From The Ramparts
Monday, August 29, 2016
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
Partners
In Crime
From their
time in Arkansas to the present the Clintons have been dogged
by allegations they benefited from insider access, corruption, and a network
of organized criminal activities. There have been numerous and costly
investigations, books written and theories about the couple that depict them in
an unfavorable light. But except for the Monika Lewinsky affair which resulted
in Bill Clinton being impeached by the US House of Representatives but
acquitted by the US Senate on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice,
neither Bill nor Hillary Clinton have been convicted of any crimes on the state
or federal level. But that doesn't mean they are not guilty, that they are not
crooks.
The Bu$h
family has a multigeneration documented record of crony capitalism and shady
dealings dating back to Samuel Prescott Bu$h the patriarch of the Bu$h crime
family. The elder Bu$h became well
connected as an industrialist working with the Harriman and Rockefeller
families in railroads, arms and banking industries. He began the family fortune
profiting off of armament sales to both sides during WWI.
When you
look at all the rumors of wrong doing, countless allegations, conspiracy
theories about all the people connected to the Clintons dying under strange
circumstances, the Congressional hearings into a myriad of Clinton activities,
you get the impression there is something irregular going on but either investigators
have not figured it out or they are being protected by very powerful people.
The Bu$hes
and Clintons have had a cozy relationship since Clinton 's days as Governor of Arkansas when Vice President
George H.W. Bu$h's National Security Council ran drugs out of the Mena airfield
in the mountains of Arkansas .
The consequences of this operation was the cocaine and crack epidemics that
devastated urban America
during the 80's and 90's.
As President,
Clinton pushed
for legislation that resulted in poor recreational drug users and low level drug dealers
being sent to prison for long terms, the expansion of the federal prison system
and the subsequent creation of profitable private prisons. http://www.alternet.org/drugs/clinton-dynasty-horrific-legacy-more-drug-war-more-prisons
There is a
sinister nexus between the Bu$h and Clinton families, George H.W. Bu$h and his
NSC trafficked drugs through Mena in Arkansas during the 80's and 90's when
Clinton was the governor and President Clinton passed legislation that locked
people of color up for using the drugs the NSC/CIA brought in!
With all
the scrutiny about the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative why
hasn't there been a thorough investigation into what happened to the money Bill
Clinton and George W Bush raised to "help" the people of Haiti
following the devastating earthquake in 2010. Both former presidents were asked
by President Obama to spearhead an initiative to raise money to assist in the
rescue and recovery following the earthquake.
When I
first heard it I thought to myself, "this is not going to end well for the
people of Haiti given the
personal history of both men and the fact Haiti
is a failed state made so by US neocolonialism. An entity called the Clinton
Bush Haiti Fund as created supposedly to focus on the creation of micro,
small and medium sized entrepreneurial initiatives, life skills and job
training, all noble sounding objectives. http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org The
Clinton Bush Haiti Fund raised over $54 million
dollars from over 200,000 donors. Many donors thought they were contributing to
an Haitian relief effort. But that was not the case. The Clinton Bush Haiti
Fund closed shop in 2012.
When you
look at the Board of the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund you see members of both the
Clinton and Bush administrations like Alexis Herman and Joshua Bolton, you also
see former US
Senator Bill Frist, and people connected to agencies like US AID, who had no
expertise promoting grass roots entrepreneurship.
Many people
thought the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund was a vehicle to rebuild, revitalize and
stabilize Haiti
following the devastating earthquake of 2010.
The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund money actually went to: making mortgages
available to Haitians ($40 million), $1 million for insurance products?!,
$350,000 to upgrade a tourist hotel, $2 million to complete another luxury
hotel, $500,000 for cooking facilities for "micro-entrepreneur"
chef/cooks at an industrial park, $300,000 for computer labs for the University
of Haiti's School of Management, $1.5 million to fight cholera (a disease that
was brought to Haiti by the UN) http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022415607.
None of the
money went towards reconstruction of Haiti 's infrastructure. Some of the
money in the form of grants and loans (which obviously have to be repaid) went
to a series of small entrepreneurs and community agencies. http://www.clintonbushhaitifund.org/programs/entry/fhaf/
No Haitians were included in the decision
making process to determine who received the funds! Now many Haitians are demanding
an accounting and rightly so.
It's hard to run a business when the towns and
country are still in rubble with no running water, extremely limited
electricity and horrible sewage conditions. Most of the $54 million went to
mortgage loans and to build luxury hotels! Even if the people who were trained
for employment were serious entrepreneurs, with their country still in ruins no
national electric grid system and cholera spreading it is difficult to see how
they will be successful in such an environment since no new industries except a
few sweatshops have been created since the earthquake. If they fail the
entrepreneurs still have to repay the loans!
Methinks the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund was a
scam by prime time crooks like Bill Clinton and George W. Bu$h, as a way to raise
and reroute money to benefit their non-Haitian cronies. We need to remember
this when the election comes around.
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Sunday, August 21, 2016
What Can We Do?
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
What Can We Do?
There are
many who subscribe to the notion "you can't fight city hall" so they deliberately
avoid trying solve and resolve problems. That type of thinking negates our
sense of agency, self-determination and
our ability to act in our own best interests. I know from experience you can
take on the powers that be and affect change!
The United States
is drowning in corruption, fraud, criminality and malfeasance to the point it
is obvious to even the most casual observer. This is why so many people feel
angry, overwhelmed and anxious about their future. This is why Bernie Sanders
and Donald Trump were able to resonate with people on all sides of the
ideological spectrum. This is why Congress is held in such low esteem. This is
why so many have opted out of the electoral process and don't vote. But we already know this, the question is
what can we do?
The
corporate media is a propaganda machine that serves as the stenographers and
megaphones for the 1%, their minions and flunkies. Their goal is to maintain
the status quo. They want us to think we can't win. What can we do?
Often
demonstrations and protests fail because the government intervenes and break
them up like the US
government did to the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011. But there are other
ways to get our point across. During the Vietnam War era people tired of the
mainstream media's lies and created independent newspapers dedicated to peace,
liberation and truth.
While some still
exist today, the new communications paradigm is the Internet, wreless streaming
and social media . We can replicate the efforts of the dissidents and activists
of 60's and 70's by creating Websites and social media platforms to get our
message out, share our perspective, change the narrative and offer
counterbalance to the corporate media's disinformation and propaganda.
Because of
the streaming capabilities of the Internet, we can effectively counter the
corporate media's influence at a fraction of the costs. There are numerous
Websites, Internet radio and television stations, streaming platforms and
services we can use to get our ideas, images, ideologies and information to the
masses. Social media is the modern way to galvanize and organize!
Websites come and go, change is an ever
present reality but opportunities are still available. Since 2000 I have been involved with numerous
Internet radio stations, only a few are still operational today. Nevertheless,
new technologies and opportunities constantly arise to facilitate, create,
produce and share content and I have taken full advantage of them.
Each
municipality, state and the federal government has "right to know" or
"freedom of information" legislation. Except for top secret or
classified data, you can write to them to request their records, minutes,
internal audits and notes. You can then share this information with the
community and world via the Internet.
I have made such requests, fortunately because
of a positive relationship a key person at the institution gave me the
documents without me having to make a formal written demand.
In 1971 a
group of anti-war activists broke into the FBI office in Media Pennsylvania and
stole records that revealed the existence of a massive nation wide surveillance
and counter insurgency program called COINTELPRO. COINTELPRO was one of the
major campaigns the US
government used to illegally spy on ordinary citizens, disrupt dissident
groups, viciously attack the Peace, Civil Rights, anti-war, Native American and
organized labor movements. The perpetrators were never caught or prosecuted. I
am not advocating breaking the law or violence but there may come a time when
it is necessary. Civil disobedience and direct confrontation can be effective
means to social reformation and change. Those tactics brought down legalized US apartheid
and the Vietnam War! Of course you have to be prepared to face the consequences
such as arrest, jail having an arrest record but real heroes have the courage
of their convictions.
Today whistleblowers,
hackers and leakers can easily gain access to government, corporate and
individual documents and reveal them to the world. We can cut through the
government wall of secrecy and get to the truth. We see it all the time.
You can organize to file a lawsuit or a class
action suit to seek redress for an issue. In 2014 I was part of the group of
alumni who filed a lawsuit against the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania because of their
egregious neglect of Cheyney
University and their
failure to abide by a 1999 consent decree agreement to fund programs and
renovations at that HBCU. Our lawsuit contributed to the defeat an incumbent
governor and brought the new administration to the negotiation table, committed
to saving the school.
When it
comes to dealing with corporations and businesses the best way to affect real change
is through their bottom line, disrupt their income flow via boycotts,
disinvestment strategies and where possible in the board rooms by gaining
support of sympathetic shareholders. Since WWII numerous leaders and
organizations have successfully used selective patronage and withholding
dollars as a means to get the attention of the powers that be. Organizations
have led boycotts of cities, voting not to hold their conventions in that town
thereby depriving them of millions of dollars and discouraging tourism. These
tactics are very effective.
We are not
hopeless nor helpless. There are numerous ways we can take on the powers that
be and win. The first and foremost action is, to believe we can.
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Sunday, August 14, 2016
Massive Fiscal Irresponsibility
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
Massive
Fiscal Irresponsibility
"While the
Department of Defense can’t account for $6.5 trillion dollars of taxpayer
funds, in 2014 there were 47
million people, including over 15 million children, living in poverty in the U.S. – 15% of the U.S.
population, which is the largest total number in poverty since records began
being kept 52 years ago."
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/audit-reveals-pentagon-6-5-trillion/#JWIwDrmxrbyVdTgs.99
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/audit-reveals-pentagon-6-5-trillion/#JWIwDrmxrbyVdTgs.99
You
probably won't see this on the front page of your local newspaper, or see/hear
it repeated incessantly by the corporate mind control apparatus, but an
Inspector General audit revealed the US Department of Defense cannot account
for $6.5 trillion that's trillion with a "T" of US Army general fund
transactions and data. According to the report released on July 26th the US
Army cannot account for "$6.5 trillion in adjustments made to its year end
2015 financial statements." This is not a one time occurrence, the
military has not been able to track, account for or comply with standardized
accounting procedures in reporting their transactions for decades!
Remember
on September 10, 2001 Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld held a press
conference to announce the Pentagon could not account for $2.3 trillion
dollars. http://www.911myths.com/html/rumsfeld__9_11_and__2_3_trilli.html Of course the very next day 9-11 the "new
Pearl Harbor " catalyst the NeoCons needed
to jump start their bogus war on terror occurred. Nine-eleven was the
instigator of perpetual war, no bid contracts worth billions to administration
crony insiders and campaign contributors, it spurred the creation of new government departments like Homeland
Security, TSA and expanded the police spy state apparatus that grows larger
every year.
Fiscal
irresponsibility is the norm in this country. We forget this is our hard earned
taxpayer dollars being spent on wars started based upon lies!! How many new bridges, roads, schools, sewage
systems, humanitarian research and development projects could have been built,
started and created with the trillions of dollars the US spends to
kill innocent civilians? $8.5 trillion dollars from 1996 to 2014 has not been
accounted for! http://www.biggovernment.news/2016-08-08-6-5-trillion-reasons-why-the-pentagon-needs-to-get-its-act-together-before-it-asks-taxpayers-for-more-money.html
If
you handled your personal finances or your business and tax returns like the
Department of Defense handles its accounting, you'd be wearing an orange jump
suit now. Here are some examples of Pentagon mismanagement: "$300
Million a Year Unaccounted for in Afghanistan . In
the latest example of lax
oversight, a blistering new report from the Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reveals the Pentagon isn’t
keeping sufficient tabs on the $300 million in tax dollars each year that are
supposed to help fund the payroll of the Afghan National Police (ANP). U.S. Weapons Worth $500 Million Vanish
in Yemen . Pentagon
officials cannot track the whereabouts of $500 million worth of military
equipment the U.S. donated
to Yemen
since 2007 – raising alarms that the hardware may have ended up with
al-Qaeda or
Iranian-backed rebels.$1 Billion Paid for Loose Bolts and Damaged Aircraft. It’s
bad enough that federal contractors hired to perform routine maintenance work
on Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) airplanes dodged their work hours and
shirked important safety requirements. It’s even worse that they overcharged the
federal government hundreds of millions of dollars for
their 'work' – and agency officials didn’t notice any of it." http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/03/19/85-Trillion-Unaccounted-Should-Congress-Increase-Defense-Budget.
Not one
person has been held accountable, demoted or punished! "Consider that politicians of both major
political parties are demanding accountability for every penny spent on
welfare, including demanding that recipients of welfare prove that they are
trying to find work. Ditto for people receiving unemployment compensation.
Consider the amount of money and time spent on testing students in public
schools in a vain effort to make teachers accountable for student 'performance.'
And yet the military doesn’t have to account for any of its trillions of
dollars of spending on manpower and weapons — even though Congress fully a generation ago passed a law requiring such
accountability." http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/08/11/pentagon-money-pit/
Wow, the
military industrial complex is really powerful.
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Sunday, August 07, 2016
The Depths of US Depravity
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
The Depths of US Depravity
August 6 2016 marked seventy-one years since the United States
unleashed the first of two atomic bomb attacks on two Japanese cities killing,
maiming and disfiguring hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians. It cannot
be stressed enough that both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not
militarily significant, they were civilian cities! The US did this dastardly
deed despite the fact Japanese resources had been so depleted they were unable
to counter the relentless and destructive US bombing runs over Japan the months
preceding the dropping of the atomic bombs. The Japanese bombing campaign like
the US
bombing of German cities was devastating to both the Japanese war effort and
their morale. Hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were killed by that
bombing campaign. The two atomic bombs amounted to deliberate overkill, war
crimes of the highest magnitude!
Records indicate
the Japanese were actively seeking negotiations to end the war as early as January of 1945. Their only condition was that
their Emperor not be touched. The US ignored their efforts. In fact the US boosted their aerial assaults on
Japanese cities! The Japanese continuously pressed for a way to save face in their
surrender. In July of 1945 the US and Britain issued the Potsdam Declaration
demanding an unconditional surrender, saying if they did not Japan faced "prompt
and utter destruction."
The Americans
knew the Japanese wanted to end the war as soon as possible but were unwilling
to accept a dishonorable surrender! "America 's
leaders understood Japan 's
desperate position: the Japanese were willing to end the war on any terms, as
long as the Emperor was not molested. If the US leadership had not insisted on
unconditional surrender -- that is, if they had made clear a willingness to
permit the Emperor to remain in place -- the Japanese very likely would have
surrendered immediately, thus saving many thousands of lives." Was Hiroshima Necessary? Mark
Weber http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v16/v16n3p-4_weber.html
The US
goal was to humiliate the Japanese, not allow them to save face and demonstrate
the full power of the US
military for all the world to see. By that reckoning the atomic bombs were acts
of terrorism! That US position cost
hundreds of thousands of innocent lives, non-combat men, women and children! Months
prior to the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki , the US conducted massive bombing runs
on Japanese cities reducing them to ruble.
Looking at the various records, communiqués and memos the
dropping of atomic bombs was not necessary! The first atomic bomb was dropped
on August 6 1945, three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki . When Russia attacked the Japanese positions in Manchuria on August 8, 1945 reneging on their 1941 treaty
of non-aggression against the Japanese, the Japanese were in no position to
continue the fight. They were totally overwhelmed by the US bombings of Tokyo and the other Japanese cities.
What lessons can we glean from this knowledge? We can easily
conclude the US
civilian and military leadership are psychopaths who have no regard for human
life. We see this same contempt for life in the Vietnam War, in Kosovo and the
"Middle East ". Now the US military routinely
bombs the civilian infrastructures of nations it deems terroristic regimes, targeting
their water treatment plants, electrical generating plants, roads, oil
refineries, airports and rail lines inflicting massive suffering on civilians. The
US
leadership enjoys killing civilians. Look at what the US has done in Afghanistan ,
Iraq , Libya , Somalia ,
Yemen and now Syria .
This is the history of the United States . We must never ignore
or dismiss this history when we look at the US government and military.
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Monday, August 01, 2016
Law and Order
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Law
and Order
When racial oppression gets so
bad in this country, when Blacks say enough is enough and respond in kind to the
violence the system routinely metes out on us and their responses threaten the
status quo, the ruling class goes into conniptions calling for "law and
order." Law and order are code words for oppression, a defense of and return
to the status quo of 1% privilege and domination. Their calls for "law and
order" are paradoxical given the history of white people in general and
the history of this nation in particular. Notice white people never ever call
for justice. They never implore for peace, compassion or harmony.
The calls
for law and order mean for the authorities to protect and defend the bestiality
and brutal nature of their socio-economic and political system. Their insistence
on "law and order" belies the fact violence and terror have been the
primary means whites have used to maintain domination over the indigenous
inhabitants of this nation and the people of color they imported here to do the
back breaking work the 1%ers could not or would not do and supply the genius and
other expertise whites did not posses.
From jump
street the US
system denied legal and civil rights to non property owning whites, all
females, Africans and indigenous inhabitants. The US Constitution the law of
the land sanctioned slavery and the US government made money off of the trans-
Atlantic slave trade; "up to ten dollars a head on those persons imported the
states saw fit to import". That was US law and order.
When the police were shot in Dallas
and Baton Rouge
a few weeks ago, it was the equivalent of the Gabriel Prosser ,Nat Turner
uprisings or the Haitian Revolution. Those events sent fear, panic and alarm
throughout the US .
The biggest fear whites have is we will
repay tit for tat to them every vile thing they've done to us!
These same people calling for "law and
order" had no problem passing laws excluding Black people from engaging in
certain professions, preventing Blacks from voting, or even remaining a certain
locations if perchance they were free during slavery. Following the War Between
the States when for a brief period Black men could vote and hold office, the Southern
1% pressed for the removal of the US troops from the South who were maintaining
order and protecting Black people. The Southern 1% abhorred the post war "law
and order" imposed upon the South because they were prevented from holding
the reigns of power and excluded from participating in the political process! They
were determined to end "Reconstruction" and return to the "law
and order" they felt comfortable with. Once the troops left Southern whites went on a
rampage of violence and terror that continued with impunity until the late
1960's.
When Blacks migrated North and West we were
still subject to oppression and violence. Today's police shootings of Blacks
are merely a continuation of those policies.
Black people have never experienced equal protection or respect
under their laws, we have never fully enjoyed the benefits of the law. In the
early Twentieth Century when Black people pleaded with the US Congress to pass
anti-lynching laws their pleas were ignored.
It took
the Civil Rights movement which consisted of aggressive activism, law suits, civil
disobedience, demonstrations, boycotts and on occasion violence to break the US legal system
of apartheid and the Black Codes that prescribed just about every aspect of
life for Black people in the South.
Today when
white people call for "law and order" this is what they mean, a
return to those days!
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