Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Avarice, Fraud, Thievery and a Pimple


Post 9/11 2018 is an excellent time to consider where we are going as a nation. In fact, it will serve us well to look at who we have become and who we want to become.

With that thought in mind, here are two discussions for your consideration.

The first helps us understand that we have made zero progress since the 2008 “recession” devastated our nation. I do mean devastated. Because from my Michigan perspective, we suffered a 10-year economic depression brought on, in large part, by predatory bankers and outright fraud. (Have you forgotten the millions who lost their homes; the failed businesses; and the unscrupulous debt collectors”?) And, worse, the bankster frauders were rewarded with billions in public money bailouts while homeowners suffer without relief and were forced to overcome financial ruin “by pulling themselves up by the bootstraps”, if they managed to hang on to their boots from the layers of blood-sucking bill collectors.

The second discussion confronts us with the certain realization that we are not the people we believe ourselves to be. In fact, Mr. Trump is a manifestation of the people we have allowed ourselves to be.

Oh, my!

The questions which perplex me are: How and when will we as a people decide we’ve had enough? When will we end the scamming, fraud and thievery not only condoned by our society but seemingly cherished by it? And, finally, honestly, do you believe you and your children and grandchildren, are well served by, “a pimple on the face of the Presidency”, a President who is “merely a noxious, venal, and ineffectual blowhard, who has assembled a team of associates who are themselves, with few exceptions, noxious, venal, or ineffectual”? When will we as a people take responsibility for correcting our government and force it to serve our interests— the interests of the 99.9%?

When Timothy Geithner Defied Barack Obama, Jacob Sugarman, Truthdig.com. 11 Sept 2018

“Less than a week after The New York Times ran an op-ed by an anonymous Trump administration official openly challenging the president’s fitness for office, the question of who wrote the piece continues to vex Beltway pundits and the White House alike. But Donald Trump is hardly the first occupant of the Oval Office to face insubordination, potentially from somebody in his inner circle. As The New Republic’s David Dayen reminds us, Timothy Geithner’s “refusal to obey his boss” altered the course of the Great Recession—and likely set us on a path toward Trump’s election.”

“In March 2009, the U.S. economy was imploding. Citigroup had reported losses in excess of $8 billion the previous quarter, and two government bailouts totaling $45 billion, along with an additional $306 billion in loan guarantees, had proved insufficient to right the ship. While President Barack Obama had publicly dismissed nationalizing the country’s most distressed banks, Larry Summer—then National Economic Council director—was intrigued by the idea, so Obama ordered the Treasury Department to explore a radical restructuring of Citigroup.”

“Geithner simply didn’t follow the request,” writes Dayen, citing “Confidence Men” author Ron Suskind. “It was a classic Washington move: When your boss asks for something you don’t like, just ignore it and hope that the request isn’t necessary when the boss follows up.”

“Geithner adamantly rejected this account, telling Suskind, “I don’t slow-walk the president on anything.” But as Dayen notes, Obama tacitly admitted that that was what happened, expressing his frustration with “the speed with which the bureaucracy could exercise my decision.” -more-

After Trump, The Donald in the Rearview Mirror, Andrew J. Bacevich, Tomgram. 11 Sept 2018.

“Donald Trump’s tenure as the 45th U.S. president may last another few weeks, another year, or another 16 months.  However unsettling the prospect, the leaky vessel that is the S.S. Trump might even manage to stay afloat for a second term.  Nonetheless, recent headline-making revelations suggest that, like some derelict ship that's gone aground, the Trump presidency may already have effectively run its course. What, then, does this bizarre episode in American history signify?”

“Let me state my own view bluntly: forget the atmospherics.  Despite the lies, insults, name calling, and dog whistles, almost nothing of substance has changed. Nor will it.”

“To a far greater extent than Trump’s perpetually hyperventilating critics are willing to acknowledge, the United States remains on a trajectory that does not differ appreciably from what it was prior to POTUS #45 taking office. Post-Trump America, just now beginning to come into view, is shaping up to look remarkably like pre-Trump America.”

“I understand that His Weirdness remains in the White House. Yet for all practical purposes, Trump has ceased to govern. True, he continues to rant and issue bizarre directives, which his subordinates implement, amend, or simply disregard as they see fit. “

“Except in a ceremonial sense, the office of the presidency presently lies vacant. Call it an abdication-in-place. It’s as if British King Edward VIII, having abandoned his throne for “the woman I love,” continued to hang around Buckingham Palace fuming about the lack of respect given Wallis and releasing occasional bulletins affirming his admiration for Adolf Hitler.”

“In Trump’s case, it’s unlikely he ever had a more serious interest in governing than Edward had in performing duties more arduous than those he was eventually assigned as Duke of Windsor. Nonetheless, the 60-plus million Americans who voted for Trump did so with at least the expectation that he was going to shake things up.”

“And bigly. Remember, he was going to “lock her up.”  He would “drain the swamp” and “build a wall” with Mexico volunteering to foot the bill. Without further ado, he would end “this American carnage.” Meanwhile, “America First” would form the basis for U.S. foreign policy. Once Trump took charge, things were going to be different, as he and he alone would “make America great again.”

“Yet the cataclysm that Trump’s ascendency was said to signify has yet to occur. Barring a nuclear war, it won’t.” -more-

So, in classic, Dirty-Hairy-"Do you feel lucky?"-tone, we ask ourselves this question: "Are you ready (to do something about these problems... or not?

Do you feel lucky?


Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Lets get real. Why 9/11?


An estimated 200 people jumped to their deaths on 9/11 2001.

9/11 Trillions: Follow The Money
Corbett Report, 14 Sept 2015


Forget for one moment everything you've been told about September 11, 2001. 9/11 was a crime. And as with any crime, there is one overriding imperative that detectives must follow to identify the perpetrators: follow the money. This is an investigation of the 9/11 money trail.

Who had the Means, Motive, Opportunity to pull off the 9/11 murders?

The Interview:
Interview 744 – Kevin Ryan Exposes “Another 19” 9/11 Suspects

9/11 researcher Kevin Ryan of Digwithin.net joins us once again to discuss his new must-read book, “Another Nineteen: Investigating Legitimate 9/11 Suspects.” We discuss some of the individuals and corporations identified in his book and those who have helped to cover up investigations of them, as well as what works like this can accomplish and where the 9/11 truth movement should head from here.

The Book:
Another Nineteen: Investigating Legitimate 9/11 Suspects Jun 14, 2013
by Kevin Ryan

Were the crimes of September 11, 2001 solely the work of Osama bin Laden and nineteen troubled young Arabs, or were more powerful people involved? After a decade of investigation, the long-time co-editor of the Journal of 9/11 Studies, Kevin Ryan, offers an evidence-based analysis of nineteen other suspects.

Although a number of books have demonstrated that the official accounts are false, Another Nineteen takes the next, crucial step toward a new investigation into the crimes of 9/11. With the support of victim's families and leading 9/11 researchers, Ryan examines nineteen suspects who were in position to accomplish major elements of the crimes that still need to be explained. Detailed evidence is presented that reveals how each of the alternative suspects had the means, motive and opportunity to accomplish one or more aspects of the 9/11 events. In light of a forty-year history of deep events and crimes against democracy, Ryan shows how 9/11 fits into the pattern of a deep state operation, how the alternate suspects worked together throughout that history, how each was connected to two men who were in perfect position to coordinate the attacks, and how these suspects can either be charged with 9/11 crimes today or further investigated in focused ways.

9/11 War Games
Corbett Report, 12 Sept 2018


Little did we know at the time, 9/11 was not a normal day of blue sky aviation. On the contrary, it was one of the busiest days in the history of American aviation, a dense forest of live fly exercises, drills, simulations, fake radar injects and utter confusion. And that was before the attacks even began. This is the story of 9/11 that you didn’t watch unfold on your TV that fateful day in 2001. This is the story of the 9/11 War Games. Please go here for transcript, links and more.

Remembering 9/11 – 2,974 WTC Murders

(Updated 16 Sept 2017. Please go here for the International Bureau of Forensic Investigations cold case investigation of the 9/11 murders.) Similar to the day President Kennedy was murdered, I remember where I was and what I was doing when the World Trade Center Towers the other five WTC buildings were destroyed, 11 Sept 2001, don’t you?

I turned the TV on that morning to see if there was some reason why my Internet connection had suddenly frozen up. Perhaps, I speculated, someone had demolished the Comcast cable somewhere close by.

Instead of a car accident, I learned that the one of the WTC towers was on fire. I didn’t know it then, but our world had changed again, once more in a very bad way.

In shock, I suspect, after seeing several people jump from the WTC, I later accepted our government’s explanation of the collapse of the impossibly huge buildings. After all, I’d seen it all on TV, hadn’t I?

Never, for a second, did I question where the mammoth tons and tons of rubble went that day - the steel and the building contents. Nor did I question why they fell so quickly and without damaging the building close by. -more-

Cold Case Findings
On 11 September 2001, 2,974 people were murdered in New York City. At the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. and on flights 77 and 93, 224 innocent people were murdered. To this day, these crimes remain unsolved and the perpetrators continue to elude justice. -more-

Saturday, September 1, 2018

Let’s Think This Through

Walter Reuther, left, and Richard Frankensteen, after being beaten bloody by Ford Motor Company's anti-union thugs at the "Battle of the Overpass," an incident depicted in the new documentary Brothers on the Line. (Wayne State University Reuther Library Archives) 
Most of us know it is time for a major change — that it is time for our nation to apply our vast resources toward serving the interests of our people; to move toward a ‘Peace” economy and away from a “Continuous War” economy; to emphasize people over profit; to establish a balance between corporate interests and the welfare of all the people; and, toward protection from our current “Predatory Capitalistic” system.

Unfortunately, this realization is not a new thing. People have come to that conclusion from time immemorial.

And, in their time, countless heroes have given their lives trying to move the ball an inch or two forward toward obtaining “Natural Rights”, those our nation’s founders called, “unalienable rights”. You no doubt recognize this declaration: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

Back then, a few rich white guys convinced enough of the “Joe-&-Jane-lunch-bucket” colonists to fight a revolution against King George. For various reasons the revolution succeeded and the rich guys got a lot; the Joe & Jane workers got some potential and a chance to dream sbout making the bigtime like the rich guys, otherwise known as, the “American Dream”.

Fast forward a few hundred years and, we, the American Joes & Janes, the 99.9%, are still trying to dream that American Dream. Our ancestors did make some progress in their time. They paid the price in blood, achieving things that we take for granted, among them:

  • Eight-hour work days
  • Child labor laws
  • 40-hour work week
  • Vacation time
  • Sick time
  • Minimum wage
  • The Right to Vote

What about that “Pursuit of Happiness” thing?

Well, on this Labor Day, 2018, it is obvious that it's going to take a lot more than dreaming to find our chance at happiness.

Still, we can dream. Can’t we?


The Collapse of the Middle Class and the Rise of a New 'Precariat', Robert Scheer, Truthdig, 31 Aug 2018. Robert Scheer interview of Alissa Quart, Squeezed: The High Price of the American Family.

"And what your book really gets into in a very deep way is self-blame andif you fail–and this is the most powerful, corrupting message this society puts out: if you fail, it’s your fault. And you better go to a self-help group, or you better have a better attitude, or embrace your inner blah blah blah. And the whole idea that maybe the game is rigged–rigged–is, you know, that’s considered radical and negative thinking. And when you mentioned the housing meltdown, the Great Recession, and debt–debt, this incredible debt that people inherited on every level–and the fact, you know, you have to pay so much to go to college now, there wasn’t public money for doing something like free tuition, as Bernie Sanders argued for. There isn’t public money for helping people get job training for the jobs that are needed. There isn’t–there isn’t public money for health care. All the things you say these European societies have, and manage to fund. And what did they do? Under Barack Obama, the great president of hope, they bailed out the banks for destroying the economy. Right? And they didn’t bail out homeowners. They didn’t do anything fundamentally to help homeowners who lost their houses, not through any failure on their part, because the game was rigged by these, basically, thieves on Wall Street. So, I mean, isn’t it really cutting to the chase the issue, are you going to blame yourself, or are you going to blame the system?"