A Dark, Very Troubling Period in America's History

by Michael Payne

Originally posted on OpedNews.com

Photo: Troubled Times 2 

We are certainly living in the midst of a very dark period in American history. This is a nation that is not advancing, it is regressing; it is no longer growing, it is rapidly declining. This is a country that possesses monumental wealth but, at the same time, is plagued by a myriad of critical problems that seem to be insurmountable.

Where is the evidence that supports this premise? It's everywhere; just look at the deteriorating conditions in this country, the absence of a functioning government and the mounting extreme violence in this society. When America needs leadership and direction there is none to be found. There are no signs or indications that this government is ready to reassume the responsibilities of governing this country in a competent manner and doing what is in the best interests of the American people.

Republicans block, obstruct and filibuster. Democrats vacillate, cave in and refuse to change the filibuster rules. We have a president who won't prosecute the Wall Street criminals but goes after whistleblowers instead; a president who has done more to restrict the constitutional rights and freedoms of the American people than any other in our history. Don't believe it; then do some research and find out for yourself.

How Elites and Media Minimize Dissent and Bury Truth

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts
Originally posted on Institute for Political Economy

Looking at Hymns Sociologically

 from a Marxist   Viewpointhubpages.com 

Over the last several years I have watched the rise of an important new intellect on the American scene. Ron Unz, publisher of The American Conservative, has demonstrated time and again the extraordinary ability to reexamine settled issues and show that the accepted conclusion was incorrect.

One of his early achievements was to dispose of the myth of immigrant crime by demonstrating that “Hispanics have approximately the same crime rates as whites of the same age and gender.” You can imagine the uproar, but Unz won the debate.

Unz provoked and prevailed in another controversy when he concluded that Mexican-Americans have approximately the same innate intelligence as whites, with their lower IQs being due to transitory socio-economic deprivation.

He next surprised by showing the connection between the declining real value of the minimum wage (about one-third less than in the 1960s) and immigration. Americans cannot survive on one-third less minimum income than four decades ago, and the unfilled jobs are taken by Hispanics who live many to the room. A higher minimum wage, Unz pointed out, would cure the illegal immigration problem as American citizens would fill the jobs.

DRONE STRIKES FUELING ANTI-U.S HATRED AS FEAR SPREADS IN MIDDLE EAST

Contributed by Sherwood Ross

Angry Yemeni protesters burn a drone effigy. (Reuters) 

U.S. drone strikes are creating cadres of anti-American fighters, furious over the killing and wounding of thousands of civilians.

Far from the drone attacks being “on a very tight leash,” as President Obama claimed, they have generated widespread terror across Muslim populations in the attack regions as they disrupt civilian lives and activities, literally driving people mad, reliable authorities state.

According to an article in the UK Guardian, the Pakistani ambassador to the UN Zamir Akram charged that more than 1,000 Pakistani civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes. The use of drones, he said, “leads to greater levels of terror rather than reducing them.” Other estimates put the Pakistan death toll from drone attacks as much higher---between 2,000 and 3,500 killed.

Author Gregory Johnsen told McClatchy News Service the drones attacks in Yemen are “exacerbating and expanding” resistance. “We have seen AQAP (al-Qaida on the Arabian Peninsula) expanding from 200-300 fighters in 2009, when the U.S. bombing campaign began, to more than 1,000 fighters today.” Johnsen is author of The Last Refuge, a new book on Yemen and al-Qaida.

And retired Marine General James Cartwright told The Nation magazine the drones cause anger, bitterness, and resentment among Muslim populations and predicted their use will cause “blowback” attacks against America.  

Using National Tragedies to Propel Anti-Constitutional Agendas

by S. Paul Forrest

AmericaRevealed.org

This was one of the topics discussed on Breaking Taboo - New Dissident Radio.  To listen to the show, CLICK HERE

It is a simple thing really.  We Americans watch the news to acquire some understanding of minimal what the hot topics are on everything from local to national happenings and accept the stories as truth.  Most of this news is comprised of to-the-point, quick snippets to fill our informational desires in a short period of time but when these snippets glaze over the details of those issues that affect our lives to a greater extent, it is time to hold media accountable for their delivery of disinformation and our politicians for the false agendas they propel.

Take as an example, the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings and Boston Marathon Bombings. There were indeed tragic events which continue to call into question whether we here in America are safe to send our children to school or even whether we can attend a public event without worrying we will be slaughtered like sheep.  Some measure of safety indeed needs to be instituted to make us safer but when our politicians use these happenings to propel their own, distorted agenda; it is time to examine what is truly going on.

To many of us, the Sandy Hook killings now represent a sad event where innocent children were terrorized and yes, slaughtered by a mentally disturbed individual.  Many were shocked and sickened by this event and politicians wasted not a second in vowing to bring an end to the violence by addressing gun control.  Sounds like a great idea when viewed in a ten second news blurb but when taken to the next level of consideration, politicians put more into their efforts than the news ever reported.

After the bodies were counted and facts collected, many began calling for stricter gun laws.  President Obama was very verbal in this argument and has vowed to make America safer.  He has used this event to push to the forefront an agenda to control our Right to Bear Arms and has employed the media to spread the word of his valiant efforts.  When the Gun Control Bill was voted down in Congress, many shouted "Shame!".  The news stations have portrayed Mr. Obama’s efforts as honorable but upon further examination; they have proven to be far from that.  In fact, our President had already been in talks with the United Nations for the past few years to limit our Right to Bear Arms and has seen this as the perfect opportunity to propel his agenda to limit our rights to defend ourselves as the 2^nd Amendment was designed to guarantee.

A Government by The Fascists for The Fascists

S. Paul Forrest

AmericaRevealed.org

In the spirit of celebrating the re-election of a silver tongued fascist (actually the faux election), I offer the following repost...Enjoy the coming years.

A fascist state exists where a nation begins to allow the control of its government by corporatism, single party political interests and law enforcement that reaches beyond the normal necessity of such. There are many other defining characteristics of a fascist condition but in the United States of America, these basic ingredients have come to define a developing system that is leading the American people into a cage of control.

Most recently in this country, fascism has taken the form of overzealous faux-patriotism and its accompanying legislation in order to garner control of our nationalistic interests, domestic and abroad. It has condemned the speakers, the activists, the natural food producers, the non-Christians, immigrants and the poor. In fact, it has attacked everything that is America.

Fascism is not new to this country, nor is it a conspiracy theory by half-baked paranoids. It is alive and growing in this, our Republic and has been for quite a long time. Any developed country has, as part of its governing system, a certain level of fascism. There needs to be a police element otherwise there is anarchy. A certain level of governmental control of information is necessary to secure military counter actions in national defense interests. Prisons are established to correct criminal behavior. These defining principles of fascism are present intrinsically in any government. The issue that needs to be watched and contained by the people, is to what level of existence the fascist element is present within said government.

America was supposed to be the land of the free. The Statue of Liberty was meant as a beacon; calling to those across the globe to come to our door for refuge. It is a place where religion was to be practiced freely, speech guaranteed, and a citizen had a right to vote for real representation. Why then, are so many of our politicians uniting to close our borders, religion closed to anyone not Christian, and our electoral college a scene out of Himmler’s own daydream?

America R.I.P.

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

This article originally posted on: Institute for Political Economy

 

During the second half of the 20th century the United States was an opportunity society. The ladders of upward mobility were plentiful, and the middle class expanded. Incomes rose, and ordinary people were able to achieve old-age security.

In the 21st century the opportunity society has disappeared. Middle class jobs are scarce. Indeed, jobs of any kind are scarce. To stay even with population growth from 2002 through 2011, the economy needed about 14 million new jobs. However, at the end of 2011 there were only 1 million more jobs than in 2002.

Only 426,000 of these jobs are in the private sector. The bulk of the net new jobs consist of waitresses and bartenders and health care and social assistance. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, over the 9 years, employment for waitresses and bartenders increased by 1,188,000. Employment in health care and social assistance increased 3,087,000. These two categories accounted for 1,000% of the net private sector job growth.

As for manufacturing jobs, they not only did not grow with the population but declined absolutely. During these nine years, 3.5 million middle class manufacturing jobs were lost.

Over the entire nine years, only 48,000 new jobs were created for architects and engineers.
In the 21st century the US economy has been able to create only a few new jobs and these are in lowly paid domestic services that cannot be offshored, such as waitresses and bartenders.

The lack of jobs, especially high value-added, high productivity jobs, is the reason real median household income has declined and the distribution of income has worsened. Without rising real household income, there cannot be a consumer economy.

Religion as a Control Mechanism

by S. Paul Forrest

We discussed this as one of the stories - 10-08-12 - Breaking Taboo - Newdissidentradio.com - 7:00 PM EST - Be sure to LISTEN HERE.

Religion is defined as a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. It has always been and will always be, the most powerful tool ever devised to control the masses.

Since Man could first understand his place on this Earth and the.inevitable end of life which was forthcoming, there has been a desire based on the primal instinct of survival, to imagine life would continue on in some way after death. To many, the idea of an afterlife in the spirit world was comforting and helped to not only accept the deaths of their loved ones but acceptance of their own. Gods were imagined to reign in this after world and if the people were loyal in this life to those gods, they would enter into the chosen realm. Some men on Earth accepted rule over the masses as representatives of these Gods but as their influence and power grew, so did their hunger for more of it. With power comes inevitable corruption and as the power of these Earth bound men increased, so did the growth of that corruption as was seen in the Catholic Church of old.

In today’s modern world, one would think the idea of some Ethereal Plain in which we will all exist after death would be seen with a bit more skepticism but the religious masses still continue to believe that when death arrives the soul somehow ascends into some mystical place. All one has to do to enter this realm is hold true to and worship the supposed teachings of characters like Christ, Muhammad or Buddha and pledge fealty to those who claim to represent these “prophets” without question. It is no small wonder why so many claim to represent them. After all, power is the ultimate aphrodisiac and what better way to acquire it than through the fear of spending an eternity in the pits of a fiery abyss if the rules set forth by these false leaders are not followed, without question.

Instead of the threat of eternal damnation, religion in America is being rekindled by utilizing other, modern fear factors: A bad economy, “terrorist” threats and a failing system of government. Many politicians and self-touting religious representatives across the nation are using today’s troubles to herd a new flock toward following their self-serving ministries. This use or rather, abuse of the people’s faith and the irrepressible drive toward a closed minded, sheep filled society, stems from the very real, very frightening growth of extremism within the recesses of the Christian Right’s desire to control. They and their media counterparts are doing this by condemning any who would stand against them as un-American and the sheep are following without question. This type of religious falsity represents not God on this Earth but rather, the greatest evil ever devised by man.

Despite protests from the faithful of how religion brings peace, the truth of it is quite clear if one were to spend but a moment to open their eyes to it: As Karl Marx has rightly stated; “Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” If the conditions were not so soulless; the people not so oppressed, religion would not have such an impact and the people not following so blindly. One cannot help but consider whether religion is meant to salve the masses from oppression or whether it allows the propagation of it so those who oppress can flourish unchecked.

In terms of the here and now, one thing is most certain: Despite the insistence by politicians of this new, American age that God should be put back into all American lives, religious belief will not save this Nation; it will only allow those who stand to profit from it to gain more power and will inevitably cast us all into a hell of our own, ignorant making, moving our society backward into servitude rather than forward to acquire that Liberty and Justice so many have already died for.

Indigenous Urge Celebration of Native Culture & Teaching of the Americas’ Genocide

Democracy Now
DemocracyNow.org

As the nation commemorates the arrival of Christopher Columbus to the so-called "New World" in 1492, indigenous activists at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, are pushing for schools to teach the "real history of the Americas" and to celebrate indigenous culture. "Columbus Day" has long evoked sadness and anger amongst people of color, especially Native Americans, who object to honoring a man who opened the door to European colonization, the exploitation of native peoples, and the slave trade. We’re joined by three guests involved with the "Real History of the Americas" day: Esther Belin, a writing instructor at Fort Lewis College and a member of the Navajo Nation; Shirena Trujillo Long, coordinator of El Centro de Muchos Colores at Fort Lewis College and chair of the the Real History of the Americas Committee; and student activist Noel Altaha, a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and Fort Lewis College senior.

Spinning Bad Financial News Into Good

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

This article originally posted on: Institute for Political Economy

Friday’s (09/07/12) payroll jobs report says that 96,000 new jobs were created in August and that the unemployment rate (U.3) fell from 8.3% to 8.1%. As 96,000 new jobs are not enough to keep up with population growth, the decline in the U.3 unemployment rate was caused by 368,000 discouraged job seekers giving up on finding employment and dropping out of the work force as measured by U.3. Discouraged workers are not included in the U.3 measure of unemployment, which makes the measure useless. The only purpose of U.3 is to keep bad news out of the news. the U.3 unemployment rate only measures those who have not been discouraged by the inability to find a job and are still actively seeking employment.

The government produces another unemployment measure, U.6, which includes people who have been discouraged by the inability to find a job and have been out of the work force for less than a year. This measure of unemployment is 14.7%, a number that would get attention if reported.

When the long-term (more than one year) discouraged workers are included, the US unemployment rate is about 22%. In other words, the real US rate of unemployment is almost three times higher than the reported--headline rate--of 8.1%.

What is the purpose of reporting an unemployment rate that is about one-third the real unemployment rate? The only answer is deception through Happy News.

Why Are Liberals Ignoring the Obvious?

by S. Paul Forrest

AmericaRevealed.org

Author’s note: I am a moderate and very open to change with regard to my political views.  Being a moderate means I am not stuck within one Party or one ideal; I am willing to listen to both sides of the aisle in order to formulate the best decision within this politically divided country – something the term Liberal once represented but apparently, no longer does.  I see problems on both the Right and the Left and all too often, can only shake my head with disgust at the ignorance so endemic within the blind, political allegiances so many enslave their minds within. If anything, I hope this article opens you up to the possibility that maybe while pursuing your Political Party’s agenda, you have become blind to the reality of our two party system - that it has become a duopoly, based on lies and deceit.

Being called a Liberal in these past four years, has come to represent the agendum of Socialists, Communists and/or Anarchists.  The reason for this association seems to stem from the insistence by many who would call themselves Liberals that America should cater to the poor while castigating the rich - those this author sees as they who have the ability to make money from innovation, intelligence and hard work.  Many in this movement have condemned the Right wing Conservatives for their desire to rid our Land of social care and equal rights for gays and women (to name a few) but in their race to hate their political opposites, they have rather ignorantly or maybe purposely, ignored the obvious: Our current President is more of a threat to this country’s future than any Conservative could ever be.

Federal Court Blocks Controversial Texas Voter ID Law

by Ariane de Vogue

ABC News

A federal court in Washington ruled on Thursday that a Texas Voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act, effectively blocking the law from taking effect.

The unanimous three judge district court ruled, “The State of Texas enacted a voter ID law that — at least to our knowledge — is the most stringent in the country.  That law will almost certainly have retrogressive effect: it imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities in Texas are disproportionately likely to live in poverty.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, the law — passed by a Republican-led Texas legislature — has gained particular attention as supporters said it was meant to protect voter integrity, while critics claimed it would lead to voter suppression. The Voter ID law requires people voting in person to provide certain government-issued photo IDs when the come to the polls.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released a statement today vowing to appeal the decision. “The Supreme Court of the United States has already upheld Voter ID laws as a constitutional method of ensuring integrity at the ballot box. Today’s decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana – and were upheld by the Supreme Court. The State will appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where we are confident we will prevail.”

Fall of the Republic

It has been three years since this video was released...Ask yourself one question: How many of the indictments and/or predictions in this film have occured or soon will?



Think about it

Homeland Security’s Intent On Creating Civil War

Its Clear Our Military Is No Longer The Nation's Only Standing Army When It Comes To Killing Power.
by Jack Swint 

West Virginia News

Over the past 2 weeks, everyone from the mainstream media to bloggers and conspiracy theorists have questioned the government's mass purchasing of ammunition for federal agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and even the Social Security Administration. Combined, both agencies ordered over 210,000 rounds. This ammunition is mostly made up of "hollow point" bullets, which are designed strictly for maximum damage to the human body and have been outlawed for use in warfare since 1969.

On the surface, these purchases alone are scary enough and raise questions as to why these unlikely agencies need any amounts of ammo, especially bullets that have been outlawed. NOAA claims they have 63 officers who "enforce the nation's ocean and fishing laws to ensure a level playing field for fishermen and to protect marine species like whales, dolphins and turtles." If you divide 46,000 rounds by the 63 agents they employ, that's 730 bullets per agent, or, in other words, 63 crack shots and a lot of dead fisherman.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has given no specific response to questions regarding their purchase of 174,00 rounds. They said their "agents' need them. But, keep this in mind:  the SSA only deals with US Citizens in America. The SSA has never been involved with anything outside of this country for any reason. And what do they need with armed agents?  All SSA offices employ private contracted security for their offices.

America’s Descent into Poverty

by Dr. Paul Craig Roberts

This article originally posted on: Institute for Political Economy

 

The United States has collapsed economically, socially, politically, legally, constitutionally, and environmentally. The country that exists today is not even a shell of the country into which I was born. In this article I will deal with America’s economic collapse. In subsequent articles, i will deal with other aspects of American collapse.

Economically, America has descended into poverty. As Peter Edelman says, “Low-wage work is pandemic.” Today in “freedom and democracy” America, “the world’s only superpower,” one fourth of the work force is employed in jobs that pay less than $22,000, the poverty line for a family of four. Some of these lowly-paid persons are young college graduates, burdened by education loans, who share housing with three or four others in the same desperate situation. Other of these persons are single parents only one medical problem or lost job away from homelessness.

Others might be Ph.D.s teaching at universities as adjunct professors for $10,000 per year or less. Education is still touted as the way out of poverty, but increasingly is a path into poverty or into enlistments into the military services.

How U.S. Economic and Military Actions Helped Create Latin Billionair​es, Pauperize Millions

Constributed by Sherwood Ross

The United States has worked across Latin America to enrich private clients at the expense of the pauperized masses, Professor of Sociology Emeritus James Petras of Binghamton University, N.Y.,  charges.

“Never in the 20th Century (1990-2001) were so many lucrative public monopolies transferred to private national and foreign investors, in so many countries and covering such a vast...array of sectors in less than a decade,” Petras asserts in his book, “Rulers and Ruled in the U.S. Empire”(Clarity).

Washington backed clients Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brazil, Carlos Salinas in Mexico, and Carlos Menem in Argentina. Menem privatized more than 1,000 public enterprises by executive decree; Cardoso privatized the most lucrative state enterprises, and Salinas privatized over 110 public enterprises, Petras reckoned.

What’s more, Salinas opened Mexico’s borders to subsidized U.S. agricultural exports that ruined over 1.5 million Mexican farmers and his policies “facilitated the U.S. takeover of Mexico’s retail trade, real estate, agriculture, industry, banking and communications sector,” Petras wrote.