From The Ramparts

                                               

                                               From The Ramparts

                                              Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                    Trump's Trip

            Donald Trump recently concluded a much ballyhooed trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel and Europe. While a contrived controversy about his  alleged ties to Russia rages at home, Trump did little while he was abroad to promote peace, engender confidence or create economic good will.

            Trump revealed himself to be one of three things: a complete idiot about world affairs, a blatant hypocrite by going to Saudi Arabia the prime supplier of fanaticism and terror in the world today, or a stooge for the military industrial security complex/Deep State.

            The corporate media is not going to tell us about the role Saudi Wahabbism plays in hate and terror on a global level, but I will.  "Modern Islamic extremism and terrorism simply cannot be explained or understood without looking at the history and influence of Wahhabi Islam. This means that it's important from an ethical and an academic perspective to understand what Wahhabi Islam teaches, what's so dangerous about it, and why those teachings differ from other branches of Islam...

               Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792) was the first modern Islamic fundamentalist and extremists. Wahhab made the central point of his reform movement the principle that absolutely every idea added to Islam after the third century of the Mulsim era (about 950 CE) was false and should be eliminated. Muslims, in order to be true Muslims, must adhere solely and strictly to the original beliefs set forth by Muhammad.

             Because so many Muslims lived (so he claimed) in jahiliyya, al-Wahhab accused them of not being true Muslims after all. Only those who followed the strict teachings of al-Wahhab were truly Muslims because only they still followed the path laid out by Allah. Accusing someone of not being a true Muslim is significant because it is forbidden for one Muslim to kill another; but if someone is not a true Muslim then killing them (in war or in an act of terrorism) becomes licit. It would be hard to underestimate the importance of this principle to modern terrorists and extremists...

             Even though Wahhabism is a minority position overall in the Muslim world, it has nevertheless been influential for other extremist movements throughout the Middle East. This can be seen with a couple of factors, first of which is al-Wahhab’s use of the term jahiliyya to vilify a society which he does not consider pure enough, whether they call themselves Muslim or not. Even today, Islamists use the term when referring to the West and at times even to their own societies. With it, they can justify overthrowing what many might regard as an Islamic state by essentially denying that it is truly Islamic at all." Wahhabism and Wahhabi Islam: How Wahhabi Islam Differs from Sunni, Shia Islam https://www.thoughtco.com/wahhabism-and-wahhabi-islam-250235

            Make no mistake, Saudi Arabia is a Wahhabist state ruled by a family of desert pirates who were recognized and given status as monarchs by the British Empire in 1926. Al Saud a Bedouin thief and his family formed a partnership with al Wahhab's fanatics in 1744 and have been in cahoots ever since. Most if not all Islamic fanaticism has it's roots in Saudi Wahhabism which has been exported from Saudi Arabia around the world! https://my.nps.edu/documents/105988371/107571254/DillonWahhabismThesis.pdf/23fc46fb-17a6-41da-83b8-8e312191b5bb

            For Donald Trump to go to Saudi Arabia bow down to these thugs and give them additional billions in US arms is an utter disgrace! The corporate media is not going to tell us the US partners with Saudi Arabia, Israel and NATO to run their proxy wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen and other places around the world nevertheless it is a fact.

            From Saudi Arabia Trump ventured to Israel where he also promised billions of additional US taxpayer dollars to them while simultaneously cutting funds for social programs at home in his proposed budget. What's wrong with that picture? What type of hornet's nest will Trump stir if he follows through with his idea of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?

            From Israel Trump flew to Europe to meet with the Pope, NATO and the G7 leaders. There he chastised NATO members for not paying their "fair share" while hypocritically calling NATO which for all intents and purposes is the thug arm of US global imperialism an "organ of peace". Whew, you can't make this stuff up.

             He criticized Germany for having a thriving economy exporting more goods to the US than the US exports to Germany. I wonder why? Could it be German products are better made than the USA's?

            People appear relieved Trump did not make a complete fool of himself and embarrass the country. Maybe, maybe not; his dance with the Saudi swords made him look like a doofus in my book. But let's not forget what an idiot George W Bu$h was, how he led this nation into perpetual wars and debt based on lies and how his successors both Obama and Trump are building upon that pattern.

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                                      Magic Sounds Reading Program

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

            Elementary school teachers are exceptional educators and motivators. Their task is to stimulate inspire and encourage young minds in the joy of learning and prepare them for the rigors of things to come. Miss Barbara Jackson was an elementary school teacher who taught first grade in the Philadelphia school district for over thirty years. During that time she enjoyed interacting with young children discovering and figuring out ways to make learning fun and easy for her students.

            She attended and graduated from Cheyney State Teachers College where she was trained to teach the basics of reading, mathematics and civics. She favored the phonics approach to teaching reading because her methods instructor at Cheyney emphasized phonics and encouraged her to use it to teach reading.

            When she began her teaching career, phonics was the standard method but subsequently the Philadelphia School District switched to the sight word approach.  She found her students were not doing as well using that method. Being a true teacher who wanted her students to succeed, she went back to teaching phonics. "I was about ten years into teaching, I was seeing the children weren't grasping reading the way I thought they should so I tried all kinds of ways to get them to do better. I developed magic sounds, I was already teaching phonics but this was an easier way than the traditional phonics. One day I sat down and wrote it out I showed it to a friend of mine and he couldn't believe it."

             She saw her students responded well to the program and over the years she  modified it to suit the skills and personalities of her classes. After a while she realized she had created an innovative reading program which she called Magic Sounds. Being an astute teacher, she recognized the children liked repeating the vowel sounds coupled with consonants to make up words or parts of words. She discovered her technique made reading easier for her students.

            She caught flack from some of her principals but remained steadfast and persistent in her belief that phonics was the better reading teaching method. Plus school administrators couldn't really discipline her because her students always outperformed the other first grade classes in the school.

             Miss Jackson wanted to share the program with other teachers, parents and the public so she went into a professional recording studio, recorded the lessons then used her notes and lesson plans to create a workbook to accompany the audio lessons. As time passed Miss Jackie, as her students called her, was forced to keep up with the technology. At first she used vinyl records. When cassette tapes came out she created cassette tapes for her lessons, then DVD's and later memory sticks. Now she is working on an animated program and workbook.        

            Though retired she still tutors students one on one occasionally and she keeps busy refining and reworking her reading program she calls Magic Sounds. She has expanded to offer a few additional learning products. She is proud of the reading program and the success it has had helping students of all ages learn to read using phonics. "You can use the program to teach toddlers and babies to read. If the mother watches the DVD and becomes familiar with the sounds then she can teach her baby. The child will learn very fast and efficiently because phonics is a natural way to learn to read because that is the way children learn to speak. In the first year babies babble, they say da,da, dada and ba,ba and baba; these are the short sounds. They don't say mama or mommy until later.

            In all the years I've been doing this I've never had one program returned." She declared proudly.

            With much of education in crisis especially in urban areas, with dwindling resources, widening achievement gaps and an emphasis on test score results, a program like Magic Sounds is a medium parents, teachers, mentors and educational advocates can get behind and support.

             Miss Jackie spends much of her time filling orders for the program and shipping them out of her home. "I do most of the work myself I don't have a large staff. I used to have a friend who served as a salesman but he died." She has created a Website, www.magicsoundsphonicsfirst.com and she sells her programs Online. The cost is $20 which includes shipping and handling. For more information about Magic Sounds reading made easy, you can E-mail her at magicsoundsreadeasy@gmail.com or call (215) 849-5543.

                                                            -30-

ps, you can listen to my podcast interview with Barbara Jackson at https://soundcloud.com/junious-ricardo-stanton/akoben-miss-barbara-jackson-magic-sounds-reading-technique

               

                                                 From  The Ramparts

                                              Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                         It's Time To Stand Up For Right

            "Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground." - Rosa Parks

            There was a time Afro-Americans were the moral compass of this country. Due to the insane system of slavery and oppression that ensnared our ancestors in a vicious  environment that attempted to break their spirits and sap their will to resist, numerous ancestors stood up to urge their peers to struggle, resist and hold on for a better day.

            In 1827 Freedom's Journal the first African American newspaper was started by Rev. Samuel E. Cornish the pastor of the African Presbyterian Church of New York and John Russwurm the first Black man in the US to receive a college degree. Their paper called for self-determination and freedom. The banner of their very first edition read, "We Wish to Plead Our Own Cause."  In the first editorial they said, "We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us. Too long has the public been deceived by misrepresentations in things which concern us dearly ..."  While the paper didn't last long due to lack of financial support, it was a seminal effort in self-determination and self expression.

            David Walker was born in North Carolina around 1796 of an enslaved father and free mother; so he "enjoyed" free born status.  His status as a free Black allowed Walker to gain an education. He subsequently moved to Massachusetts in 1825. There he became active in the abolition movement and the proprietor of a successful second hand shop that sold mostly sailors clothing and uniforms. In 1829 he wrote and published a radical call for the abolition of slavery entitled Walker's Appeal To The Slaves of The United States of America a detailed account of the status of enslaved people. In it Walker was implacable in his hatred of slavery. He vigorously denounced the forced ignorance and white religion slavery imposed upon his enslaved brethren. Walker was equally contemptuous of the colonization movement organized by prominent whites whose goal was to get free Blacks to immigrate back to Africa.

            Walker urged enslaved Africans not to turn the other cheek but to use violence in their righteous quest for freedom. Walker's provocative pamphlet so unnerved white America a bounty of $500 dollars was placed on his head, $1,000 if he was captured alive. Walker was advised of this by friends who urged him to flee to Canada, but he refused. He was  mysteriously found dead in 1830. Many suspected he had been poisoned but "official records" say his death was due to tuberculosis.   

            Throughout our sojourn in the wilderness of North America there have been countless courageous souls known and unknown who stood up for freedom, dignity and self-determination in small and large ways from one on one resistance to leading large scale rebellions and social movements. As this nation devolves into an oppressive police state very reminiscent of the constant monitoring by the Pattyrollers and militia during slavery, it is time for us to stand up and stand for something. It is time to reinsert the words struggle and liberation into our vocabulary and lexicon.

            The voices of our ancestors, countless sheroes and heroes call out from the spirit realm to encourage us to stand for something meaningful and good. Mrs. Rosa Parks the courageous catalyst for the Montgomery Bus boycott once said, "Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground."

            We can not afford to rest on our laurels or boast about our victories during the Civil Rights movement because many of those same victories are being undermined as we speak. Sadly there is no mass movement to address these issues or right these wrongs. It's time we stand up for freedom, human rights, economic justice, PEACE and well being for all humanity.

                                                            30-

                 

  

   

                                                     From The Ramparts

                                                  Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                       The Monkey Is Showing His Behind

            There is an African saying, "the higher a monkey goes up the tree, the more it shows its' behind." We are seeing Donald Trump show his behind. Many people voted for him because they thought he would usher in a new era of government featuring less taxes, less military intervention and war, an America first outlook, create and bring jobs back to the US. Trump won the election by garnering the most electoral college votes and after one hundred days he is well on his way up the tree and we are seeing his behind.

            We are seeing just how ill equipped he is and how the deep state has muffled all his talk about friendly relations with Russia. We are seeing how he has flip-flopped on just about every campaign promise he made. Now only his most ardent supporters and the Fox Cable talking heads are the only ones who aren't having buyers remorse (not that a Clinton presidency would be better).

            Just like on the campaign trail where Trump played loose with reality (alternative facts) he routinely uttered outrageous characterizations of his opponents and their policies, now in the White House Trump looks like the reality show personality he is. For  him, everything is hyperbole, spin and there is no rhyme or reason to the things he does.

            When Trump was talking about establishing friendly relations with Russia he was ridiculed, mocked and scorned by the deep state's acolytes in the corporate media, the D.C. beltway group think lemmings and the warmongers in the military intelligence security hydra. He caved in immediately. Now Trump is on board with saber rattling and bellicose rhetoric against people who have done nothing to the U.S.

            Trump drank the Democratic Party's Kool Aid about Russia hacking the presidential election despite the fact the CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI and Five Eye Alliance have produced no evidence whatsoever to prove these claims are factual. Whew.  

            Unlike the US, North Korea has not invaded anyone, North Korea has not engineered coups in foreign lands and North Korea doesn't have over eight hundred military and covert ops bases around the world! North Korea can't launch a nuclear missile at the US mainland because they don't have the capability.  But Trump and his advisors (except Banning) are cheerleaders for "all options are on the table" blustering against North Korea. They never talk about coming to the table to work out a binding peace agreement to end the Korean War!  Trump is revealing he is just like his predecessors a gullible stooge in the grip of the deep state.

            On the home front, Trump and his Republican Party buddies who have their own agenda are using his popularity as a cover to gut the New Deal and Great Society programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

            These charlatans made a big deal about the fact they passed a Health Care bill to supposedly keep their promise to repeal and replace Obamacare. But the fact of the matter is they didn't do any such thing. Most of the two hundred seventeen Congress critters who voted for the bill hadn't even read it!!  They held a love fest and mutual admiration society bash at the White House after the vote each taking turns patting themselves on the back for passing a House version of a bill that will need passage in the US Senate then reconciliation with the Senate version then passage of the compromise bill and then signage by Trump. All that for a bill that is deeply flawed which will hurt citizens much more than Obamacare did (not that Obamacare was a good bill it wasn't). 

            Trump is showing he doesn't give a hoot about the American people, only his super rich buddies. There is an article in Forbes that details how the GOP health bill injures just about everyone. Please read the article at https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnwasik/2017/05/05/how-gops-healthcare-bill-hurts-everyone/#6954714b5cf2

            As Trump goes farther up the tree (a metaphor for the D.C. political landscape) the more he reveals how controlled by the establishment he really is.

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                                                              From The Ramparts

                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                               The Tax Cut Scam

            "The reality is that years of massive deficits, runaway government spending, artificially low-interest rates, and three rounds of quantitative easing, have left the economy so sick that any tax cut large enough to revive it may actually kill it instead. The only silver lining to this cloud may be that the coming fiscal train wreck leaves lawmakers no choice but to slash government spending. If the real Republican agenda is to starve the beast, its success is assured." Peter Schiff, http://patriotrising.com/2017/05/01/tax-cut-big-enough-save-economy-may-kill-instead-says-peter-schiff/

            I don't profess to be an economist, a tax expert or and big time financial analyst but it seems to me the Trump tax cut plan is a scam that will do the same thing the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush tax cuts did, give a gigantic boost to the already rich while skyrocketing government deficits and debt. The United States is fiscally bankrupt our government spends far more than it take in from taxes, tariffs, leases and other forms or revenue.

            You know yourself if you spend more money than you earn by using credit cards and refinancing your home your wealth diminishes and your balance sheet will be out of whack, so image what it means for a country to be in hock over its head. This situation would be catastrophic except for the fact the US treasury can get money from the Federal Reserve Bank anytime it needs it, but obviously at a cost since it is really a loan; sort of legalized (due to the legislation that created the Federal Reserve bank in 1913) counterfeiting.

            Continuous deficits are really unsustainable but the federal government simply borrows the money to keep operating even though they know it is putting us in a deeper fiscal hole. "For example, in 2015, the federal government ran a cash deficit of $438 billion—after collecting $3,250 billion in revenues and spending $3,688 billion. The continuous level of deficit spending has increased public debt, which, during the same period, rose from 33.7 percent to 73.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP)." http://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/causes-the-federal-governments-unsustainable-spending 

            This means the government debt level is almost as much as the total amount of goods and services produced in this country! We are fast approaching the point where public debt will overtake and surpass the total productivity of this nation! Not that that's too hard to do since the US has been deindustrialized, the jobs sent overseas and casino                     capitalism is the rage.

             Now Trump is coming with his tax reduction plan, a plan ambiguous in details but praised by the rich because it lowers their taxes! Trump's tax plan has been formulated by the rich for the rich. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-trump-tax-plan-more-money-for-the-oligarchs/5587786  This will produce a declining standard of living for most Americans. The Republican agenda (which is also supported by many Democrats) is to cut and eventually gut social programs like Social Security and Medicare while continuously funding wars (fueled by the totally bogus war on terrorism), massive corporate subsidies and welfare for the rich.

            Due to corporate media propaganda, government brainwashing and mind control we suffer from shortened memories and an absence of critical thinking; so we fail to connect the dots about how tax cuts for the rich championed and passed by Ronald Reagan, George W. Bu$h and Congress created huge benefits for the rich, massive government deficits but failed to manifest the ballyhooed jobs and trickle down benefits for the rest of us. Trump's plan will do the exact same thing especially given the Republican plan to cut the so called entitlement programs. By the way "entitlement programs" are programs we pay or paid into while we were working, that our Congress critters don't have to pay into because their plans are funded by us (in addition to the bribes and contributions they receive) and are much much better!

            We are facing a lose lose situation here. This alarming ratio of rising government (and personal) debt to shrinking GDP is unsustainable in the long run and this doesn't include the dire fiscal situation faced by cities, counties and state governments and their pension plans. Demand a full airing and accounting of the proposed tax cuts lest we see a repeat of the Reagan and Bu$h policies.

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                                                 Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             Kettle Calling The Pot Black

            With all the brouhaha about alleged Russian hacking of the 2016 presidential election you would think the Democratic Party, the US Deep State (shadow government FBI, CIA etc), US politicians and the corporate media would not risk making fools of themselves if the masses knew the US has been quit busy attempting to undermine and influence election outcomes around the world since the late 1940's.  In fact I'll bet most people forgot President Obama tried to persuade voters in the United Kingdom not to vote to exit the European Union two months prior to the June 23, 2016 vote. He spoke openly on several occasions in support of the UK remaining in the European Union. Many feel Obama's pro EU push is what made Brits vote so overwhelmingly to leave the European Union!

            But that was, chump change, an extremely passive attempt to influence British politics by the US government. The US has a far more aggressive, imperialist and neo-colonial history of  interference, intervention and meddling around the world. Recent research by Dov Levin a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Mellon University's Institute for Politics and Strategy discovered the US government worked assiduously to influence the outcomes of foreign elections at least eighty-one times between 1946 and 2000 and that doesn't include the countless coup d'etas, assassinations and regime change campaigns of candidates the US wanted to toppled and get rid of. http://investmentwatchblog.com/us-intervened-over-80-times-in-foreign-elections/ Using declassified "intelligence" and Congressional reports on CIA activities, academic research and reports Levin reported the US was actively engaged in propaganda, misinformation, provided cash or foreign aid, created campaign material for their favored candidate(s), made open and veilled threats against a candidate and other sundry mischief. Again that was between 1946 and 2000 which didn't include the dirty tricks and lethal activities employed by the US CIA.

            For the US to accuse Russia of interfering or hacking an election is like the kettle calling the pot Black. But that's what hypocrites and psychopaths do. Think about all the regime change the US has engaged in since 2000.  For the record, some of the more infamous and egregious examples are: supporting a coup against Hugo Chaves of Venezuela in 2000, removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001, murdering Saddam Hussein in 2006, support the coup against Manuel Zelaya of Honduras in 2009, killing Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, ousting Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine in 2014 and their ongoing attempts to replace the duly elected president of Syria Bashar al-Assad just to cite a few.

            Speaking of hypocrisy, the US charged Saddam Hussein gassed Kurdish Iraqis. They alleged this prior to the US warmongers settling on the weapons of mass destruction deception as the reason for the 2003 Iraqi invasion. The fact of the matter is the United States sold Saddam Hussein the tear gas, sarin and other chemical and biological weapons he used in his war against Iran. The US even had satellite footage of Iraqi troops using sarin gas against Iranian forces in 1988. There is no proof Hussein gassed the Kurds living in Iraq. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article1148.htm

            In 2013 the US claimed Syrian president Bashar al Assad gassed his own people  killing over one thousand Syrians. The corporate media jumped on the story and the Obama administration tried to use the  anti-Assad propaganda as a pretext to do to Syria what they did to Libya. During the debate, Putin stepped in and brokered a deal whereby Assad agreed to turn over all the country's chemical weapons and allow full unfettered inspections. This prevented the US from declaring a no fly zone over Syria or invading and the US warmongers have not forgotten or forgiven Putin for that.

            Subsequently Assad asked Putin for help fighting the Western backed "rebels" who were waging a proxy war on behalf of the US and its Israeli, Turkish and Saudi Arabian allies. Putin sent in Russian bombers, missiles and logistical support. This along with the active support of Iran and Hezbollah turned the tide in Assad's favor. Now the US is saying Assad gassed Syrian civilians at a time when by all accounts he and his allies are winning!? It doesn't make sense nor is it logical, except if you see this as a ruse to rationalize US and NATO direct military engagement.

             This is a repeat of the Saddam gassed the Kurds and the 2013 claims Assad gassed civilians. Hopefully except for dolts like Donald Trump people will not go for the okey-doke again. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me.

                                                            -30-

                                    

                                                   

                                                Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                             Wars and Rumors of Wars

           

            During the last two weeks the risks of open conflict between the US and Russia over Syria and the US and China and Russia over North Korea have escalated. The hypocrites in the corporate media who were lambasting Trump for his flip flop on Syria were also enthusiastically cheering him for launching sixty cruise missiles at an airbase in Syria!

            Meanwhile North Korea displayed it military and weapons during a celebration of the 105 anniversary of the founder of the North Korean Republic which included the attempted launch of a new missile. Last Sunday North Korea in a move of self-determination and self protection test fired a missile but it exploded.

            The US media played up the failure and there are now reports circulating the US may have had something to do with the malfunction. "North Korea's botched missile test may have been disrupted by a secretive US programme of cyber and electronic warfare designed to sabotage launches... The attempted test, and a weekend parade of Pyongyang's military hardware, prompted international condemnation and an American promise of further action if the hermit state failed to end its provocations. Under Barack Obama, the US stepped up electronic and cyber attacks on North Korea's missile programme. Those efforts are reported to include hacking and the use of electromagnetic weapons capable of disrupting electronic equipment." http://postnewsd2.blogspot.in/2017/04/north-koreas-botched-missile-test-on.html

            This is nothing new the US has been using cyber warfare for years viruses like Stuxnet to attack the Iranian nuclear program. https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/cyberattacks-on-iran-stuxnet-and-flame  These are acts of war! 

            We must not forget the people of Syria elected Assad as their president, that it is the West and its fanatical Wahabi jihadist partners from Saudi Arabia who are attempting to overthrow Assad, usher in a bogus Islamic Caliphate which will propagate Neo-Colonialism on behalf of the West and make Israel the dominant power in the region.

             With regards to North Korea, remember the Korean War was never resolved, no peace treaty was ever signed. The opposing sides merely agreed to withdraw their forces below the "Demilitarized Zone" that splits Korea and serves as a buffer to the North and South. The fact of the matter is the Koreans would like their country unified and to live together in peace. If Germany could be reunited so can Korea, but the West doesn't want a resolution there. If the West wanted peace they would aggressively pursue peaceful solutions. But noo, they maintain an adversarial stance towards North Korea. Naturally the North Korean leadership wants to protect itself from the American warmongers!

             The corporate media played up the recent events in an alarmingly cavalier fashion providing analysis no on the potential these events have to trip start WW IV (WWIII is the ongoing covert operations, interventions, destabilization campaigns, coups, economic sanctions, imperialism and Neocolonialism of the US, UK, NATO, Israel etc following the official end of hostilities for WWII.) Nowhere in the corporate media do we hear voices calling for restraint, pleading for the mobilization for PEACE against the Trump administration's bellicose and discombobulated foreign policy if you can call it that. The corporate media are the megaphones and sycophants of the ruling class Deep State and their puppets in the government.

            So amidst this tension, saber rattling and games of chicken, here are the actual reasons for all of this instead of the corporate media's lies. The NeoCon, global banking cartel, military industrial, security/surveillance state hydra's dream of a New American Century where the American Empire is the only super power in the world are swiftly imploding around them and they are in panic mode. China is about to eclipse the US as the largest economy in the world. The US dollar is losing its status as the world's reserve currency, the BRICS nations (Brazil Russia, India, China and South Africa) are challenging the World Bank, IMF and Bank of International Settlements usury monopoly with their New Development Bank and using alternative currencies in their mutual trade agreements and transactions. This means the end of US dollar hegemony, and the Western plutocrats are having conniptions. So they have unleashed the hellhounds by demonizing Putin, destabilizing Brazil's economy, fomenting tension between India and Pakistan and attempted a color revolution in South Africa in 2014. These are acts of war or precursors to war.

            These current tensions and moves are all part of their panic because the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperative Group (Russia and China's version of NATO) are not backing down and are taking precautions to protect themselves.  http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-news-china-and-russia-send-ships-after-united-states-aircraft-carrier-moving-toward-north-korea/  We are facing a Mexican Standoff of gargantuan proportions. Stay tuned.

                                                       -30-