Anonymous Calls for Worldwide Wave of Action #www

Via: Anonymous

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The modern paradigm may still seem insurmountable “because it possesses an outward front, the work of a long past, but is in reality an edifice crumbling to ruin and destined to fall in at the first storm.”
— Gustave Le Bon, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind

The decentralized movement toward freedom is raging across the world. It cannot be stopped. The tipping point is near. Despite the lack of coverage in the mainstream media, actions are springing up on an increasing basis. A wave of transformation is rising. The zeitgeist is shifting in our direction.

At this point, given all the nonviolent direct actions that are currently being planned, it makes strategic sense for us to organize them, in a decentralized way, in a way that the mainstream media cannot ignore. A slightly more coordinated approach is all it will take.

The Awakening Wave

The last time we all rallied together in a loosely knit collective fashion, the Occupy movement was born and the 99% meme brought the corruption of our political and economic system, along with the grotesque inequality of wealth, into mass consciousness in a profound and lasting way. It was the opening act, the awakening wave.

Since the Occupy camps were crushed by brutal police state force, the movement has splintered in many different directions. This is now proving to have been a blessing in disguise. It gave us time to learn from our mistakes, figure out what worked best and forced us back into the autonomous actions that built the movement in the first place. We have now experimented with different tactics and thought through longer-term strategies.

Meanwhile, the repressive conditions that inspired Occupy in the first place have become even more oppressive. Now more than ever, governments no longer have the consent of the governed. A critical mass has lost faith and trust in our existing institutions. The present paradigm has outlived its usefulness. It has been overrun with corruption and rendered obsolete. Our political, economic and legal systems are doing much more to limit our potential than enhance it.

It’s Time For A Worldwide Wave of Transformation

Let’s pick a three-month span, perhaps throughout this coming spring, and unite our collective actions into an unprecedented Worldwide Wave that cannot be ignored by anyone.

Let’s crowdsource a relentless global wave of action that protests the corrupt, while also rallying around and celebrating effective alternatives and solutions to the vast problems we are confronted by. Imagine thousands of nonviolent guerrilla armies swarming corrupt targets and rallying for viable solutions for a sustained three-month cycle. If we begin preparing now, a massive spring offensive can lead to a summer of transformation.

Staying true to the vital nature of the movement, you lead, in your own way. Pick whatever issues concern you most and run with them, knowing that likeminded people throughout the world will also be fighting in solidarity, in whatever way they can, at the same time you are.

Not Focused Enough?

In an attempt to dismiss and undermine us, status quo propagandists will once again criticize us by saying that our message of systemic change is not focused enough or lacks coherent goals. This feeble attempt to keep people from joining in with us will be overcome by our widespread and consistent actions, which will lead by example and inspire the cultural shift in mass consciousness that we urgently need. Our diverse crowdsourced actions will boldly demonstrate our will to expose, fight and overcome tyrannical systems. By rallying around viable solutions and protesting what we are against, the goals and freedoms that we aspire to will organically become self-evident to all.

Throughout history, when people have fought against tyranny and oppression, they didn’t have one perfect utopian model outcome agreed upon beforehand. They just knew that the invading and old systems were detrimental to their wellbeing and had to go. We are now in that position.

Don’t let the propagandists fool you. We do not need corrupt corporations or aristocratic government rulers anymore. They are obsolete. People throughout this interconnected technological world have already come up with much more effective systems to replace the tyrannical one that is currently dominating our lives. There are already many effective solutions to our problems, solutions that are held back by the entrenched forces of shortsighted greed. Once a small percentage of us withdraw our participation from corrupt entities and opt out of tyranny, the old and obsolete systems of rule will quickly fall away.

Extensive empirical evidence demonstrates that nonviolent movements toward freedom result in positive outcomes. Research has proven that it only takes approximately 3% of the population engaging in various forms of nonviolent action to create significant meaningful change, for the betterment of society. We now have the necessary critical mass of aware people who are ready, willing and capable.

Guerrilla Tactics

This time the police state will not be able to crush us. We will not have stationary targets. We will be everywhere, fluid and evasive. The movement will be an unstoppable crowdsourced, decentralized and autonomous revolutionary force.

We will engage in a diversity of nonviolent tactics, from large-scale mobilizations to small daily acts. Most of you already know the actions and tactics that are needed. Without revealing too much strategic information, here are a few basic actions to get a fire going in your mind:

-Mass gatherings, demonstrations;
-Marches, parades;
-Flash mobs, swarms;
-Shutdown harmful corporate and governmental operations;
-Worker Strikes;
-Hunger strikes;
-Sit-ins;
-Strategic defaults, debt strikes;
-Foreclosure prevention;
-Boycotting corrupt corporations;
-Monkeywrench corrupt corporations;
-Move your money out of the big banks and the stock market;
-Use alternative currencies and economic systems;
-Cancel your cable television and support independent media;
-Use independent online tools that don’t sell your info and protect your privacy;
-Online civil disobedience, Anonymous operations;
-Leak information on corruption;
-Use alternative energy;
-Build your own urban and hydroponic farms, or get your food from them;
-Support local businesses;
-Join local community organizations;
-Take part in food banks and help develop community support systems;
-Start or join intentional and autonomous communities;
-Experiment with new governing systems, Liquid Democracy;
-Create Temporary Autonomous Zones
-Host teach-ins;
-Organize socially conscious events;
-Make conscious media;
-Guerrilla theater;
-Guerrilla gardening;
-Guerrilla postering, messages on money;
-Help inspiring groups and organizations spread their message;
-Random acts of kindness and compassion;
-Mass meditations, prayer sessions and spiritual actions.

The list goes on and on. You know what you can do to play a part. Do whatever you feel inspired to do. Amplify what you are already doing. Think about what you are willing to do to be the change that we urgently need to see in the world, and then do it.

Don’t get bogged down in infighting and caught up in negativity. Ignore the saboteurs. Collaborate with people who inspire you. Keep moving forward with an indomitable will, a compassionate spirit and radiate a positive attitude. Moods are contagious. Be passionate and have fun!

Our ability to take part in civil disobedience is multiplied by our ability to easily record the actions on video and spread them throughout the Internet. By flooding social media with these inspiring videos, we will create a positive feedback loop that translates into more action on the ground.

Radical change is urgently needed, so let’s make transforming the world the cool thing to do. Let’s create a culture of transformation. Let’s blaze a contagious nonviolent wave of action through mass consciousness, signaling the end of the old world, ushering in a new paradigm.

Now is the time.

~~*~~

Ride the Worldwide Wave of Transformation
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#www

Tweak this meme! This is a draft call to action, a work in progress. Feel free to make changes to it and spread it around however you see fit.

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On Typhoon Haiyan and Veterans Day

View of Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station. PHOTO: AP

View of Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station. PHOTO: AP

While I mean no disrespect towards veterans, I feel Veterans Day has become so archaic and obsolete it should no longer be observed. Veterans Day is an artifact of simpler times, when America was seen by the world as an honorable and benevolent country and when many still believed in “good wars”. However, the more historical truths are revealed over time, the more apparent it becomes that all wars are based on deception. This fact in no way diminishes the sacrifice and courage of those who enlisted and fought, though it adds a dimension of tragedy to realize the ideals many believed in were not necessarily those of the government and corporate interests that put them in jeopardy.

Because of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), anyone including U.S. citizens can potentially be declared an “enemy combatant”, tortured, detained indefinitely or killed. Everyone is now spied on by intelligence agencies such as the FBI, CIA and NSA. Because we are all treated by government as potential “enemy combatants” does that not also make everyone of a certain age “veterans” of a perpetual war?

The main reason I don’t feel a need to celebrate Veterans Day nor Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, is because I don’t believe in American exceptionalism. Every government would like their people to believe their country is exceptional in some way. Some might be better in some respects than others, but the danger of believing one’s country to be exceptional and superior is that it often misleads people to believe the lives of citizens of one particular nation to be of more inherent value than others. In this day and age, we need to understand that those who facilitate military-industrial agendas by killing or dominating others are objectively no better than armies and civilians of other countries. It’s true that veterans do deserve more appreciation from systems that benefit most from their actions (ie. government and corporations), but it makes little sense for average Americans, who are in many ways oppressed by those systems and treated similarly to enemies of the state, to applaud and celebrate the military. The true heroes are those who value all life and do the most to put a stop to the insanity: war resisters (including some current and former soldiers), whistleblowers, activists, independent journalists, freethinkers, etc.

That being said, the people we should be paying our respects to today are the ~10,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced by Typhoon Haiyan. When Haiyan first hit the Philippines last Friday it was a maximum category 5 storm. Fortunately it has been weakening as it went over Vietnam earlier today and continues towards China. The following images from the UK’s Daily Mail online convey the scope of the devastation and suffering:

City of the dead: Dazed survivors survey the damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province. At least 10,000 people are believed to have died there

City of the dead: Dazed survivors survey the damaged houses in Tacloban city, Leyte province. At least 10,000 people are believed to have died there

Force of nature: One of the many ships which have been swept into the Tacloban by the power of the typhoon

Force of nature: One of the many ships which have been swept into the Tacloban by the power of the typhoon

A Filipino father and his children wait for food relief outside their makeshift tent.

Desperate measures: A Filipino father and his children wait for food relief outside their makeshift tent. Survivors have foraged for food as supplies dwindled, with some uncovering the bodies of the dead

Trail of destruction: Those who escaped the awesome power of Haiyan now face a grim battle to rebuild their lives among the sprawling wreckages

Trail of destruction: Those who escaped the awesome power of Haiyan now face a grim battle to rebuild their lives among the sprawling wreckages

Survivors in Tacloban told reporters they are so desperate for food that they have been forced to loot shops and steal from the dead

Survivors in Tacloban told reporters they are so desperate for food that they have been forced to loot shops and steal from the dead

Action: President Benigno Aquino has deployed troops to the area in a bid to restore calm after Philipine Red Cross aid trucks were attacked by hungry mobs

Action: President Benigno Aquino has deployed troops to the area in a bid to restore calm after Philipine Red Cross aid trucks were attacked by hungry mobs

Aftermath: Resident gather in the remains of a structure in Tacloban. Those left homeless have been forced to plunder the houses belonging to the dead. One local councillor admitted he has stepped on corpses in a desperate bid to find food

Aftermath: Resident gather in the remains of a structure in Tacloban. Those left homeless have been forced to plunder the houses belonging to the dead. One local councillor admitted he has stepped on corpses in a desperate bid to find food saying: ‘If you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive’

Remains: Survivors have begun to rummage through the wreckages of houses in a bid to find food to feed their families

Remains: Survivors have begun find corpses as they rummage through the wreckages of houses in a bid to find food to feed their starving families

Making do: Survivors have been forced to forage for food and supplies after many homes were submerged by flood water and landslides

Making do: Survivors have been forced to forage for food and supplies after many homes were submerged by flood water and landslides

The Philippines president is considering introducing martial law in Tacloban city (pictured), where up to 10,000 people are feared dead, to enforce security after serious looting

The Philippines president is considering introducing martial law in Tacloban city (pictured), where up to 10,000 people are feared dead

Holy house: Churches in the storm torn city have become temporary aid centres offering washing facilities and handing out emergency food supplies

Holy house: Churches in the storm torn city have become temporary aid centres offering washing facilities and handing out emergency food supplies

Shelter from the storm: While the Catholic church in Tacloban has welcomed victims, many buildings have been broken into by desperate looters

Shelter from the storm: While the Catholic church in Tacloban has welcomed victims, many buildings have been broken into by desperate looters

This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Super Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station yesterday

This image taken by astronaut Karen L. Nyberg and released by NASA shows Super Typhoon Haiyan from the International Space Station yesterday

Washing still hangs on the lines but dozens of bamboo houses have been flattened by the storm in Baladian in the municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo Province

Washing still hangs on the lines but dozens of bamboo houses have been flattened by the storm in Baladian in the municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo Province

Loss: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban

Loss: A mother weeps beside the dead body of her son at a chapel in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban

A ship was washed ashore in the huge storm. Surging sea water strewed debris for miles and survivors said the devastation was like a tsunami

A ship was washed ashore in the huge storm. Surging sea water strewed debris for miles and survivors said the devastation was like a tsunami

The storm is one of the most powerful ever recorded

The storm is one of the most powerful ever recorded and huge waves swept away entire coastal villages and destroyed up to 80 per cent of the area in its path

More than 330,900 people were displaced and 4.3million 'affected' by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the U.N. has said

More than 330,900 people were displaced and 4.3million ‘affected’ by the typhoon in 36 provinces, the U.N. has said

Residents try to salvage belongings in Tacloban city, Leyte province.

Residents try to salvage belongings in Tacloban city, Leyte province. Rescuers have not even been able to contact some towns on the coast where the storm first hit

Villagers walk past a body of victim laying on a pier in the super typhoon devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province

Villagers walk past a body of victim laying on a pier in the super typhoon devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province

This afternoon, the Typhoon Haiyan - believed to be the strongest storm to ever hit land - made landfall in Sanya in south China's Hainan province.

This afternoon, Typhoon Haiyan – believed to be the strongest storm to ever hit land – made landfall in Sanya in south China’s Hainan province

Workers remove a tree that has fallen onto a car in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan after it struck Sanya

Workers remove a tree that fell onto a car during the deadly storm, which is the 30th typhoon to strike China this year

Vehicles move slowly by a fallen billboard in Sanya in south China's Hainan province

The typhoon is now making its way towards Vietnam and mainland China – with locals bracing themselves for the onslaught of the deadly typhoon

Heavy winds had already caused damage to China's Hainan island before the super typhoon made landfall this afternoon. Above, a billboard is blown over by the strong winds

Heavy winds had already caused damage to China’s Hainan island before the super typhoon made landfall. Above, a billboard is blown over by the strong winds

A man carries boxes of milk as he passes by ships washed ashore by enormous waves in Tacloban city, Leyte province

A man carries boxes of milk as he passes by ships washed ashore by enormous waves in Tacloban city, Leyte province

One survivor said the scenes of utter devastation caused by the typhoon was 'like the end of the world'

One survivor said the scenes of utter devastation caused by the typhoon was ‘like the end of the world’

Aid agencies have made emergency appeals for funds and are trying to reach survivors who are in desperate need of clean water and shelter

Aid agencies have made emergency appeals for funds and are trying to reach survivors who are in desperate need of clean water and shelter

Bodies still lie in the roads and thousands of homes lie destroyed near the fish port after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city

Bodies still lie in the roads and thousands of homes lie destroyed near the fish port after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city

This NASA MODIS Aqua satellite image shows what is possibly the strongest storm ever - Super Typhoon Haiyan

This NASA MODIS Aqua satellite image shows what is possibly the strongest storm ever – Super Typhoon Haiyan

Local and foreign medical teams prepare to board a Philippines air force C-130 transport plane in Manila

Local and foreign medical teams prepare to board a Philippines air force C-130 transport plane in Manila

Survivors walk towards the evacuation center to get relief goods after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city, central Philippines

Survivors walk towards the evacuation center to get relief goods after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city, central Philippines

City administrators in Tacloban said about 400 bodies have been collected so far but said the death toll in the city alone could be 10,000

City administrators in Tacloban said about 400 bodies have been collected so far but said the death toll in the city alone could be 10,000

A girl looks out from a makeshift shelter in Tacloban.

A girl looks out from a makeshift shelter in Tacloban. The World Food Programme said it was airlifting 40 tonnes of high-energy biscuits to the region

A woman holds her umbrella stands on debris of houses in Tacloban

A woman holds her umbrella stands on debris of houses in Tacloban. Millions of people are believed to have been ‘affected’ by the storm, including hundreds of thousands who have lost their homes

Children pull sacks of goods they recovered from abandoned stores as they go past the rubble of houses in Tacloban

Children pull sacks of goods they recovered from abandoned stores as they go past the rubble of houses in Tacloban

A woman mourns in front of her husband's dead body, which lies no the street under tarpaulin alongside other bodies

A woman mourns in front of her husband’s dead body, which lies no the street under tarpaulin alongside other bodies

An injured Filipino boy stand in front of the rubble of houses in Tacloban - destroyed by the typhoon that has left thousands of people dead

An injured Filipino boy stand in front of the rubble of houses in Tacloban – destroyed by the typhoon that has left thousands of people dead

A man with an injured leg is carried through the devastation of former residential roads in Tacloban

A man with an injured leg is carried through the devastation of former residential roads in Tacloban

Operation: A Vietnamese soldier carries a young girl from a lorry as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by the military

Operation: A Vietnamese soldier carries a young girl from a lorry as villagers are evacuated to a safe place by the military


Desolation: This heartbreaking picture shows an flattened area of Tacloban city covered by debris and flood water

Desolation: This picture shows an flattened area of the destroyed Tacloban city covered by debris and flood water

Flattened: A Filipino boy stands among the debris in Tacloban, Leyte province - one of the worst hit areas of Typhoon Haiyan

Flattened: A Filipino boy stands among the debris in Tacloban, Leyte – one of the worst areas hit by category five storm Typhoon Haiyan

Death: It has been estimated by the Red Cross that 1,000 of the 1,200 people killed by the typhoon were residents of Tacloban

Death: It has been estimated by the Red Cross that 1,000 of the 1,200 people killed by the typhoon were residents of Tacloban

Widespread: This picture shows acres of flooded rice fields in the Iloilo Province

Widespread: This picture shows acres of flooded rice fields in the Iloilo Province, another area devastated by the typhoon

Assistance: An elderly woman is evacuated from her home by Red Cross staff in Vietnam
Plans: The Vietnamese Government has started to evacuate more than 100,000 people from the path of Typhoon Haiyan, according to state media

Plans: An elderly woman is taken from her home in Danang, Vietnam, as the government begins to evacuate 100,000 people lying in the path of typhoon Haiyan

From above: An aerial view shows badly damaged houses, including many without a roof, and blocked roads in the Philippine province of Iloilo

From above: An aerial view shows badly damaged houses, including many without a roof, and blocked roads in the Philippine province of Iloilo

Residents return to their houses after leaving an evacuation site in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Haiyan
Residents sit outside their damaged house

Recovery: A child is lifted to safety from a house in Tacloban, left, and two residents sit on the pavement in front of their home in the same city, right

Flattened: The typhoon has ravaged most of the city of Tacloban and destroyed the airport

Flattened: The typhoon has ravaged most of the city of Tacloban and destroyed the airport

Ruins: A resident sifts through rubbish inside his home that has been flattened by 235mph winds in the devastated city of Tacloban

Ruins: A resident sifts through rubbish inside his ruined home, flattened by 235mph winds in the devastated city of Tacloban

Scale: This image shows Typhoon Haiyan taken by Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg aboard the Internatioal Space Station

Scale: This image shows the enormous Typhoon Haiyan taken by Astronaut Karen L. Nyberg aboard the Internatioal Space Station

Satellite: A picture posted on Twitter by NASA at 8.00pm GMT shows the centre of the moving across the South China Sea towards the coast of Vietnam

Satellite: A picture posted on Twitter by NASA at 8.00pm GMT shows the centre of the moving across the South China Sea towards the coast of Vietnam

Path: Once the typhoon has reached the coast of Vietnam it is expected to moved towards the capital, Hanoi, with parts of Laos and Cambodia also likely to be affected

Path: Once the typhoon has reached the coast of Vietnam it is expected to moved towards the capital, Hanoi, with parts of Laos and Cambodia also likely to be affected

 Typhoon Haiyan
A boy walks past the devastation brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan at Tacloban city

Loss: A pregnant woman, left, walks around the remains of her home while a young boy, right, walks past a crushed car in the destroyed town of Tacloban

Biggest storm in history Typhoon Haiyan flattens Philippines

Bodies wrapped in blankets are placed inside a damaged chapel
A Filipino elderly woman views the recovered victims in the typhoon

Temporary: Bodies of victims lay in a deserted chapel in Tacloban. A woman and child, right, view the distressing scene

Flooding: Locals in Coron, Palawan walk among damaged buildings after the typhoon - the most powerful in three decades

Flooding: Locals in Coron, Palawan, walk among damaged buildings and flooded streets after the typhoon – one of the most powerful to ever hit land

Terrifying: Filipino children are seen in the city of Tacloban, Leyte. Behind them is a scene of devastation with homes flattened and debris lying in the street

Terrifying: Filipino children are seen in the city of Tacloban, Leyte. Behind them is a scene of devastation with homes flattened and debris lying in the street

Picking up the pieces: Some residents try to go about their daily business despite the large-scale destruction

Picking up the pieces: Some residents try to go about their daily business despite the large-scale destruction

Victim
 resident recover a body of a victim

Tragedy: Bodies of residents can be seen in the streets of Tacloban, while one local is forced to transport a body in a wheelbarrow

Collapsed: A resident walks past her destroyed home - flattened by piles of wood and branches from nearby trees - in Tacloban city

Collapsed: A resident walks past her destroyed home – flattened by piles of wood and branches from nearby trees – in Tacloban city

Workers: Local Red Cross staff place sand bags on the roof of a house in Danang, Vietnam

Workers: Local Red Cross staff place sand bags on the roof of a house in Danang, Vietnam

Debris: Helicopters hover over the damaged area of Tacloban city, which was battered with strong winds yesterday

Debris: Helicopters hover over the damaged area of Tacloban city, which was battered with strong winds yesterday

Victim: A resident walks past dead bodies that lie on the street in Tacloban city, Leyte province

Victim: A resident walks past dead bodies that lie on the street in Tacloban city, Leyte province

Under water: Residents wade through a flooded street in Mindoro, Philippines this morning following the typoon

Under water: Residents wade through a flooded street in Mindoro, Philippines this morning following the typoon

Pile up: Vehicles and rubbish are pictured strewn across a flooded street in Tacloban, Leyte

Pile up: Vehicles and rubbish are pictured strewn across a flooded street in Tacloban, Leyte

Upside down: A devastated airport in Tacloban city, Leyte province - where roofs were ripped on hundreds of houses

Upside down: A devastated airport in Tacloban city, Leyte province – where roofs were ripped on hundreds of houses

 Coron, Palawan
 Coron, Palawan

Shock: These two pictures show the devastation in Coron, Palawan where buildings have been flattened, left and right, leaving residents helplessly walking the streets.

‘We thought is was a Tsunami’ – panic as storm lashes Philippines

Space: A digital composite of Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines, made using images captured at 1pm

Space: A digital composite of Typhoon Haiyan approaching the Philippines, made using images captured geostationary satellites of the Japan Meteorological Agency

Rebuilding their lives: Two men in Iloilo move some of their belongings through flood waters covering the streets

Rebuilding their lives: Two men in Iloilo move some of their belongings through flood waters covering the streets

Devastation: Debris which was washed in by the storm litters the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city. Residents now face a long clean up operation to repair the damage to their homes

Devastation: Debris which was washed in by the storm litters the road by the coastal village in Legazpi city. Residents now face a long clean up operation

No chance: A house is engulfed by the storm surge brought about by powerful typhoon Haiyan, many homes like it could not stand up to the force of the gales
A fisherman secures his wooden fishing boat along the sea wall amidst strong winds as Typhoon Haiyan hit the city of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila

Hanging on: A fisherman in Manila is forced to cling on to his equipment, left, while there was little hope for other less stable buildings in the storm’s path, right

Higher ground: Residents of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila resident, were forced to flee the coast as Haiyan continued to pound the sea wall today

Higher ground: Residents of Legaspi, Albay province, south of Manila resident, were forced to flee the coast as Haiyan continued to pound the sea wall today

Downpour: As well as strong winds, the typhoon brought with it torrential rain which caused landslides in rural parts of the country

Downpour: As well as strong winds, the typhoon brought with it torrential rain which caused landslides in rural parts of the country

Terrifying: Residents run for their lives as the terrible gusts of the typhoon rush buffet the popular tourist city of Cebu

Terrifying: Residents run for their lives as the terrible gusts of the typhoon buffet the popular tourist city of Cebu. Trees and roofs were torn off by the storm

Blocked: Residents clear the road in the island province of Cebu after a tree was toppled by strong winds during typhoon Haiyan

Blocked: Residents clear the road in the island province of Cebu after a tree was toppled by strong winds during typhoon Haiyan

TYPHOON HAIYAN aftermath: Two dead, thousands displaced

Aid effort: Volunteers pack relief goods inside a Department of Social Welfare and Development warehouse before shipping out to devastated provinces

Aid effort: Volunteers pack relief goods inside a Department of Social Welfare and Development warehouse before shipping out to devastated provinces

Shelter: Filipino residents sleep on the floor of a gymnasium turned into an evacuation center in Sorsogon City in the Bicol region

Shelter: Filipino residents sleep on the floor of a gymnasium turned into an evacuation center in Sorsogon City in the Bicol region

If you would like to help: Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)

The Real Reason U.S. Government Targets Whistleblowers

BHO Prosecutes Whistleblowers_thumb[1]

I’ve mentioned in past posts such as this my thoughts on reasons behind the government’s war on whistleblowers, and it has nothing to do with protecting national security (except in the sense of protecting criminals working within the national security state). Recently, Washington’s Blog supported this view in greater detail with an abundance of documentation and the following commentary:

…Indeed, the worse the acts by officials, the more they say we it must be covered up … for “the good of the country”.

…Obviously, the government wants to stop whistleblowers because they interfere with the government’s ability to act in an unaccountable manner. As Glenn Greenwald writes:

It should not be difficult to understand why the Obama administration is so fixated on intimidating whistleblowers and going far beyond any prior administration – including those of the secrecy-obsessed Richard Nixon and George W Bush – to plug all leaks. It’s because those methods are the only ones preventing the US government from doing whatever it wants in complete secrecy and without any accountability of any kind.

But whistleblowers also interfere with the government’s ability to get away with hypocrisy. As two political science professors from George Washington University (Henry Farrell and Martha Finnemore) show, the government is so hell-bent to punish Manning and Snowden because their leaks are putting an end to the ability of the US to use hypocrisy as a weapon:

The U.S. establishment has often struggled to explain exactly why these leakers [Manning, Snowden, etc.] pose such an enormous threat.

The deeper threat that leakers such as Manning and Snowden pose is more subtle than a direct assault on U.S. national security: they undermine Washington’s ability to act hypocritically and get away with it. Their danger lies not in the new information that they reveal but in the documented confirmation they provide of what the United States is actually doing and why. When these deeds turn out to clash with the government’s public rhetoric, as they so often do, it becomes harder for U.S. allies to overlook Washington’s covert behavior and easier for U.S. adversaries to justify their own.

As the United States finds itself less able to deny the gaps between its actions and its words, it will face increasingly difficult choices — and may ultimately be compelled to start practicing what it preaches. Hypocrisy is central to Washington’s soft power — its ability to get other countries to accept the legitimacy of its actions — yet few Americans appreciate its role.

Manning’s and Snowden’s leaks mark the beginning of a new era in which the U.S. government can no longer count on keeping its secret behavior secret. Hundreds of thousands of Americans today have access to classified documents that would embarrass the country if they were publicly circulated. As the recent revelations show, in the age of the cell-phone camera and the flash drive, even the most draconian laws and reprisals will not prevent this information from leaking out. As a result, Washington faces what can be described as an accelerating hypocrisy collapse — a dramatic narrowing of the country’s room to maneuver between its stated aspirations and its sometimes sordid pursuit of self-interest. The U.S. government, its friends, and its foes can no longer plausibly deny the dark side of U.S. foreign policy and will have to address it head-on.

The era of easy hypocrisy is over.

Professors Farrell and Finnemore note that the government has several options for dealing with ongoing leaks. They conclude that the best would be for the government to actually do what it says.

What a novel idea …

As examples of the hypocrisy Farrell and Finnemore were talking about, Washington’s Blog listed the following:

  • Labeled indiscriminate killing of civilians as terrorism. Yet the American military indiscriminately kills innocent civilians (and see this), calling it “carefully targeted strikes”. For example, when Al Qaeda, Syrians or others target people attending funerals of those killed – or those attempting to rescue people who have been injured by – previous attacks, we rightfully label it terrorism. But the U.S. government does exactly the same thing (more), pretending that it is all okay
  • Scolded tyrants who launch aggressive wars to grab power or plunder resources. But we ourselves have launched a series of wars for oil (and here) and gas

Read the complete article here: http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/10/the-real-reason-u-s-targets-whistleblowers.html

How to End the National Debt

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One solution is to stop the war machine. At Boiling Frogs there’s a great recent post from Sibel Edmonds called “What National Debt? US Taxpayer Dollars Continue to Flow to the World’s Despots, Torturers & Human Target Practice Fields”. Among her findings:

Afghanistan gets around $7 Billion= $7,000,000,000. Now, don’t mistake this for our money spent on our war in Afghanistan. That’s in the trillions of dollars. That’s a separate deal. No, this money goes to Afghanistan’s government – known for being crooks, criminals, heroin dealers, and terrorist breeders. They take the money, and misplace it- so the money, some of it, ends up with the guys we are supposedly bombing and waging war against. Then we point at those guys and say, hey, you see these armed terrorists, and then we go bomb the hell out of them. They take the money and invest it in some highly lucrative poppy fields and heroin production, so that we can spend billions of dollars pretending to destroy those poppy fields and production centers.  And then we give more money to these government guys, so that we can go and bomb them some more, and target more poppy fields … and the cycle continues, and continues. Trust me, it makes sense …Not necessarily to you and me, but it makes lots of sense to our fat war-profiteers here at home. After all, who gives a damn if things make sense to the people-since when have they counted?

Of course Israel gets quite a lion’s share. That goes without saying. They get nearly $3 billion=$3,000,000,000, in military aid and another large sum as financial aid for …well, let’s put aside all the diplomacy and political correctness and call a duck a duck: They get all the military and foreign aid so that they can turn around and spend those dollars through their powerful network and lobby here, to make sure we are all screwed up in developing and implementing our foreign policy. Does that make sense? Just think about the billions of dollars, directly or indirectly, spent by the Israel lobby to form and control our foreign policy, aka war-war and more war. They get all those billions of dollars in foreign and military aid, come over here, get us into wars so that we go spend trillions of additional dollars in wars and screwing up the world … and ourselves… and then give Israel more in foreign and military aid. It doesn’t make sense, does it? Of course not, It’s not supposed to make sense, dude!

Egypt gets its $1 billion of our tax money for … for what? Thank God it’s been in the news lately so even the mass ignoramus population in our nation is able to have an idea: guns and bullets to kill political dissenters, tanks and tear gas to be used against civilians, helicopters to fire at civilians below … bring about a coup de tat, and then bring about another one …Okay, so that one we get. We know what they use our money and military equipment for. No brainer. As to why we would shower Egypt with all this money and military power? Why in the world do we end up giving all these dollars to the side that gets in via a coup, and to the side who takes out those who brought about the coup and gets in with its own coup … and another coup after that, and many dead … Why? Well, duh. It’s because that’s what we do. Since when has our government been in the business of providing reasons and justification to its people? Since when do they worry about having to make sense to their lowly people? Maybe, referring to the paragraph above, maybe it’s because of the billions of dollars we gave Israel, which came back here and were spent so that our government would put together this policy of giving billions of dollars to many different sides in Egypt – so that they would continue coups and butcher their people.

Pakistan gets more or less $1 Billion. They get military aid to make sure they create desirable conditions so that our military can send its drones out there and bomb the hell out of them every day. Makes sense. No? All right, try this: How else do we give these drones and our other killing machines a real-life test run? See! Like shooting ranges, our government needs to go out there, pick countries (and their inhabitants), and make them viable war-practice fields.  Call them Human Target Practice Fields. You haven’t heard?! Nothing like a real test drive. Of course these things ain’t free, so of course the money has to be spent, thus, our foreign aid to countries like Pakistan. Why is the price so high? Because Pakistan is dangerous, and it has nuclear weapons that we made sure they would get, and that makes Pakistan kinda expensive.

Those are just the largest recipients. For the complete list read the full article here: http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2013/10/08/what-national-debt-us-taxpayer-dollars-continue-to-flow-to-the-worlds-despots-torturers-human-target-practice-fields/#more-24922

Another way to end the national debt is to switch to government issued debt-free money. Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse Blog describes what the process might look like:

#1) The U.S. Congress votes to take back all of the functions that it has delegated to the Federal Reserve and begins to issue debt-free United States Notes.  These United States Notes would have the exact same value as existing Federal Reserve Notes, and over time all existing Federal Reserve Notes would be taken out of circulation.

#2) The U.S. Congress nationalizes all debt held by the Federal Reserve.  That would instantly reduce the national debt by 1.6 trillion dollars.  In fact, there are a few members of Congress that have already proposed this.

#3) A Constitutional amendment is passed limiting future U.S. government deficits to a reasonable percentage of GDP.  Any future deficits would not be funded by borrowing.  Rather, future deficits would be funded by newly created United States Notes.  Therefore, the federal government would never again accumulate another penny of debt.

And it would be important to inject new money into the economy from time to time.  When existing money is destroyed or when the population grows it is important to inject a certain amount of new money into the system in order to avoid deflation.

#4) The existing national debt would be very slowly paid off with newly created United States Notes.  The U.S. government spent over 454 billion dollars on interest on the national debt during fiscal year 2011, and over time this expense would go to zero.

If the national debt is paid off slowly enough, it would not create too much inflation.  I believe that it could be paid off gradually over 50 years without shocking the economy too much.

Read the full article here: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/debt-free-united-states-notes-were-once-issued-under-jfk-and-the-u-s-government-still-has-the-power-to-issue-debt-free-money

Such a solution may seem simple, but the obvious obstacle would be overcoming the immense political and economic influence of the central banks. The only U.S. presidents who challenged the central banking scheme were John F. Kennedy, James Garfield, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson. Kennedy, Garfield and Lincoln were assassinated in office. Jackson would have been assassinated in an attempt in 1835 were it not for two guns miraculously misfiring. Jackson later famously stated:

The Bank is trying to kill me – but I will kill it!

…If the American people only understood the rank injustice of our money and banking system – there would be a revolution before morning.

Unanswered Questions About Raids in Libya and Somalia

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Today marks the 12th anniversary of the Invasion of Afghanistan, so perhaps it’s no coincidence that there happens to be many news reports about two raids against alleged terrorists which took place over the weekend. The raid getting more attention took place in Libya and resulted in the capture of Abu Anas al-Liby, who is allegedly linked to the 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Interestingly, al-Liby was reported captured at least twice in the past, once in the late 90s and a second time in January 2002.

The goal of the raid in Somalia was to capture a man named Ikrimah who, according to anonymous U.S. senior officials, claimed responsibility for the Westgate Mall massacre in Kenya. The force carrying out the mission was SEAL Team Six, the same team that allegedly killed Osama Bin Laden and has had a string of suspiciously bad luck ever since. According to other anonymous officials interviewed by the Washington Post and NYT:

[…]troops retreated after an intense gunfight unfolded, fearing that escalating it could result in civilian casualties.

[…]Witnesses described a firefight lasting over an hour, with helicopters called in for air support.

Read the full article here: http://allafrica.com/stories/201310070803.html

An early leaked report posted at the New York Times website on Saturday stated the SEAL team had succeeded in seizing a “senior leader” of al Shabaab. But 45 minutes later, the Times said officials had “backed off” that report.

According to yet another anonymous senior official quoted in a CNN report with the headline Official: Navy SEAL team pulled out when it couldn’t capture suspect alive :

Their mission was to capture him. Once it became clear we were not going to [be] able to take him, the Navy commander made the decision to withdraw.

[…]Another U.S. official told CNN the Navy SEALs reported seeing children at the compound, part of the reason the mission was stopped during the firefight.

It seems unlikely they withdrew due to safety concerns, but it’s also unusual that they attempted a live capture, given how quick they were to drone bomb alleged terrorist leaders (and innocent civillians including children) in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, etc.

Podcast News Updates

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There’s been another string of relevant news podcasts in the past few days so it’s time for another roundup post.

Last week Rob Kall of OpEdnews.cominterviewed Peter Ludlow a professor of linguistics and philosophy, on topics including systemic evil, whistleblowers and hacktivism:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rob-kall-bottom-up-radio-show/id359765013

On Friday, Abby Martin of Breaking the Set did an excellent job deconstructing the corporatocracy on Coast to Coast AM with John Wells:

http://www.mediaroots.org/abby-martin-deconstructs-the-corporatocracy-on-coast-to-coast-am/

On Monday Nellie Bailey and Glen Ford of Black Agenda Report covered a wide range of important topics including an update on the corporate plan for Detroit (an American apartheid), the struggle to raise the minimum wage in Seattle, and Dave Swanson’s (of WarIsACrime.org) analysis of the multitude of lies in Obama’s recent UN speech : Listen to Black Agenda Radio on the Progressive Radio Network, with Glen Ford and Nellie Bailey – Week of 9/30/13.

From Traces of Reality there were two great consecutive shows. On 9/30 host Guillermo Jimenez interviewed Kevin Gallagher, director of Free Barrett Brown.  Brown is the journalist who faces a 105 year sentence, the bulk of which is related to charges associated with pasting a link in a chat room. On the 10/1 episode, Guillermo is joined by Vice President of The Future of Freedom Foundation, Sheldon Richman. They cover topics including the “government shutdown”, the national debt, taxation, private property, the “social contract,” and the fallacy of the “consent of the governed.”:

9/30

10/1

A Bad Week For U.S. Diplomacy

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Granted, most weeks are bad weeks for U.S. diplomacy, but this week was particularly rocky because it marked the 68th session of the U.N. General Assembly. On Tuesday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff pulled no punches in a speech highlighting how the NSA violated international law through its indiscriminate collection of personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage targeting the country’s industries (two days later it was revealed the NSA also planted bugs in two Indian embassies).

Following Rousseff’s address was Obama, who gave a speech which was widely panned for its hypocrisy and falsehoods. Dave Lindorff of This Can’t Be Happening! described it best:

Whether he was declaring that “together we have worked to end a decade of war” even as he was just blocked from unilaterally launching a war against Syria, or saying “we have limited the use of drones,” when his administration has upped their use from 51 strikes in Pakistan under the prior Bush administration to 323 so far under his own administration, as David Swanson has so meticulously documented in his Top 45 Lies in Obama’s Speech at the UN, it was all lies.

But for Americans, perhaps nowhere was his lying so blatant and obscene as when he vowed that “we will not stop asserting principles that are consistent with our ideals, whether that means opposing the use of violence as a means of suppressing dissent…” This, after all, was being said just one week after the second anniversary of the launching of the Occupy Movement, which we now know, thanks to documents obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice under the Freedom of Information Act, was crushed nationwide by a campaign of violent police assault coordinated at the highest levels of the FBI, Homeland Security Department and other federal police and intelligence agencies.

In contrast, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech with a more cooperative tone, calling for peaceful dialogue. But he was also blunt in calling out what he sees as the greatest threat to peace, as shown in his closing remarks:

This propagandistic discourse has assumed dangerous proportions through portrayal and inculcation of presumed imaginary threats. One such imaginary threat is the so-called “Iranian threat” -which has been employed as an excuse to justify a long catalogue of crimes and catastrophic practices over the past three decades. The arming of the Saddam Hussein regime with chemical weapons and supporting the Taliban and A1-Qaida are just two examples of such catastrophes. Let me say this in all sincerity before this august world assembly, that based on irrefutable evidence, those who harp on the so-called threat of Iran are either a threat against international peace and security themselves or promote such a threat. Iran poses absolutely no threat to the world or the region. In Fact, in ideals as well as in actual practice, my country has been a harbinger of just peace and comprehensive security.

Read the complete transcript here: http://publicintelligence.net/iran-un-speech-2013/

In a recent Global Research piece by Ryan Mallett-Outtrim, it was reported that on Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro cancelled plans to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Though he did not give too many details for security reasons, he did state:

There were two serious provocations, one more serious than the other, how I understand it…When I got into Vancouver I evaluated the intelligence which we received from several sources…I decided then and there to continue back to Caracas and drop the New York trip to protect a key goal: safeguarding my physical integrity and protecting my life.

Read the full article here: http://www.globalresearch.ca/argentina-brazil-bolivia-venezuela-and-latin-america-at-odds-with-the-us-at-the-united-nations/5351705

In light of suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Maduro may have good reason to be cautious.

Later that day Bolivian President Evo Morales gave what will probably be the most memorable speech of this year’s UN General Assembly. Some of the highlights:

What peace can we speak of when military spending sacrifices the human rights of our peoples? How is it possible, when there are so many unemployed, for your (US) government, for your president, to spend 700 billion dollars on the military? It is not possible for these huge amounts of money to be spent on the military and on espionage when there are so many brothers and sisters in the United States without homes, without jobs, without schooling. I simply cannot understand how they can spend so much money to interfere in other countries while leaving their own unprovided for.

…You do not combat terrorism with more military spending or by training more military forces. As far as I know you fight terrorism with social policies, not with military bases, you fight it with religious tolerance, with more democracy, more equality, more justice and more education.

…Those who decide wars are large arms industries, the financial system and the oil companies. Plutocracy has replaced democracy.

…How can we be safe at a meeting of the United Nations here in New York? Some do not believe in imperialism and capitalism and feel totally unsafe…The headquarters should be in a state that has ratified all UN treaties.

…I would like you to be aware that the United States harbors terrorists and the corrupt. They take refuge here, and the United States does not help in the fight against corruption.

At the close of his address, Morales suggested “we think seriously about constituting a Tribunal of the People with international bodies and the large defenders of human rights to begin a lawsuit against the Obama government.”

You can read more about the speech and listen to the full translated version here:

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Bolivia-s-Morales-Addresse-by-Meryl-Ann-Butler-Bolivia_Bolivian-Revolution_Evo-Morales_Poverty-130925-205.html

http://gadebate.un.org/68/bolivia-plurinational-state