Monday, November 28, 2016

Fake News

                                            


                                               From The Ramparts
                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                                    Fake News

            The ruling oligarchy is having conniptions because their propaganda campaign to enthrone Hillary Clinton failed so dismally. Now they are blaming Trump's win on fake news and alleged interventions by Russia on behalf of Trump. This mendacity is being promoted by the same corporate media that on an hourly basis serves as stenographers, shills and cheerleaders for corporate interests and their government puppets. Fake news, indeed. What the corporate media is not saying is the US government has a long and absolutely foul history of lying, using smear tactics, and mind control to dupe, misinform and deceive us. https://www.sott.net/article/291216-Operation-Mockingbird-is-alive-and-well-and-living-in-your-TV
            The present campaign to demonize independent media is like the kettle calling the pot black. Let's review some glaring examples of the mainstream corporate media's dishonesty and betrayal of trust. Remember how the mainstream media echoed the Bu$h administration's lies about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction? How did that turn out? Were any weapons ever found? Nope! After trillions spent on illegal wars, millions of people displaced, maimed, crippled and killed have any network talking heads, any Bu$h or Obama administration officials been reprimanded, rebuked, held accountable, indicted or jailed? No, not one! How is that possible?!
             Before the Saddam Hussein WMD fabrications we were told 9-11 was plotted and executed by a guy who we know was suffering from terminal renal failure, supposedly living in a cave in Afghanistan!!?  What we weren't told is Osama bin-Laden was a US CIA asset part of the US, UK, Saudi and Israeli axis of evil. http://newsone.com/1205745/cia-osama-bin-laden-al-qaeda/ 
            Think of all the lies about bin-Laden and 9-11 that have been seared into our consciousness, lies that allowed the ruling class to invade Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Libya and carry on a totally bogus war on terrorism. The fact is, today the US is the greatest purveyor of violence and terror in the world! By the way Osama bin-Laden died in 201 in Tora Bora from kidney failure not the fake 2011 raid perpetrated by the Obama administration and the corporate media. http://yournewswire.com/evidence-shows-osama-bin-laden-actually-died-in-2001/
            During the first Bu$h administration Hill and Knowlton a well connected Washington D.C. PR firm concocted a multi-million dollar media campaign to sell the Gulf War to gullible US citizens. The firm even arranged a phony Congressional hearing conducted by several real Congressmen on October 10, 1990 that featured a Kuwaiti girl saying she witnessed Iraqi soldiers killing Kuwaiti babies in incubators in a Kuwaiti hospital. That "testimony" during a simulated Congressional hearing was repeated by the corporate media and shown over and over all around the world. What we didn't know was the events never happened and the "witness" supposedly named  "Nayirah" was actually the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US. Everything she said was a lie at the behest of  Hill and Knowlton to gin up a war! https://www.sott.net/article/265869-First-Gulf-War-based-on-a-lie-orchestrated-by-PR-firm-Hill-Knowlton
             These are a few examples of the egregious lies  a complicit corporate media tells, but we must remember we are lied to 24/7/365 in the form of commercials, PR campaigns, radio, television, films and video games. Six conglomerates own and control almost everything we read, see on billboards, watch on TV and in the movies. The media's job is to program us to be like Pavlov's dogs; mindlessly responding/reacting to their stimuli. For example think about the notion we live in post racial America.  As much as many of us would like to believe this is true, it is not. Far from it! Racial animus and discrimination are alive and well in this country. The treatment of Barack Obama by the Republicans is a glaring reminder as was much of Trump's campaign rhetoric.
            Fortunately we are not totally dependent on the corporate media for all our information and entertainment. The Internet offers the opportunity to study for ourselves, and get alternative and independent sources of information.  Is everything on the Internet true and reliable? Of course not. But it can be a valuable counterweight to the corporate media mind control clap trap.
             Now the 1% are trying to undermine the Internet's independence and openness. They and their minions pay people Internet users call trolls to visit sites, post comments, pictures, videos, lies and disinformation to keep us duped, deceived and discombobulated. You definitely have to use discernment when you surf the Web. You have to cross reference and double check all information and most importantly think for yourself.
            Don't believe the 1%'s  hype about fake news. They are the most egregious purveyors of fake news and lies in the world!

                                                            -30-

             

Saturday, November 26, 2016

The Lessons of History


                                                            
                                                             From The Ramparts
                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                                            The Lessons of History

            "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”— George Santayana 

            It is imperative we study and learn our history. History is the prologue to the present. We live in volatile times. Stay alert, keep your eyes and ears open, remain open minded yet skeptical (I know that sounds like a contradiction but it can be done and we should do it). Today's unrest, angst and frustrations is very much like what was going on in this country during in the early part of the 19th century when the massive infusion of immigrants thrown into an already volatile mix of imported (and later domestically bred) and oppressed Africans created social tensions and animosity that resulted in race riots and open bloodshed which ultimately led to the War Between the States (there is no such thing as a "civil war".)
             This racial admixture altered the social landscape. The ruling elites had long contemplated what to do with the Africans (the "free" ones) hence the founding of the American Colonization Society in 1816. The notion of sending free Blacks back to Africa (or someplace in South or Central America) was kept alive until the War Between The States. In the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857 the US Supreme Court said, "Blacks were not citizens of this country and had no rights a white person was bound to respect."  The idea of gradually sending all Blacks (free and enslaved) away was actually floated by Abraham Lincoln who persuaded Congress to appropriate $ 500,000 for such a project. http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jala/2629860.0014.204... 
            That plan died with Lincoln but the issues remained. The minions of the 1% asked "What are we going to do with the Blacks"? That question is still being asked and addressed (today by incarceration via the bogus Wars on Crime and Drugs, a tilted judicial system and genocide via abortion, police killings, environmental poisoning, menticide etc), now other non European immigrants are also being looked at askance.
            The reality is Trump is not going to deport millions of immigrants (although Obama deported over two million!) any more than Abraham Lincoln or his successors were able to "colonize" (deport) all Blacks. They will probably deport a few, a million or so, for show purposes to keep up pretenses but they will not be able to lock up nor deport all illegal immigrants. 
            What will the ruling class do to the immigrants?  Their ancestors weren't able to deport all our ancestors, so what are they going to do with this crop of immigrants? A costly war was fought that inadvertently led to the freeing of our enslaved ancestors but the ruling class conspired to restore the former order and re-enslave our ancestors by taking away the protection of Northern troops. That deal returned political control back to the former slave owners and the aristocracy, which sealed our fate until the twentieth century's the "Civil Rights movement".
            Prior to the War Between the States there was much contention, debate and wide scale violence that served as a precursor to the War Between the States (see http://www.civilwaronthewesternborder.org/essay/bleeding-kansas-kansas-nebraska-act-harpers-ferry). In many ways the class and racial divide is just as intense today as it was in 1854. Political actions based upon economic interests and ideas about race, eventually led to the violent conflict we call the War Between the States. The divide in this country today following the presidential election is just as extreme as it was in 1854!
            Today there is a class war simmering in this nation: income inequality is at an all time high while opportunity, upward mobility and the prospects of prosperity are diminishing which is why there is so much angst and anger today. Time will tell whether we muster the will to resolve the burning issues of today in a way that reconciles the sins, divisions and wounds of the past and benefits all parties; or we repeat and relive the mistakes that led to division, violent war in 1861 and the reestablishment of quasi slavery and peonage twelve years later. If the election has anything to teach us it is we owe it to ourselves our ancestors and our progeny to drop our dependency on our enemies, develop and find ways to enhance our  position throughout the world.


                                                            -30-

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Karma

                                                             From The Ramparts
                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                                                       Karma


            Karma is an ancient concept that was articulated in India but you find it in most indigenous cultures, it simply means we reap what we sow. It is the law of cause and effect. Karma applies to all actions, it applies to our thoughts, values, motives and behavior, there are always consequences for everything. Karma is personal and collective. The consequences may not be quantifiable, nevertheless there are consequences.  There is an old saying, "whatever is in the well will come out in the bucket."
            The election results shouldn't have surprised you, if you were in tune with the pulse and sentiment of the masses and not the corporate media.  The corporate media's function is to create perceptions, to manufacture public opinion, to distract us from what is really going on and shill for the 1%.  The media rarely reports on or focuses on the increasing income inequality, the hardening economic apartheid, the decline in the standard of living and rising tide of indebtedness for Americans young and old.
            Major discontent has been percolating beneath the American psyche for a long, long time. This discontent first manifested during George W. Bu$h's term as president. Millions were upset about the 2000 election results when the US Supreme Court stopped the Florida vote count and gave the election to Bu$h. The disgruntlement increasd because of corporate fraud but abated following 9-11 because of the media propaganda for the bogus "war on terror".
            Ultimately it was the wars and the collapse of the global economy that spurred new feelings of angst and dissatisfaction. This anxiety manifested openly in the Tea Party, an amorphous assortment of dissidents mostly of conservative and libertarian bent worried about the direction of the country. However, the Koch brothers co-opted  the grassroots Tea Party movement and transformed it into an ultra conservative arm of the Republican Party and set Glen Beck and Sara Palin up as their spokesperson figureheads. The discontent did not disappear or dissolve.
            Next came the Occupy Wall Street movement that brought the US class war into consciousness. Because of Occupy, the term 1% is part of our everyday vocabulary. The Occupy Wall Street movement spread across the country and around the world. After ignoring it for several months the corporate media began to demonize and mock them. Finally Obama forcibly shut the Occupy Wall Street movement down all across the country in 2011 so they would not be a factor in the 2012 election but the genie was out of the bottle!
            The Black Lives Matter Movement is a grassroots movement of mostly young people appalled by the growing trend of police killings of Black people. They tapped into a vast reservoir of discontent amongst Black people. But a countermovement arose when billionaire George Soros attempted to co-opt Black Lives Matter by pumping millions into it to steer it in a different direction.
            Fast forward to Tuesday November 8, 2016. Hillary Clinton lost the election for numerous reasons foremost because the people wanted "real change'. A Gallup Poll showed Americans' satisfaction with the way things were going dropped from 29% in June of 2016 to 17% in July one month later. http://www.gallup.com/poll/193832/americans-satisfaction-drops-sharply.aspx A twelve point drop in one month! Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump addressed this dissatisfaction, but Hillary Clinton did not.
            Bernie Sanders' Socialist message and popularity forced Hillary Clinton to copy his populous rhetoric but people knew she was Wall Street's girl.  In a twisted irony Donald Trump a billionaire businessman, a non politician and reality TV celebrity became the voice of resistance, the embodiment of the revolt against the 1%.
            The ruling oligarchy's Karma and her role in it were Clinton's undoing. Her warmongering, her active support of  her husband's policies that led to mass incarceration of Black and Brown people, the repeal of the Glass Steagall Act which opened the way to Wall Street shenanigans and the crash of 2007-08, the passage of NAFTA that led to the loss of millions of jobs and the demise of American manufacturing, what Bill and Hillary said about and against Barack Obama in 2008, the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation exposed as money laundering influence peddling, pay to play operations. Her Karma was just too much to overcome so she lost.
            What is the lesson for us? Black people were the only major constituency that still voted for Hillary Clinton even though not to the level we supported Barack Obama.  How is it knowing how the Clintons' policies negatively impacted our communities, millions of Black people still voted for her? Why did we vote for her despite the Leakileaks, despite how Bill Clinton and George W Bu$h ripped off our people in Haiti?!
            What can we learn from this?  We must remember we come from an ancient people of genius who made a way out of no way. We were resilient and resourceful when we couldn't vote, when the US Constitution supported slavery and politicians did not court our opinions or favor. Let's not succumb to fear, despair or defeat over Donald Trump's election.  That Karma will take care of itself. Let us rekindle the energy and spirit that allowed us to survive slavery, violence, state and Klan terror to rise up and dismantle legal apartheid. Let us create a new vision for ourselves and create positive Karma.


                                                            -30-

Tuesday, November 01, 2016

The Real October Surprise

   
                                                 

                                                          From The Ramparts
                                                       Junious Ricardo Stanton
                                                     The Real October Surprise!

            "The Department of Health and Human Services announced Monday that the cost for a health-insurance plan obtained through the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, the healthcare law better known as Obamacare, would increase by 25% on average for the 2017 coverage year." http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-how-much-obamacare-premiums-are-going-up-in-every-state-2016-10

            The corporate mind control apparatus is in a tizzy over FBI Director James Comey's letter to Congress stating there is an ongoing investigation into the E-mails of Hillary Clinton's right hand girl Huma Abadin and her estranged husband former US Congressman Anthony Weiner.  Now the media's top priority is redirecting their spin, shill and attempts to perform damage control on behalf of  Clinton as her campaign implodes and falls apart. The corporate mind manipulators were so dutiful in their support of Clinton they successfully suppressed the real October surprise at least as far as its impact regular folks like us, the quantum jump in health insurance premiums under Obama Care. You are not hearing much about this even though the news came out at least a week before Comey's bombshell announcement.
             I hate to tell you I told you this was going to happen but I did. I knew early on Obama Care was a sham, because the bill was written by the insurance lobby and trading association. It was payback to the insurance companies for their support of Obama's presidential candidacy.  The legislation was rammed down our throats at the behest of the insurance industry. Remember the Congress critters didn't even know what was in the Bill. Then Speaker of the House Nancy Palosi stated they had to pass the Bill to see what was in it. What?!!  This means Congress never read it before voting it into law!! This should demonstrate to all but the totally brain dead, the US has the best Congress money can buy!
            This is the real October surprise not the FBI's investigation into Abadin's E-mails. Health insurance rate increases will directly impact far more people than any information on Abadin's E-mails because their health insurance premiums are going up at a time when stagflation (higher costs of living and stagnant or lower wages) is increasing as the income inequality gap widens! But you don't hear Hillary Clinton talking about this do you? The only reason she even talks about: reducing income inequality, creating jobs, free college, equal pay for women etc is because they were part of Bernie Sanders' extremely popular campaign against her.
            As Wall Street's main girl, Clinton doesn't really believe any of that nor is she going to push it if she is elected. (Even if she is elected she will be stymied by the Congressional investigations that will be launched against her.)
            This is huge but the corporate media is suppressing it. Since they won't tell you I will. Here is an example of the average rate increases in the key battleground states: Ohio: 13.12% increase, Florida: 17.40% increase, Pennsylvania: 32.5% increase, Nevada: 11.74% increase Maine: 21.24% increase, New Hampshire: 12.44% increase, Virginia: 21.68% increase, North Carolina: 24.30% increase, Iowa: 20.46% increase, Michigan: 16.06% increase, Wisconsin: 20.39% increase.  http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/10/pass-average-2017-obamacare-premium-increases-battleground-states/. How do you think people in these states would vote if the corporate media were talking about this and showing how these increases will affect family budgets?!
            But you won't see or hear much about this important issue in the "news" because the mainstream media which is owned by the 1% is shilling for Clinton. Let's not forget one of Clinton's main talking points is continuing Obama's legacy. You mean the legacy of increasing wars, (Obama has started more wars that are or have destroyed more countries than George W. Bu$h) killing innocent civilians with drone strikes and being a willing shill for Wall Street, the insurance companies, Big Pharma and other special interests?
            The trove of  Wikleaks hacks of the Democratic National Committee, Clinton's Campaign Chairman John Podesta, and other Clinton associates reveal patterns of sordid dealings, disingenuousness and a disdain for the masses that add fuel to her already hugely unfavorable rating. (The corporate media is also suppressing the rampant fraud and corruption of the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation but these are topics for another day.)
             Neither major candidate is a peach and they both have had "October surprises". In the overall scheme of things I think the Affordable Care Act premium increases trump (pardon the pun) Clinton's E-mail brouhaha or Trump's potty mouth and misogyny.


                                                            -30-