Monday, August 29, 2016

Partners In Crime

                                                       
     

                                                              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.

                                                                        -30-


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.

                                                                        -30-



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

            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.
           

                                                            -30-


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.


                                                            -30-

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!


                                                                        -30-