspects. Anyone appearing suspicious enough is tortured, usually to death, to obtain information about American methods. The suspects usually know nothing, but are frequently beheaded, as a warning to others.
YEMEN
Thousands of women are demonstrating in front of parliament, for and against a new law that would ban child brides. Girls as young as nine are married off, and often impregnated as soon as they are able to conceive. This is an ancient Arab custom, and enshrined in the Koran. But Yemeni women, and many men, oppose it. The conservative clergy accuse those who back the law of being anti-Moslem. The government has the votes to pass the bill, but does not want to defy conservative clergy. Then again, it's support from conservative clergy that keeps Islamic radicalism going, and abuse of women that keeps the Arab world poor, illiterate and a hospitable place for religious terrorists.
IRAN
European and American broadcasters, including the BBC and Voice of America, have ramped up their criticism of Iran for jamming satellite signals carrying their programs. This throws a harsh light on a senior Iranian government official who chairs the United Nations body that is supposed to prevent such jamming.
AFGHANISTAN AND FORTUNE
A British CH-47 Chinook pilot (flight Lieutenant Ian Fortune) got shot in the forehead, yet continued to fly his helicopter, and got it back to base. The CH-47 was on a casualty evacuation mission, picking up American and Afghan troops wounded in a fight with the Taliban. As the helicopter was taking off, Taliban bullets slammed into the cockpit. One hit flight Lieutenant Fortune in the forehead, penetrating his flight helmet. But the metal device that the night vision gear attaches to on the front of the helmet, slowed the bullet down sufficiently that it did not penetrate his skull. But there was the shock of impact, and lots of blood. Fortune quickly recovered, wiped the blood from his eyes, and kept flying Flight lieutenant Fortune was aptly named, and lucky. If the bullet had hit a little lower, he would be dead.
CHINA
China may have weathered the global recession, but if it has, Beijing regards its success as tentative, for even slow economic growth threatens the communist elites' deal with the Chinese people: We will let you get wealthy, just don't question the political structure. Beijing knows this.
Fear of losing its grip on dissidents during a period of economic stress played a role in China's January cyber-attack on Google's email service for Chinese clients. Google began Chinese operations in 2006 and admits it censored Chinese Internet search results. What an ugly side-story: A liberal California company that makes billions of dollars in the digital free information regimen (that ultimately owes its existence to the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment) acceded to the censorship demands of authoritarians. At least Google now says no more.
NOSTALGIA – SUBMARINES
The Golden Age of submarine collisions was during the Cold War (1948-91). Once Russia began building nuclear subs in the 1960s, and putting them to sea often and for long periods, there were lots of collisions. Most involved at least one Russian boat. The problem was that the Russians had pretty poor sonar, so they were the equivalent of half blind under water. From the 1970s on, the U.S. has increasingly superior sonar compared to the Russians. This led to the more collisions involving Russian and U.S. boats. It also saw the invention, by the Russians, of the "Crazy Ivan" maneuver. This occurred when an American sub was stalking a Russian. The U.S. boat would stay in the Russian sub's "blind spot" (behind its propeller). But sometimes the Russians would suspect they were being stalked, or just wanted to make sure they were not, and would perform the "Crazy Ivan" maneuver, which involved upping speed and making a sharp turn. The U.S. sub would have to quickly get out of the way, or there would be, and sometimes was, a collision. Oh, the good old days…
April 1, 2010
Dear Friends
Last year at this time I had already sent you thirty ON AND OFF THE RECORD newsletters and several ON THE DECK OF THE TITANIC observations. Many of you have noticed that this year I am at newsletter #8 and I received several telephone calls and e-mails asking for an explanation.
As the Romans would say: “Tempus fugit” and my tempus has certainly fugited. I celebrated my 90th birthday in January and as soon as the celebrations were over, my health has reached what, under Obamacare, would be called “pill time”. For more than 14 years I was able to push the envelope and win the skirmishes with bladder and prostate cancer.
The idea was that some other fatal condition would come along, or a jealous husband would shoot me, and I would no longer need to worry about the cancers. Alas, that plan did not work out and now I need to tackle progression of my condition. There is always a Plan B, like it, or not.
I am now a patient at MD Anderson Hospital, one of the world’s foremost cancer centers and they keep me quite busy. They don’t intend to cure me, because I suffer from a fatal condition: old age. On the other hand, I won’t let them destroy my quality of life in exchange for breaking some kind of longevity record for men with my type of cancers.
It has been 23 years of newsletter publishing that started during the S&L crisis of 1986-87. I just read the first issues and there is much in them that applies to our problems today. As soon as I can figure out how to scan some of the articles, I will send them to you.
In the meantime the quantity of my newsletters will be reduced, but the quality will remain as long as I can protect the quality of my life.
Remember the rules of survival: 1. Adjust to circumstances; 2. Understand the circumstances; I am doing it. So should you. Thank you.
April 11, 2010
I wrote this article many weeks ago, but my in-house censor advised me not to send it out. It was too negative and too complex. Also people hate to be forced to think.
At the risk of antagonizing some of my readers and risking the eyes haze over of some others, please feel safe to delete it without reading if you are looking for entertainment.
COULD YOU TAME THE CAPRICIOUS PENDULUM?
Let me start with my often-repeated first rule of the secret of survival: adjust to circumstance. In order to adjust you must, however, understand the circumstances. I will now proceed to the third level of the survival problem.
A pendulum in motion best depicts the problem. World events, economy, warfare, power structure, social developments, etc. all have their own pendulum and move in their own rhythm. Seldom do they move in unison.
We all know that the pendulum has its motion, but we seldom realize that in addition of its basic swinging motion, the pendulum itself is moving in time.
Just imagine that in addition to the rhythmical movement, the pendulum itself is moving forward. A moving pendulum creates a wave. Try and visualize it, as it is the basic principle upon which this article is based. Just keep your eye mentally on the motion of the pendulum and imagine it moving and you will understand how the wave is created.
Now we have several waves created by multiple pendulums. The problem we are faced with is that each pendulum operates at its own speed. They all, however, move together forward in time.
Now we have waves that differ in length and depth and seldom, if ever, do they come close to moving in unison.
Here is an easily understood example how two waves operating independently affect each other. Let us assume a wave showing the occupancy rates of apartment projects. The wave is high when apartments are full and it drops when apartment vacancies rise.
Another wave that has a direct impact on the first wave is the availability of financing to build apartment projects. The ideal convergence would be for financing availability to be high when apartment occupancy is high. Unfortunately it has not worked like that in the past. Financing was available when occupancies were low and no money could be found when there was a justified need for it due to full occupancies. These two waves operated independent of each other creating a boom and bust apartment market.
Another example is the relationship between income tax rates and government revenues. Repeatedly it has been shown that when tax rates are lowered the revenue stream of government increases. It happened under presidents Kennedy and Reagan. Conversely when tax rates increase, revenues fall.
The multitude of interdependent waves operating world wide at different speeds create an unpredictable future. When people discovered this condition they named it the chaos theory. It simply means that the rules of normal logic no longer apply. 2 + 2 is no longer guaranteed to be 4. It could be anything and to prepare for the future you can no longer assume that the results can be predicted.
It is almost a joke, for example, that every announcement from the experts about economic results almost always starts out with the word: “unexpected.” Under the chaos theory “unexpected” is the “expected” result. If you go back just a few years and imagine that someone had suggested to you today’s’ world conditions, you would have laughed and ignored that forecast because it would have been so “unexpected.”
So the third rule of survival is to expect and prepare for the unexpected. Since unexpectedly good conditions don’t need to be worried about, it seems logical to expect and prepare for unexpectedly bad conditions.
Occasionally in world history, the multiple waves started moving in unison and the convergence of these waves created a tsunami that wiped out the chaos and with it the existing order and leveled the playing field. This convergence occurred on a large scale during world wars and on a smaller scale in revolutions. In this new world of instant communications, revolutions will no longer be local, because the tsunamis they create will be duplicated throughout the entire world.
Let us go back for a moment to the original premise of the pendulum. The pendulum has energy, which propels it and velocity, which is the speed by which it moves. The highest energy and the lowest velocity is when the pendulum comes to a momentary halt at the apogee of its swing. The lowest energy conversely is when its momentum at its highest velocity carries it forward.
It is therefore easy to realize that similarly the highest energy of the moving pendulum in the form of a wave is at its apogee and it builds up velocity on its downward slope.
It is interesting to note that the Obama wave was at its highest at election time and as it moves forward in time, it is building up both velocity and resistance energy that will be at a maximum when the Obama wave comes to a halt.
One may also speculate that the forces of socialism that have gained much momentum recently, will also reach their apogee followed by a reversal caused by the accumulated energy of the opposition.
Unfortunately there are many other waves throughout the world and a convergence of some of these waves may create the historical leveling force of a world tsunami.
Since you alone cannot tame any of the capricious pendulums, your survival depends on expecting the unexpected. Remember: 2+2=? and plan your life accordingly.
Socialism introduces a new force that interferes with the natural movement of pendulums. It is the force of governmental interference with the pendulum to stop it from falling or rising. If you stop a pendulum to prevent its natural movement, the pendulum will either slow down or come to a complete stop. That stop is on the bottom and that is where the socialist plans to achieve his goal of equality. Equal results can only be achieved at the bottom by taking away the opportunity to rise or fall, to succeed, or fail in a free society.
The utopian socialist society is a prison with full employment; food and shelter; medical help and order among the inmates. In practice, however, socialism erodes the work ethic, creates organizations where employees consider it their right to steal from the company, management as a profession is never understood, and party loyalty and networks are the most important criteria of advancement.
It also creates a new aristocracy of party leaders, the nomenclature, which lives in a life of luxury. Resentment against this double standard can only be controlled by an oppressive secret police, as best demonstrated in Cuba and China. Socialism can only be enforced at the point of the bayonet. Thus the President in our country calls for the need for a civilian police force equal or more powerful than the military.
A convergence of pendulums is coming. The ability of governments to control the velocity of the pendulums is limited and resistance is growing day by day. It will reach a combined energy level to create a tsunami, which will level the playing field again, as it has done in generation after generation before the advent of the nuclear age. History will repeat itself, just as it has done since the beginning. This is the ultimate circumstance to understand and be prepared for.
April 13, 2010
MILITARY INTEL - BACKGROUND
IRAN
Iran is increasingly using Chinese firms to facilitate weapons related smuggling efforts. This is not necessarily with the cooperation of the Chinese government. But there is apparently little risk of getting arrested in China for buying some weapons related items from a European or American firm, and passing it out the back door to Iranian smugglers. Chinese exporters are particularly enthusiastic about selling Iran dual (civilian and military) use items. These can be exported more openly, and later claiming that the Iranians had promised not to use the stuff for military purposes.
Many Western nations have become more aggressive in curbing this sort of thing. Australia recently stopped a shipment of pumps that, it turned out, were capable of being used in nuclear power plants (as well as for more benign uses). Iran has been quite blatant about buying dual use equipment, and then openly using the stuff for military purposes. That bravado is backfiring. But there are several nations that are willing to look the other way at this sort of smuggling (while diverting to Iran, items purchased for use in some other country). Malaysia has become a hotbed for all sorts of smuggling schemes. That works until the international pressure (often via threats to limit access to the banking system, and technology in general) triggers a crackdown on the smugglers. China has successfully stonewalled complaints about all sorts of illegal behavior (especially related to technology theft and Internet based espionage.)
Ever since the U.S. embargo was imposed in 1979 (after Iran broke diplomatic protocol by seizing the American embassy), Iran has sought, with some success, to offer big money to smugglers who can beat the embargo and get needed industrial and military equipment. This is a risky business, and American and European prisons are full of Iranians, and other nationals, who tried, and often failed, to procure forbidden goods. The smuggling operations are currently under more scrutiny, and attack, because of Iran's growing nuclear weapons program. But the Iranians simply offer more money, and more smugglers step up to keep the goodies coming.
The U.S. has gotten more aggressive, and successful, at shutting down Iranian smuggling operations. Not just by bribing the smugglers themselves, but also by getting the cooperation of nations the smugglers operate out of. This has been so successful that most of these smugglers no longer feel safe working out of Arab Persian Gulf nations (especially the United Arab Emirates). As a result, more smugglers are operating out of Malaysia, and the U.S. is trying to shut down that activity. America also monitors the international banking network, seeking signs of smuggler activity, and leaning on the banks involved, to step back.
The smuggling effort has been a mixed success. The Iranian armed forces are poorly equipped, because new tanks, warplanes and ships could not be sneaked in. Thus major weapons acquired in the 1970s are falling apart for want of sufficient replacement parts.
Iran announced that it has developed a new anti-aircraft missile system, based on the half century old American Hawk system. The U.S. sold Iran Hawk systems in the 1970s, and Iran has tried to keep these in service ever since. It is believed that Iran obtained key components for their new missile system from China. Iran says it is manufacturing and deploying their new system.
The 1970s era Hawk missiles the Iranians have are probably no longer fit for use, as none of the components, especially the solid rocket fuel, lasts that long. But it is possible that the Iranians have managed to keep these missiles working via smuggled, Chinese manufactured or homemade, parts. The Hawk is a 17 foot long, 1,300 pound missile, with a range (when fired from the ground) of some 40 kilometers. Fired in air-to-air mode, it could go 100 kilometers or more.
Consider that the F-14 was designed to fire the Phoenix missile, which was 13 feet long, weighed 1,000 pounds and had a range of nearly 200 kilometers. None of the Phoenix missiles Iran had in the late 1970s, are believed to be still operational. Indeed, the U.S. technicians who were maintaining the Iranian missiles, apparently disabled them before they left the country. The new Iranian government never got their Phoenix missiles working, although they claim they did, and claim to have built their own copies of the Phoenix. These mythical missiles have never been used in a confirmed combat situation, even during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.
If you go back and look at the many Iranian announcements of newly developed, high tech, weapons, all you find is a photo op for a prototype. Production versions of these weapons rarely show up. Iranians know that, while the clerics and politicians talk a tough game, they rarely do anything. Even Iranian support of Islamic terrorism has been far less effective than the rhetoric. The Iranians have always been cautious, which is one reason Arabs fear them. When the Iranians do make their move, it tends to be decisive. But at the moment, the Iranians have no means to make a decisive move. Their military is mostly myth, having been run down by decades of sanctions, and the disruptions of the 1980s war with Iraq. Their most effective weapon is bluster, and, so far, it appears to be working.
April 14, 2010
SHORT SENTENCES WITH LONG CONSEQUENCES.
American Muslims are exempted from the Obama Health Insurance law, which allows people with religious objections to insurance to opt out of the mandate. Islam considers health insurance to be haraam (forbidden).
The plane, that crashed, carrying the Polish delegation to Russia had the usual Russian installed two black boxes aboard. The Russians took these to Moscow. A third, unexpected black box was put on the plane by the Poles and was discovered. Poland agreed to have Russian experts present when they examine the content of the third box in Warsaw.
A website (crashtheteaparty.org) was recently set up. The creator, though he tried to hide his identity, has been identified; his name is Jason Levin, and he's a middle school teacher in Beaverton, Oregon. He's on record saying that you might see some of his team in Nazi uniforms at your local tea party pretending to be racists and other offensive characters.
The USA has about 200 nuclear weapons in five European countries (Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey).
During the Nuclear Security Summit Tehran issued the following statement: "If the US strikes Iran with nuclear weapons, there are elements which will respond with nuclear blasts in the centers of America's main cities.”
Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has cancelled a hearing intended to grill CEOs who took a charge against profits because of the health care reform bill. The cancellation came after the incompetent power hungry moron realized what everyone already knew - that the companies were required to do what they did because the law required it.
May 19, 2010
It is hard to find good news. Here is a small attempt.
MILITARY INTEL. 5/19/10 23:48
THE IRANIAN THREAT TO THE OIL TRADE IS JUST BLUSTER.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to block the export of oil via the Straits of Hormuz if attacked. Hormuz is where ships exit the Persian Gulf and enter the Indian Ocean. Some 40 percent of the world's oil shipments pass through these straits, which comes to about 15-20 tankers a day. The Persian Gulf, in general, is a busy waterway. Iran now openly boasts of its ability to use land based anti-ship missiles as "coastal artillery" to halt traffic in the straits. Given past performance by the Iranians, that is unlikely.
The Iranian problem is that they have a small navy, an obsolete air force and a poor track record when it comes to shutting down tanker traffic in the Persian Gulf, or the Straits of Hormuz. This is actually a wide (about 30 kilometers) deep channel. It was long believed that the main Iranian threat would be naval mines. The Arab states have lots of mine clearing equipment, and more numerous air and naval forces than Iran. In addition, there is the United States and NATO force in the area.
If Iran tried to shut down the Straits of Hormuz, it's more likely that the straits would remain open for non-Iranian oil, but Iranian oil exports would be halted. With the loss of their oil exports, Iran would find its remaining military forces being hunted down and destroyed day after day. Not only would Iranian oil exports be halted, but also so would imports. Iran depends on imports of food (over 100,000 tons a week) and gasoline to keep its economy operating. However, even if Iran does possess the ability to block the Strait of Hormuz, it would be useless. With Hormuz closed, Iran would choke itself. If Iran attempted to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, the US and NATO would likely respond with their own blockade. The U.S. possesses a superior fleet, so it would be highly unlikely for Iran to eliminate the U.S. fleet and its blockade. Immediately, all trade both ways through the Strait of Hormuz would be stopped.
Iran could never afford such an action
Iran believes it has a secret weapon for shutting down the Straits of Hormuz. This is hundreds of Chinese C-802 anti-ship missiles mounted in trucks, some of them civilian trucks that, they hope, could slip past enemy aircraft. But the Iranians have another problems with the C-802.
Four years ago, Hezbollah received some C-802s and fired two of them at an Israeli warship. Why wasn't the 1,100-ton Israeli corvette destroyed by the 164 kg (360 pound) warhead of the C-802? That's because the C-802 missile hit the helicopter hanger on the Israeli ship. Then the missile suffered a common problem; the warhead failed to go off. The fire on the Israeli ship was caused by the half a ton of missile crashing into it, and the unburned rocket fuel. The Israeli anti-missile system was not turned on because it was found to interfere with the electronics on Israeli warplanes operating in the vicinity. This is also an increasing problem in modern warfare. There are so many electronic gadgets transmitting, that there are more cases of signals, literally, getting crossed.
Another problem with the C-802 is that it can hit targets over the horizon (about twenty kilometers distant), and to do that, you need an aircraft or ship on the spot to provide general location data for the C-802. American air power would shut down nearly all Iranian radars, so the C-802s would be blind much of the time.
The C-802 is 30-year-old technology, and Iranian quality control in its weapons plants is known to be uneven. So a certain percentage of those missiles would fail for one reason or another. In sum, the Iranians, despite their bluster, don't have a sure thing when they say they will close the Straits of Hormuz, and they would self-destruct if they close it.
May 26, 2010
GOING BACK CAN BE FUN.
We had an unusual bird’s eye view of our lives today while visiting Houston. We had to grab a fast lunch and stopped at a Chick-Fill place on the corner of Richmond Ave and Post Oak Blvd. While eating we suddenly realized that I had my office about 40 years ago in the exact spot where we were sitting. More correctly, exactly above the spot where our table was located. It brought back numerous memories of events and people. Good memories and bad. Good people and crooks.
My wife asked if I remember the TGIF restaurant across the street, which was at one time the hangout of the smart set and it was known as a pressure cooker. I won’t go into an explanation about the later. It was a place of intrigue and monkey business.
I told her that as usual some intrigue and monkey business still happens in this area. The old TGIF location is living up to her reputation. Here is a modern day version of some of the old time shenanigans, intrigue and monkey business. The property was owned by my former partner Jerry Hines and according to the Houston Business Journal the following happened.
In December 2007, a Dubai development group then under the direction of CEO Zack Shahin, bought the property for $55 million, or $209 per square foot for the construction of a fantastic condo plus development. Earlier addition of the Journal revealed, however, that the property was sold by Jerry Hines for $86 per square foot in May of 2007 to a Mr. X. Mr. X sold the property in December to a Mr. Y. for $140 per sq. ft, who sold the property the same day to a Mr. Z, who sold the property the same day to a Mr. XX for $155 per sq. ft, who sold it the same day to the Dubai development group for $209 per sq. ft.
I had the opportunity about 25 years ago to do business with a group out of Dubai and the above scenario is no surprise to me. We were part of joint venture with a group out of Dubai to build a $150 million World Trade Center in downtown Houston. When I found out that I had to pay about $25 million in bribes I declined and the Dubai group decided to build the center themselves. Just like the big condo project across the street that has not been built, neither has the World Trade Center.
The only difference is that this time the Government of Dubai smelled a rat and arrested Mr. Shahin, who has been held in jail in Dubai for over a year, while they are trying to find where the loot is.
If you have any idea where the money could be found, let me know and perhaps I can arrange a reward for you.
As they used to say in Rome: Tempus fugit. This time it was the tempus of Dubai that got fugited.
JUNE 7, 2010
NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN.
Suddenly many Americans discover that politicians have been buying votes. Many methods are used, but the simplest is to register the voters and provide them some form of assistance in exchange for their votes. In the old Texas days ministers were used to distribute “walking money” in the congregation to assure votes. Things obviously have gotten much more sophisticated since then.
The classic vote getting scheme, however, was invented by a New York congressman named Vito Marcantonio who was arguably one of the more left wing Members of Congress. He was sympathetic to the Socialist and Communist parties, and promoting their ideas among labor unions and was investigated by the FBI, as many were suspicious of him because of his sympathy with communism and ties to the Communist Party. In 1940, he helped form the American Peace Mobilization, identified as a communist front group, to keep the US from participating in World War II, and served as its vice-chair. He appeared in a newsreel in 1940 denouncing 'the imperialist war,' (the line taken by Stalin and his supporters until the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941). Marcantonio was also a Vice President of the International Workers Order, a fraternal benefit society unofficially affiliated with the Communist Party.
Marcantonio's district was centered in East Harlem, New York City, which had many residents of Italian and Puerto Rican origin. He was considered an ally of the Puerto Rican community and an advocate for the rights of the workers and the poor. He was so popular in that district that he sometimes won the Democratic and Republican primaries, as well as the American Labor Party endorsement.
This is what the official record show about him. Less known, however, is how Vito got his votes at election time. Prior to each election he sponsored a massive airlift of Puerto Ricans to Harlem. Each airline ticket cost $80 and it was advanced by Vito’s organization. As soon as the “voters” arrived on jam-packed airplanes, they were put into slum apartments, sometimes as many as 12 people piled in an apartment. They were instantly registered on the New York welfare rolls and started receiving a weekly stipend. Vito then forcibly withheld a portion of the welfare check to recover the cost of the airplane ticket.
Do you see something familiar about the scheme? Bring in Spanish speaking voters, put them on the welfare rolls and get them to mass register and vote in gratitude and then get their money?
I am suffering the curse of old age. Having seen it happen in the past and watch how politicians repeat doing it to you again because you don’t know about the past.
I have written about this THREE YEARS AGO. If you care to read WAKE UP AMERICA here it is:
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WAKE UP AMERICA!
By T W Weston
Summer 2007
Have you lived under a Nazi regime? Have Nazis and Communists tried to kill you? Have you ever heard a Nazi or Communist leader speak? Do you have any idea what Nazis and Communists are about?Did you know Nazis are national SOCIALISTS and the communists are international SOCIALISTS? Do you recognize when you hear a speaker expounding Nazi or Communist doctrine? Have you ever lived in fear of tyrants, either fascist or communist? I CAN ANSWER YES TO ALL THESE QUESTIONS. I havepersonally experienced and survived cataclysmic historic events in my life, and I am more than qualified to recognize, just as most thinking people do, that our civilized world is trembling because we all know that a major change is coming. We fear that it will not be a change for the good, but a plunge backwards into medieval times of anarchy and barbarism. I hear the communists singing their treacherous Lorelei songs to entice us to the disaster they are preparing for us.
A change is coming that is more profound and dangerous that the period preceding the French or Hungarian Revolutions. We are not just talking about a revolution but a passing of a civilization, a decline from the heights of progress to the abyss of ignorance, brutality and barbarism.This is not a unique or unprecedented condition. It has occurred many times in the history of the world prior to the demise of major civilizations.
So let me take you on a dangerous intellectual trip that has kept me awake often in the recent past. Every previous civilization has been destroyed by the insurmountable gap between the “haves” and the “have-nots” if the “have-nots” acquired the power to take from the “haves”. We have presidential candidates openly advocating taking power from the “rich” and giving it to the voting masses.
The most recent example of the Roman Empire is overwhelming. If you have not recognized the symptoms it is understandable. If you put a frog in a bowl of water and then start heating the water, the frog will boil to death, because it is unaware of the change in temperature of the water. Similarly you may recognize the symptoms of decline, or even consider them an advance, unless you have a historical perspective.
One of the critical symptoms is the advance of political and legal equality combined with unequal distribution of wealth and power. The disparity of these two forces becomes obvious when you give more and more voting power to people who are getting poorer as compared to the rich who are getting richer while their voting power diminishes. A democracy will ultimately become a dictatorship of the people who demand not just equal opportunity, but equal outcome.
It is a common election slogan in our country now to tax and plunder the rich and hand it to the poor. As the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots” increases democratic elections become a sure way for unscrupulous politicians and charlatans to acquire power. History proves that equality of outcome can only be achieved at the point of a bayonet in a dictatorship. There has never been a country where all were equally rich, but there were many where everyone was equally poor. Trillions spent on the “War on Poverty” since the Johnson Administration have not diminished it, but destroyed the well established base of the nation – the family unit- by replacing the breadwinner with the Government.
Already the non-voting majority in the USA feels no connection to the government. Upset by their perceived poverty as compared to the rich, they are ready to sell their votes to the highest bidder or the demagogue leading the charge against the rich. Millions only see a class enjoying obscene wealth and are agitated in discontent waiting for a leader to take it from the rich and give it to them. We now have presidential candidates promising exactly that!
This concept applies even more to the world scene where most of the world considers the USA to be obscenely rich and ready to be plucked. Little do our “poor” realize that their standard of living, equal opportunity, liberty and freedom does not exist anywhere in the world and that in the eyes of the world our “poor” are the rich and enviable.
When, there is an inequality in the distribution of wealth, a democracy will self-destruct and turn into anarchy or a totalitarian barbaric state. To put the power of the vote into the hands of people embittered by poverty, powerlessness, or unscrupulously agitated envy is self-destructive.
Thus these voters become corrupt, voting not for ideas or principles, but for the highest bidder. A corrupt voting public creates corrupt political leaders. Men of high caliber or character no longer seek office because they do not want heir families go through the destructive campaign process. Those running are no longer running on principle, but on the advise of polls, handlers, spinmeisters, political hacks and hatchet men. Political parties can no longer be differentiated by principles or ideas because their primary purpose is to acquire power.
Politicians are now engaged in the obscene effort to import masses of a new underclass, uneducated immigrants, to bolster their electability by a new group of poor, uninformed voters. It all started 60 years ago by Vito Marcantonio, a communist candidate of the Labor Party. One of his favored election maneuvers was to bring in planeloads of Puerto Ricans before election time. All arrivals were provided apartments in East Harlem, often as many as 10-12 to an apartment and were put on welfare. They all voted to secure Marcantonio’s re-elections. The airfare of $80 per person was later collected from the Puerto Ricans’ s welfare payments.
Corruption brings to rise the “lobbyist”, the insiders and the wealthy king makers. They control votes, buy and sell offices, legislation, and courts. Through such men large corporations and powerful organization elect Senators and judges of their liking. They steal and if they are caught are punished to return part of the theft. Big thieves are celebrated and admired by their fellow uncaught thieves.
If you look for evidence of corruption just consider the complacency with corruption because most of the public believes there are no honest people in politics. Just look at the millions spent on an election and compare it with the salary of the elected official and his acquisition of wealth during his tenure in office.
Contempt for the law and the lawmakers is rampant. Abuse of the legal system by corrupt lawyers, and the corruption of the criminal justice system are an accepted way of doing business. We are spending more money on prisons than on education.
The arts become prostituted under the influence of a less cultured populace, which considers vulgarity admirable, and artists are eager to become stilted, grotesque to soothe the popular taste.
Throughout the land there is a strong feeling of disappointment in our leaders, our nation and humanity and a widespread feeling of unrest even a desire for some kind of a revolution. Unfortunately answers are not found and all this feeling and desire for a change is wasted in frustration because corrupt politicians do not bring change.
No one has the courage and the ability to explain that we are now seeing the consequences of past actions and inactions. No one has stepped up to point out how previous civilizations were destroyed and what, if anything, should be done to stop the destruction of this civilization. No leader points to history to teach us that we are not immune to its lessons. No leader talks of how rich we all are, even the poorest among us, as compared to the rest of the world. The best we can hope for is a leader, who can point to our executioner – radical Islam – with the hope of attempting to rally us against the invading horde of barbarians. Alas, that by itself did not work for Rome.
There are many forms of insanity but we are currently seeing the most common form of it engulfing our political system. INSANITY = doing the same thing and expecting different results. The current slogan is the same as it is every four years: CHANGE! They again promise change, but as soon as they are in power their habits, attitudes and behaviors prove that they are INSANE. And so are we. We are also doing the same thing, listen to the fraudulent sound bites, clap like idiots and accept their insanity proving that we are also insane.
Except now the consequences could be fatal. We may have reached the tipping point where we will become a self-destructing democracy.
If you are frustrated and angry, just consider how I feel who has SEEN THIS ALL BEFORE AND WAS LUCKY TO SURVIVE. ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? LUCK WON’T BE ENOUGH. IT TAKES ACTION. IF NOT NOW, WHEN? IF NOT YOU, WHO?
The insane are running the asylum. Examples permeating American society today. Scams, fraud, perjury, uncivilized behavior and other signs heralding the fall of the USA, unless you had enough.
