Fantasizing a U.S.-Israel Relationship Without Hypocrisy

The worst thing that ever happened to the Jewish people is the Holocaust. The second worst thing that ever happened to the Jewish people is the state of Israel.

Things internationally are so dispiriting there’s nothing left to do but fantasize. I picture Turkey, as a member of NATO, demanding that the alliance come to its defense after being attacked by Israel. Under Article 5 of the NATO charter an armed attack on one member is deemed to constitute an armed attack on all members. That is the ostensible reason NATO is fighting in Afghanistan — the attack against the United States on September 11, 2001 is regarded as an attack on all NATO members (disregarding the awkward fact that Afghanistan as a country had nothing to do with the attack). The Israeli attack on a Turkish-flagged ship, operated by a Turkish humanitarian organization, killing nine Turkish nationals and wounding many more can certainly constitute an attack upon a NATO member.

So, after the United States, the UK, Germany, France and other leading NATO members offer their ridiculous non-sequitur excuses why they can’t … umm … er … invoke Article 5, and the international media swallows it all without any indigestion, Turkey demands that Israel should at least lose its formal association with NATO as a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue. This too is dismissed with scorn by the eminent NATO world powers on the grounds that it would constitute a victory for terrorism. And anti-Semitism of course.

Turkey then withdraws from NATO. Azerbaijan and five other Central Asian members of NATO’s Partnership for Peace with Turkic constituencies do the same. NATO falls into a crisis. Remaining member countries begin to question the organization’s policies as never before … like please tell us again why our young men are killing and dying in Afghanistan, and why we send them to Kosovo and Iraq and other places the Americans deem essential to their endlessly-threatened national security.

When Vice President Biden tells the eminent conservative-in-liberal-clothing pseudo-intellectual Charlie Rose on TV that “We have put as much pressure and as much cajoling on Israel as we can to allow them [Gaza] to get building materials in,” 1Rose for once rises to the occasion and acts like a real journalist, asking Biden: “Have you threatened Israel with ending all military and economic aid? … Have you put the names of Israeli officials on your list of foreigners who can not enter the United States and whose bank accounts in the US are frozen, as you’ve done with numerous foreign officials who were not supporters of the empire? … Since Israel has committed both crimes against the peace and crimes against humanity, and since these are crimes that have international jurisdiction, certain Israeli political and military personnel can be named in trials held in any country of the world. Will you be instructing the Attorney General to proceed with such an indictment? Or if some other country which is a member of the International Criminal Court calls upon the ICC to prosecute these individuals, will the United States try to block the move? … Why hasn’t the United States itself delivered building materials to Gaza?”

When Israel justifies its murders on the grounds of “self-defense”, late-night TV comedians Jay Leno and David Letterman find great humor in this, pointing out that a new memoir by China’s premier at the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square violent suppression defends the military action by saying that soldiers acted in “self-defense” when they fired on the democracy activists. 2

When Israel labels as “terrorists” the ship passengers who offered some resistance to the Israeli invaders, the New York Times points out that the passengers who resisted the 9-11 highjackers on the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania are called “heroes”. (As an aside, it’s worth noting that the United States uses 9-11 as Israel uses the Holocaust — as excuse and justification for all manner of illegal and violent international behavior.)

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reminds its readers that in 2009 Israel attacked a boat on international waters carrying medical aid to Gaza with former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney aboard; and that in 1967 Israel attacked an American ship, the USS Liberty, killing 34 and wounding about 173, and that President Johnson did then just what President Obama is doing now and would have done then — nothing.

And finally, Secretary of State Clinton declares that she’s had a revelation. She realizes that what she recently said about North Korea when it was accused of having torpedoed a South Korean warship applies as well to Israel. Mrs. Clinton had demanded that Pyongyang “stop its provocative behavior, halt its policy of threats of belligerence towards its neighbors, and take irreversible steps to fulfill its denuclearization commitments and comply with international law.” 3 She adds that the North Korean guilt is by no means conclusive, while Israel doesn’t deny its attack on the ship at all; moreover, it’s not known for sure if North Korea actually possesses nuclear weapons, whereas there’s no uncertainty about Israel’s large stockpile.

So there you have it. Hypocrisy reigns. Despite my best fantasizing. Is hypocrisy a moral failing or a failure of the intellect? When President Obama says, as he has often, “No one is above the law” and in his next breath makes it clear that his administration will not seek to indict Bush or Cheney for any crimes, does he think that no one will notice the contradiction, the hypocrisy? That’s a callous disregard for public opinion and/or a dumbness worthy of his predecessor.

And when he declares: “The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground”, 4does it not occur to him at all that he’s predicting a bleak outlook for the United States? Or that his conscious, deliberate policy is to increase the size of America’s army and its stockpile of missiles?

Comrades, can the hypocrisy and the lies reach such a magnitude that enough American true believers begin to question their cherished faith, so that their number reaches a critical mass and explodes? Well, it’s already happened with countless Americans, but it’s an awfully formidable task keeping pace with what is turned out by the mass media and education factories. They’re awfully good at what they do. Too bad. But don’t forsake the struggle. What better way is there to live this life? And remember, just because the world has been taken over by lying, hypocritical, mass-murdering madmen doesn’t mean we can’t have a good time.

Bad guys and good guys

In Lahore, Pakistan, reported the Washington Post on May 29, “Militants staged coordinated attacks … on two mosques of a minority Muslim sect, taking hostages and killing at least 80 people. … At least seven men armed with grenades, high-powered rifles and suicide vests stormed the mosques as Friday prayers ended.”

Nice, really nice, very civilized. It’s no wonder that decent Americans think that this is what the United States is fighting against — Islamic fanatics, homicidal maniacs, who kill their own kind over some esoteric piece of religious dogma, who want to kill Americans over some other imagined holy sin, because we’re “infidels”. How can we reason with such people? Where is the common humanity the naive pacifists and anti-war activists would like us to honor?

And then we come to the very last paragraph of the story: “Elsewhere in Pakistan on Friday, a suspected U.S. drone-fired missile struck a Taliban compound in the South Waziristan tribal area, killing eight, according to two officials in the region.” This, we are asked to believe by our leaders, is a higher level of humanity. The United States does this every other day, sending robotic death machines called Predators flying over Afghanistan and Pakistan, to send Hellfire missiles screaming into wedding parties, funerals, homes, not knowing who the victims are, not caring who the victims are, many hundreds of them by now, as long as Washington can claim each time — whether correctly or not — that amongst their number was a prominent infidel, call him Taliban, or al Qaeda, or insurgent, or militant. How can one reason with such people, the ones in the CIA who operate the drone flights? What is the difference between them and a suicide bomber? The suicide bomber becomes one of the victims himself and sees his victims up close before killing them. The CIA murderer bomber sits safely in a room in Nevada or California and pretends he’s playing a video game, then goes out to dinner while his victims lay dying. The suicide bomber believes passionately in something called paradise. The murderer bomber believes passionately in something called flag and country.

The State Department’s Legal Advisor justifies the Predator bombings as … yes, “self-defense”. 5 Try reasoning with that.

These American drone bombings are of course the height of aggression, the ultimate international crime. They were used over Iraq as well beginning in the 1990s. In December 2002, shortly before the US invasion in March, the Iraqis finally managed to shoot one down. This prompted a spokesman for the US Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, to call it another sign of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s “campaign of military aggression.” 6

This particular piece of hypocrisy may have actually been outdone by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s comment about the US flights and bombings over Iraq during that period: “It bothers the dickens out of me that US and British pilots are getting fired at day after day after day, with impunity.” 7

Send me a stamped self-addressed envelope for a copy of the revised edition of “An arsonist’s guide to the homes of Pentagon officials”.

When politicians misbehave. By speaking the truth.

The German president, Horst Koehler, resigned last week because he said something government officials are not supposed to say. He said that Germany was fighting in Afghanistan for economic reasons. No reference to democracy. Nothing about freedom. Not a word about Good Guys fighting Bad Guys. The word “terrorism” was not mentioned at all. Neither was “God”. On a trip to German troops in Afghanistan he had declared that a country such as Germany, dependent on exports and free trade, must be prepared to use military force. The country, he said, had to act “to protect our interests, for example, free trade routes, or to prevent regional instability which might certainly have a negative effect on our trade, jobs and earnings”.

“Koehler has said something openly that has been obvious from the beginning,” said the head of Germany’s Left Party. “German soldiers are risking life and limb in Afghanistan to defend the export interests of big economic interests.” 8

Other opposition politicians had called for Koehler to take back the remarks and accused him of damaging public acceptance of German military missions abroad. 9

As T.S. Eliot famously observed: “Humankind can not bear very much reality.”

What is the opposite of being a conspiracy theorist?

David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker magazine and former Washington Post reporter, has a new book out, “The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama”. In the three pages Remnick devotes to Obama’s 1983-4 employment at Business International Corporation in New York he makes no mention of the well-known ties between BIC and the CIA. In 1977, for example, the New York Times revealed that BIC had provided cover for four CIA employees in various countries during earlier years of the Cold War; 10BIC also attempted to penetrate the radical left, including Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). 11

Did Remnick not think it at all interesting and worthy of mention that the future president worked for more than a year with a company that was a CIA asset? Even if the company and the CIA made no attempt to recruit Obama, which in fact they may have done? It’s this kind of obvious omission that helps feed the left’s conspiracy thinking.

Because Remnick has impeccable establishment credentials the book has been widely reviewed. But none of the many reviewers has seen fit to mention this omission. And the way it works of course is that if it’s not mentioned, it didn’t happen. And if you mention such a thing, you’re a pathetic conspiracy theorist. Like me, who discussed it in the January edition of this report. 12

Notes

1. Charlie Rose Live, June 2, 2010 program
2. Associated Press, June 4, 2010
3. State Department press conference, May 24, 2010
4. Talk given in Moscow, July 7, 2009, text released by the White House
5. National Public Radio, March 26, 2010
6. Washington Post, December 24, 2002
7. Associated Press, September 30, 2002
8. London Times Online, May 31, 2010
9. Associated Press, May 31, 2010
10. New York Times, December 27, 1977, p.40
11. Carl Oglesby, “Ravens in the Storm: A Personal History of the 1960s Antiwar Movement” (2008), passim
12. William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report, January 3rd, 2009

Dear Helen Thomas with a PS to all her ‘Colleagues’ and Every American

Ninety-year old Journalist Helen Thomas has taken a lot of heat for daring to address the fact that any Jew without any historical connection to Israel is encouraged to settle-as in colonize-upon legally owned Palestinian land.

I learned about, Aliyah, which means ‘going up,’ during my first of seven trips to Israel and occupied Palestine in June 2005 from an American Jewess who had taken the deal and she informed me:

I get fifteen hundred shekels or about thirty-six hundred dollars a year in increments to help with my expenses. I can apply for unemployment benefits after seven months, as long as I look for a job. I just completed Ulpan, which was five hundred hours of Hebrew language immersion studies that took five months, five hours a day, for five weeks. I get subsidized rent and just moved out of the Absorption Center Projects. All the new immigrants get room, utilities, and three meals a day for the first five months in Israel. We also receive free medical care and all the doctors here are dedicated. We can go to the university with 100 percent of the tuition paid by the government. College is much cheaper here; it’s about three thousand to four thousand dollars a year. Until I am thirty years old, I can receive up to three years of education for my master’s degree.

On February 9, 2009, Journalist Helen Thomas, asked President Obama about Middle Eastern state with nukes.

Obama blew her off stating he didn’t want “to speculate” and her ‘colleagues’ remained mute, but the US State Department has published reams of material about President Kennedy’s concern about the Israeli bomb!

And looking back to December 1953, when President Eisenhower addressed the 470th Plenary Meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in India, I excerpt:

I therefore decided that this occasion warranted my saying to you some of the things that have been on the minds and hearts of my legislative and executive associates, and on mine, for a great many months: thoughts I had originally planned to say primarily to the American people.

I know that the American people share my deep belief that if a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation, that hope should be shared by all.

I feel impelled to speak today in a language that in a sense is new, one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic warfare.

The atomic age has moved forward at such a pace that every citizen of the world should have some comprehension, at least in comparative terms, of the extent of this development, of the utmost significance to every one of us.

Clearly, if the peoples of the world are to conduct an intelligent search for peace, they must be armed with the significant facts of today’s existence…this subject is global, not merely national in character.

On 16 July 1945, the United States set off the world’s biggest atomic explosion.

Since that date in 1945, the United States of America has conducted forty-two test explosions. Atomic bombs are more than twenty-five times as powerful as the weapons with which the atomic age dawned, while hydrogen weapons are in the ranges of millions of tons of TNT equivalent.

Today, the United States stockpile of atomic weapons, which, of course, increases daily, exceeds by many times the total equivalent of the total of all bombs and all shells that came from every plane and every gun in every theater of war in all the years of the Second World War. A single air group whether afloat or land based, can now deliver to any reachable target a destructive cargo exceeding in power all the bombs that fell on Britain in all the Second World War…But the dread secret and the fearful engines of atomic might are not ours alone.

In the first place, the secret is possessed by our friends and allies…If at one time the United States possessed what might have been called a monopoly of atomic power, that monopoly ceased to exist several years ago.

There is at least one new avenue of peace, which has not been well-explored -an avenue now laid out by the General Assembly of the United Nations…The United States, heeding the suggestion of the General Assembly of the United Nations, is instantly prepared to meet privately with such other countries as may be “principally involved”, to seek “an acceptable solution” to the atomic armaments race which overshadows not only the peace, but the very life, of the world…the great Powers of the earth, both of the East and of the West [must] open up a new channel for peaceful discussion and initiative at least a new approach to the many difficult problems that must be solved in both private and public conversations if the world is to shake off the inertia imposed by fear and is to make positive progress towards peace…the United States pledges before you, and therefore before the world, its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma – to devote its entire heart and mind to finding the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to life. [1]

This August 6th and 9th will mark the 65th anniversary of the most brutal acts of terrorism upon innocent people; America’s atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On Armistice Day, 1948 General Omar Nelson Bradley warned US:

We live in a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants, in a world that has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. We have solved the mystery of the atom and forgotten the lessons of the Sermon on The Mount. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about dying than we know about living.

A little history:

At 2:45 AM, on August 6, 1945, an American B-29 bomber flew north from Tinian Island toward Japan. Three and a half hours later, the Enola Gay dropped “Little Boy” an 8,900-pound atomic weapon upon civilians in Hiroshima and leveled almost 90% of the city. On August 9, “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki, and one third of that city was destroyed.

“Little Boy” was fueled by highly enriched uranium-235 and generated a destructive force of about 15 kilotons—the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT. “Fat Man” consisted of a plutonium core surrounded by high explosives wired to explode simultaneously and yielded a 22 kiloton explosion.

As a child, I could not comprehend how my country could cold bloodily target and murder Japanese citizens in order to ‘save’ American lives, which was the lame response I always received from every adult I questioned as to why after what we did to Hiroshima did we do it again to Nagasaki?
If THAT DAY, we call 9/11 taught us anything, it should be that America’s nuclear arsenal cannot defeat ‘terrorism’ or provide security from the actions of a few violent mad men who target and murder innocent ones.

American money is imprinted with “IN GOD WE TRUST” but reality is we have become a nation of hypocrites, for by our foreign policy we expose that we live by the sword.

America has a nuclear arsenal of over 10,000 weapons and nearly 2,000 remain on hair-trigger alert ever since the end of the Cold War.

An estimated 150 – 240 tactical nuclear weapons remain based in 5 NATO countries and the United States is the only country with nuclear weapons deployed on foreign soil.

American taxpayers provide over $54 billion annually to maintain WMD’s, which is but a drop in the bucket of the overall U.S. military spending.

Before and during the Cold War the United States conducted over a thousand nuclear tests, developed many long-range weapon delivery systems and still maintains an arsenal of about 5,500 warheads.

Between 1945 and 1990, more than 70,000 total USA made warheads were developed, in over 65 different varieties.

Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. spent at least $5.8 trillion (in 1996 dollars) on nuclear weapons development. In addition to deploying weapons on American soil, during the Cold War the United States also stationed nuclear weapons in 27 foreign countries and territories, including Japan, during the military occupation after WWII.

In 1998 the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Cost Study Project determined:

“The bottom line: $5.5 trillion dollars. If future cleanup, stockpiling and dismantlement is included, that rises to $5.8 trillion. Even with the Cold War over, the United States is spending $35 billion a year—14 percent of the defense budget, or $96 million a day—on nuclear efforts of which about $25 billion goes for operation and maintenance of the nuclear arsenal. The rest is spent on cleanup; arms control verification, and ballistic missile defense research… this ‘exceeded the combined total federal spending on education, training, employment, and social services; agriculture; natural resources and the environment; general science and space research; community and regional development (including disaster relief); law enforcement; and energy production and regulation.”

On January 17, 1961, in his Farewell Address, President Eisenhower also stated:

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government…we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose.

You and I – my fellow citizens – need to be strong in our faith that all nations, under God, will reach the goal of peace with justice. May we be ever unswerving in devotion to principle, confident but humble with power, diligent in pursuit of the Nations’ great goals.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America’s prayerful and continuing aspiration:

We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force ofmutual respect and love. [2]

America’s Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. warned US that: Any nation that year after year continues to raise the Defense budget while cutting social programs to the neediest is a nation approaching spiritual death.

In 1987, the Whistle Blower of Israel’s WMD Program, Mordechai Vanunu, wrote from Ashkelon prison:

No government, not even the most democratic, can force us to live under this threat. No state in the world can offer any kind of security against this menace of a nuclear holocaust, or guarantee to prevent it…A state that lives in fear of destruction must not threaten the whole world with annihilation…Any country, which manufactures and stocks nuclear weapons, is first of all endangering its own citizens. This is why the citizens must confront their government and warn it that it has no right to expose them to this danger. Because, in effect, the citizens are being held hostage by their own government, just as if they have been hijacked and deprived of their freedom and threatened…when governments develop nuclear weapons without the consent of their citizens – and this is true in most cases – they are violating the basic rights of their citizens, the basic right not to live under constant threat of annihilation…Is any government qualified and authorized to produce such weapons?

In 1995, from Ashkelon Prison, Mordechai Vanunu also noted:

A radioactive cloud consumed rubbed out Hiroshima…A live nuclear test sentenced you. A nuclear laboratory…children women trees animals in and under a nuclear mushroom…burning… burned…flattened to ground radioactive ash-Hiroshima…Nuclear weapons gamblers win against you…Hollywood doesn’t know you – you are not a Jewish Holocaust.

In April 1999, thirty-six members of the House of Representatives signed a letter calling for Vanunu’s release from prison because they believed “we have a duty to stand up for men and women like Mordechai Vanunu who dare to articulate a brighter vision for humanity.”

President Clinton responded with a public statement expressing concern for Vanunu and the need for Israel and other non-parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty to adhere to it and accept IAEA safeguards, but ever since the silence from the American Government has been deafening! And Israel returned Vanunu to prison on 23 May 2010, essentially for speaking to foreign media in 2004!

On April 5, 2009, President Obama stood on the world stage in Prague amongst thousands of flag-waving Czechs and spoke of good humor, home town Chicago, the will of the people over tanks and guns, old conflicts, revolution, moral leadership as the most powerful weapon, iron curtains that fell and the state of 21st century nuclear weapons and I excerpt:

We are here today because enough people ignored the voices who told them that the world could not change. We’re here today because of the courage of those who stood up and took risks to say that freedom is a right for all people, no matter what side of a wall they live on, and no matter what they look like. We are here today because the simple and principled pursuit of liberty and opportunity shamed those who relied on the power of tanks and arms to put down the will of a people…

Some argue that the spread of these weapons cannot be stopped, cannot be checked -– that we are destined to live in a world where more nations and more people possess the ultimate tools of destruction. Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable.

As the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral responsibility to act…It will take patience and persistence. But now we, too, must ignore the voices who tell us that the world cannot change. We have to insist, “Yes, we can.

Words must mean something.

There is violence and injustice in our world that must be confronted. We must confront it by standing together as free nations, as free people. I know that a call to arms can stir the souls of men and women more than a call to lay them down. But that is why the voices for peace and progress must be raised together.

Human destiny will be what we make of it…Let us honor our past by reaching for a better future. Let us bridge our divisions, build upon our hopes, and accept our responsibility to leave this world more prosperous and more peaceful than we found it. Together we can do it.

Yes we can do it and all we lack are the eyes to see, ears to hear and the political will to comprehend that all roads lead US to Israel:

1. http://www.iaea.org/About/history_speech.html

2. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/ike.htm

Shimon Peres has no clothes and CNN is exposed

On May 24, 2010, the international press blew the doors wide open regarding President Shimon Peres’ “secret” offer to sell nuclear warheads to the South African Apartheid regime in 1975.

It was reported that PW Botha, South Africa’s defense minister asked Shimon Peres-who was then Israel’s defense minister-for nuclear warheads.

Peres offered them “in three sizes” which are understood as conventional, chemical and nuclear weapons!

The two also signed a broad-ranging agreement governing military ties between the two countries that included a clause declaring that “the very existence of this agreement” was to remain secret.

However, while researching for a book on the close relationship between the two regimes, Sasha Polakow-Suransky an American academic unearthed the evidence that the emperor/empire has no clothes.

In his just published book, The Unspoken Alliance: Israel’s secret alliance with apartheid South Africa Sasha documents that Israeli officials “formally offered to sell South Africa some of the nuclear-capable Jericho missiles in its arsenal.”

No surprise that Peres’ spokesperson responded that the report was baseless and that there were “never any negotiations” between the two countries. However, she did remain mute regarding the authenticity of the documents proving a 31 March 1975 meeting attended by South African military chief of staff, Lieutenant General RF Armstrong, who wrote a “top secret” memo laying out the benefits to South Africa in obtaining the Jericho missiles if they were fitted with nuclear weapons.

On 4 June 1975, Peres and Botha met in Zurich and by then, the Jericho project had been renamed Chalet.

The top-secret minutes of that meeting recorded that:

“Minister Botha expressed interest in a limited number of units of Chalet subject to the correct payload being available…Minister Peres said the correct payload was available in three sizes. Minister Botha expressed his appreciation.” [1]

Botha did not go ahead with the deal because of the cost and the fact that final approval was dependent on Israel’s prime minister.

South Africa did build its own nuclear bombs and also provided much of the yellow-cake uranium that Israel required to develop its nuclear arsenal.

The documents also confirm that former South African naval commander, Dieter Gerhardt admitted there was an agreement between Israel and South Africa called Chalet that involved an offer by the Jewish state to arm eight Jericho missiles with “special warheads” understood as atomic bombs.

“Some weeks before Peres made his offer of nuclear warheads to Botha, the two defence ministers signed a covert agreement governing the military alliance known as Secment. It was so secret that it included a denial of its own existence: ‘It is hereby expressly agreed that the very existence of this agreement… shall be secret and shall not be disclosed by either party.'” [Ibid]

SEE PHOTO of that secret military agreement signed by Shimon Peres and P W Botha of South Africa here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons

CNN Connection:

On May 23, 2010, this reporter sent CNN a NEWS TIP and filed two I-Report’s in response to their limited coverage in “Israeli nuclear whistle-blower back in jail” which can be read here:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/05/23/israel.vanunu.jailed/?hpt=T3

In my I-Report’s I also included this photo, which exposes Vanunu’s sense of humor:

My initial report was accepted, but when I returned an hour later to check on it, I learned it was “NOT AVAILABLE.”

Imagining a technological glitch, I re-posted it and again it was accepted.

But, within five minutes it was again rendered “NOT AVAILABLE.”

See that here:

http://www.ireport.com/people/WAWABLOG?numResults=10&view=documents

I have been censored, deleted, deactivated before and all it ever does is get my Irish up and flaming! I also deal with my anger by writing it out of my system, as I have here:

Eileen Fleming is NOT on Facebook since she was Deactivated:   Read more…

MY CENSORSHIP from the Democratic Underground:

http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.

MY BANNING from the DAILY KOS:

“It Sure Smells Like a Right Wing Zionist Cabal at The Daily Kos “

But I also am a forgiving person and always seek to reconcile, so I did immediately email CNN thru their site asking them WHY did they censor/delete me?

But, as of this writing I have not yet received a reply and am not holding my breathe for one.

However, the good news is that CNN’s censorship was not swift enough; and the few moments my work appeared on their site was enough to generate this Google Web Alert for: “Vanunu Mordechai”

May 22, 2010 email from and “Something Else” about Mordechai …
From : Vanunu Mordechai J C. To: [me] Date: Sat, May 22, 2010 at 5:10 AM
Subject : SHAME ON YOU SHAME ON YOU. ISRAEL VERY STUPID SPIES.
<http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-447839>
However, that link is a dead end that states: “This content is currently unavailable.”

A Google search of that link claims:

May 22, 2010 … http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml? … iReport welcomes a lively discussion…www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-447839

The lively discussion follows here:

Within days of the announcement of a record 205 nominations for 2009’s Nobel Peace Prize, [one of several prizes endowed by Swedish industrialist and dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel] perpetual nominee Mordechai Vanunu began to decline the honor in a letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Oslo:

“I am asking the committee to remove my name from the nominations…I cannot be part of a list of laureates that includes Simon Peres…Peres established and developed the atomic weapon program in Dimona in Israel…Peres was the man who ordered [my] kidnapping…he continues to oppose my freedom and release…WHAT I WANT IS FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM….FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM I NEED NOW.”

In 1963, when Vanunu was nine years old the Zionists came to his home town of Marrakech, Morocco and convinced his Orthodox father to abandon his general store and pack up the first seven of his eleven children for the land of milk and honey. Instead, the Vanunu’s were banished to the desert of Beesheva, an ethnically cleansed Palestinian village.

A few months later, Shimon Peres, then Israel’s Deputy Minister of Defense met with President John Kennedy, inside the White House.

Kennedy told Peres, “You know that we follow very closely the discovery of any nuclear development in the region. This could create a very dangerous situation. For this reason we monitor your nuclear effort. What could you tell me about this?”

Peres replied, “I can tell you most clearly that we will not introduce nuclear weapons to the region, and certainly we will not be the first.”

By September of 1986, Peres was convulsing over Vanunu, who had been employed as a lowly tech in his progeny; Israel’s clandestine underground nuclear weapons centre in the Negev called the Dimona.

Peres ordered the Mossad, to “Bring the son of a bitch back here.”

Peres ordered Vanunu’s kidnapping that included a clubbing, drugging and being flung upon an Israeli cargo boat back to Israel for a closed-door trial, 18 years in jail, six years under 24/7 surveillance and another three months behind bars that began 23 May 2010.

In 1985, before quitting the Dimona, Vanunu shot 56 photos of the top-secret labs and production processes that proved Israel had become a major nuclear power by stockpiling between 100 and 200 atomic bombs within the seven underground levels where plutonium production, and secret nuclear weapons were assembled without any knowledge, debate or authorization from its own citizens. Israel has yet to allow International Inspectors into the aged Dimona plant, which is leaking and endangering the health of its own citizens.

In April 2005, two months before my first of seven trips to Israel Palestine, I turned the TV on- it had last been tuned into the History channel. At that moment, they were broadcasting a show called, “Sexpionage” all about Russian female spies and one from the Mossad.

The very first clip that ran before my eyes was of Vanunu being transported to his closed-door trial. It was the few famous seconds of Vanunu’s inspired move to write upon his palm: “HIJACKED” and the Rome flight number he had been on.

That clip was followed by one of Shimon Perez in 1986, resurrecting the spirit of Machiavelli as he mendaciously claimed that Israel would never be the first in the Mid East to possess nuclear weapons.

As we live Orwell’s nightmare, Peres was the one awarded for playing a part in achieving the Oslo Declaration of Principles.

According to the preamble of the DOP, this peace was supposed to be based on mutual respect and reconciliation.

Ever since receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in achieving the Oslo agreement, Peres has been most instrumental in helping to destroy the agreement.

Alfred Nobel’s intention was to reward people with a moral backbone. Nobel had hoped to create icons and examples to humankind. Annually since 1986, Vanunu has been nominated for The Nobel Peace Prize. When Bishop Tutu nominated him in 2007, Vanunu told me that he didn’t want the award if Israel refused him the liberty and freedom to go and accept it.

In April 1999, thirty-six members of the House of Representatives signed a letter calling for Vanunu’s release from prison because they believed “we have a duty to stand up for men and women like Mordechai Vanunu who dare to articulate a brighter vision for humanity.”

President Clinton responded with a public statement expressing concern for Vanunu and the need for Israel and other non-parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty to adhere to it and accept IAEA safeguards, but ever since the silence has been deafening.

However, the times are always a’ changing, and with the revelations of Sasha Polakow-Suransky, another left to the liver of Peres has been dealt as well as exposing his connection to Niccolo Machiavelli.

Machiavelli offered the Renaissance monarchy advice designed to keep power with policies that discouraged mass political activism.  Machiavelli held that political life cannot be governed by a single set of moral ethics or religious absolutes.

Machiavelli offered the monarchy excuses and rationales to enable them to sleep at night after ordering calculated acts of deception, lies, cover-ups, and ethically indefensible acts of violence upon innocent lives.

To call a politician “Machiavellian” is to say that politician excels in the politics of manipulation and deception and is driven by lust for power and Peres just might be a 21^st century personification of that side of Niccola.

But Machiavelli had another side, which has been ignored, such as his concern with “republics” [states] controlled by a politically active citizenry. In his “Discourses” he emphasized that for a republic to survive, it needed to foster a spirit of patriotism and civic virtue among its citizens.

Machiavelli argued that a republic would be strengthened by the conflicts generated through open political participation and debate.

This lesson Peres-and CNN-have yet to learn, but not due to the efforts of Mordechai Vanunu and this citizen journalists-UNPAID reporter!

When Vanunu exposed Israel’s nuclear arsenal in photographs taken in 1985, he wanted to open up the dialogue on nuclear weapons as well as opening the Dimona up to international inspections.

As of this writing, Vanunu is back in jail and the Dimona remains uninspected.

This citizen journalist has tried ever since 2005 to get THE MEDIA to report on Vanunu’s ongoing misery, but Big Boy Media has ignored her!

As of this writing [at 2:30 PM EST, 24 May 2010] CNN’s Latest NEWS include

• Court rules against NFL over licensing
• Facebook: Mistakes made CNNMoney
• Gotcha video shows Fergie accepting $$
• How tabloid pulled off Fergie sting Time
• Hillary Clinton warns North Korea
• Random drug tests ordered for Lohan
• Ticker: Another S.C. sex scandal?
• Paula Abdul to judge dance show
• FDA eyes libido booster for women
• More moms opt for phone sex jobs

But NOT a word about what we the people really need to know about what really matters.

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/23/israel-south-africa-nuclear-weapons

Verispeak: The Truth Tellers

“Dannie Tillman [Pat Tillman’s mother, Mary] did what a nation full of high-paid, overblown journalists should have done. She went after the real story while the beautiful people on TV and the nerds with notepads broadcast and wrote morality plays. She got in the military’s face, in the government’s face. She didn’t let up. She was doing journalism while journalists were doing what we mostly do now — chase Web hits and take short cuts to higher profits.”  Bill Dwyre , L.A. Times

Da Capo press sent me a copy of Matt Gallagher’s new book “Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War.”

I have come to hate war and most of the stories that accompany it; but along with providing an interesting description of the daily routine of his ”Gravediggers” platoon Gallagher shows himself to be a talented leader as well as an extraordinarily gifted writer.  With names like, PFC Das Boot, Sergeant Boon Dock, Captain Frowny-Face, the Haitian Sensation, and Mohammed the Ghost, Gallagher blends humor and great literary skill into the daily fear and tedium of serving with the army of occupation in Iraq.

The title of the book is distracting because it brings up recollections of Billy Mays bombastic promotion of Kaboom shower cleaner.  The association is unfortunate but Gallagher redeems the title with an attention holding narrative.

He divides army officers into “three categories: company grade officers (lieutenants and captains), field-grade officers (majors, lieutenant colonels, and colonels), and general officers (the top dogs with stars on their collars)”.

Of the field-grade officers Gallagher wrote “they were seemingly everywhere in Iraq, intent on riding the bureaucratic beast in all its protectionist glory….inept careerists were as much a part of the military fabric as the camouflage pattern and liquid eggs for breakfast…”

It was Gallagher’s first and only deployment.  His empathy for children and families remained in tact.  At every corner “children waved giddily, hoping for chocolate; the women dressed head to toe in black robes stared rigidly at the ground; the old men nodded with hard, empty eyes; and the young men stared back at us callously.”

Lt. G described himself as a talented leader who developed a reciprocal affection with his soldiers.   He found military service fulfilling; “Honestly, if I could have remained a scout platoon leader for twenty years, I would have stayed in and become a careerist.”  He wrote that his reasons for leaving the military were two fold:  One, he had other “goals and dreams”; and two, if he stayed he would “inevitably have to order men into combat and not go myself”.

On a personal level he was never insubordinate but his internet Blog was popular with the troops and when it got picked up by the domestic media his striking description of “staff-stupid” caused his superior officers to demand its removal.

Matt Gallagher is young and without an apparent effective exterior ethical compass.  Kaboom does not question the moral implications of the War.  There is a discussion on the effect it will have on the coming generation of Iraqi children (they will hate the United States) and it clearly describes the unhealthy lust for money (legitimate or otherwise) developed by our occupation policies.  Though he recalls his oath to defend the Constitution Gallagher describes himself as, “More of a passive rebel than an active radical…”

He has an intrinsic attraction to pleasing word combinations and rhythms, an affinity that provides a foundation to a chronic compulsion writers have to construct a clear description or convey a cherished opinion by creating an array of word lilt that sometimes marches like an army.  We will hear more from him.

There are individuals in diverse fields of endeavor who speak against the misconceptions, deceptions, lies, and distortions that are all too common in our time. Lawrence Vance and Chuck Baldwin keep the Christian pot boiling; Butler Shaffer and Tom DeLorenzo are active in academia; and David Duke and Kevin MacDonald keep rattling the Zionist chains.  Though their numbers are comparatively small, there are many more.   Alexander Solzhenitsyn, now gone,  was always one of my heroes.

Palestinian supporters like Howard Zinn, Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, Chris Hedges, and Robert Fisk were dismissed in Conservative Right Wing circles as being radically leftist.  It took several years for me to appreciate their contributions. These are not men who enjoy favorable coverage in the press and media.  Once in a while they can be seen and heard on C-Span but their opinions are not popular with mainstream news sources and none of them are household names.  Howard Zinn passed away early this year (2010).

Chomsky, Finkelstein, and (before his death) Zinn are Jewish intellectuals who have exposed the distorted assertions of Zionists to the detriment of their careers and friendships.  In his doctoral thesis at Princeton, Finkelstein derided the claims of Joan Peter’s book “From Time Immemorial”.   Chomsky said,  “I warned him, if you follow this, you’re going to get in trouble—because you’re going to expose the American intellectual community as a gang of frauds, and they are not going to like it, and they’re going to destroy you.”  Princeton granted Finkelstein his doctorate but shunned him thereafter.  Attorney and Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, famous advocate of torture,  derided Finkelsteirn and in 2007 he was denied tenure at Depaul University.

In an article lauding Noam Chomsky Chris Hedges quotes Norman Finkelstein,  “There are two sets of principles. They are the principles of power and privilege and the principles of truth and justice. If you pursue truth and justice it will always mean a diminution of power and privilege. If you pursue power and privilege it will always be at the expense of truth and justice.”  Hedges says of Chomsky, he “… has for decades deflated and exposed the lies of the power elite and the myths they perpetrate.  Chomsky has done this despite being blacklisted by the commercial media, turned into a pariah by the academy and, by his own admission, being a pedantic and at times slightly boring speaker. He combines moral autonomy with rigorous scholarship, a remarkable grasp of detail and a searing intellect. He curtly dismisses our two-party system as a mirage orchestrated by the corporate state, excoriates the liberal intelligentsia for being fops and courtiers and describes the drivel of the commercial media as a form of ‘brainwashing.’ And as our nation’s most prescient critic of unregulated capitalism, globalization and the poison of empire, he enters his 81st year warning us that we have little time left to save our anemic democracy.”  Read the entire article here.

The pursuit of power and privilege (P&P) might be considered a secular quest while truth and justice (T&J) are undeniably religious.  Since the definitions of T&J can be as diverse as the individuals involved a workable definition must depend on an immutable exterior source.

It was the quest for P&P that Gallagher found so offensive in field grade officers.  He may not yet have determined that it comes at the expense of T&J but that will come. Gallagher is a potential truth teller.  Truth tellers challenge the lies that accompany the universal human quest for P&P.  Chomsky, Finkelstein, Hedges, and Fisk are truth tellers.  The Old Testament prophets were truth tellers.  Jesus was a truth teller.  God seems to endow a tiny minority with the desire to shine the bright light of truth on the dark mendacity that pervades the world.  This quest is similar in both Christians and humanists; both are willing to sacrifice P&P, endure derision and expose themselves to possible persecution.  Both exhibit an ability to ferret out and expose the nefarious plans of the powerful and privileged.

The Old Testament portrays two kinds of prophets; Prophets of the One True God and the prophets of Baal.   Truth tellers are not Prophets.  Old Testament Prophets were selected as God’s officers to proclaim His truth as He relayed it to them.  The office is no longer active but the function prevails and should be cherished.

Noam Chomsky and I are about the same age.  We have little else in common but his rendition of the secular ills that plague our country is similar to mine.   According to one writer Chomsky is an Anarchist who is disdainful of all government.  Though his roots were Marxist he is reported to have become disenchanted with Marxism and is now seeking a non-specific utopian government that can “prove its legitimacy”.  He provides no solution to the evils he exposes instead he claims to want everyone to be free.   He might cringe at his name being printed in the same paragraph with the name of The Savior.

Chomsky and Finkelstein speak truth from a personal humanistic platform; they do not claim divine inspiration.  They speak truth knowing their utterances will bring vitriol from the current centers of power.  As with all truth tellers their objective is to realign the center of power.  The common humanistic premise is that people are basically good and Anarchists believe that left to their own devices they can savor unlimited freedom.

The human inclination is to seek P&P and those who pursue that goal must learn to modify truth so that it will be acceptable to the centers of power.  The prophets of Baal predicted success for the king’s plans.  Like the prophets of Baal United States Army Generals commanding troops in the Middle East predict victory and carry out the plans of the government with the same fidelity Hitler’s generals exhibited during WWII.  The legitimacy of the war is not questioned.  They are willing to fight and kill in an evil conquest in order to preserve their position of P&P.

The decline of truth and justice is directly proportional to the deterioration of society.

Today we have several kinds of truth tellers.  Men like Chomsky and Finkelstein speak truth to power even when the cost is high.  Men like General David Petraeus speak truth distorted to conform to the results expected by their superiors; they resemble the prophets of Baal.  Servants of the Most High God are expected to be truth tellers who seek His righteous hegemony over His creation.

United States is home to seekers of P&P.  Competition involves winners and losers and though losers outnumber winners everyone wants to be a winner.  We live in a competitive society.  Higher learning is deemed a stepping stone to higher wages and higher wages produce P&P.  We are urged to work hard and never give up; the universal objective is P&P.  Those that seek empire and world government work for ultimate P&P.   Remember P&P is gained at the expense of T&J.

The Christian Church is not immune.  Church growth is the primary objective of most Christian leaders.  Size gages success in ministry.  Mega-churches bring in huge amounts of money and their leaders enjoy commensurate influence; P&P is pandemic!   Everyone knows the names James Dobson, Pat Robertson, James Kennedy, Jerry Falwell, and Joel Osteen.

Church members emulate their leaders and competition within the church is fierce.  Churches have large numbers of laypeople who seek the P&P of leadership.  Servants and followers are scarce.

There is no better confirmation of Finkelstein’s premise that P&P come at the cost of T&J than the Christian Church.

Exposing the evils of P&P with a goal of replacing it with another humanistic regime will only create another framework for the same goal.  Humanistic seekers of truth and justice work toward a political solution which is usually collectivist and tyrannical.  We can admire the temerity of Chomsky and Finkelstein but if they are not aware of their inability to properly govern themselves without the immutable ordnances of their Creator, their solution will fail to correct the problem they so valiantly expose.

We were created to be servants of the Most High God.  The vocation of every Christian should be to return power to the Creator by obeying His Law and urging others to do likewise.  It was the Devil’s promise of P&P that caused Adam and Eve to disobey God.

Our situation has not much changed from Biblical times.  Elisha thought he was alone but God claimed 7000 (still a small quantity) had not bowed their knee to Baal.  Jesus confronted the established Pharisaical church of His day and Truth fell on the floor to be trampled and hung on a Cross by the arrogance of P&P.  Truth arose in triumph and His Glory has since been the treasure of the world.  He was obedient to His Father; the Pharisees were not.  Today, most Christians have fastened their attention on the Pharisees and allowed the evil one to obtain dominion.

The quest for P&P is an American illness.  Every generation wants to be better off than the last.  Businessmen want to rise to positions of P&P; athletes want the same; church leaders are no different; politicians are at the forefront; even little children fight for a superior position.  T&J has fled and each day brings greater chaos and barbarity.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added onto you”.  Church growth is God’s responsibility; Christian leaders are to seek first the kingdom of God. Our Triune God is King!  King Jesus!  The platform of God’s Kingdom is His Law.

The pervasive seeking for P&P is destroying our nation.  Seekers of P&P, even when converted to Christ, are religiously humanistic.  One cannot be a servant while seeking P&P.  Everyone must come to understand (Christians first, then everyone) that the only path to peace and freedom is to seek first the kingdom of God by obeying His Commandments.  All human solutions will end in despotism.

In God’s kingdom all of His created beings are servants.  The best servants should be the leaders.  God’s kingdom is governed by God’s Law and obedient servants receive the greatest blessings.  There is no striving in God’s kingdom; only obedience.  P&P belong to God.  When men strive for P&P they strive against God.

Postscript:  Mary “Dannie” Tillman’s book “Boots on the Ground” is a literary failure but a truth telling paragon.  Kaboom is a literary success with limited truth.  Boots on the Ground costs a dollar at the Dollar Store while Kaboom should be a literary success!

Interview with Carlos Latuff: I don’t trade ideology for money

The hero of “freedom of speech”, boycotted by the corporate, mainstream media that are irresistible against the astringent truth: this is the most precise and accurate introduction which I can present about . Born in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he is an artist of conscience whose artistic commitment and morality prevented him from becoming the pawn of imperialism. Carlos Latuff is a world-renowned cartoonist who has long brought into existence artistic works and cartoons in which the footsteps of creativity, novelty, intelligence and decency can be traced noticeably. He has never been given the opportunity to showcase his matchless cartoons in the New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, BBC or CNN; however, the narrow hallways of personal blogs and independent media outlets which allowed his cartoons to breathe in the atmosphere of publicity, made him a man of genuineness and reality, known by those who seek something beyond the outdated, obsolete propaganda of “all options are on the table”.

Carlos Latuff has drawn numerous cartoons which depict the pains of oppressed nations around the world; from the Palestinians being suffocated under the Israeli occupation to the Iranians receiving the spates of psychological operation co-manufactured by the White House and Tel Aviv.

Here is the complete text of my interview with Carlos Latuff, conducted for Iran’s best-selling newspaper Jame-Jam, where we elaborately discussed his intellectual mission and the prospect of his artistic trajectory.

Kourosh Ziabari: Dear Carlos; it seems that you’ve dedicated your entire mission to independent, freelance journalism and one can clearly figure out that you are not usually paid in lieu of what you draw for the magazines, newspapers and websites since a complete set of your cartoons and caricatures are available on your website for free. Do you accede to draw cartoons which are contrary to your ideological mindset should you be offered remarkable, irresistible payments?

Carlos Latuff: No way! I will only make artworks according my own beliefs. I don’t trade ideology for money. I work for trade union (workers) press since 1990, that’s what I make for a living. Mainstream media would never pay me for making anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist artworks. But I have what I call “artistic activism”, producing cartoons and making them available on the Web for free of charge reproduction; cartoons with a different point of view from the Western mainstream media; cartoons exposing what Michael Moore would call “the awful truth”. I already refused payments for my drawings about Palestine. Solidarity can’t be measured by dollars.

KZ: You’ve received serious death threats from the Zionist circles and Israeli groups a number of times. Would you please explain for us a little about the details of these threats and the consequential events that followed them? Have you ever thought of putting aside your professional and artistic mission in order to preserve your safe, tranquil life?

CL: In 2006 a website associated to Likud (Likudnik) published a long article about me, my art, my support to Palestinians and labeled me as an agent at the service of a supposed “Iranian propaganda machine”, comparing me with Nazi propagandists. The author of the article argued why Israel didn’t take care of me before and urged readers to take steps against me. Let me be straight, I really don’t care about threats. Along the Palestinian cause I also support human rights organizations against police brutality in Brazil. This kind of activism alone could put me in high risk of life. But, as I said, I don’t care; I will continue with my artistic support, ’cause if Zionists worldwide are pissed off about my cartoons, it’s because I’m doing something right. Death can stop me yes, but not my cartoons. That’s why I make them run free around the world through Internet.

KZ: You belong to a prosperous country which is the 8th economic power of the world and the 10th trade partner of the United States. Brazil also maintains normal ties with Israel and this is something which many anti-war and anti-imperialism activists dislike. Coming from such a country, you profoundly grasped the essence of oppressed nations’ suffering and sympathized with them wholeheartedly. How did you rise from Brazil and came to assist the oppressed nations?

CL: I grown up in the suburbs of Rio and my parents worked hard to give me study and a humble but decent life. Being the 8th economic power makes no difference to the ordinary people in Brazil. We have poverty, corruption, criminal and police violence, influent and strong landowners in countryside, people dying of dengue fever and malaria, and a mainstream media which is always trying to convince public opinion that everything is ok with capitalism. As someone living in a Third World country I can’t turn a blind eye to this situation here and in other parts of the world. Last year I was in Palestinian refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon, places very similar to Brazilian slums (favelas). It wasn’t hard to realize that the language of poverty is universal, as universal must be the solidarity with people in need.

KZ: You’ve for years cooperated with a number of media outlets in the Western countries and can precisely estimate the veracity of the slogan of “freedom of expression” in the countries who introduce themselves as the harbingers of liberty and tolerance. I clearly remember the spates of verbal and political attacks on the artists who had participated in Iran’s International Holocaust Cartoon Competition. Even the then United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan had condemned the contest and this could simply demonstrate the lopsidedness of “freedom” which they claim to be the pioneers thereof. What’s your idea about that? Are the western media outlets really free?

CL: Still today I’ve been accused of denying Holocaust because of that artwork for which I won the second place in the Iranian cartoon contest. It’s funny since the cartoon shows a Palestinian elderly wearing a concentration camp uniform, which not only affirms the existence of the Nazi Holocaust as well as making a comparison between it and the suffering of the Palestinians. I believe that this contest had exposed the Western’s double standard. When you ridicule and attack Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), Islam or Muslims, then this is called “satire”, “humor”, “freedom of speech”, whatever. Joking about Islam is pretty acceptable. Islamophobia is popular in the US and Europe, specially after September 11. However the same freedom you have for making cartoons about Islam and its Prophet you won’t have while dealing with Holocaust and Israel. If you dare draw Israeli soldiers killing Palestinians (isn’t a fact?), you will be automatically labeled as anti-Semitic. While Muhammad cartoons were wide spread in Europe, Holocaust cartoons weren’t not reproduced in any European newspaper.

KZ: Your stance towards Iran’s nuclear program (Iran intends to meet its energy, electricity needs through nuclear reactors) and Israel’s nuclear program (Israel possess up to 200 nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists) is delicately accurate and specific, indicating your extensive acquaintance with the regional equations and developments. Iran is being lethally pressured to halt its civilian nuclear program and Israel has been unconditionally safeguarded by Washington to keep up with its military atomic program. What’s your take on this?

CL: In fact all this turmoil about Iranian nuclear program has more to do with the fear of US, Europe and Israel of having a country in Middle East with nuclear capability. It will change the geopolitics in the region, since no Arab country was ever allowed by US of having anything nuclear. Only Israel can have not only nuclear plants but also nukes, immune to inspections and international law. If Iran will develop nuclear capabilities for civilian or military use, it doesn’t matter. The point is, if US, Europe and Israel are so concerned about threats to peace, why don’t they start proposing sanctions against Pakistan and India, since both countries have a nuclear arms race since long time? Because both countries are allies of Washington? Why not a single word about the Israeli nuclear program? Why Mordecai Vanunu is prevented to speak about it?

KZ: Most of your critics accuse you of arising anti-Semitic sentiments by drawing cartoons which condemn the State of Israel and its leaders for the atrocities and felonies they commit. Is this the case that you’re opposed to Jews as the followers of a divine religion, or do you simply go up against the expansionist Zionists who commit crimes against humanity and massacre the defenseless people of Palestine?

CL: I’m not a religious man, and none of my cartoons deal with Judaism. You won’t find any of my artworks attacking the Jewish. My issue with Israel and their supporters is only about politics, imperialism. Even not being Muslim, I do support Muslims against Islamophobia, since I can’t agree with prejudice against religion. Of course anything that may be slightly perceived as criticism towards Israel will be associated with hatred towards Jews. This old trick is applied to anyone who dares speak against Israeli apartheid. But everyday more activists understand this misuse of anti-Semitism and keep the struggle regardless of the false allegations and smear campaigns from Zionists.

KZ: Have the global mainstream media outlets (the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Los Angeles Times, BBC, Reuters, Associated Press and so forth) which universally rule the public opinions ever published your cartoons? Why don’t such media outlets which assert to be the pioneers of freedom of expression accept allowing the publication of disparate viewpoints which are contrary to their focal approach?

CL: Reuters made a video interview with me last year about my art and views. I had some of my cartoons shown on Al Jazeera and George Galloway show at Press TV, but this is an exception. Usually only Arab media outlets are interested in my opinions. Western mainstream media isn’t interested in giving space to a Leftist artist who supports people’s struggle in Palestine, Iraq and elsewhere. But in a way or another, I find a place to make my opinions visible. Internet is my best ally. You see, even not being a famous artist promoted by mainstream media, you and your newspaper know about me and my cartoons. Internet has broken the obstacles imposed by corporate media. And I won’t make concessions for mere 15 minutes of fame; will keep fidelity with my principles.

KZ: The subjugated people of Palestine and other countries which have been subject to the brutality of imperialism throughout the history will be encouraged and hopeful when they find conscientious artists like you sympathizing with them. Have you ever felt the courage and valor you present to the people of Palestine with your artistic endeavors?

CL: I’m very suspicious for talking about the Palestinians. I have never seen such a brave and courageous people like them. I started making cartoons about Palestinians since my trip to West Bank in 1999 and since then my sympathy for their cause only grow up. After my recent visit to Jordan and Lebanon, invited by Al Hannouneh Society for Popular Culture, I realized that my relation with Palestinians is not only political. I have pure love for that people.

KZ: Please tell us about your latest activities. How was the experience of winning a prize in the Iran-based International Holocaust Cartoon Competition? Do you like to come to Iran once again and touch the pains and difficulties of the Iranian people in person?

CL: Usually I don’t participate in contests, since I’m not interested in the prizes and stuff. The purpose of my art is supporting social movements, rather than feeding my own ego. But I saw the Holocaust cartoon competition as a timely opportunity for making visual comment about Palestinian suffering. In that occasion, I was invited by my good friend Massoud Tabatabai to attend the prize award ceremony in Teheran but unfortunately I wasn’t able to travel. But of course if I had another chance, I would be more than glad to visit Iran.

Supressing Evidence, David Miliband and UK Complicity in Torture

By Sarah Gillespie

Last Saturday I went to see Polly Nash and Andy Worthington’s harrowing documentary ‘Outside the Law, Tales from Guantánamo’ at London’s BFI.

The film knits together narratives so heart-wrenching I half wish I had not heard them. Yet the camaraderie between the detainees and occasional humorous anecdotes, such as Binyam Mohammed’s false confession that he tried to induce nuclear fission on April 1^st, provide a glimpse into the wit, courage and normalcy of the men we are encouraged to perceive as monsters.

Nash and Worthington’s film also explores the legal and pragmatic implications of our transatlantic freefall into ethical bankruptcy. It asks how we might navigate our way out of a situation that doesn’t legally exist. The answer is: with great difficulty. With lawyers like Clive Stafford-Smith working tirelessly to defend people who have not been accused of a crime and have no evidence against them to refute, the courtroom has become the domain in which we watch the dream of European multiculturalism imploding. Here we see UK Muslims struggle to exert Enlightenment-based Common Law against a so-called civilized, liberal government who would apparently prefer the Magna Carta had never been written. (1)

Two weeks ago the Foreign Secretary David Miliband lost his long legal battle to suppress a section (known as paragraph 168) from a court decree revealing that MI5 officers were involved in the torture of ex terror suspect and British resident, Binyam Mohamed. Up until now the testimonies of released British Residents Omar Deghayes, Mozzam Begg and Binyam Mohamed have not been fully absorbed by the British public. This is despite the fact Omar Deghayes entered Cuba with two eyes but came home with one. Many news consumers prefer to maintain that detainee accounts of asphyxiation, physical torment, sexual and religious abuse, were either deserved, fabricated or necessary. Others can not contemplate that a nation proudly branding itself on civil liberties, tolerance and ‘fair play’ could willfully throw us back into the medieval barbarism of the Norman Conquests. Yet, as Miliband’s credibility crumbles in the light of his failed cover-up, so the plausibility of Binyam Mohammed’s testimony gains ground. The tide is changing.

Recently Court of Appeal also stated that it withstood ‘unprecedented bullying’ from the Foreign and Home Secretary to withdraw 168 from its ruling. However, Miliband’s plee was overturned by independent judges and we now know the report stated that British treatment of Binyam Mohammed was “at the very least cruel, inhuman, and degrading”. David Miliband dismissed the testimony of this particular British resident, whose torments included having razzor blades applied to his penis, as ‘ludicrous lies.’

The independent judge apparently dissagrees with our delightful foreign secretary. He warns that the integrity our government is now under serious dispute and suggests that Miliband has an undisclosed agenda.

“Not only is there an obvious reason for distrusting any UK Government assurance, based on SyS (secret services)  advice and information, because of previous “form”, but the Foreign Office and the SyS have an interest in the suppression of such information.”

Shaker Aamer, the Witness from Battersea.

Perhaps the most disturbing and crucial aspect of ‘Tales from Guantánamo’ is that it spotlights the continuing illegal incarceration of South Londoner, Shaker Aamer. All British residents have been discharged from Guantánamo. Yet despite being officially cleared for release in 2008, Aamer remains impounded in a 6 foot by 8 foot cell, tortured, humiliated and, according to reports, force fed through a pipe routed to his stomach via his nose. At 8 stone, he has lost over half his body weight. His wife, the mother of their 4 children continues to live in London where she has been treated for a succession of nervous break downs since her husband was seized.

There is no justification offered as to why this Aamer has been singled out. No evidence has transpired to counter his claim that he was in Afganstan in 2002 to help construct schools as part of his religious duty of zakat. It is believed that Aamer’s conspicuous eloquence, linguistic talents and charisma identified him within the gates of Guantánamo, as a exceptional case. He orchestrated collective hunger strikes, translated fluetnly between Arabic and English and inspired his fellow inmates to demand their rights. He was treated by detainees as a holy man, a leader. He was punished accordingly.

Speculation surrounding Aamer’s continued detention pivots on the numerous ‘suicides’ he is alleged to have seen, the severity of the torture he has endured and his claims that it was, in part, executed on the behest of British agents. It is widely believed that should Binyam Mohammed’s case progress, Shaker Aamer would be a leading witness against British authorities, cementing evidence that could transfer the label of ‘criminal’ from the defendant to the accuser: namely Whitehall. Back in November last year the Independent’s law editor Robert Verkaik predicted Aamer’s release would be detrimental to the reputation of the UK government.

“The case is potentially more damaging to Britain than that of former Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed because British agents are accused of being present during Mr Aamer’s alleged torture. In one allegation an MI5 agent is said to have been present when Mr Aamer’s US interrogators banged his head against a wall.”

As calls for a full judicial inquiery gather pace, we may well ask why on earth Miliband persists in attempting to thwart evidence in this degrading farce we call Justice. His CV so far for defending the interests of Britain abroad, is not great. Since he took the job he gave Britain’s blessing to Israel’s masacre in Operation Cast Lead (2), he maintained Britain abstain from voting agaisnt the Goldstone Report, he intervened in Polish domestic politics slandering a popular MEP as an ‘anti-Semite’ and he has stood limply in the wings giving lip servace to the Mossad’s use of British passports in their assaination last month. Worringly, it seems the concerns of British soveriengty do not feature high on Miliband’s list of priorities. If they did we could expect that, instead of pushing for a re-write of the law to enable war criminal Tzipi Livni tio visit the UK without charge,  Miliband might consider adhering to the law that has protected our rights for the last 800 years – and allow Shaker Aamer to come home.

(1) Magna Carta Libertatum (the Great Charter of Freadoms) is and English legal charter, orrigionally issued in 1215. Among other things it explicity supported what became the writ of habious corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.

(2) Less than a month before Israel launched its assult on Gaza Miliband visited the Israeli town of Sderot. He said “Israel should, above all, seek to protect its own citizens. It’s very important that counties like mine and others show solidarity with the people of Sderot…. Israeli people need to know that the British people know of Sderot, and we know of the tragedy they are facing, and we stand with them.”

To write to David Miliband requesting the safe return of  Shaker Aamer click here.

To find out where you can see ‘Outside the Law, Tales from Guantánamo’ click here.

Presidential Seed

Cultivated In Chicago Soil…

“It is today the custom, one having the force of law and natural truth, to see the state as sovereign and hence the source of law, as the interpreter of the meaning of law through its courts, and as the enforcer of the law. The state thus replaces both God and the church.” ~ Dr. R. J. Rushdoony, “Sovereignty” Pg. 181

Rod Blagojevich, (Mr. B) the now disgraced and indicted former governor of Illinois, is a talented politician whose close associates in Chicago thought he was on the way to becoming a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. Instead he is facing trial and a probable jail sentence while another talented Illinois politician, an associate, Barak Obama, is sitting in the Oval Office. President Obama has strenuously denied any close relationship with Mr. B but both worked in the same Chicago milieu with some of the same advisors.

Chicago politics has an interesting cast of newsworthy characters. Barak Obama, President of the United States, former Senator; Rahm Emanuel, former congressman, Obama Chief of Staff; Mr. B, former Governor; Richard M. Daly, current Mayor, son of former mayor, Richard J. Daly; Dr. Jeremiah Wright, pastor; Roland Burris, Senator (replaced Obama); Jesse Jackson, Jr. Congressman; and Bill Ayers, former revolutionary, now erudite, scholarly professor. With the exception of Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers these men have all been simultaneously active in Illinois politics. They knew each other and their paths crossed at various intervals. ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper writes, “According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s 2002 gubernatorial victory.”

Elizabeth Brackett in an interview about her book “Pay to Play” acknowledged Mr. B’s enormous political talent 9HhNer1UY50 but seemed astonished at his cantankerous demeanor and almost insane, adversarial behavior. According to Brackett Mr. B distanced himself from his politically powerful father-in-law and mentor, Dick Mell, because he thought Mell was not sophisticated enough to be involved in his race for the presidency. Mell let slip to the press that Mr. B was “selling” political appointments in order to amass funds for his presidential run. This sparked an investigation, a criminal indictment, and a lengthy estrangement. At his indictment Mr. B found many enemies, few friends.

Political consultant David Axelrod is now one of Obama’s top advisors. A former political reporter for the Chicago Tribune, he worked with Obama on his successful Senatorial campaign as well as his run for the Presidency. He is a close friend to Rahm Emanuel. Both have deep Jewish roots. Emanuel is an aggressive Triathlon competitor, while Axelrod is noted for his ability to defuse tension with humor. Both have become wealthy in politics. Read about Emanuel’s wealth here.

Before the 2008 election there were rumors Obama might be indicted along with Mr. B. Here and here. Obama’s association with Alexi Giannoulias, whose family owns the Broadway Bank, put him in a circle that included men like Michael “Jaw” Giorango, a Mafia character who is also close to the Giannoulias bankers. Obama’s friend since l990, Tony Rezko, born into a Catholic family in Syria, is a Chicago businessman and a friend and fundraiser for politicians. Rezko contributed money to Obama’s campaigns, was on his senate campaign finance committee, and in 2003 held a fund raiser for him at his lavish Wilmette mansion. Shortly after his election to the Senate Obama and Rezko’s wife, Rita, simultaneously purchased adjacent real estate. Rita sold Obama a parcel of her land so he could have a bigger lawn for his 1.65 million dollar mansion. Obama’s cost for the mansion was a third of a million dollars less than the asking price. Rezko was also a client of Broadway Bank.

Character is not a requirement for high political office. Deft, convincing public articulation capable of swaying opinion is far more important than the import of the message. Mr. B and Obama are both convincing speakers.

In 2008 Rezko was convicted on several counts of fraud and bribery. He had contributed over 1.5 million dollars to Mr. B’s coffers, much of it from illegal bribes and shakedowns. When Rezko was jailed, $3.5 million arrived from a source in Lebanon. The source was traced to Nadhmi Auchi, a former Iraqi now living in England, who was listed by Forbes as the 279th richest Billionaire.

Expedience makes friendship with politicians dangerous. Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a longtime spiritual mentor and friend of President Obama recently complained that “Them Jews ain’t going to let him talk to me.” Obama has distanced himself from Wright and Bill Ayers http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/901879,CST-NWS-sweet18.article who were both friends in the past. Ayers and Obama had a mutual friend in former Arafat aide Rashid Khalidi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashid_Khalidi . Like Ayers, Khalidi is an intellectual. He has insider credentials from Yale and Oxford and before departing the Chicago scene taught at Rockefeller rooted University of Chicago. Now at Columbia he is professor of Modern Arab Studies. When Khalidi left Chicago Ayers and Obama hosted a farewell party where me said his talks with the Khalidis had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases. . . . It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table,” but around “this entire world.” Additional information here.

Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn were recently subjects of a three hour in-depth interview on C-Span. Ayers is a professor in the College of Education at the Chicago branch of University of Illinois. Dohrn is an associate professor at the Northwestern University School of Law Ayers father, Thomas G. Ayers, was Chairman and CEO of Commonwealth Edison while Dohrn’s Jewish (Ohrnstein to Dohrn) father provided his family an upper middle class life in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. Both are intellectually gifted and both have critical minds that tend to find truth in a sea of lies. Bill Ayers seems to have been a good husband. He has fathered two children of his own and raised another that belonged to a jailed Weather Underground friend.

That Ayers and Dohrn are free and now respected citizens speaks volumes about the popularity of Socialism at the power centers of our nation.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is Senior minister of the Trinity United Church of Christ which describes itself this way: “We are a congregation which is Unashamedly Black and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the Black religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an African people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a Black worship service and ministries which address the Black Community.”

Rev. Wright earned a Doctors Degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School and holds several other college degrees as well. He is a zealous Black partisan with an affinity for Blacks that is similar to the Zionist affinity for Jews. Pastor Wright has been thoroughly pilloried by the American media for condemning the Indian genocide, the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, and numerous illegal wars. From the pulpit he announced that Blacks should not sing “God bless America”. ” No, no, no, God damn America, that’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people, God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human, God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme”.

Ayers and his wife Bernadine live in Hyde Park, once an affluent White section of South Chicago, now mostly Black. Their Communist views have been moderated by rejecting Stalin and Lenin in favor of Marx. They have aligned themselves with Black issues and have been loyal to the anti-war movement that was the cusp of their 1960s vendetta. The lips of these members of the Obama social family are home to considerable truth. They are against illegal, immoral wars. They hate injustice. They have learned true history and rejected the revisionism that comes with patriotic propaganda. They know that the travesties Rev. Wright enumerated actually happened. If they were not so hopelessly naïve and gullible American Christians could learn from these men and women. However, learning from their ability to see and express reality is the end of Christian agreement. They are atheistic Socialists of the Communist variety alienated from the Source of Ultimate Truth.

In “Sovereignty”, the book quoted in the preface, Dr. R. J. Rushdoony quotes a Russian writer named Igor Shafarevich, “Socialism is a consequence of atheism, the conclusion to which atheism leads in the field of social relations. The death of mankind is not only a conceivable result of the triumph of Socialism – it constitutes the god of socialism.” (Page 177)

Socialism is a man-made system of government and since man was not created to govern himself death is its ultimate result.

When the establishment selects a candidate for President they favor those whose background includes known scandal so that it might be used to coerce obedience. President Obama was selected for the Presidency while Mr. B was ruined – it could have been the other way around. Both had a sufficient number of skeletons in their closets. Nevertheless, Obama’s past associations and proclivities are of little worth in determining his performance as President of the United States. He will govern the United States as a puppet performing to the maneuvering of a puppeteer. Like a straw man he will do the bidding of those who are responsible for his election and when the show is over he will use his considerable verbal abilities to justify his actions.

Atheists can see a portion of reality clearly. William Ayers and Rev. Jeremiah Wright bring forth truth but their intention is to center power in the state. They want to create law, interpret law, and enforce law; though their plan has been tried several times before with consistent failure and hideous results, their quest for humanistic utopia is still vibrant. They clothe their pronouncements with impeccable reason and work assiduously to overcome resistance.

Though the history of Christianity might belie it, for the Christian Reconstructionist obedience is the highest objective. Through obedience to the Laws God gave to Moses we seek Godly dominion over the creation. Our objective is not the coercion of revolution, the manipulation of propaganda, or the sale of our opinions of righteousness but the willingness of the creation to fall at the feet of the creator with repentance and a genuine intent to obey His statutes.

When humanism begins its death march, pragmatism flourishes, torture is accepted, aggressive warfare is condoned, the murder of millions of babies and innocent civilians is overlooked, and all forms of sexual deviation become common. Logic, itself, begins to fail and power becomes paramount.

Anti-conspiracy nuts are unable to perceive the inconsistency of allowing President Obama to hide his past associations, conceal his birth and educational records and rise to the presidency with a divine aura. While the anti-conspiracy nuts were hallowing Obama the federal government was prosecuting Rod Blagojevich.

Elliot Ness got Al Capone but he did not eradicate Chicago’s vibrant criminal element. Gangsters have survived and there is evidence President Obama is beholden to them. Read here and here. ”

“Almighty God and Father, grant unto us, because we have to go through much strife on this earth, the strength of thy Holy Spirit, in order that we may courageously go through the fire, and through the water, and that we may put ourselves so under thy rule that we may go to meet death in full confidence of thy assistance and without fear.”

“Grant us also that we may bear all hatred and enmity of mankind, until we have gained the last victory, and that we may at last come to that blessed rest which thy only begotten Son has acquired for us through his blood. Amen” ~ John Calvin

Abraham Lincoln’s America

America just celebrated Presidents Day this past Monday. What first began as an observance for President George Washington has (since the 1980s) morphed into the generic “Presidents Day,” which is a politically correct celebration of mediocrity that forces our nation’s greatest President to be lumped together with incompetents such as Ulysses S. Grant, Woodrow Wilson, and Jimmy Carter.

On the occasion of Presidents Day, a USA Today/Gallup poll asked the American people to select the greatest President. The top five Presidents, according to the Gallup poll, are (in order): Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and George Washington.

Can you believe it? George Washington was rated fifth. Fifth. With a vote total of only 9 percent, no less.

George Washington is positively the greatest American to ever live–bar none! It is no hyperbole to say that without Washington, there would be no United States of America. George Washington almost single-handedly kept a struggling colonial army (along with a fledgling nation, for that matter) together. Take away George Washington and there are no stories of Valley Forge, the crossing of the Delaware River, or Yorktown. Take away George Washington and there is no office of President of the United States. A lesser man (which would include almost everyone else in his generation) would doubtless have succumbed to the call of the multitude to institute a monarchy in America. A lesser man could not have delivered the greatest-of-all-Presidential-addresses that we find in his “Farewell Address.”

Washington’s Farewell Address became the guiding light and compass for American policy and philosophy for many generations. In fact, it is the abandonment of the principles of that address that is systematically destroying this country. Therefore, a return to the wisdom of that address would doubtless return our country to its former greatness.

There is only one “Father of His Country,” and it is George Washington. Yet, in the minds of today’s Americans, Washington is inferior to the likes of F.D.R. and Abraham Lincoln. Furthermore, the Gallup survey concludes that both Democrats and Republicans (and conservatives and liberals) share special infatuation with Lincoln.

I have witnessed the veracity of Gallup’s findings. Go to just about any private Christian school and one will find Abraham Lincoln idolized almost to the point of deification. The same is also true in state schools, of course.

Now, virtually everyone is saying that the election of Barack Obama is the fulfillment of Lincoln’s vision. They might be right. But just exactly what does that mean?

According to the current edition of Newsweek magazine, “We are all socialists now.” The article states, “The U.S. government has already–under a conservative Republican administration–effectively nationalized the banking and mortgage industries.” It continued, “Whether we want to admit it or not . . . the America of 2009 is moving toward a modern European state.”

Again quoting Newsweek, “The architect of this new era of big government? History has a sense of humor, for the man who laid the foundations for the world Obama now rules is George W. Bush, who moved to bail out the financial sector last autumn with $700 billion.

“Bush brought the Age of Reagan to a close; now Obama has gone further, reversing Bill Clinton’s end of big government.”

Unfortunately, Newsweek is dead right.

By the end of two G.W. Bush terms and one Obama term, the United States will resemble socialist France far more than the independent nation envisioned–and created–by George Washington. Yes, in a very real and practical sense, this really is Abraham Lincoln’s America.

More than any other single person, Abraham Lincoln shaped and formed modern America. It was Abraham Lincoln who was the first President to flagrantly and deliberately violate his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. His disregard and contempt for the Constitution cannot be overstated.

In order to “preserve the Union,” Lincoln destroyed the very principles upon which the Union was created. His audacity is without equal. For example, to prevent a possible vote of secession by the Maryland legislature, Lincoln ordered federal troops to seize and arrest the Maryland congressional delegation. And of course, he was more than willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of America’s finest and best to destroy Jefferson’s declaration that the states of our Union are “Free and Independent States.”

I invite all those pro-Lincoln apologists out there to seriously answer this question: Does an abusive husband who beats and batters his wife have the right to force her (at the point of gun) to remain married to him? (Even the God of the Bible, Who cast marriage in the most sacred terms, recognizes the right of lawful separation.) If you answer no, how can you continue to justify Abraham Lincoln’s actions? In a political and governmental sense, that is exactly what Lincoln did. Forced union, of any kind, is slavery. In the name of emancipating slaves, Lincoln enslaved an entire nation.

It was Abraham Lincoln who, for all intents and purposes, destroyed federalism and limited government in America. In fact, on December 15, 1866, renowned British historian, Lord Acton, wrote a letter to General Robert E. Lee. In the letter, Acton said, “I deemed that you were fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization; and I mourn for the stake which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved at Waterloo.”

It was Abraham Lincoln who first established the Nanny State, Big Government, Big Brother, etc. Everything that Big-Government Presidents such as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama learned, they learned from Abraham Lincoln. That is why these men love to quote Lincoln so much.

What is appalling is the manner in which the American people (including professed conservatives and Christians) have allowed the politically correct propaganda machine to brainwash their reasoning. Conservatives and liberals, and Democrats and Republicans, now embrace Abraham Lincoln’s America. As Newsweek said, “We are all socialists now.”

On what could prove to be a very interesting and even promising note, however, is the fact that more than twenty states have recently proposed (or are in the process of drafting) resolutions advancing their individual state sovereignty. What do these states see coming? Do they see Socialism’s twin sister, Oppression, lurking around the corner? Are these states looking into the future and preparing to take a stand for freedom and independence? What an exciting prospect! Perhaps the great country that George Washington birthed is not dead after all.

Devide and Conquer

The Winning Strategy…

Multi-culturalism and multi-religionism are identical twins. Christianity and society are under the same pressure from the globalist cabal – embrace all religions, embrace all cultures. At the end of this Satanic tunnel a humanist religion replaces the Creator and miscegenation destroys the diversity of His creation. It is ironic, but typical, that the culmination of the promotion destroys it!

The Bible seeks unity but the Christian religion was divided from the beginning and time has accelerated the problem. In the First Chapter of Galatians the Apostle Paul adjured his followers to adhere to the true gospel of Christ condemning those who produce division. However, some of the division Paul sought to prevent resulted from the different churches he and his fellow Apostles planted. The Armenian Church claims succession from the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus, the Russia Church traces it lineage to the Apostle Andrew, the Roman Church claims Apostles Peter and Paul, the Egyptian Church to New Testament author Mark and the Indian Orthodox Church to Jesus’ Disciple, the Apostle Thomas. Apostolic succession is claimed by many Christian denominations.

Early on, councils were successful in creating doctrine and providing a degree of unity. Between 325 and 787 AD there were seven significant councils: Nicaea convened by the Emperor Constantine in 325 AD produced the widely accepted Nicene Creed; Constantinople convened in 381; Ephesus in 431; Chalcedon in 451; 2nd Constantinople in 553; 3rd Constantinople in 680; and 2nd Nicaea in 787. Central themes of these councils were the Divine characteristics of our Savior and His relationship to His Father and Mother. The Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church were often in conflict. Read more about these Councils here and here.

Though the councils produced some agreement total accord was never reached and doctrinal differences continued into the Twenty First Century. From 787 through 1965 fourteen additional councils were convened. The Roman Catholic Church dominated these meetings.

Rebellious theologians have a significant history in the Christian Church. The Reformation itself divided Catholicism. Jacob Arminius, a Sixteenth Century scholar was the leader of a group who created a serious division in the Reformation. His theology was condemned at the Synod of Dort.

There were other church meetings but the Synod of Dort and the Westminster Assembly were major councils of the Reformed Christian Church. The former condemned Arminianism and the latter delineated an extensive Reformed Christian Calvinistic doctrine by using a catechistic format (question and answer) in Short and Large catechisms.

Doctrines determined by both of these Reformed meetings have been sliced and diced by Protestant Churches that agree with almost all, certain parts, and no parts. Most Christians in the United States, including leaders, pay little or no heed to the theological grounding of the Church. When North America was colonized it provided a vessel for a host of European Protestant sects. Since the Constitution of the United States did not specify a particular religion and instead encoded freedom of religion, Protestant Christianity is so badly divided that there has never been an attempt to bring unity.

By the time the Dispensational heresy came along in the mid-Nineteenth Century Arminianism had eroded God’s sovereignty setting the stage for the heresy of antinomianism. Now, Dispensationalism has deposed most of the Christian Church resulting in a heretical, lawless, effete religion that is easily defeated by humanists.

As we begin our journey into the Twenty First Century an evil doctrine of world domination has become prominent in the United States. Formally set forth in the late Twentieth Century by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) it put our nation on the track to world domination.

PNAC was formulated by a powerful Zionist cadre and is aided and abetted by the pervasive Dispensational doctrine that fanatically and erroneously supports neo-Israel. Far afield from sound theology, most Christian Evangelicals support the Illegal acquisition of land by neo-Israel and the involvement of United States in a murderous, anti-Biblical war in the Middle East.

Martin Selbrede, Vice-President of Chalcedon, has written an essay entitled “National Defense and the Bible”. Read the essay here.

Teaching on this subject is studiously avoided in our churches and few Christians have any knowledge of God’s Will concerning war.

Selbrede quotes (Isa. 2:2-4). “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore,” securing “an abundance of peace that shall endure until the moon be no more”. Peace is a product of obedience to God’s Commandments and as this present world catastrophe unfolds it may bring a new regard for God’s Will and for His Commandments.

Those who assent to murder are guilty of murder and those who fail to provide a proper defense are guilty of suicide. Civil government is enjoined to defend the nation Selbrede cites the stoning of Steven and the guilt of the Apostle Paul for standing by and assenting to a murder. He establishes the principle of being our brother’s keeper by citing from Leviticus 19:16 “Thou shalt not stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor” and the guilt of affirming the evil deeds of our ancestors citing Luke 11:48 “you consent to the deeds of your fathers, for they killed the prophets and you build their tombs”.

Biblical magistrates have authority to wield the sword but use of the sword is confined to punishing evil doers and defending the nation. Pre-emptive wars are forbidden by denying the king the right to “multiply horses to himself” (Deut. 17:6). Prelates without horses did not have the instruments necessary for aggressive warfare. Selbrede continues, “we must remember that all of Israel’s military campaigns that she initiated independent of God failed and that all of Israel’s legitimate wars were either defensive or involved the unique one-time disinheritance of Canaan (where God destroyed societies that had become exceedingly wicked after having rejected Him completely over many generations; God warned Israel: “Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things: for in all these the nations are defiled which I cast out before you: . and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants,” Lev. 18:24-25).”

God takes the disobedience of pre-emptive war very seriously. Israel’s Godly King Josiah lost his life by launching an evil pre-emptive war. Selbrede maintains that the sword wielded by the magistrate does not have international jurisdiction and writes that nations that obey God’s Law will be blessed with peace. Without a standing army but with every healthy and willing male citizen armed, trained and militia-ready, Switzerland provides an excellent example of a proper defensive stance. Standing armies are only necessary for nations that defy God’s Law and the United States is guilty on several counts.

Christians value their opinions more highly than Biblical Truth and any attempt to bring sound doctrine into the Church is met with silence or severe derision.

I am regularly chided by Christian women who are experts on the entire Bible with the exception of the passages that describe women as the weaker vessels and forbid them to teach or have authority over men. Many respond to my writings by demanding that I read large amounts of their favorite written material and I regularly receive teachings that include minor points of disagreement. Some readers are delighted with several essays but disgusted with one in particular. Contemporary Christians have little or no reverence for the scholarly endeavors of our forefathers and seldom is truth and factual information effective in convincing anyone of error.

Some readers view me as a hardhearted cynic with no sense of humor and no compassion while others think I am allied with Liberals and support the ACLU. Because I contend that neo-Israel is an illegitimate nation Jews consider me anti-Semitic and Evangelicals believe I am apostate. My writings are generally of a serious nature and some readers send me cartoons or humorous pieces designed to create allaying laughter.

I have former friends who ignore my emails, treating them as meaningless, but still send opposing documents. Since I am convinced that nations are guilty of murder when they fight wars not sanctioned by the God’s Word and citizens who support such wars are accessories, my strident reprimands are taken as insults.

There are always the evil and gullible that will fight to divide righteousness and truth to promote their emotional opinions. Atheists fight Christianity, selfish woman fight for abortion, deviates fight for homosexuality and lesbianism, immigrants fight for unearned rights, Blacks fight to overcome Whites, warmongers fight peace seekers, Republicans fight Democrats, Evangelicals fight Calvinists, children fight parents, and world government fights autonomy. With all this fighting going on Christians should be fighting sin but many cannot define it.

God seeks righteous agreement but His chosen people live in anarchy of their own making.

Caught up in a cult?

Countless people are caught up in cults and cult-like groups. To avoid being one of them it couldn’t hurt to become familiar with the nature of a cult and their schemes. Granted, there are no easy answers to the question, “What exactly is a cult?” But there are some cold hard facts about the cults that most people are unaware of.

One thing you can count on is that some of your relatives, friends, neighbors and even the friendly face who checks your groceries at your local market may be caught up in a cult or a cult-like group. Cult typically refers to “A system of intense religious veneration of a particular person, idea, or object, especially one considered spurious or irrational by traditional religious bodies; as, the Moonie cult.” Add to that: “A strong devotion or interest in a particular person, idea or thing without religious associations, or the people holding such an interest; as, the cult of James Dean; the cult of personality in totalitarian societies.” [1]

Probably the most well-known pseudo-Christian cults are Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and Christian Science, but there are a whole host of other pseudo-Christian cults. Some members of these cults may find my assertion humorous. Others may even be angry. Sorry about that, however, as a Christian I’m not called to be nice; I’m called to speak the truth in love and to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).

Here’s the truth. JWs, Mormons and Christian Scientists claim to be Christians yet they deny fundamental Christian doctrine and manipulate the Scriptures to fit in with their own beliefs. From the Church’s perspective, which is what really matters, these groups have deviated from the historic, orthodox teachings of the Church that are derived from the Holy Scriptures and confirmed through the ancient ecumenical creeds. Thus, they are not true Christians. What I’m saying shouldn’t surprise them. After all, they’ve had to defend their spurious beliefs for decades. More on this in a moment.

Think you’re out of the woods because you’re not a Christian? Think again. It’s not just Christians who get caught up in cults. Pagans, agnostics and atheists may very well be involved in a destructive cult or cult-like group and not even realize it. For example, devotees of any of the following groups/movements/theories/celebrities, can be exposed to mind control techniques and even open themselves up to the world of the occult! So here’s a short list to ponder: (Warning! This is not for the easily offended.)

New Age movement (occultism 101…magic, psychic phenomena, astral travel, divination, tarot cards, astrology, reincarnation…and a whole lot more)

Spirituality (new term for New Age occult beliefs)

Eastern mysticism (pantheistic)

Secret wisdom (occultism)

Oprah Winfrey (New Age guru who claims to be a Christian but denies Jesus Christ is the only way to God, and promotes occultism)

Wicca/witchcraft (neopaganism)

Secret organizations (Freemasonry, Ku Klux Klan, New World Order)

Radical political/social groups (feminists, environmentalists, “gay” rights, animal rights, abortion)

Global warming (mind manipulation)

Self-improvement (personal transformation)

Holistic Health movement (occultism)

Esoteric groups (UFO’s, Mind Science, Mind Therapy)

Multi-level Marketing (mind manipulation)

Advertisements (mind manipulation)

Academia (mind manipulation)

Darwinian evolution (dare to question “settled science” and see what happens)

Marxism

For the record, some of the above mentioned groups may not be bonafide cults, but they are not averse to using mind manipulation techniques on the public as a means to an end – and this is what the cults do! Granted, some cults or cult-like groups may not be psychologically harmful, however, for the true Christian it can be spiritually harmful to get involved in any sort of occult practice. And it’s spiritually harmful to follow the teachings of charismatic cult-like leaders whose teaching is decidedly unorthodox! The Bible calls these men and women false prophets:

“The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jer 5:31).

Some people will believe almost anything, regardless of its absurdity. When confronted with the facts they refuse to listen. Why? Because knowing the truth could deflate their fantasy world so it’s better to remain in denial. This is why religious/spiritual gurus, social activists, the media, advertisers, celebrities, doctors, dispensers of pills/vitamins, multi-level marketing groups and powerful political leaders have such an easy time sucking people in — then sucking the life blood out of them! Take est for example. Chances are you haven’t heard of est, as it was big in the late 60s. I don’t have the space to go into the details, but the trainers used mind manipulation techniques on willing participants during feel good weekend seminars. “We’re going to tear you down and put you back together.” Critics of the training called it a cult. The organization changed its name to Landmark Education and now promotes the Landmark Forum but only the name has changed.

I’d be remiss not to mention the cult of liberalism. Liberals fit right in with groups that have a “strong devotion or interest in a particular person, idea or thing without religious associations [but not always], or the people holding such an interest.”

Ever notice how your liberal friends refuse to look at both sides an issue? An area of thought where this approach prevails is global warming (a subject for another column). The eco-crowd is brainwashed to believe that the evidence for global warming is compelling and that scientists on their side are the best and the brightest…blah blah blah. And of course scientists who deny that global warming is manmade are charged with being utter morons. Whey you try to present the other side of the issue, which is equally compelling, they simply plug their ears.

Liberals continually carp about how people of faith are narrow-minded unenlightened nuckle draggers, yet they themselves walk in lock step behind their own spiritual gurus and pay homage to radical activists. And by the way, some of these radicals are our congressional representatives! These people are so focused on their leftist social agenda that they really don’t give a rip what the voters want! One example is Proposition 8 in California.

What about those who dare voice an opposing opinion like, say, a conservative? Shut up, or else! Opposing viewpoints should be respected and they’re not. In fact, the opposition is demonized.

But this column isn’t about the cult of liberalism. It’s about pseudo Christian cults who have their tentacles wrapped around the entire globe and are pulling people in by the millions.

Admittedly, it’s sometimes difficult to tell a fake from the genuine article, even for the discerning Christian. According to the Christian Research Institute, a common mark of a “Christian” cult is manipulation of Scripture:

“The Bible is twisted to fit the leader or group’s interpretation. Private interpretations are forbidden because the leader of the cult is the only one, of course, who is able to understand God’s voice properly. Their teachings distort the historic, orthodox claims of Christianity.” [2]

Another mark of a cult (religious or otherwise) is that they use thought control techniques on the unsuspecting:

“There is little concern for individual thought and development. Education is usually discouraged while the convert is bombarded with the cult’s doctrine and literature. Members are called to leave or neglect their old family and life-style for a brand new one.” [3]

Cults typically manipulate reality:

“They tend to have an exclusive “us”/“them” mentality in which society and old associates are all out to get them. Anyone outside of the group is suspect.” [4]

Consider reading Dwayna Litz’s experience with the “Church” of Scientology to see how this cult operates…footnote 5.

What does the Bible say about those who stray from the truth?

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Mat. 7:13-14).

Why do so many seemingly intelligent people end up in a cult? Principally because their hearts have been hardened by sin. (Eph. 4:18) Thus, they are easily led into a cult because of pride, or whatever else, and they allow themselves to follow teachers or teachings rather than the God of the Bible.

“There is a real church and a real work for God,” says Mike Oppenheimer. “The difference is in the motivation–the why they do it. The cults do things for rewards and good standing in the church, the real Christian does it because they love God and are motivated by love to people having real compassion. The cults become offended when you speak ill of them or their teacher or teachings and become emotional. The real Christian does not take offense and they know it is the Lords [sic] battle not theirs.” [6]

Indeed. The believer is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, only the Holy Spirit can change a person’s heart. (1 Cor. 15:1-4) It is the work of the Holy Spirit that regenerates us, convicts us of our sin, and brings us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 3:6)

Oppenheimer continues:

“The other difference is in teachings, about the person of Christ, the gospel, even the Bible itself. Although cults may use the Bible they have a false understanding of God and salvation and the way we are to relate to Him.” [7]

In his article, Mike explains that cults receive their understanding of the Bible from an exhaustive study of their own books and from their teachers, but not from using main stream Christian resources and Bible study tools to better understand the Word of God. Hence they’re unaware of what historic, orthodox Christianity really teaches. Mike also points out that cults will “focus on the minor things and make them major ones and make the major things minor. When this happens doctrines that are not core teachings become amplified and used to make the group exclusive and unique.”

It’s a sad fact that most professing Christians are not well-read on the cults. Many Christians believe that the JWs and Mormons are non-Christian cults but they’re unable to explain why they believe it! I don’t mean to pile on the JWs and Mormons but the reason these groups are in the category of a pseudo Christian cult is that, as I said earlier, they claim to be Christians yet they outright deny many of the essentials of the faith. The truth is that their beliefs are incompatible with Christianity. A mouse in the cookie jar is not a cookie!

Here are a few of the Jehovah’s Witnesses non-Christian beliefs excerpted from the “Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrinal Comparison Chart” [8]:

The Trinity does not exist. It is an evil doctrine that teaches the existence of 3 gods. “…sincere persons who want to know the true God and serve him find it a bit difficult to love and worship a complicated, freakish-looking, three-headed God” (Let God Be True, 1946)

Jesus Christ was Michael the Archangel before becoming a man. “…the Son of God was known as Michael before he came to earth” (Reasoning from the Scriptures, p. 218).

After Jesus died he was resurrected with His original identity as Michael the Archangel. “Read carefully the following Bible account: ‘War broke out in heaven: Michael [who is the resurrected Jesus Christ] and his angels battled with the dragon'” (You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, 1982, p. 21).

Jesus is “a god” and he is lesser than Jehovah God. In the JW version of the Bible, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was a god.” [emphasis added] “…that is the Word was a powerful godlike one. Clearly, Jesus is not Almighty God.” (Ibid., p. 40).

Salvation must be earned through works. “To get one’s name written in that book of life will depend on one’s works, whether they are in fulfillment of God’s will and approved by his Judge and King.” (Watchtower, August 15, 1972).

We will be gods when we join Christ in heaven. “…we are begotten of a divine nature…Jehovah is thus our father…we are divine beings – hence all such are Gods…Now we appear like men, and all die naturally as men, but in the resurrection we will rise in our true character as Gods” (Watchtower, December 1881, 1919 repr.).

Here are a few of Mormonism’s non-Christian beliefs:

“God the father used to be a man on another planet, that he became a God by following the laws and ordinances of that God on that planet and came to this world with his wife (she became a goddess), and that they produce a spirit offspring in heaven. These spirit offspring, which includes Jesus, the devil, and you and me, are all brothers and sisters born in the preexistence. The preexistence spirits come down and inhabit babies at the time of birth and their memories of the preexistence are lost at the time. Furthermore, faithful Mormons, who pay a full 10% tithe of their income to the Mormon church and go through a Mormon temples, have the potential of becoming gods of their own planets and are then able to start the procedure over again.” [9]

Jesus was the spirit-brother of Lucifer (Satan):

“The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called, Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind.” – Quote from Milton R. Hunter’s book, The Gospel Through the Ages, page 15. Hunter was a member of the First Council of the Seventies.

“Joseph Smith asserted that the golden plates were translated “by the power of God” and produced “the most correct of any book on earth.” And Joseph F. Smith, by the way, the sixth president of the Mormon church, went so far as to say that the words were not only correct but that “every letter was given to [Joseph Smith] by the gift and power of God.” But the reality is this: the Book of Mormon has had to be corrected thousands of times to compensate for Smith’s poor grammar and spelling. The Book of Mormon is fraught with all kinds of other errors as well. For example, “Benjamin” was changed to “Mosiah” after Mormon leaders finally realized that in the chronology of the Book of Mormon King Benjamin had already died so he would have been hard pressed to “interpret” the engravings mentioned in Mosiah 21:28. Perhaps the greatest crack in the credibility of the Book of Mormon is that whole sections were derived directly from the King James Version of the Bible and that despite the fact that according to Mormon chronology, the Book of Mormon predates the King James Version by more than a thousand years.” [10]

To see how frustrating dialoguing with a Mormon can be, even for a Christian apologist, read Matt Slick’s heated discussion with Craig: http://www.carm.org/dialogues/lds_gospel.htm

The New England Institute of Religious Research website contains a “Short List of ‘Cults’, Aberrational Christian, and Other Controversial Groups.” http://www.neirr.org/ncultlst.html “This Christian ministry also provides exit counseling,” says Apologetics Index approvingly, “and operates Meadow Haven, a residential retreat that helps ‘people through the radical and many times traumatic life- changes that can accompany the departure of a high-control group.’” [11]

According to cult experts, given the right circumstances a cult’s sophisticated mind control techniques will work on just about anyone including highly intelligent individuals. They prey on your emotions, not your intellect. You are sorely mistaken if you think you are immune to their psychological coercion.

This may surprise you. According to the Cult Information Center [12], cults want people who are:

Intelligent.

Idealistic.

Well educated.

Economically advantaged.

Intellectually or Spiritually curious.

Any age.

According to CIC there are two basic principles of psychological coercion:

1. If you can make a person BEHAVE the way you want, you can make that person BELIEVE the way you want.

2. Sudden, drastic changes in environment lead to heightened suggestibility and to drastic changes in attitudes and beliefs.

CIC also gives this dire warning:

Protect yourself! Why go away for a weekend or longer with a stranger or a strange group unless:

You know the name of the sponsoring group.

You know its ideas, beliefs and affiliations.

You know what is going to happen at the gathering.

You know what will be expected of you.

You know that you will be free and able to leave at any time.

Sadly, some people do not protect themselves. They end up in a destructive cult because they fail to ask questions. They’re too trusting. Trust but verify!

People should want to know the truth — no matter where it leads. So here’s a word of advice. Before committing to anything or involving yourself in any sort of group, do your homework! In other words, investigate — dig, examine, study, ask probing questions and demand answers. You have that right!

I’ll close with 2 Cor. 4:3-4, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Notes:

[1] Definition of cult – define.com

[2] What are the commons marks of cults? — Christian Research Institute

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] An Afternoon Inside the Corridors of Scientology–By Dwayna Litz

[6] How Did I Get Here? – Let Us Reason Ministries/Mike Oppenheimer

[7] Ibid

[8] Jehovah’s Witnesses Doctrinal Comparison Chart – Contender Ministries

[9] Mormon Beliefs, Are They Christian?–Christian Apologetics and Research Ministries

[10] What are the commons marks of cults?–Christian Research Institute

[11] The New England Institute of Religious Research – Apologetics Index

[12] What is a cult?–Cult Information Center

Additional Reading:

Rightly Interpreting the Bible–article by Ron Rhodes

The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions: The Essential Guide to Their History, Their Doctrine, and Our Response, By Ron Rhodes

Ron Rhodes has written books on the various cults that can be purchased on his website.

A Bit of Nastalgia

My Mentor, My Friend, Tom

Many successful people have had mentors. They are often religious leaders, parents, teachers, coaches, or business associates. Mine was different.

For those saved from hopeless addiction the advent becomes a permanent defining moment. It is as if life began at that transition and what went before was but a terrible nightmare.

I am now in my eightieth year but the life I was intended to live began a scant forty-six years ago. Evidence of the reality of my nightmare still remains as a perennial reminder of past perversion.

During the early years of my recovery I was privileged to have been exposed to a man whose practical wisdom shaped the ensuing time. He was at once tough, humorous, and serious. He had a way of getting at uncomfortable truth that was a curse to some but a blessing to me. Tom is gone now. My only physical reminders of him are a couple of faded photographs of his self-conscious, lopsided smile that are a part of a photomontage on our living room wall.

When a mile long train, loaded with contraband, running too fast on an unstable track, careens off the rails, the jumble of railcars and their piles of content are similar to the wreckage that results from an insane human life that is suddenly stopped. The true cargo is revealed as refuse. It is exposed in the wreckage and the process of removing it, repairing the platform and setting the individual back on track is difficult and time consuming. Though the track is the prime problem the long line of wreckage must be removed before the track can be repaired. Once the twisted wreckage is removed and the contraband discarded the engine with truth filled rail cars can be reset on properly repaired rails.

My friend Tom was the boss of the crew that helped get my train back on track.

He was raised in an Irish immigrant family in a small New England town. I didn’t know much about his childhood but he told me they were poor and that he and his siblings (a brother and sister) would steal chunks of coal from railroad cars to heat their home. I remember, too, that he grew up in the ice box age and worked delivering heavy cakes of ice to residences and businesses, that he was an unusually talented athlete, that he had been married and divorced, and that he was afraid to drive a car.

I met Tom at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in 1963. I had been living without drinking for a few months and he had been sober for fifteen years. He remembered the roots of A. A. in his area; how a sober alcoholic had traveled a hundred miles to bring the first meeting.

Tom was a unionized steam fitter. Though the union was responsible for his liberal earnings he denounced it because he felt the big hourly rates were not always warranted by the work being produced. He never remarried and when lay offs came he volunteered allowing men with families to continue to work. He lived alone in a rented room and the surplus money he earned went to his children.

His brother had a big job and was well known in the town where they lived and Tom often told the story of lying in a drunken stupor by the sidewalk where his brother and family passed on the way to church. One Sunday morning his brother saw him and said, “You drunken S.O.B. Why don’t you go jump off the bridge and do the town a favor?” Tom thought, “I’ll show him!” He got up off the ground walked down to the middle of the bridge and jumped off. In the water, drowning was not comfortable so he swam as hard as he could toward shore.

Breaking the bubbles of self appointed A. A. leaders was one of Tom’s favorite occupations. He was convinced that addiction was caused by a permanent flaw in the individual. This theory was onerous to those who saw themselves as destined to bring the Steps to the non-addicted world. They did not like Tom and the feeling was mutual.

Those who got involved in A. A. government, the VIP set, was another thorn in Tom’s side. They carried briefcases and officiated at meetings. They were sobriety teachers and often studied to be counselors. Tom would quietly point out that the A. A. mission was not to counsel but to carry the message and time spent at dinners, dances, conventions, and other functions was time wasted.

He was fiercely independent. He was my mentor and my friend but he never attempted to control my life. Though he never learned to drive and I often drove him to meetings and to other destinations, if I was not available he walked – sometimes as far as twenty miles each way. He believed it was best to learn to live as normally as possible without depending on the advice of others. It was his opinion that sober alcoholics often talked wisdom but lived in chaos and he found and pointed out ample evidence to support his theory.

Tom lived a very simple life. It was not without problems but he kept it simple. Since he lived in a single rented room he did not cook and ate most of his meals in restaurants. We often ate together and frequently in the restaurant he would point to single, sober alcoholic invariably alone. He believed loneliness was a continuing problem.

Tom never spoke about his athletic achievements but others told me he could have been a professional athlete. He was one of the best baseball pitchers in the memory of many of his hometown sports fans. He was a football star when they wore leather caps. Outstanding on ice skates, he excelled at any kind of athletics. Those close to him noted that he always carried a pint of whiskey or had one at his disposal.

He and his wife were Irish Catholic but his wife could not live with the constant bouts of drunkenness, the visits to the local jail, and the general uncertainty and upset that accompanies living with a drunkard. She divorced him. Without his wife Tom became a homeless drunk. He drank Sterno, radiator alcohol, anything that would blunt reality. One bitter cold winter he lived in a cardboard box at the city dump.

His attraction to the opposite sex never wavered. He said his wife told him the only times he was happy was when he was drunk or having intercourse. He was in his sixties when he tried to impress one of his paramours with his ability on the ice. During a successful spin he fell on his hip. He was a tough guy. It hurt but he endured the pain. Three weeks went by and still in pain he decided to visit the doctor. The doctor examined his hip and told him it had been broken but was healing nicely. He sent Tom a bill for $350.00. Tom was irate.

Tom’s love affairs were a regular source of upset. He was either fighting with the woman or with her family. The family of one of his longtime companions was upset because he would not marry her. One of his female friends had spent considerable time in a mental institution but owned a home and enough ground for Tom to plant a garden. Tom decided she needed a garden and her protests did very little good – she got a garden whether she liked it or not. Tom said she would often give her family a detailed account of their sexual activities.

Tom’s affairs and the upset they created taught me the need to find a good wife which by the Grace of God I did.

Families do not soon forget the behavior of alcoholic members. Tom’s spinster sister helped him clean, did his laundry, and gave him continual unsolicited advice. One of her advisories involved an active drinker named Jack. Jack had been in and out of A. A. for several years. He was an aristocratic looking gentleman who had been able to live in a constant state of mild alcoholic euphoria by becoming a gigolo. Jack hadn’t worked in years but he was enough of a trophy that several different women were willing to keep him for long periods of time. Seeing him on a street corner one day Tom’s sister pointed him out and asked Tom why he couldn’t be more like that “good looking gentleman”.

Some years later at an A. A. meeting Jack met a divorced woman from a well known family. They became close, Jack stopped drinking, they married and we all became good friends.

When Tom came to A. A. he had been living on the streets for many months. For a short period of time he slept in a car owned by a member. Then another member rented him a room. In the room for the first few nights, not used to a bed, Tom slept on the floor.

With his new sobriety he helped his ex-wife and his children. They never remarried but sober and coherent he was summoned to her deathbed.

Into his eighties Tom was an avid gardener. He had a gift for raising productive plants in poor soil and could toil for several hours bent over in the hot sun. His attendance at A. A. meetings slacked off but he remained sober. He shared vegetables with his children and his neighbors.

He had moved into a public housing project closer to his son and one day they found him wandering through the hall naked and confused.

He lived out his remaining years in a locked Alzheimer ward. His last coherent words to me were, “I am losing my mind.” I said, “You’re doing the best you can.” – He was.

Tom was God’s gift to me. He was not a great man by worldly standards but he was a great man to me. We had moved away before he died and I was not notified of his funeral. He has been gone now for more than a decade. I miss him.

Al Cronkrite is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com
Al Cronkrite is a writer living in Florida, reach him at:

Blighted Christmas

This year give the truth…

This year Americans are confronting a melting economy, the massing of troops within our own borders, aimed at us. We are losing our homes to foreclosure and the Chinese are coming over with the faux dollars issued by the FED to buy them up. The shock waves of reality are hitting even those who normally lose themselves in football.

This Christmas give the only thing that can make a difference. America was founded on truths, truths that those in power have endlessly tried to suppress. Those truths show us what happened so we can take action. They don’t want that. Our First Amendment has its roots in the common law principle that no one has a right to use their power to suppress the truth. The Zenger Case, heard in New York in 1735 was in the minds of the Founders when the subject was debated. John Peter Zenger was a publisher who printed the truth about the corrupt Royal Governor of New York. He was jailed. Eight months later a jury, exercising their right to determine the validity of law and pass on the facts, freed him.

Know the truth. The Truth will set your mind free to act on the facts.

Christmas, and our futures and those of our children and their children, have been blighted through lies that allow the abuse of power. When you see the monumental scale on which this has been perpetrated you understand. You see what must be done.

While we focus on the stories of just a few the reality is that nearly all of us have been harmed by the grasping deceit and abuse of power by corporations and their partners in government. Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, made himself wealthy by abusing the trust of ordinary people. Credited as the father of PR, he said,

“If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway”, he said. In order to promote sales of bacon, for example, he conducted a survey of physicians and reported their recommendation that people eat heavy breakfasts. He sent the results of the survey to 5,000 physicians, along with publicity touting bacon and eggs as a heavy breakfast.

Bernays also drew upon his uncle Sigmund’s psychoanalytic ideas for the benefit of commerce in order to promote, by indirection, commodities as diverse as cigarettes, soap and books.”

Bernays is responsible for many of the ills of our century and for promoting the ugly assertion, now reaching its full fruition, that in contradiction to the founding principles of our right to the truth that it is proper for government and those whose profits depend on government, for instance corporations, to lie to us.

Bernays bears responsibility for a mind boggling number of manipulations of opinion, including the perception that smoking among women was a strike for freedom.

“In the 1920s, working for the American Tobacco Company, he sent a group of young models to march in the New York City parade. He then told the press that a group of women’s rights marchers would light “Torches of Freedom”. On his signal, the models lit Lucky Strike cigarettes in front of the eager photographers. The New York Times (1 April 1929) printed: “Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of ‘Freedom'”. This helped to break the taboo against women smoking in public.”

The most prevalent correlation between heart attacks in people in early middle age is that of their mothers having smoked during pregnancy. My mother smoked. Of her five children I am the oldest yet living. Earlier this year my brother, who had suffered a heart attack and brain hemorrhage, died after four years of hardship. He was stricken with aphasia, unable to see, speak, or care for himself in his late 50s. My sister Carol died at 36 of a heart attack in 1974. My sister Anne died of a heart attack after suffering brain death in 1994. My younger brother had a triple bypass in his early 40s. I have had two heart attacks.

Carol was the mother of a young son. She had bucked the glass ceiling to achieve success in the corporate world in the 50s and 60s. What else might she had accomplished for herself and those she loved?

Anne was a mathematician, an early programmer who ran a successful business. She had two children but will never know her grandchildren, or they her. She was a force for good in her community.

Charles was a systems analyst in the Governor’s Office in California. He had been decorated many times while serving in Vietnam. He went on to a law degree and then to serve his state, trying to stem the ever rising costs that have destroyed the financial integrity of California. His wife and two children lost him far too early and, believe me, they miss his fey sense of humor, his abiding care, and his courage.

Every day I live with the fact I may die before I am able to ensure the continuing care of a disabled son. My younger brother lives with the uncertainty his condition brings to his own family. Our mother smoked all of her life, thanks to Bernays manipulation. If she had known, if smoking had not been misrepresented to her and her generation, that is a choice she would not have made. We are not going to sue, but we will be heard. Smoking and profiting from false advertising is only one relatively minor issue. But consider what it cost our one family.

Lies and deception kill as they enrich the worst among us. Worse, they destroy our ability to see what is is true so that we can invest our lives in what will sustain us and bring joy to ourselves, our families and our larger communities. I miss my siblings every day, no matter how long it has been and will until the day I die.

This is just one family, one set of deaths. Multiply that at least a million times. My siblings were all good, decent people, people who loved their families and supported themselves honestly and transparently.

Bernays lived a profitable life at a cost to all of us that is is yet to be calculated. But the cost of corporate greed and government corruption that directly enables that greed must be understood, calculated, and an accountability exacted from those who profited. And he was only one man. Multiply that by the number of attorneys, politicians, and corporate greedy who view Bernays techniques and entirely justified.

Think about what corporate greed has cost you. Then go to Blight Christmas and tell your story, let those who harmed you know what they did. If we are to change the world we need to begin with our own truth. Know the truth. Be heard, and we can change the future for all of us.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster hosts a radio program weekly at BBSradio.com. The program is titled, The Spiritual Politician and examines how government can be brought into alignment with the spiritual goal of decentralizing power and localizing control.

She is also the author of GREED: The NeoConning of America and A Tour of Old Yosemite. The former is a novel about the lives of the NeoCons with a strong autobiographical component. The latter is a non-fiction book about her father and grandfather.

Her blog is at: http://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com/
She is the founder of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation.
She is the mother of four living children and one deceased.

Giving Love

Christmas is coming and with the joy most of us experience the stress of not having finished our buying. This year most of us are also suffering through the pangs of not having enough money to buy the gifts that would we would normally give.

Across the country people are reexamining the choices they would have made and finding a wealth of possibilities that change their relationships with each other in unexpected ways. Instead of giving from the wallet they are giving from their hearts.

This trend made me smile, recalling to mind the gifts that have stayed with me over the years, many of them from my children. Small objects made by hand with the finger prints will visible; the plates from preschool with their artwork; the small things remind us of days past. The best gifts keeps giving. My daughter, Dawn, gave me a packet of coupons one year. Those memories still make me smile today. I should have Xeroxed them, looking back. I was tempted to keep them but Dawn insisted THEY BE USED, after all, she had worked hard thinking up the contents of each coupon. So I used them, every single one. My favorite was the coupon that promised her room would be cleaned, that once, without argument and to my entire satisfaction. Wow.

Dawn, now very much grown and married and firmly committed to saving the world through going green, went through some interesting times when she was entering her teens. The state of her room was an ongoing issue for the entire family. Our house cleaner eventually told me she was afraid to enter and I had to agree that she had reason.

Dawn’s room was accessible only up a narrow staircase, over the garage. It had its own bathroom, with tub and separate shower. It was roomy and had a lovely view of the back yard where various interesting events took place over the years we lived there. The aging Walnut Trees nodded through long, sun warmed summers. When we moved in the room, very private and inaccessible, had a new and crisply clean light blue carpet on the floor. The walls were a creamy white. The bathroom sparkled. As time went on these things changed. At first I tried reminding her. Then I began sending her off on short trips and cleaning it myself. Dawn objected to my invasion of her ‘private space.’ My pleas did not avail. Nothing kept it fit for human habitation.

A pot pie disappeared there to be found six months later compressed into a flat, green patty in Dawn’s bed. Dawn had searched all over the house, complaining someone had stolen it. The cat’s viewed her room as a place to relieve themselves since they determined, correctly, no one would notice. I acquired bright yellow hazardous waste tape which I put up, a not so gentle hint. Dawn ignored it. She liked her room just as it was with a foot of waste on the floor and a bathroom that would make any reasonable being blanch. The smell could be intense.

As you can imagine, it was a point of conflict between us and also a cause for humor and horror from her siblings who generally had far more tidy habits.

That was why the gift she gave me that Christmas still makes me smile. The coupon was hand made with an edging of holly and berries. It came with others, one for breakfast in bed, another for any chore I chose. But that one was the best.

I do not recall how many garbage bags it took to clean her room when I finally used the coupon. She took care of it all her self on that occasion But the pile was monumental. Looking back over these many years, and knowing that now she is an impeccable house keeper for herself and her husband and their family of cats, still makes me smile. Dawn knew what would make me happy. She proved she was entirely competent to deliver. She was a woman of her word.

This kind of gift showed she knew what would make me happy. Receiving that small sheaf of coupons had surprised me, telling me I was visible as a person and not just as a mother. I do not recall any other present I received that year. But I remember the coupons and that gift links to another gift she did not know she was giving me. I used to have a lot of keys which lived on a copper ring heavy enough to be used as a minor weapon. Dawn once said that the sound of those keys jingling let her know she was safe, Mom was on her way.

Gifts can come consciously, as something we intend to give. They can also come straight from the heart to warm us long afterwards without our even knowing.

At this time in our Nation’s history we are all reaching out for what lasts, sustains us, warms the heart and makes life worthwhile. We will forget most of the things we get this Christmas. But some gifts we will remember forever. The best gifts last a lifetime and never wear out, break, or lose their power to move us. When we use our knowledge of others to show them we really know them, see them, understand what we can do to bring them happiness, we are giving greenly, now and to last.

Today Dawn lives in El Cerrito and has a lovely website dedicated to her passion for growing locally called Garden2table. Growing her own food locally has become another form for giving green, connecting her to those around her. As we move from this year to 2009 growing and giving will become ever more central to our lives. As individuals, as members of families and communities, we need to see each other, care, and ensure no one is forgotten. The moments that nourish us spiritually build love, and that is always a good thing,

Ms. Pillsbury-Foster is the author of the book,“A Star for Christmas,” which warm-heartedly explores an enduring family tradition founded on her memories of James Dean. The book, published by Ship Stone Press, is available online at http://www.lulu.com/content/5029575 and is this year’s “must have” Christmas treasure.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster hosts a radio program weekly at BBSradio.com. The program is titled, The Spiritual Politician and examines how government can be brought into alignment with the spiritual goal of decentralizing power and localizing control.

She is also the author of GREED: The NeoConning of America and A Tour of Old Yosemite. The former is a novel about the lives of the NeoCons with a strong autobiographical component. The latter is a non-fiction book about her father and grandfather.

Her blog is at: http://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com/
She is the founder of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation.
She is the mother of four living children and one deceased.

Your Wishes Can Change the World

This year, as we watch the world around us collapsing, we are learning that Christmas is not about money. Christmas is about loving each other, about gifts that have nothing to do with the green folding stuff, or even silver and gold.

Our money is melting down into worthless goo. Stores are closing; cameras are going up at intersections across the country. This morning I received a call from a friend in Florida who argued for twenty minutes at her bank where she has done business for twenty years. The problem? They wanted to photograph her eyes biometrically. She refused, but not many are as determined as she.

The things that really matter will endure. Gifts like compassion, empathy, humor, familial love and friendship, last a life time and cannot be devalued. This Christmas we need to hold on to those things.

Christmas is being family. It is coming together to create communities. It is being conscious of how our actions and lives touch through time.

For months, years, I have been writing about what was going to happen to our nation and to the people we love. Last year I predicted the end of the world as we know it. Every week I have hammered on the same subject and on what needs to be done so that we can change direction. I have been writing and thinking about the problems for what seems like a life time. What I write is generally politics, but this time I want you to see why I know that change is possible. I know what it is like to feel helpless and lost.

Christmas is loving each other as we are loved by One Who Loves Absolutely.

When you find the strength of love anything is possible. This past week I took a story I had originally written for my children and rewrote it for you. Is a story about a time when I was lost and desperate. Instead of giving up I found the Christmas that glows through the hard times, endures through hardships and seemingly insurmountable problems.

The Star for Christmas was my response to circumstances beyond my control in 1979. There is always strength to sustain us, if we reach beyond ourselves to That One Who Loves Absolutely. Today, we are all reaching. When we extend ourselves we grow spiritually, finding things more wonderful than we could possibly have imagined as long as we do not give up. One of the things we will find is each other.

In 1979 I experienced a time of terrible anguish but I still had small children who needed me, needed to feel the wonder of Christmas. I reached into my own past and found strength from the memories of someone who had taught me the importance of courage, of holding on to my dreams and wishes.

The Star for Christmas custom began that year, drawn from the memories of wishes I had shared with James Dean. In 2001 I began writing the book explaining the custom to my children soon after Thanksgiving Day. Ayn, my youngest daughter, had asked me a question as we sat around the table after dinner. It had been a perfect holiday filled with happy memories revisited and cooperative efforts over turkey and stuffing.

The year was sliding towards the upcoming holidays. We were remembering Christmas’ past.

Ayn asked me one of those questions that you never anticipate being asked. That question lead to many insights and eventually to their book and then to this one. The question Ayn asked was about the star in which our family had traditionally placed our wishes for the year to come on Christmas Eve. “When and where did this custom begin?” Ayn asked. She assumed it to be an old New England custom. Although I told her this was not the case it occurred to me that I had not actually explained the custom’s origin to my children. I did not share my pain of 1979 with them, feeling it would be inappropriate.

I promised to write the Star’s history for them.

Later, as I sat down to write, I revisited my thoughts that year the custom began. Seeking the Star’s origin became a quest into the dusty reaches of my mind and heart, then, via paper trails, to memories of people long gone. I had never revisited those events, simply sealing them off and moving on. Through this journey I found not just the Star but many more unasked questions. I also found answers to questions that I didn’t know needed asking.

My wishes of 1979 had been answered in ways I did not expect when I considered them. I had never understood the power of hope and the strength of my dreams until then. We need to look at the world, ourselves, and realize what really matters.

Our dreams and wishes can be transformational.

Let this Christmas become a time of renewal for all of us. Savor the love that extends your life into those around you. Bake cookies and let them melt in your mouth. Enjoy every bite. Then plan for a very different future than the one being planned for us. Your wishes can change the world.

A Star for Christmas benefits America Goes Home, a spiritual association dedicated to making tools available that you need to make your wishes reality. Go to Star for Christmas to read more and join our FaceBook group, , to share your ideas for Christmas Gifting.

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com

Melinda Pillsbury-Foster hosts a radio program weekly at BBSradio.com. The program is titled, The Spiritual Politician and examines how government can be brought into alignment with the spiritual goal of decentralizing power and localizing control.

She is also the author of GREED: The NeoConning of America and A Tour of Old Yosemite. The former is a novel about the lives of the NeoCons with a strong autobiographical component. The latter is a non-fiction book about her father and grandfather.

Her blog is at: http://howtheneoconsstolefreedom.blogspot.com/
She is the founder of the Arthur C. Pillsbury Foundation.
She is the mother of four living children and one deceased.

Obama: Fear and the Security Force

In all my life I have never seen such intense emotion surrounding a leader as that evoked by Barack Obama. Even Ronald Reagan, the Gipper himself, didn’t enjoy the kind of prostration of the will offered to the president-elect by hordes of followers. Yet, while people the world over are imbued with “hope” and chant Obama’s slogan “Yes, we can!” – for instance, the French are using their translation of it, “Oui, nous pouvons!” – some of the intense emotion is of a very different species.

It is fear.

In all my life I have never seen an American politician who could make so many Americans’ blood run cold. Some may mention the left’s feelings regarding Reagan or President Bush, but there is no equivalency. For all of leftists’ bluster and melodrama, they weren’t afraid of those men as much as they, well, just hated them. Sure, leftist ideologues said those two Republicans were scary, but the same people also said that each one was both dumb and Machiavellian. Hatred is an emotion, and emotion isn’t logical; it just conjures up whatever feels right at the moment.

In Obama’s case, however, I sense a real, palpable, go-white-in-the-face fear akin to what might be evident in someone who has a gun put to his head or believes he has seen a demon. I know for instance, a stout-hearted man of rough-hewn breeding and my political persuasion who has said about the impending changing of the guard, “I’m afraid.”

However, he is a right-winger like me, and just as with the leftist ideologues who “feared” Reagan and Bush, we aren’t exactly a representative sample of America.

But this is what is truly, well, scary. I have seen this fear not just in rightist politics wonks but also in people who are not in the habit of troubling much over politics at all. For example, I was surprised recently when a woman I know – someone who could easily abide by the injunction, “Never discuss religion or politics” – said in a most sober fashion that she was thinking of leaving the country. Then there is an elderly Jewish gentleman of my acquaintance who lived through WWII; this man could be described as almost apolitical, was probably more apt to vote Democrat than Republican and isn’t given to issuing political opinion, let alone hyperbole. Yet when someone else broached the subject of Obama’s legions of fawning admirers, he broke his pattern and interjected, “This is like what happened with Hitler. . . .”

Then consider this statement printed a couple of months ago:

“Big Brother had nothing on the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps where they’ll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of ‘social change.’”

Is this the rambling of some right-wing site occupying the dark recesses of the Web or a radical on a soapbox? I mean, after all, it’s not the kind of thing you read in the New York Times. Actually, it’s excerpted from a September 4 piece in Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), a mainstream paper of great repute.

Are all these people delusional? Are they simply stuck in time and afraid of change?

Maybe it’s that they have some idea what that change will be.

Fear can certainly be and often is irrational. Yet, generally speaking, the most real fear comes from real threats. A ghost story may scare a child, but not nearly as much as if he actually sees a ghost. Imagining what it’s like to have a gun to your head may be scary, but not as much so as if you feel cold, blued steel pressed against your temple. And I sense real fear.

What is there to be afraid of? A good place to start is with the content of the IBD story cited earlier.

Most of us have heard Obama state that “We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded” as the military. This alone is enough to send shivers up an informed spine, but it gets even worse when you hear the specifics. Obama intends to use a radical activist group he helped found called “Public Allies” as the model for, as IBD puts it, “. . . his Orwellian program, ‘Universal Voluntary Public Service.’”

IBD reports on the inducements used to entice young people into this national service corps and its true aim:

. . . they’ll get a monthly stipend of up to $1,800, plus paid health and child care. They also get a post-service education award of $4,725 that can be used to pay off past student loans or fund future education.

But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about ‘social change’ through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation — the tactics used by the father of community organizing, Saul “The Red” Alinsky.

As bad as this sounds, I believe the reality will be far worse. I’ll explain where I think this will lead, but first we must understand a collective psychological phenomenon that is now apparent.

When Abraham in the Bible was prepared to obey God’s command and sacrifice his son Isaac on Mount Moriah, it was, and this may shock some, understandable. God is perfect and the author of morality, and while we may not always understand His ways, the Divine Mind always knows what is best. So the story is a lesson of faith and trust in God. God cannot be wrong. You don’t question God.

Whether you have faith or not, it’s easy enough to grasp that such deference is understandable when talking about a perfect, divine being. But it’s downright dangerous when applied to a human being. Any human being.

Unfortunately, while the deific monikers applied to Obama such as “The One” or “The Messiah” have become grist for comedians, humorists and just plain old wise-guys, they’re no laughing matter. They reflect a real spirit that has imbued millions, and this is why far scarier than Obama are his followers. They have deified the man, and you don’t question your god. I truly believe that just as many Germans followed Hitler over the precipice during WWII, there are many Americans today who would follow Obama unquestioningly, unthinkingly, unknowingly – into the fires of Hell.

If this sounds as laughable as deific labels, know that it isn’t radical to claim that a continually-recycling historical pattern will manifest itself again and can do so here; radical is to imply that within American borders the laws of man’s nature are somehow suspended. In nature (not culture), Americans are no different from the people who followed Hitler, Mussolini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Pol Pot or Lenin. The tendency to deify leaders is universal.

With this understanding, I’ll now give you my prediction as to how Obama’s Universal Voluntary Public Service program will evolve.

With his oratorical skills and a complicit media, the president-elect will be able to sell this scheme with talk about security, equality and liberating the downtrodden. “It’s the best way to combat crime, hopelessness and a lack of opportunity in the inner city,” he will say. “And I know this well from my days as a community organizer on Chicago’s mean streets.” He will tout how it provides health care, education and skills to the have-nots, and his media-oiled silver tongue’s salesmanship will prevail. It will be sold with a low-end price tag, and his fellow-traveler controlled Houses will echo the message and deliver the votes. Of course, just like Social Security and a trove of other government programs, its cost will make a mockery of predictions. But Uncle Sam’s budget projections aren’t designed for budgets, but for marketing.

As always happens with such groups, program members will eventually be identified with some colloquial and catchy label. I can’t tell you what it will be, only that it won’t be Brownshirts or Blackshirts. And the official name of the program itself may even be changed a few years hence.

As with the Public Allies program, members will have to attend seminars and “retreats” where they will be indoctrinated with leftist ideology. Aside from learning how America is a “racist and “sexist” country, they will be taught that she is also ridden with “heterosexism,” which, IBD writes, “. . . a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes as a negative byproduct of ‘capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-dominated privilege.’” They will be taught that these evils can never be vanquished until every last vestige of traditional America is utterly destroyed.

The pressure to conform will be immense, as it always is in politically-correct entities. The corps will have a huge core of true believers, who will act as ideological hammers. They will preach diversity but practice conformity.

Just like Public Allies, this program may be birthed primarily in the inner cities. That is where Obama’s main support is, and, as stated before, he will claim this is where the corps’ help is needed most. It will then be empowered to do “social good,” which could mean anything from helping at soup kitchens to recruiting those ripe for indoctrination to forming some kind of neighborhood crime watch. As for the last task, though, given the corps’ ideology and the fact that it will be drawing members from high-crime areas initially, I expect it to contain a not insignificant criminal element. It will be corrupt from the get-go and may even assume the character of an organized crime syndicate.

But its “security” mandate will be chilling. In the name of combating garden-variety crime and, more specifically, terrorism, who knows what powers the corps will be granted? Will they one day help enforce an order to seize firearms, if not via direct action then through information gathering? I can’t know exactly, but I do know the powers will be misused.

Over time, the program may be expanded to include a corps for even younger adolescents, perhaps starting at age 13 or 14. As before, I can’t tell you exactly what it will be called, but it won’t be “The Obama Youth” – not officially, anyway. And, certainly by this time, joining it will be the thing the “cool” kids do, sort of like the Boy Scouts’ evil twin.

Then, the result may be that we will have, to use John Edwards’ terminology, “two Americas”: Those who belong to the corps and those who don’t. But I think I know which of the two will be more formidable. Remember when the student thugs at Columbia University stormed a stage to stop Minutemen representatives from speaking? Similar things have happened at colleges throughout the country, and they give us a glimpse into the character of the corps. Just picture the same fascist-minded bullies, only more organized, more numerous, even more ideological and far, far bolder. And many authorities in the nation may tolerate their intimidation with a wink and a nod.

We should also take note of the program’s name, Universal Voluntary Public Service. One of the definitions of “universal” is, “affecting, concerning, or involving all [emphasis mine].” And I suspect the word most likely to be dropped from the name eventually is not “universal” but “voluntary.”

Of course, they don’t call me the Amazing Kreskin. I’m no soothsayer and I could be wrong about many of the details I provided. But the fear is real and the historical allusions are valid.

Speaking of which, Georgia Congressman Paul Broun recently addressed the program and exhibited both fear and a grasp of history, saying:

“That’s exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it’s exactly what the Soviet Union did. When he’s proposing to have a national security force that’s answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he’s showing me signs of being Marxist.”

Of course, many will nevertheless say that such concerns are but the musings of the tin-foil hat crowd. But such scoffing is par for the course. As Professor Manfred Weidhorn of Yeshiva University wrote:

. . . even if you are prescient enough to observe oncoming evils, you are prevented from acting precisely because other people, being normal, lack your prescience. They therefore see you, rather than the evil person, as the deluded or warmongering malevolent soul. When Churchill warned about Hitler in the 1930s, many people became more upset with Churchill than with Hitler. The anomaly is that the prophet has therefore to wait for the evil to manifest itself and thereby to make everyone else see things the prophet’s way. But by then the chance to do anything may be gone.

So there is an answer for those who would say “You’ve thoroughly Godwinned yourself, Duke.” If you bristle at the comparison and don’t want to wear the shoe, then the onus is on you to be vigilant, to make sure it never, ever fits.

Selwyn Duke is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com

Selwyn Duke is a writer, columnist and public speaker whose work has been published widely online and in print, on both the local and national levels. He has been featured on the Rush Limbaugh Show and has been a regular guest on the award-winning Michael Savage Show. His work has appeared in Pat Buchanan’s magazine The American Conservative and he writes regularly for The New American and Christian Music Perspective.

He can be reached at:

A Wanted Man in Burma

Antonio Graceffo is a wanted man. His crime? Supporting the Shan people in their rebellion against the ruling military junta in Burma, known euphemistically as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).

A former successful Wall Street investment banker from Brooklyn turned travel and adventure writer, Antonio has authored numerous books, including about his adventures bicycling around Taiwan, bicycling across the Taklamakan Desert in China, and his time studying with the monks at the famous Shaolin Temple. More recently, he has been involved trying to bring the world’s attention to the plight of the Burmese people suffering under the brutal reign of the SPDC.

Since outside journalists are banned from entering the country, Antonio crossed the border under the protection of the Shan State Army (SSA) and began reporting on conditions in the country, interviewing victims of the SPDC’s war against the people, writing about what he learned, and producing a series of videos featured on YouTube to bring awareness about the plight of the Shan.

Perhaps more well known than the SSA are another resistance group known as the Karen National Union (KNU), and its armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), who were featured in the 2008 movie “Rambo”, starring Sylvester Stallone in the fourth installment in the film series.

But while Stallone played a fictional character, Antonio Graceffo, one could fairly say, is the real Rambo. An experienced martial artist featured on the Discovery Channel and in a number of martial arts films, Antonio was embedded with the Shan State Army and helped train Shan soldiers in the art of close-contact self-defense. Among Antonio’s videos on YouTube are several featuring him demonstrating martial arts techniques and sparring with SSA soldiers.

It is on a purported KNU website that an image of Antonio appears under a heading reading “wanted”, reminiscent of an old Western poster — except, of course, that Antonio is wearing the cap and uniform of the Shan State Army instead of a cowboy hat and leather vest, and holding a Kalashnikov rifle instead of a Winchester.

The website, MyanmarNargis.org, has a few telltale signs of being a false front operation–what is euphemistically known in the field as “counterintelligence”– headed up in fact by the SPDC. Perhaps not least among these signs is the name, “Myanmar”, which is the ruling regime’s name-change for the country that is otherwise known — particularly among opposition groups who do not recognize the regime — as Burma.

And the fact that a “wanted” poster for a man who has helped the rebels on a website of a rebel organization is also more than slightly counter-intuitive. Anti-junta groups Antonio remains in contact with confirmed to him that it is a disinformation site designed by the SPDC to create disunity and infighting among and within opposition groups.

“Fortunately,” says Antonio, “most people working on the Burma issue don’t trust anything written in Burmese. Each of the tribes has its own language and alphabet. Most of them are smart enough to use English on their websites to garner international support. The junta, it appears, is not that smart. But, since General Ne Win forcibly closed all of Burma’s universities, to prevent smart people from meeting and exchanging political ideas, it is no wonder that they are slipping intellectually.”

The text of the website page featuring the “wanted” poster, which requires the proper character encoding to be installed on one’s computer in order to read it, was translated for Antonio by a person he described as “an exiled Burmese intellectual, who had to flee Burma and seek asylum in another country. He hates the junta with a passion and supports the resistance groups.”

The exile noted along with his translation to Antonio, “the KNU has cleared your name and so we cannot sell you by the kilo to them.” (How very disappointing for those of us who know his whereabouts).

The page heading, under the “wanted” poster, reads “The Former Marine Who Would Combine Military Forces with Terrorists.” It describes the KNU, SSA and other resistance groups, as “armed terrorists” (perhaps–just maybe–another sign that the website is a counterintelligence front of the SPDC). It describes Antonio as “a former US Marine Italian race, American citizen”, and as being the head of a small group travelling within the country. It says Antonio’s group “is surely going to have to run and escape for their lives as they go through the Armed Forces’ Offensives” but that “it is more certain they will die violent deaths.”

Not very polite. Fortunately, Antonio is not actually in Burma currently — nor was he during the period of time last month the website alleges he was moving through the country with his “group” — a merry band, no doubt.

As much as the page seems designed to put people on the lookout for Antonio, it also seems intended to sow resentment among opposition leaders. Take, for instance, the insertion of this tidbit: “5th Brigade Commander Baw Kyaw Hair, on his part, was dissatisfied with how the present congress has appointed a central group in which General Tamlabaw’s sons and daughters have important posts in the KNU.”

Baw Kyaw Hair’s group “favors having a ceasefire with the present military government and exchange arms for peace”, the website says. (The exiled translator noted to Antonio that “this is an SPDC phrase for complete surrendering of one’s forces and one’s weapons to SPDC — very indicative of an SPDC author”.)

That author adds, “It is heard that 6th Brigade Commander Hsarmi is [also] dissatisfied with Tamlabaw’s circle of family and friends.”

The intent thus seems to try to poison relations among rebel groups as much as to threaten Mr. Graceffo — not that such a warning from the violent SPDC should be taken lightly.

While Antonio always manages to keep his sense of humor, despite the danger and despite the ugliness he has witnessed firsthand, the oppression in Burma under the military junta of the SPDC is no laughing matter. It’s high time the world took notice and took action. Antonio’s courageous work in defiance of the ruling regime has been intended to further that goal.

To close, in the words of Antonio, “please say a prayer for the people of Shan State.”

Jeremy R. Hammond is a regular columnist for Novakeo.com

Jeremy R. Hammond is the editor of Foreign Policy Journal (www.foreignpolicyjournal.com), a website providing news, analysis, and opinion commentary from outside the standard framework offered by government officials and the mainstream corporate media. His articles have also been featured in numerous other online publications. He can be reached at:

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