The things we learn as time passes by...

As time marches slowly by, those who pay attention will notice little snippets of truth that get released, whether intentionally or accidentally, that SHOULD, in theory, change our perception of the truth of certain events.  Many of these news items are relegated to the back section of "national news" sections, or the back page of some API website.  In short, the majority of the public doesn't see them, and is not given the chance to care about them.

Currently there are a plethora of issues that have been blatantly lied about, covered up or disguised as something else.  At least the citizenry of the United States has been told one thing, while the truth was something different.

I think the "underwear bomber" story is still relatively fresh in everyone's minds.  But what if we knew more about the issue?  What if we were to learn the various truths behind the incident?

SOURCE

Bomber involved in plot to attack US-bound jet was working as an informer with Saudi intelligence and the CIA, it has emerged

A would-be "underwear bomber" involved in a plot to attack a US-based jet was in fact working as an undercover informer with Saudi intelligence and theCIA, it has emerged.

The revelation is the latest twist in an increasingly bizarre story about the disruption of an apparent attempt by al-Qaida to strike at a high-profile American target using a sophisticated device hidden in the clothing of an attacker.

The plot, which the White House said on Monday had involved the seizing of an underwear bomb by authorities in the Middle East sometime in the last 10 days, had caused alarm throughout the US.

It has also been linked to a suspected US drone strike in Yemen where two Yemeni members of al-Qaida were killed by a missile attack on their car on Sunday, one of them a senior militant, Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso.

But the news that the individual at the heart of the bomb plot was in fact an informer for US intelligence is likely to raise just as many questions as it answers.

Citing US and Yemeni officials, Associated Press reported that the unnamed informant was working under cover for the Saudis and the CIA when he was given the bomb, which was of a new non-metallic type aimed at getting past airport security.

The informant then turned the device over to his handlers and has left Yemen, the officials told the news agency. The LA Times, which first broke the news that the plot had been a "sting operation", said that the bomb plan had also provided the intelligence leads that allowed the strike on Quso.

Earlier John Brennan, Barack Obama's top counter-terrorism adviser and a former CIA official, told ABC's Good Morning America that authorities are "confident that neither the device nor the intended user of this device pose a threat to us".

US officials have said the plot was detected in its early stages and that no American airliner was ever at risk. 

Wounded Knee

History is a fickle agent at best; a slave to those who would write it and their perceptions of events.  No event can occur without coloration, and facts are always subject to interpretation.

With that I am re-blogging a story not often heart; the story of the massacre at Wounded Knee.  It's important that we put this into perspective when reading the story, but it's also important that we learn a lesson from this type of perspective.  That lesson, as far as I am concerned, is that only man can inflict terrible atrocities of this nature upon his fellow man.

http://www.fold3.com/page/1296_lakotathe_massacre_at_wounded_knee/

After Sitting Bull's death, Big Foot feared for the safety of his band, which consisted in large part of widows of the Plains wars and their children. Big Foot himself had been placed on the list of "fomenters of disturbances," and his arrest had been ordered.

He led his band toward Pine Ridge, hoping for the protection of Red Cloud. However, he fell ill from pneumonia on the trip and was forced to travel in the back of a wagon. As they neared Porcupine Creek on December 28, the band saw 4 troops of cavalry approaching. A white flag was immediately run up over Big Foot's wagon. When the two groups met, Big Foot raised up from his bed of blankets to greet Major Samuel Whitside of the Seventh Cavalry. His blankets were stained with blood and blood dripped from his nose as he spoke.

Whitside informed him of his orders to take the band to their camp on Wounded Knee Creek. Big Foot replied that they were going that way, to Pine Ridge. The major wanted to disarm the Indians right then but was dissuaded by his scout John Shangreau, in order to avoid a fight on the spot. They agreed to wait to undertake this until they reached camp. Then, in a moment of sympathy, the major ordered his army ambulance brought forward to accept the ill Minneconjou chief, providing a warmer and more comfortable ride. They then proceeded toward the camp at Wounded Knee Creek, led by two cavalry troops with the other two troops bringing up the rear with their Hotchkiss guns. They reached the camp at twilight.

At the camp, the Indians were carefully counted; there were 120 men and 230 women and children. Major Whitside decided to wait until morning to disarm the band. They were assigned a camp site just to the south of the cavalry camp, given rations, and provided with several tents as there was a shortage of tepee covers. A stove was provided for Big Foot's tent and the doctor was sent to give aid to the chief. To guarantee against escape from the camp, two troops of cavalry were posted around the Indian tents and the Hotchkiss guns were placed on the top of a rise overlooking the camp. The guns were aimed directly at the lodges.

During the night the rest of the Seventh Cavalry marched in and set up north of Major Whitside's troops. Two more Hotchkiss guns were placed beside the two already aimed at the lodges. Colonel John Forsyth took over command of the operation and informed Major Whitside that he had orders to take the band to the railroad to be shipped to a military prison in Omaha.

In the morning a bugle call awakened the camp and the men were told to come to the center of the camp for a talk. After the talk they would move to Pine Ridge. Big Foot was brought out and seated before his tent. The older men of the band gathered around him. Hardtack was issued for breakfast. Then the Indians were informed that they would be disarmed. They stacked their guns in the center, but the soldiers were not satisfied. The soldiers went through the tents, bringing out bundles and tearing them open, throwing knives, axes, and tent stakes into the pile. Then they ordered searches of the individual warriors. The Indians became very angry but only one spoke out, the medicine man, Yellow Bird. He danced a few steps of the Ghost Dance and chanted in Sioux, telling the Indians that the bullets would not hurt them, they would go right by.

The search found only two rifles, one brand new, belonging to a young man named Black Coyote. He raised it over his head and cried out that he had spent much money for the rifle and that it belonged to him. Black Coyote was deaf and therefore did not respond promptly to the demands of the soldiers. He would have been convinced to put it down by the Sioux, but that option was not possible. He was grabbed by the soldiers and spun around. Then a shot was heard; its source is not clear but it began the killing. The only arms the Indians had were what they could grab from the pile. When the Hotchkiss guns opened up, shrapnel shredded the lodges, killing men, women and children, indiscriminately. They tried to run but were shot down "like buffalo," women and children alike.

When the mass insanity of the soldiers ended, 153 dead were counted, including Big Foot; but many of the wounded had crawled off to die alone. One estimate place the final death toll at 350 Indian men, women and children. Twenty-five soldiers died and 39 were wounded, most by their own shrapnel and bullets. The wounded soldiers were started back to the Pine Ridge agency. Then a detail of soldiers went over the battlefield, gathering up any Indians that were still alive and placing them in wagons. As a blizzard was approaching, the dead were left where they had fallen. The wagons with the wounded arrived at Pine Ridge after dark. They contained only 4 Sioux men and 47 women and children. These people were left outside in wagons in the bitter cold while a search was made for housing for them. Finally the Episcopal mission was opened, the benches removed and hay scattered over the floor as bedding for the wounded Sioux. As they were brought in, those who were conscious could see the Christmas decorations hanging from the rafters.

After the blizzard a burial party returned to the battlefield, they found the bodies including that of Big Foot, frozen into contorted shapes.

I did not know then how much was ended. When I look back now from this high hill of my old age, I can still see the butchered women and children lying heaped and scattered all along the crooked gulch as plain as when I saw them with eyes still young. And I can see that something else died there in the bloody mud, and was buried in the blizzard. A people's dream died there. It was a beautiful dream . . . . the nation's hoop is broken and scattered. There is no center any longer, and the sacred tree is dead.
---- Black Elk

Many of the injured died of exposure in the freezing weather, and several days after the incident the dead were strewn as far as approximately two to five miles away from the original site. By mid-afternoon on December 29, 1890 the indiscriminate slaughter ceased. Nearly three-hundred men (including Chief Big Foot), women, and children -- old and young -- were dead on the frosty banks of Wounded Knee Creek. Twenty-nine soldiers also died in the melee, but it is believed that most of the military causalities were a result of "friendly" crossfire that occurred during the fighting frenzy. Twenty-three soldiers from the Seventh Calvary were later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for the slaughter of defenseless Indians at Wounded Knee.

The wounded and dying were taken to a makeshift hospital in the Pine Ridge Episcopal Church. Ironically, above the pulpit hung a Christmas banner which read:
Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men

A blizzard swept over the countryside the night of December 29, and when it cleared days later, the valley was strewn with frozen, contorted dead bodies. A burial party returned to the site on New Years Day, 1891. The bodies of the slain were pulled from beneath the heavy snow and thrown into a single burial pit. It was reported that four infants were found still alive, wrapped in their deceased mothers shawls.
While only 150 bodies were interred in the mass grave, Lakotas estimate that twice as many Indians perished that brutal morning in 1890 -- on a reservation supposedly protected by two treaties.

Created by bgill 20 Jun 2007

What will make me happy?

I've been thinking lately.  I've been thinking about those things that truly make me happy.  I've realized that it's not things that I want.  It's not influence.  It's certainly not power.    It's not money.  It's not sex.

So what makes me truly happy?

I think it is giving and generosity to those that have never seen it before.  I think that it is peace.  And I think that it is you.

Sandy Hook Hoax is falling apart.

I don't necessarily believe in all of the things that this article says, but it does deliver some very good talking points.  I think at the very least, there should be some discussion and deliberation to find out what really happened at Sandy Hook, and at Aurora before we knee-jerk our way into some very deep and troubled waters.


http://www.examiner.com/article/sandy-hook-hoax-is-falling-apart

The dam finally burst this week as themainstream media was forced to begin addressing the many very serious unanswered questions regarding the allegedSandy Hook elementary school massacre.

Despite the fact that people questioning the official narrative has become one of the hottest media topics of the week, there's a very real possibility the right questions may never get asked in any meaningful way, at least not publicly. But with so many openly obvious anomalies, ridiculous coincidences and projected media falsehoods surrounding the event, people are figuring out what's actually happening on their own and hundreds of the largest media outlets around the country have had no choice but to talk about or, depending on who you talk to, attempt avoiding those circumstances to mostly avoid being seen as complicit.

The Sandy Hook Cover Up – Full Movie: A well documented breakdown of the timeline surrounding the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. News, images, audio, commentary.

That's because a massive outpouring of concern over why the media has refused to report the situation accurately has caused a tidal wave of indignation around the country. Those who have actually dared to look into what others are pointing out, regarding just how much has been left out or skewed by the media, is literally waking millions to a reality they thought they'd never have to contemplate. At least, not in the US. But years of Internet erosion and the endless open-flow of unabated information has allowed the dots to be eventually connected and money trails to be followed and enough puzzle pieces have been aligned allowing the tallest of the politically savvy to start seeing over the formerly insurmountable mountain of public persuasion known as the establishment-controlled, “mainstream” media.

Once people actually go take a look, their initial feelings of anger toward “anyone who would dare disrespect the victims and their families,” by simply pointing out the obvious, quickly begins to turn into feelings of confusion and concern over such egregious misrepresentations of the facts. People can see it with their own eyes and, as a result, the Western establishment's media, on many levels, has been forced to address the growing reality that not everybody is buying into establishment propaganda any longer. As to be expected, what the media has done instead is go into damage control.

Just as they've done in countless other similar situations, while treating its followers like children, they first attack outside messengers with derogatory terminology, calling those attempting to point anything out that doesn't jive with the official narrative conspiracy “theorists” and “racists,” etc., just before twisting and misrepresenting what's being pointed out and totally avoiding that which cannot be easily misconstrued or hidden. It's actually quite transparent and easy to see the pattern.

In spite of what the media insinuates, rest assured very few ever want to believe the US government, or rogue entities within, would do such horrible things, not even so-called conspiracy“theorists.” No one wants to be forced to come to terms with their country not being what they thought it was. But when all the facts point to an alternate reality existing, as opposed to the one the media is forcing down everyone's throats, there's no choice but to start having second thoughts, regardless of how unwanted or stomach-wrenching those thoughts may be.

Quite possibly the most obvious example would be to point out that the entire gun control “debate” hinges on the fact that “assault” weapons were used to kill children and staff at the school. Even though it was reported, complete with video evidence the day after the shootings, the only so-called “assault” weapon at the scene, which actually looks more like a shotgun, had been left in the trunk of the car, and was never used. (A car that ended up not belonging to the alledged shooter, Adam Lanza, or his mother after all).

In spite of this bombshell information, the media as a whole (scriptwriters and teleprompter programmers) ran with the false assertion an assault rifle was used nonetheless and are still largely going with that fake reality today, especially on TV... Fully knowing that's not the case. Unless you just crawled out of bin Laden's cave for the first time, everyone's heard the constant drumbeat for gun “control” on almost every radio and TV station in the country, especially the argument that so-called “assault” weapons and large capacity magazines should be banned, despite not being used at the shooting. (Therefore, an assault weapons or large magazine ban would not have prevented the school shootings, regardless).

Worse, many politicians in Washington, including Obama, also ran with it like solid gold, even going as far as producing a string of over 20 executive orders Wednesday to attempt banning American's right to own the type of weapons “used at the school.” Openly lying, misrepresenting the circumstances and using it all, including innocent, (naturally-gun-hating)children on the signing stage with him, to garner emotional support for the lie.

Any takers on the chances Obama ever fesses-up to there never having been a so-called “assault” rifle inside Sandy Hook elementary school or why his administration sent literally 10s of thousands of the guns he now demonizes to Mexican drug cartels, south of the border?

Every American in the country should be absolutely outraged beyond belief over just this one aspect of the tragedy's aftermath, even if an opponent to so-called “assault” weapons ownership (if anyone can honestly define the meaning of an assault weapon and what that looks like). If nothing else, simply for being manipulated into going along with a controversial political agenda. Especially one that more (adult) Americans statistically disagree with than those who support it. Unfortunately, that's only the beginning of America's tyranny problem.

In addition to every post-Wild West statistic showing violent crime rates dropping in areas where gun ownership grew, one of the big secrets is that many alternative journalists are getting very good at knowing what to look for, recognizing patterns and seeing the signs that criminals leave behind. Just like old-school journalists used to do, prior to the age of mass-information manipulation. Back when they actually investigated and publicly analyzed every last piece of available evidence, instead of merely reading from, officially admitted, pre-scripted teleprompter copy, or a list of talking points given by “officials” on the scene, for a paycheck.

When so many people see the easy-to-find evidence for themselves, by merely going online, typing in the appropriate search term and taking an honest and objective look at all the evidence, the ability for the media to merely say whatever they want and have control over the “court of public opinion,” is slowly turning into an open info-war over the psychological acceptance of what is seen as perceived reality.

More examples show those who the media brands conspiracy “theorists” have pointed out the fact that a “crisis actor” seems to have been used for an alleged post-funeral interview and was caught laughing and joking before getting into character for the camera while live footage was rolling. But instead of addressing the more obvious example, the media created a diversion for those who refuse to go look it up for themselves, and instead focused on and made a big deal out of an entirely different individual that also seems, to those who have looked into the situation on their own, like just another crisis actor, just not quite as obvious and much easier for the media to attempt denouncing. Anderson Cooper's recent tirade is the example everyone is talking about and using as (laughably un-) “credible” material.

The more startling examples, however, are the ones the media isn't really discussing very much, for obvious reasons. The arrest of a camouflaged individual running into the woods, away from the school, as officers arrived and the fact that the “crisis actors” and officers on display, for public consumption, seem to have been pulled from an active (school shooter) drill that was ironically being held right down the road at the exact same time, are themselves cause enough to be red flag worthy. They want you to buy the excuse this was all presumably innocent oversight, however. Simply another extraordinary coincidence, where a pre-planned government exercise turns into a conveniently live event, just like 9/11 on multiple levels, just like the 7/7 London bombings and just like Sandy Hook elementary school and others.

Even though the likelihood even one of those situations going live in the exact same manner, at the same time and at the exact same location as a pre-set training drill covering the exact same scenario, much less all three, is so ridiculously miniscule you'd have a better opportunity of winning the Powerball three times. Nonetheless, if you happen to be aware of these circumstances, the establishment and its media push the idea it's all one giant coincidence and you're a conspiracy “theorist” a “racist” or a “right-wing nut-job” if you'd dare think otherwise.

Never mind the instances websites and Facebook pages, blog postings, tribute videos andvictims compensations sites were officially set up or mistakenly posted days and weeks in advance of the shootings.

They also want you to believe it was just a coincidence that a massive medical drill was also being held at a local Denver-area medical school, at the exact same time the Aurora Theater shooting happened. The victims of which just so happen to have been watching a movie thatreferenced Sandy Hook on a map as a potential terror-target-area, who also happened to have just watched the world-premiere of a music video, moments before the movie and shootings began, showing a bunch of skeletons sitting in a movie theater. But that's all just coincidence too, officially.

Officials in Giles County, VA know better than to believe it was mere coincidence however when they were made aware their name also appeared on the same Dark Knight Rises terrorist-target-area map and subsequently shut down the entire school district recently. I guess that means all the public and school officials in Giles County would have to be considered conspiracy “theorists” as well then. Even though it's ridiculous to assume even one of these situations, much less all of them, can be mere coincidence.

The real problem is, an ugly, rabid cat is slowly ripping it's way out of a very tough bag and the only reason it's taken even this long to get out is because, deep down, no one really wants to see it (Stockholm Syndrome) and the establishment knows it and uses it to their advantage. What's worse is when people finally start seeing the animal that emerges, it's going to be more like a Mogwai (Gremlins) that Americans were fooled into giving a bath and feeding after midnight.

Attack on Sovereignty-

» Attack On Sovereignty — Paul Craig Roberts

By: pcr3| January 15, 2013 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: paulcraigroberts.orgattack on sovereignty paul craig roberts, |  Print This Article

Those concerned about “The New World Order” speak as if the United States is coming under the control of an outside conspiratorial force. In fact, it is the US that is the New World Order. That is what the American unipolar world, about which China, Russia, and Iran complain, is all about.

Washington has demonstrated that it has no respect for its own laws and Constitution, much less any respect for international law and the law and sovereignty of other countries. All that counts is Washington’s will as the pursuit of hegemony moves Washington closer to becoming a world dictator.

The examples are so numerous someone should compile them into a book. During the Reagan administration the long established bank secrecy laws of Switzerland had to bend to Washington’s will. The Clinton administration attacked Serbia, murdered civilians and sent Serbia’s president to be tried as a war criminal for defending his country. The US government engages in widespread spying on Europeans’ emails and telephone calls that is unrelated to terrorism. Julian Assange is confined to the Ecuadoran embassy in London, because Washington won’t permit the British government to honor his grant of political asylum. Washington refuses to comply with a writ of habeas corpus from a British count to turn over Yunus Rahmatullah whose detention a British Court of Appeals has ruled to be unlawful. Washington imposes sanctions on other countries and enforces them by cutting sovereign nations that do not comply out of the international payments system.

Last week the Obama regime warned the British government that it was a violation of US interests for the UK to pull out of the European Union or reduce its ties to the EU in any way.

In other words, the sovereignty of Great Britain is not a choice to be made by the British government or people. The decision is made by Washington in keeping with Washington’s interest.

The British are so accustomed to being Washington’s colony that deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and a group of UK business executives quickly lined up with Washington.

This leaves Great Britain in a quandary. The British economy, once a manufacturing powerhouse, has been reduced to the City of London, Britain’s equivalent to Wall Street. London, like New York, is a world financial center of which there are none in Europe. Without its financial status, there wouldn’t be much left of the UK.

It is because of the City’s financial importance that the UK, alone of the EU member states, kept the British pound as its currency and did not join the euro. Because the UK has its own currency and central bank, the UK was spared the sovereign debt crisis that has plagued other EU member states. The Bank of England, like the Federal Reserve in the US, was able to bail out its own banks, whereas other EU states sharing a common currency could not create money, and the European Central Bank is prohibited by its charter (at Germany’s insistence) from bailing out member states.

The quandary for the UK is that the solution to the sovereign debt crisis toward which the EU is moving is to strip the member governments of their fiscal sovereignty. For the individual countries, the spending, taxing and, thereby, deficit or surplus positions of the member countries’ budgets will be set by EU central authority. This would mean the end of national sovereignty for European countries.

For Britain to remain an EU member while retaining its own currency and central bank would mean special status for Great Britain. The UK would be the only member of the EU that remained a sovereign country. What are the chances that the UK will be permitted such exceptional status? Is this acceptable to Germany and France?

If the British are to fold themselves into Europe, they will have to give up their currency, central bank, their law, and their economic status as a world financial center and accept governance by the EU bureaucracy. The British will have to give up being somebody and become nobody.

It would, however, free the UK from being Washington’s puppet unless the EU itself is Washington’s puppet.

According to reports, sometime this year Scotland, a constituent part of the UK, is to vote on leaving the UK and becoming an independent country. How ironic that as the UK debates its dismemberment the country itself faces being merged into a multi-national state.

View Article Link

» Washington’s Hegemonic Ambitions Are Not in Sync With Its Faltering Economy — Paul Craig Roberts

By: pcr3| January 7, 2013 | Categories:Articles & Columns |Tags:www.paulcraigroberts.orgwashingtons hegemonic ambitions are not in sync with its faltering economy paul craig roberts,

In November the largest chunk of new jobs came from retail and wholesale trade. Businesses gearing up for Christmas sales added 65,700 jobs or 45% of November’s 146,000 jobs gain. With December sales a disappointment, these jobs are likely to reverse when the January payroll jobs report comes out in February. Family Dollar Stores CEO Howard Levine told analysts that his company’s customers were unable to afford toys this holiday season and focused instead on basic needs such as food. Levine said that his customers “clearly don’t have as much for discretionary purchases as they once did.”

For December’s new jobs we return to the old standbys: health care and social assistance and waitresses and bartenders. These four classifications accounted for 93,000 of December’s new jobs, 60% of the 155,000 jobs.

Obviously, the economy is not going anywhere except down. It takes approximately 150,000 new jobs each month to stay even with population growth and new entrants into the work force. Few of the jobs that are being created pay well, and the constant, consistent demand for more poorly paid waitresses, bartenders and hospital orderlies is difficult to believe. If Americans cannot afford toys for their kid’s Christmas, how can they afford to eat and drink out?

Media spin seeks to create a recovery out of thin air, but these graphs from John Williams (shadowstats.com) show the reality:







Keep in mind that the 7.8% unemployment rate (U.3) that is headlined by the financial media does not include discouraged workers who have ceased to look for jobs. The government’s U.6 rate includes workers who have been too discouraged to seek work for less than a year. This rate of unemployment is 14.4%, almost twice the U.3 rate that the media prefers to report.

In 1994 the US government defined out of existence unemployed Americans who have been discouraged from finding work for more than a year. John Williams estimates the long term discouraged workers. When his estimate is added to the U.6 measure, the US unemployment rate stands at 23%, three times the reported rate.

The rate of unemployment is so high because millions of US jobs have been offshored and given to Chinese, Indian, and other workers and because remaining businesses have been concentrated in few hands in violation of the anti-trust laws. (Go to this URL to see the concentration of the media: http://frugaldad.com/2011/11/22/media-consolidation-infographic/ )

We need to be concerned about a financial media and economics profession that believes a recovery is underway when the unemployment rate is so high and the real median income is so low. It is a mystery how any set of policymakers could possibly have believed that a country whose economy is driven by consumer expenditures can continue to expand when the jobs that produce the incomes that drive the economy are given to foreigners in foreign lands.

Essentially, Americans were told a packet of lies designed to win their gullible acceptance to an economy that produces high returns for Wall Street, shareholders, and corporate executives at the expense of everyone else in the country. The wage savings from the use of overseas labor means large rewards for the one percent and Family Dollar customers who cannot afford to buy toys for their children at Christmas.

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The Zen of Story Telling

I wish I could tell a story as well as other people that I know.  I wish I could tell a story and keep everyone interested, sitting on the edge of their seats.  I cannot do these things.

I find that there must be a Zen in storytelling.  A doing without doing.  Acting without acting.  A mindfulness in the present as the past is being related.

The art of storytelling is such that the listener is engaged and the teller is weaving them through with just enough detail to make the story appealing and seamless from teller to listener.

I wish I could tell a story like that.