‘End Medical Debt’ Tops 2018
The Trenchwalker has read several excellent books during the past year, from authors like John Grisham, Lee Child, Lisa Sweetingham, and J.L. Bass, to name a few, but perhaps the most intriguing and helpful in the real world was the informative and inspiring book End Medical Debt by Jerry Ashton, Craig Antico, and Robert Goff. Utilized were three writers with slightly different takes on the devastating American crisis of indebtedness caused by entities connected with the practice of medicine. The book provides the evolution of medicine when its mission was good health and how it step-by-step turned into a conglomeration of corporations whose mission is now good wealth – for them.
I had trouble putting down the book and would describe it as brilliant! Weirdly, while reading it I thought of a certain comparison of medicine to furniture. I suggest you watch the old black-and-white movie Executive Suite that starred William Holden, Frederic March, Barbara Stanwyck, and June Allison, among other greats. The last quarter of the movie illustrates how a particular furniture business went from providing quality items to instead marketing cheap copies while attempting to bolster stockholders’ profits, its new end-all goal, which destined the company to failure if changes were not made immediately.
Another thought that came to mind while reading End Medical Debt was in reference to a television program in the 1960s and early 70s, Gunsmoke, which starred, among others, Milburn Stone as the elderly physician in the old west township of Dodge, Doc Adams, who made both house calls and conducted in-office visits and quite often asked for little or no pay, depending upon the financial abilities of his patients. His main goal was their well-being. Then move forward to today where dollars and cents usually dictate the type of care that is given. This often results in saddling the sick or injured patient with mountainous debt and in many cases ruins their lives about as badly as the disease would have. As you throw insurance corporations, big pharma, and major medical facilities into the mix, each chaired by a profit-driven board of directors looking out for stockholders instead of patients, you have America in 2019, a far cry from the promises of the past.
The book delves into historical points such as the start of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. It explains why they were created and how this eventually impacted healthcare today, as have sign-offs by Congress and law-makers that gradually shifted medicine toward corporatism.
In an interview with The Iconoclast, co-author of End Medical Debt, Jerry Ashton, explained why he and the other authors founded a charity, RIP Medical Debt, whose mission is to raise money to purchase horrific medical debt owed by patients who cannot pay, and then to credit these parties and forgive the debt, to extinguish bill collectors’ pursuits of these individuals. Ashton said that quite often the charity pays only a penny on the dollar to collect this otherwise uncollectible debt, a system that is seeing remarkable success. He suggests that people, by reading his book, will become educated about this trillion-dollar national crisis and be given the tools to correct it – to take action.
One of the problems lies with Congress. The Iconoclast recently spoke with a higher-up at the Federal Drug Administration and learned that its mission is hampered by Congressional loopholes that demand that the agency not do its job properly, which officials there say is extremely frustrating. Congress is banishing good sense in order to silently provide money for stockholders of major drug companies by providing these loopholes. After all, drug companies fund these officeholders’ election campaigns. If you call and ask the FDA if drugs that are approved are thoroughly tested there, you will likely be told by the lower echelons that they are. But if you work your way up the chain of command, you soon learn that the FDA does not test, but that drug companies “pay” independent companies to do it for them or they do it themselves. So much for objectivity and reliance on science, which to them is coded with dollars and cents.
The mainstream media will not tell you this because, well, they depend upon pharmaceutical advertising to survive. It’s nearly impossible to watch an hour of TV without at least a dozen drug commercials, some that go so far as to, for instance, offer a drug for a skin problem, but mention at the end the potential side effects that could include death. Death, to clear up a skin problem? Drug companies base their marketing theory on the belief that millennials are not mature enough to know any better.
Pharmaceutical companies, by and large, are simply take-offs on the old snake oil, elixir, and tonic remedy hawkers of old who sold their goods atop brightly painted covered wagons. Now they prompt you to govern your doctor, as though he or she is ignorant. “Tell your doctor to prescribe our drug. Of course, you might get a dozen terrible side effects. But then, we can provide meds for those too, and so on and so on.” Ca-ching, ca-ching, ca-ching.
A recent “confidential” conversation with a pharmaceutical braggart puts it into perspective. He said, “That vial costs us less than fifty cents to manufacture and produce, including packaging, but pharmacies sell it for $180. They get a small cut. Multiply that one vial times thousands of customers and our stockholders love it. They clean up without having to lift a finger. This also gives us money to contribute to political campaigns. We own just about every Congressman. They don’t dare go against us because they know we can ruin them. And we can afford to advertise like nobody’s business. TV spots are not cheap, but we get a special deal in bulk. Best of all, it allows us to own their news departments. There’s not a reporter out there who will badmouth us, much less investigate us.”
“But what about the customers who are being ripped off?” I asked.
“We just tell them it’s for research. Besides, they are desperate. They will do anything. So I guess you could say that we own them, too.”
The Iconoclast totally agrees with Ashton that healthcare is a major crisis in the United States and we encourage you to read our feature story about this remarkable book and the charity, RIP Medical Debt.
Bombs Of War Impact Climate Change
By W. Leon Smith
Scientists throughout the world are emphatic that our dangerously warming climate is the result of the human beast and his emissions of petroleum gases and similar products into the atmosphere. The end result is an imbalance that thrives and grows like tumors on the heart and limbs of Mother Earth.
The escalation of these tumors became pronounced during the George W. Bush presidency, as did the number of massive earthquakes around the world that many have attributed to HAARP (High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program). HAARP is a sub-arctic facility in Alaska that utilized a high-frequency, high-powered radio frequency transmitter to bounce its targeted beam off the ionosphere that is outside earth’s surface and back to earth to specific locations in search of oil, thereby allowing oil companies to excite with vibrations the earth with oceans above it in the quest for underground oil. This turmoil caused hurricanes and earthquakes. Instrumental in the development of this facility were British Petroleum and BAE Systems Advanced Technologies, a subsidiary of BAE Systems, Inc., one of the world’s largest suppliers of military combat equipment.
During the Bush II era, tsunamis, earthquakes, and hurricanes were prevalent, believed to be caused by the intrusions of “weather altering” forces, which were actually a bi-product of the vibrations put upon the earth by humans. The resultant ionospheric bounce has a domino effect. One thing causes a disruption, which causes another, and another, and another that can go on for centuries.
In a similar vein, the massive explosion of bombs throughout the world has added new tumors to Mother Earth. Take, for instance, the use of depleted uranium to make harder the texture on missiles. The depleted uranium waste product from nuclear power plants needed to be disposed of because of its yet intense radioactive nature. What better place than upon missiles, bombs, and similar military equipment, for the sake of “national security?”
Unfortunately, when ordinances are exploded, the minute particulates of radioactive depleted uranium enter the atmosphere we breathe and eventually sit upon the landscape and venture into rivers, streams, and lakes. Thus explains the exponential increase of birth defects and new cancers in regions such as Iraq and elsewhere around the world.
The Lone Star Iconoclast was the only American newspaper about a dozen years ago to investigate the impact of depleted uranium upon the world. It was learned that during the Battle of Baghdad where “shock and awe” garnered headlines, unreported in the mainstream media was the significance of vast amounts of depleted uranium being unleashed upon the world.
After further study, The Iconoclast published a series of articles under the umbrella of “Have DU – Will Travel” where scientists in London had learned of vastly dangerous spikes in radiation that occurred as a direct result of depleted uranium explosions in Baghdad, whereby these particulates had traveled en mass to other sectors of the world, crossing countries and leaving behind and depositing debris not fit for a sewer in its wake, particulates that will negatively impact the health of humans for generations to come, for it is nearly impossible to clean up.
In 2016, during the Obama administration, the United States alone dropped 26,171 bombs, according to Foreign Policy. This does not count the vast multitude of bombs dropped by other countries either in direct military action or as a means of testing. The end result is a spike in cancers and other health frailties for the human and animal populations throughout the world, not to mention the fishes of the seas. The particulates do travel, possibly and probably even to arctic regions, where their impact on global warming could be immense.
Which brings us to my point.
Studies are being conducted that relate to the manufacture of and use of petroleum products and their contributions to global warming, all the way down to people who drive a car to work. However, we are yet to find a study that links the use of bombs and other military ordinances to global warming, or the bouncing of radioactive beams off the ionosphere as a contributing factor.
It is the duty of Mother Nature to keep Mother Earth in balance. It is a tough job, one made nearly impossible with petroleum caldrons constantly emitting poisons into the air and explosions of bombs ripping the earth and distributing its own mixture of radioactive particulates into the air we breathe and upon the earth, often many miles away, where havoc is the only outcome.
I often wonder if there were no more bombs would global warming eventually correct itself, or at least not get worse?
Is this the underlying culprit that science, politics, and governments are prone to ignore? It is the “big boys” that profit from war and their greed is unquenchable.
Most military regimes are run by billionaires, psychopaths, and maniacs who lure hordes of incompetents into their grasp to kill on their behalf. Is it really safe to question their authority? So far, no one has dared to venture into that chamber of doom. The “sheeple” complex remains intact while the missing puzzle piece of war’s impact on global warming remains hidden out of sight on the floor.
Iconoclast Loses Two More To Death
The Lone Star Iconoclast in 2016 has lost two more of its major writers and editorial contributors to death, which follows the untimely passing of Eric May on Oct. 14, 2014.
On March 2, historical writer Joe Marchman passed away and April 11 saw the passing of human rights activist and filmmaker Aldo Vidali.
All three men were impressive in their writing abilities that went far beyond merely putting words on paper. They each had a distinct courageous side. They didn’t mind tackling tough subjects and standing up to the powers that be in their questioning. None of the three took pay for their writing of essays because they believed in the “causes” they were championing more than financial rewards. They felt compelled to get the word out and often utilized The Iconoclast to do so, with a definite mark of perseverance and dedication.
Eric May, the founder of Ghost Troop, was a former Army intelligence officer who possessed a keen ability to read “between the lines” posts, predict false flags, and dissect dispatches and trends from a military perspective. Much of what he wrote required putting his own life in danger.
In the case of Joe Marchman, his contributions to The Iconoclast were mainly about Texas history, the winning of Texas independence from Mexico. He spent thousands of hours conducting research and compiling historical accounts that were both entertaining and historically correct. He also served as an investigator and a reporter where, like Captain May, he stood up to powerful people and at times put it all on the line.
Aldo Vidali, to me, was the ultimate adventurer. He was skilled at filmmaking and writing and created some of the most compelling prose I have ever read. What struck me was his passion for human rights, himself nearly having been one of Hitler’s victims in World War II as a young boy. There were many issues in which he and I agreed, one being the sanctity of the Constitution and another the demolition of the neo-con influence as it continues its quest to take over of the United States.
Writers like these helped define the hard line taken by The Iconoclast to provide ideas that do not necessarily and most often do not sink to the corporate idiocies frequently delivered by the mainstream media. These men were visionaries who constantly thought outside the box, pulling away from the “trees” to examine truth from a distant perspective and then returning again to fashion drops of ink into innovative and challenging works of genius.
Capt. May…A True Iconoclast!
Eric May was one of the most talented, creative, courageous, and intelligent people I have ever met. He was a genius and then some. He quite frequently wrote essays and news reports for The Lone Star Iconoclast and as one of his editors, I was amazed at his clean text, his persuasiveness, his vast command of multiple languages, and beyond that, his extraordinary ability to accurately dismantle reports from the mainstream media and, reading between the lines, grasp the truth and unveil cover-ups.
His creation of Ghost Troop was a huge achievement, not only because it honored past soldiers, but also it provided a method of questioning dubious military tactics during a time when the world was at a critical juncture. As a former intelligence officer, he understood how military policy was developed, along with its imperfections. His analysis was always accurate.
Usually we visited by phone or e-mail, but I met him and some of his family members in person on a few occasions, which was a rewarding experience I will never forget. Once, I interviewed him at the Crawford Peace House, at which he performed for me his Ghost Troop Dirge, provided biographical information, and spoke in-depth about the state of the nation. His insight proved invaluable to Iconoclast readers and through his writings influenced national policy.
I was always amazed to learn from him what had just occurred and what was about to happen based on numerological dates that tended to follow a preconceived outline. He could predict disasters before they happened and was precise at attributing events to false flags.
Probably the most impressive element that Eric May brought to the world, however, was his courage. He stood up to the powers that be on many occasions and sought to shine a light on truth even when his personal safety was at stake, and it often was. In a way, Ghost Troop operated in the shadows and he was its commander, in touch with deceased soldiers, retirees, current soldiers, and a precise affiliation with history and how it relates to today.
I considered him a personal friend and miss him profoundly. His friendship to mankind was immense, as well, which was demonstrated time and again with his desire to improve the world, make it safer, and end wars. He was very much one of a kind.
Dr. Andrew Wakefield Should Be Thanked
This past week I received an e-mail from a friend who sent a link to a British film that had been banned for nearly a decade. It dealt with gastroenterologist Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s controversial 1998 research that was published in The Lancet suggesting a link between the MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, chronic bowel disease, and autism.
The article put into question the safety of the vaccine. The film portrays Dr. Wakefield’s research and a mother’s agonizing attempt to learn the truth about what suddenly caused her child’s autism.
Some consider Wakefield a martyred saint due to his research persistence and his concern for the health of children amid a controversy waged by the powers that be who wanted to silence him.
The movie is available on YouTube at this link: http://www.ageofautism.com/2013/02/banned-wakefield-films-from-british-tv-emerge-on-youtube-after-nearly-a-decade.html.
The drama ‘Hear the Silence’ stars Hugh Bonneville as Andrew Wakefield and Juliet Stevenson as a mother trying to find the truth about what happened to her child. The film was seen once on British television in December 2003 and then disappeared after mainstream media publishing giant Rupert Murdoch’s Sunday Times discredited, smeared, and attacked Wakefield. The Murdoch family is heavily invested in GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), a vaccine manufacturer.
The film has now been posted on the web by ‘ScienceIsrael’ in the original English with Hebrew subtitles.
According to the Vaccine Liberation Army, which is trying to educate the public about the many horrors caused by highly promoted vaccinations, the film, directed by Tim Fywell, “is compelling. It is professional. It is riveting. Missing this movie is to miss an amazing expose of the real life medical cabal’s facility to experiment on the population and to purposely conceal information from the public. And more than that… it’s ability to systematically orchestrate the demise of moral and good men, like Dr. Andrew Wakefield.”
I watched the movie. It became more and more interesting as it progressed and makes a valid point. It strongly mirrors what is happening today with big pharmaceutical companies and their goal of gigantic profits, which is constantly endorsed by the mainstream media, both in their feature stories and through advertising.
On various internet sites, Dr. Wakefield is both crucified and praised. Wikipedia rips him apart. Mercola.com claims that no fraud was committed in the Wakefield study. A site, thedailybell.com, mentions that one of Dr. Wakefield’s partners was recently reinstated after a “witch hunt” and Dr. Wakefield was wrongly “pilloried in 10,000 news stories, his research was discredited, he was labeled a cheat and a fraud; his livelihood was reduced; he was chased out of his home country of Britain; eventually he was disbarred and forbidden to practice medicine.” The article adds, “But his truth is not so easily silenced as it might have been even a decade ago.”
During the interim, there have been additional studies that relate to the same problems with gut disorders and autistic behavior, including a recent Wake Forest University report that determined that 70 of the 82 autistic children they studied had measles virus in their guts, the same strain used in MMR vaccines.
Of course, every type of vaccine should be questioned. For instance, a leading immunologist, Dr. Hugh Fudenberg, in 2010 said that he does not think that flu shots are effective, not worth getting because of the risk of weakening one’s immune system. He mentioned how mercury and aluminum increases the chances of neurological disorders than can inflict a lifetime of disability and pain.
The list of toxins in flu vaccines include mercury, formaldehyde, aluminum, and squalene, among others, not to mention attenuated viruses. Supposedly, these vaccines are dangerous because they impact the outer skin of membranes in the sinuses, bronchial tubes, and various glands and organs that are generally protected by various types of natural bacteria. By injecting directly into the blood stream, these lines of defense are bypassed, often rendering the immune system unable to function.
What The Trenchwalker finds interesting is that recently I watched an old movie recorded on a VHS tape during the late 1980s. There were zero pharmaceutical commercials. Nowadays they are unavoidable, often running back-to-back-to-back. Drug companies produce meds for pennies and sell them for dollars, gigantic mark-ups. National commercials are not cheap. Most promote prescription drugs to “tell your doctor” about, as if all doctors are stupid. Of course, the purpose of the commercials is to sell you on the idea that it is okay to take dangerous drugs after your doctor prescribes them for you, which he is lobbied by drug companies to do. It’s a racket.
Back in the early 1990s, this writer became a diabetic shortly after getting a flu shot, an injection I normally avoided. Prodded by family and friends, I finally gave in and got one. Upon receiving the shot, I became ill, with what I deemed was a reaction to the shot itself. When I asked my doctor what was up, he said that some people get a mild case of the flu after the injection and I should be happy it wasn’t the full-blown flu. I was not happy being sick as a dog for three weeks, running 106° fever, and going through a lot of pain. After it finally trailed off, I had become a diabetic, a condition that does not run in my family.
I recently did some Googling and found numerous blogs where other people experienced the same thing. They got a flu shot and promptly became diabetic. So, for the past 20 years, at three shots of insulin a day, the pharmaceutical companies have made many thousands of dollars off me, not to mention the damage that was done to my immune system.
Three years ago, during the course of a week, I had 73 strokes. Doctors are quick to point out that only three of them were actually strokes, on both sides of the brain, the other 70 merely TIAs (strokes that did not take, although they lasted quite awhile and as a layman they felt like strokes). I was prescribed “must take” drugs that had horrible side effects. I was told to take them or die, so I resigned myself to put up with the side effects.
Just over a year ago, when a generic version of one of these nasty drugs became available, I decided to give it a try, since to me $15 beats $75 any day. After taking one generic pill, I spent the worst 23 hours of my life with monumental side effects that would not go away. Eventually, I was able to trash that drug completely (a long story), but I wanted to find out what caused the side effects. If it was not the main active ingredient, it must have been a “filler” ingredient that differed from the original pill. I wanted to do a comparison of the ingredients and the quantities of each one used to find out just what caused that bad reaction, so I contacted the generic drug company. I was told this was privileged information. Since they compete with other drug companies, this was their secret and the measurement of each ingredient would not be revealed.
So, I contacted the Federal Drug Administration, making several phone calls. No two people gave me the same answers. One said that both the active ingredients and the fillers are all tested, but they could not reveal the detailed information I sought because “we have to protect the drug companies. That’s why we are here.”
I pressed harder on the next call, where a different “team member” finally admitted that the fillers are actually not tested since they are not important. He said that team members simply tell the public they are checked to “keep them calm.”
Another said that the fillers are tested by independent labs, but the FDA could not release their names. This team member also hinted that often the drug companies conduct the tests themselves and the FDA simply signs off on it; therefore, this information cannot be released, again protecting the drug companies. He did say that many people with the FDA do not like this, but it is mandated by Congressmen who profit from pharmaceutical company contributions, so the FDA has no choice but to go along. “Our hands are tied,” he said.
One suggested I fill out an online complaint. I told him I had tried to do that, but in selecting from a list of conditions, I was prompted to select erroneous information in the query before the system would take me to the next page, so after starting over three times I eventually gave up. He said that the online complaint form had been riddled with this ongoing problem for some time and nobody knows how to fix it. He said I should go ahead and fill it out incorrectly and in a space for comments to mention that the complaint contains erroneous information. Huh?
As a customer and a patient, I, of course, feel extremely angered and slighted that I cannot learn exactly what is in that drug and, therefore, learn what “filler” ingredients to avoid. They don’t care about the patient, only the profits. And, to top it off, I have learned that quite often filler ingredients are not monitored for quality as to where that ingredient was obtained and if there are contaminants present. These fillers are bought cheaply in bulk and are mainly designed to make the drug easy to manufacture.
Going back to the “gut” aspect of vaccines, I also wonder about the trend toward obesity during the past few years. Is it related to GMO foods, or is it a side effect of vaccines? Is that why so many medical people, required to get vaccines, are notably obese? Perhaps a study needs to be done.
This brings us back to Dr. Wakefield, who wrote a book entitled “Callous Disregard — Autism And Vaccines – The Truth Behind A Tragedy.”
Now a Texan who lives in Austin, he issued a statement in 2011: “I want to make one thing crystal clear for the record — my research and the serious medical problems found in those children were not a hoax and there was no fraud whatsoever. Nor did I seek to profit from our findings.”
He added, “I continue to fully support more independent research to determine if environmental triggers, including vaccines, are causing autism and other developmental problems. The current rate of autism is 1 in 110 children in the United States and 1 in 64 children in the U.K. My goal has always been and will remain the health and safety of children. Since the Lancet paper, I have lost my job, my career and my country. To claim that my motivation was profit is patently untrue. I will not be deterred — this issue is far too important.”
With the mainstream media, which is largely owned by drug company kingpins, touting the importance of immunizations while also keeping in mind that pharmaceutical companies are their major advertisers, it is more important than ever for independent studies to be conducted and laws changed making details about the drugs we consume transparent, thoroughly analyzed, with this information in the public domain. Drug companies want to keep the ingredients and the outcomes of their products secret while they hoist their goods on an unsuspecting public. The traditional medical oath “to do no harm” has been ripped to shreds. Pharmaceutical terrorism is the code behind those happy-face TV commercials that prompt you to save your health as you help to increase their profits by consuming their “secret” products, their idea being to rope you in for life.
For the past 50 years, the medical community has supposedly been seeking cures for diseases, with billions of dollars donated by the general populace for the effort. In that time, can you name me one disease that has been cured? Sure, they treat the diseases, usually in the process causing another problem due to the side effects of these drugs that requires additional medications. One has to wonder if this is on purpose, to generate more billions of dollars for pharmaceutical companies as they come out with “new” remedies for these new ailments at extremely high costs to the patient. I guess we no longer live in the “space age,” where with modern technology cures for diseases is just around the corner, as we were told for decades. Why cure a disease when you can make a mint just treating it while creating a new disease to cure in the process, and another, and another, and another?
There is definitely an assault on our citizenry, from GMO foods, to radiation in the air, to toxins in everyday products used to slowly kill people, not to mention bad drugs. Americans need to push their elected leaders off their high horses and put into place total and accurate labeling of products, no secret ingredients, with very long test periods involving independent studies and continued monitoring. To allow secret ingredients, especially in medicine and in chemical products, is insane.
Dr. Wakefield is indeed a martyr, perhaps in more ways than is easily recognized. His research on the MMR vaccination and the questions it raised related to autism is one example. Today, his push for independent studies is of extreme importance and yet another example. Let’s hope, for all our sakes, that this is not a lost cause.
Debates: Questions I Would Have Asked
Monday’s Presidential debates are the grand finale of three. I saw the types of questions Bob Schieffer was scheduled to ask and had a problem with it, so I sent him an e-mail. Here it is:
Mr. Schieffer,
I would like to suggest that you change the questions you plan to ask during the third debate in order to bring to the forefront some of the things happening in America that the mainstream media prefers to ignore and to really determine how the candidates think and what they actually know. The current proposed questions will only result in a rehash of rhetoric that is highly speculative and is virtually meaningless to American voters.
I suggest questions such as these:
Does British Petroleum have unnecessary influence over HAARP at its various locations throughout the world and therefore the U.S. Navy?
Can you explain the functions of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) and its influence on the rise in number of major earthquakes worldwide?
Since there is now proof that the 2004 Presidential election was stolen from John Kerry, do you think that former President Bush and Karl Rove should face prosecution because of their influence on this illegal act?
The 911 Truth Movement has proved that the attacks did not happen as the White House report suggests and the demolition of the buildings was staged in advance. Would you be in favor of a new independent study of this turning point in American history to bring the parties responsible to justice?
To one: Name the first 10 presidents of the United States, in order.
To the next: Name the second 10 presidents of the United States in order.
At what stage do you think the American populace should be told about the incidence of Fukushima radiation entering our country. Now, or after people start to die from it?
Will you be willing to sign an Honesty Bond prior to the election stating that you will step down immediately if, upon election, campaign promises are not kept?
If elected, will you continue to support the use of Drones to kill innocent women and children in foreign countries?
If elected, will you cease the use of executive orders?
If elected, will you promote vigorously a complete audit of the Federal Reserve System and then champion its closing?
If elected, will you redefine all government agencies to eliminate suboptimization, corruption, and abuses of power?
If elected, will you cause independent investigations of each agency of government, including Wall Street, and allow punishment for all crimes that goes beyond financial payoffs and includes incarceration?
If elected, will you actively work to eliminate the use of GMO products in the United States?
If elected, will you see to it that companies that send jobs overseas are fined?
If elected, will you immediately resign from your political party and stand on your own two feet?
If elected, will you immediately see to it that all individuals who have outsmarted the tax system by setting up accounts overseas are fined and prosecuted for robbing from the United States?
Mr. Schieffer, I could list a lot more. I realize that CBS is a very strong pro-war organization and this e-mail will probably not cross your desk, but I am one of the many journalists who are outraged that only “safe” questions with answers that follow party line responses are asked.
I wish you would put the candidates on the spot with these straight-forward questions, so that we can get an idea of which candidate has any guts.
If I were in your shoes, I would throw out the scheduled questions and say that I am ready to get down and dirty to determine what the candidates really think and how aware they are of what America thinks.
If you ask these questions you will become the number one journalist in the world.
About me: I am W. Leon Smith, publisher of The Lone Star Iconoclast, an online independent publication that got its start in Crawford, Texas. My web address is www.iconoclastnews.com.
Respectfully,
W. Leon Smith
UPDATE: After the debate Monday, I sent this e-mail to Mr. Schieffer:
Mr. Schieffer,
Regarding Monday’s debate, you dumped journalistic integrity down the toilet. What a waste of everyone’s time! You are simply a shill for the CBS pro-war machine. That became abundantly clear. At least the Giants and the Cardinals played hardball. You didn’t.
W. Leon Smith
The Lone Star Iconoclast
We’re Back! The Iconoclast Returns
For the past few months (since about March), The Lone Star Iconoclast website has been somewhat inactive, due to several circumstances beyond our control.
With a very small staff, what impacts us on the periphery also impacts our ability to publish at times.
Not to make lame excuses, these most recently involved two attacks by hackers that disabled our site, the deaths of some very close family members that we had to deal with, and some situations regarding my health. You might recall that two years ago I suffered from 73 strokes and have been dealing with rehab and bad medication side effects ever since, the latest to be detailed in a future essay regarding pharmaceutical companies not willing to advise patients of the exact ingredients of their drugs for “proprietary” reasons, even when patients’ lives are at stake.
It is quite a task to rebuild fairly intricately constructed websites such as ours. We have had to reconstruct thousands of files — twice — in an effort to get back on track. This has been an expensive and time consuming venture and we now hope our security is strong enough to prevent it from happening again.
In some ways it is interesting to realize that some powers that be want this site to come down, which, of course, makes us want even more to keep it going. It has taken much longer to rebuild the site than I had anticipated and there are some files that still need some tweaking, but we are back online now and hope those who have provided us with tips, news dispatches, and information in the past will continue to do so.
My health had been improving considerably over the past two years, until I took one generic pill about eight weeks ago to replace a brand name. The damage it caused was one of the worst experiences of my life and I am still recovering from it.
One of my health treatments in its aftermath has involved acupuncture, something new to me. So far, it has been a positive experience, and brings back memories of how The Iconoclast has always been a firm supporter of those who have been persecuted by the Chinese government for practicing Falun Gong, a qigong discipline combining slow-moving exercises and meditation with a moral philosophy centered on the tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. Their calls for freedom are immense and their positive influences are now more personal for me.
There are several additions and enhancements we are anticipating with The Iconoclast in the days and weeks ahead, so we hope you will stay tuned.
Someone the other day asked why we show that “stupid rat” in our header and in promotions. In a way it is fitting, for he once was considered the “capitol rat,” symbolically getting in behind closed doors to let the public know what goes on with hidden agendas, which is one of our strengths. We are experienced investigators and have had success in the past, especially with the assistance of whistle blowers with whom we have worked and continue to share information.
A similar cartoon rat originated as a sports column heading when we published newspapers in Dublin and Stephenville, Texas many years ago over the writings of the late Denver Doggett, a very good friend and colleague. Keeping the rat alive seemed like a good thing to do. I think Denver would appreciate it.
The Dark House
The following article appeared in the October 1990 edition of Underground Texas, a newspaper I founded years ago which has vanished from publication. Its message is still pertinent today — The Trenchwalker.
By Agnes Carruthers
UNDERGROUND TEXAS
Sunset is like a candle just before it goes out. It’s pretty; but, oh, how it turns dark so fast. The dark is cold and the shadows are not my friends anymore.
I hate it when it’s windy because of the sounds. The north wind sweeps the vines next to the kitchen and the south wind vibrates the front door – just enough to make noises.
Edgar, I wish you were here.
If someone broke in, I could fight ‘em some, but I don’t know about my arthritis. I don’t know how well I would hold up. I ache so.
My, such a pretty pink and orange. I still like the bright light blue sky the best, though – without a cloud in it. Neighbors’ houses are starting to lose their color. It’s getting late and there’s a bank building up. Wish it would wait ‘til morning to thunderstorm and rain.
While I’ve got light, I better eat. Wish I still had Tabby to keep me company. Edgar sure liked that cat. Was the only cat he ever let stay in the house.
It’s already getting dark in here. Days are really shorter. These cornflakes are pretty good, but I’m getting kind of tired of them, and I wish the milk would last just a little longer. Never could cotton to blinky milk. Mama said when I was a young’un I just wouldn’t drink it and that’s been 81 years, so I guess I’ll never change.
Sometimes I wish I was blind. They say if you’re blind, your ears become like eyes, and that might help me get through the night. I shouldn’t think such things, though.
Used to, when I did the dishes, it would take a lot of time and I didn’t like it. Now I just rinse my bowl and spoon. It’s so quick and easy, but I don’t like it. Sometimes you don’t know when you have it good. How I wish the kids lived close enough so I could do for them and we could talk and reminisce and it would be like happy times again.
Wouldn’t be whole without Edgar in his recliner, listening to everything we say and smiling. I wish Edgar was still here. And my cat. It’s so quiet. Even the quiet is loud!
They say you don’t feel things as much when you get older…that by then you’re used to pain. I don’t mind the arthritis so much, but it does get awfully bad sometimes. The pain I have trouble toleratin’ is the quiet in this house! And then the noise. Little noises that are so abrupt they set my heart to poundin’. I’m so jumpy without my warm gray cat with the gentle purr and the white paws.
The kids are off livin’ their own lives and they’re barely makin’ it. I just wish Edgar was still here and our plans were in place.
Why did the one thing we worked so hard for get so mixed up? We weren’t going to burden the kids and we’re not. We saved so hard and made so many sacrifices. How could anyone be so cruel as that insurance company. We aren’t machines…we’re people!
It’s not fittn’ to set blame, but they warted Edgar to death. If they’d a kept their promises, he wouldn’t of lost sleep and stayed in a worried state! That made him worse. He felt like such a failure, and he was concerned so about me. He knew he was dyin’ and nothing could be done about it, and he knew I’d be alone. Nothing could be done about that either.
I wonder if I will just lie down and sleep tonight, or will I fret and let all the wrong that that insurance company did to us go ‘round and ‘round in my head. I need to get ‘em out of my head.
Why did they send me that letter, telling me how good they did last year? Sure, I got it by mistake. They’re makin’ their stockholders rich by not honorin’ their promises, that’s what they’re doing.
I wish I could turn a light on. It’s getting dark. Electric company raised rates again. If I don’t keep my bill down, I’ll have to dip into my burying money. Can’t keep Edgar’s grave the way I want to as it is, and I miss my cat. Hope Mrs. Cummings’ granddaughter takes care of Tabby and he catches enough rats in their barn to earn his keep. He probably likes it there, but I sure miss him here. Wish I could have afforded to keep feedin’ him. He fit so nicely in my lap and was such a good friend.
Can’t read anymore at night ‘cause it takes light. TV hasn’t been on in so long! Bet the neighbors think all I do is watch TV at night, what with the lights out, and I wish I could. That would pass the time.
When it’s daylight it seems I spend my whole time going back over and over my money. Social Security check just isn’t enough! Ain’t supposed to be and I never expected it to be. Edgar and I had it all worked out, till the insurance company let us down and messed things up for us.
We didn’t like payin’ ‘em, but we did religiously. We didn’t need ‘em till last year. They took our money for 30 years. Then when we needed ‘em to pay for Edgar’s medical expenses, they said he didn’t qualify. Everyone said we needed to hire us a lawyer, but that’s a gamble, too, and Edgar was so tired of the fight and not up to it. He wouldn’t have lasted. I wish he hadn’t a died with this thing unresolved. He was upset and hurt and couldn’t believe this had happened to us. They really walked all over us and there was nothing we could do that would have worked in time.
I try to think of happier times, but when I do I get so sad and can’t keep the tears away. There were many happy, joyful times in this house, but it seems like a hollow shell now…almost like a tomb.
Maybe I could turn just one light on for a little while. I could read some and my eyes might get tired and I could go on to sleep. But if I turn on the light, I won’t be able to pay for my burying. That’s one promise Edgar and I made to ourselves. The kids won’t be saddled with having to do for us in our old age, and that includes burying.
If I hold on to what I get and keep my expenses down, I can do that and the insurance company can’t take that last ounce of dignity away from me, so I’ll sit in the dark and pray for morning.
The moon is my friend. It sees me through the night and smiles down at me. My, how I loved to look up at the stars when I was a little girl. It was mysterious and dark and so vast. It would conjure up feelings of wonder and even warmth. People for centuries have looked upon these same stars and pronounced their hopes and dreams to the heavens.
More of my friends belong to the universe than to this earth. They have passed over and triumphed and are out there telling me it will be all right – that the old ways still exist up there ‘cause they’re up there to see it.
This earth is so cold and the people are not the same as they used to be. I often wonder if humanity is vanishing away and taking our good people with it.
I’ll gaze at the moon and it’ll give me strength to make it through another night. That moon has been my friend since I was a little girl. My mama and papa looked up at it for hope and so did Edgar and I. We made our plans in its wake and at different ages whispered to it our dreams. That was a long time ago and only yesterday.
This dark house has ceased being a home, with warmth and joy. It is more a relic, as am I.
Mine is not the only dark house in the neighborhood. I wonder how many other lonely people, just like me, there are on this street, in this town, everywhere? I wish I could comfort them and we could see ourselves through the night together.
It’s so sad. I would be so nice if we could wait for the morning light together and talk about a time when only old folks were lonely.
Recession Around The Corner?
It’s Been Here A Long Time!
Matters Worse Than U.S. Economic, Unemployment Statistics Reflect
Back in 1990, a publication called Underground Texas was created by W. Leon Smith, publisher of The Iconoclast. Although short-lived, Underground Texas was on target in predicting the future. Here is the text from an article written by Ruth Hacker in the October 1990 edition regarding the economy. Sound familiar?
By Ruth Hacker
Underground Texas Contributing Writer
Only now are U.S. government economists admitting that we are in a recession. Truth is, we have been in a serious economic slump for the last half of this decade. The recession, fully manifested at this point, can no longer be denied by those who would make us believe otherwise. Instead, they are now busy trying to conceal the impending depression.
It has been said that a recession and a depression can best be defined in this manner: “A recession is when you don’t have a job. A depression is when I don’t have one.”
Look around you. How many people do you know who are out of work or who expect a layoff any day? How many businesses do you see hanging in the balance, throwing good money after bad, trying to ride out this present downward spiral…hoping for even the slightest upswing in the economy?
Statistics released by U.S. government agencies have played an important role in the colossal cover-up to conceal the fact that our nation is bankrupt. Unemployment figures, for example, a key indicator of the economic climate, cannot be relied upon.
The headcount of the unemployed, released by the government for publication and broadcasting from time to time, is based on the number of persons receiving unemployment benefits at the time the report is generated. The dreadful truth is that many, many more people than this do not have jobs, but because they have used up all their unemployment benefits, and are no longer eligible to receive compensation, have been dropped from the unemployment roll! These are the long-term unemployed – many whose jobs have been exported – that government programs such as the Job Partnership Training Act were supposedly designed to re-train and put back on the job in other fields. But like most government programs, the JPTA has failed to deliver on its promise to the majority of those applying for assistance.
As one employee in the massive bureaucracy confessed, “It is heart-breaking to see these people lied to. They go through a long series of tests and preparation for interviews. All along they are encouraged and made to think that a new career awaits them. Months and months go by…no interviews, just more excuses. Soon, they realize that they have been wasting their time. They leave here more bitter and frustrated than when the applied for help.
“It gets harder and harder for me to be a part of a scheme which gives the terminally unemployed false hope.”
Figures released by the government concerning the S&L bailout are also deceiving. Although officials say $365 billion will take care of it, a number of insiders say the actual cost is likely to exceed $500 billion. This, they argue, may even be conservative since the final price-tag may not be realized until the assets of these failed institutions are disposed of by the FDIC – a move that will further depress the real estate market and building industry.
But taxpayers are already picking up the tab in more ways than one for the banks and S&Ls that have been robbed from the inside out. Instead of punishing the looters and establish internal security measures to prevent a reoccurrence, new banking policies which cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as “kinder and gentler,” are now being equally applied to everyone. And, whether or not you’re the patron of a bank under new ownership or old, you may have found that the situation has become a one-way street with everything favoring the lending institution.
By now, you have probably discovered that the banker who was once your partner in business has become your greatest adversary. You may be feeling the discomfort of strict, even harsh, guidelines. Could be that the hassle of meeting ever-changing conditions on a business loan may even have your business in a stranglehold. The injustice of it all may be that you have borrowed and paid back hundreds of thousands of dollars to this bank, but now, when you need help to weather the storm, there is none.
Perhaps this is evidence that even the banks do not see immediate hope for economic recovery. Further proof could be the fact that foreclosures, these days, are occurring even when there have been no delinquent payments, but because the owner cannot pay upon demand the entire balance on notes deemed undesirable by the lien holder.
In most instances, property values have fallen below the loan balance, making it for the owner to secure a loan elsewhere in an amount sufficient for a pay off. Those who did what the government had encouraged them to do — to put their profits back into business expansion – are losing their lifesavings. The Grim Reaper, who began stalking farmers and ranchers several years ago, is now knocking on the doors of family-owned businesses. Sadly, the “wheat” and the “tares” are being harvested together.
Interest is high, inflation is rampant, the budget deficit is out of hand, unemployment is on the rise, and our trade imbalance is abominable! Our Social Security funds have been raided – our future hocked on second-rate military systems and third-world countries. While our nation is teetering, the politicians who squandered our hard-earned tax money have been standing by, idly watching from the peaceful shores of foreign lobby soil.
Is our current mess what Ronald Reagan and subsequent leaders have touted as “the longest economic expansion in U.S. history?” Is there anyone left out there who still believes this fairytale?
Although our “leaders” are reluctant to acknowledge it, we’ve been waist-deep into a recession for a long time. You know it, I know it, but our “godfathers” won’t admit it! Unfortunately, the news ahead is not good, for we’re slipping out of the recession in the wrong direction. No Middle East diversion is going to change our fate. Only structural changes at home will provide that. We can only hope it’s not too late to head off the impending return of an overwhelming economic depression.
Earth stands on the brink of a human disaster. A global depression seems eminent. If that is the case, we could at least exercise one last act of defiance by expelling the lousy bastards who got us in this mess, and at least regain some of our dignity.
When the smoke clears, we might have a chance to build our lives, once more, under a new era of responsible leadership.
Payday’s a comin’!
PARTY POOPER!
Destruction Of Democratic, Republican Parties Essential For Return To Dignity
EDITOR’S NOTE – This article, published in part below, first appeared in the October 1990 edition of Underground Texas and reflects a problem that exists still today. It was written by W. Leon Smith, who at that time published Underground Texas, a short-run Texas newspaper that predated the creation of The Lone Star Iconoclast by about 10 years.
Part of one of the Underground Texas covers from 1990.
We had an interesting conversation with a Republican candidate for State Representative recently, as he was “burning shoe leather” and appealing for votes. What he was “hearing from his constituents” was that they were disgusted with both the Republican and Democratic parties and were hoping that both would self-destruct!
“They keep asking me if I agree with everything Claytie says,” he commented. “Then they ask if I’m a Bush man. And to top it off, they want to know if I find myself in line with Bill Clements. About the best I can do is tell them I agree with some of the things these guys say and do, but not all of them.”
Democrats have the same problem. “Are you a Dukakis Democrat?” the party’s candidates keep hearing…and the comparisons go on and on.
You might, off the top of your head, say that comparing Democrats to Republicans is like comparing apples to oranges. Wrong! It’s like comparing two vegetables!
Actually, both parties are inept in their ability to serve the middle class, who are the workers and earners and taxpayers in this country. The Democrats want to multiply your wealth by dividing it, while the Republicans want to give your hard-earned money to the rich and let them take care of it for you.
The Democrats want to “throw money at any and all problems.”
The Republicans want to “take money away from problem areas and starve them to death…that’ll solve the problems!”
Democrats generally edge their sentimentality toward socialism, douse it with plenty of hypocrisy, broker power among their own elite, and in general, tell a good lie.
Republicans, in general, tend to think that corruption is okay, they are social bigots (a bigger threat to Blacks than the KKK), and favor greed over conscience. They tell a bad lie.
Unfortunately, all these traits, however sadistic they may seem, are human. The players are sides on a coin…a “corporate” slug which uses these actors to keep the lowly peasant confused.
For awhile, the Democrats are in “power” and the Republicans are quick to extend blame to their opponents for all ills. Then, when the power shifts to new players, the situation is reversed for a few years. One gets us in a mess, so we naturally alternate to a lesser of evils, and the mess gets worse. Over and over again!
The problem lies not in the players necessarily, however despicable they are, but much to the system.
True, you “elect” these “choices” actually provided by PACs and they are supposed to follow your wishes with how they represent you. But do they?
Is the ever-increasing number of homeless neighbors your choice? Do you like to see the poor get poorer and the middle class slip downward? Is the IRS your friend? Do you like the way your government spends YOUR money? Do you favor wars of greed over wars of conscience? Do you like the way we’re dependent upon foreign fuel supplies? Are you REALLY secure in your life? Is your insurance company ripping you off and the government lets them do it? Will they pay if you have a major emergency claim? Why does the more and more you do require the expensive and questionable services of a lawyer or CPA? Are you one of the declining middle class who never quite qualifies for governmental assistance? Does “run-around” best describe what you get when you try to break through red tape?
These questions just kiss the surface. True security has gone the way of self-respect and dignity. They are fast becoming historical relics. The “human” aspect is as rare as a horned toad.
WHAT IF…tax returns were simplified and made fair for all groups of income earners?
What if you got to dictate on your tax returns just how your money would be spent? You set the priorities for the amount you pay! Why leave it to Congress, the Senate, and the President to decide, when every individual should have such a direct voice in the decision-making?
What if there were limited terms of office, throughout the political system?
What if Political Action Committees were silenced and the power of choice returned to individuals?
What if the term “career politician” became a thing of the past?
What if candidates were limited on how much they could spend on mass media messages or these were eliminated entirely and controlled forums were instead created?
What if officeholders were HELD TO THEIR PROMISES and could be convicted of treason and sentenced to lengthy jail terms if they did not deliver what they promised?
What if the REAL ISSUES of humanity were addressed instead of your tax money going to assure comfortable jobs for agency workers whose main objective is seeing to it that they will always have a job, hang the outward objectives?
What if the add-ons of the check and balance system were reviewed and altered to meet their original Constitutional intents?
What if the Democratic and Republican parties were purged from our system …
Unity of purpose is called for if change is to thrive. Please write this newspaper with your suggestions and thoughts. If you are willing to “carry the torch” on these and other projects, also let us know.
TRENCHWALKER….
“Remember Texas!”
We have been asked where the inspiration for Underground Texas came from. Was it something we read, was it a move, was it a personal experience? What?
Probably the chief source was the cries of the people. Disillusionment. Disgust.
Being in a position where we come in frequent contact with political candidates on one side and people who are upset with “the system” in general on the other, we felt we had a good feel for the pulse of our society.
As far as other influences which might have contributed to the decision to start Underground Texas, we have personally been targeted by some of the high-falutin powers that be and perhaps have experienced a twinge of a persecution complex.
Of note, the day before we actually conceived Underground Texas, this writer sat up half the night reading a book by James Wakefield Burke entitled David Crockett: The Man Behind The Myth. It was an extremely interesting book about the “legend” of the Alamo, but nothing all that inspiring. Our Texas heroes did some impressive things in those days and took a chance. That’s what we are trying to do. Texas could use a little drama.
Put all the above-mentioned elements together and you get the birth of Underground Texas. Apparently, the sobering truth evolved that for anything to be accomplished, a first step must be taken. We deemed that we were in a position to assemble some great Texas writers and as an ensemble come up with some workable ideas which people with good horse-sense could appreciate and get behind.
Anyway, we’re talking Texas’ trenches, and are hoping that the little guy will put on his six-guns and go with us as we round up the varmints who are trying to steal us blind.
There really is a battle of the corporate versus the individual in this state and nationwide, and the corporate side is winning.
In the book Modern Public Administration by Felix A. and Lloyd G. Nigro, it is stated: “The nation has long been plagued by the dilemma of how to retain the advantages of large-scale operations and at the same time preserve competition, protect the smaller businessman and the consumer, and avoid regulatory policies that unjustifiably slow up economic expansion.
“There always has been concern about corporate power, but now, with the domination of the economy by a relatively small number of giant companies, there is fear of the ‘corporate state.’ These companies are viewed as having become so powerful that they are shaping the ‘future in which the whole society will have to live.’”
Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith has taken it a step further by saying that some of the big companies are becoming so dependent on government orders and planning that they “will eventually become a part of the administrative complex within the state,” and predicts that “in time the line between the two will disappear.”
His prediction is today coming true, with government and corporations so intertwined that the negative activities of one has a like impact on the other. Unfortunately, the government is a machine that we, the individual taxpayers, own but don’t get to play with!
Government insiders and corporate headmasters are using a red-tape smokescreen to build pools of wealth and power impenetrable by the lowly masses…at least that’s what they think! Used to, in Texas we hanged horse thieves. It’s time we checked the back 40.
Going Back To 1776
I recently took a nine-day driving trip from Central Texas to Philadelphia and back to visit my sister and brother-in-law. The voyage by car took me through Texarkana, Memphis, Nashville (right after the flood), and on into Pennsylvania, from flat land to mountains with lotsa trees, big ones.
I recently took a nine-day driving trip from Central Texas to Philadelphia and back to visit my sister and brother-in-law. The voyage by car took me through Texarkana, Memphis, Nashville (right after the flood), and on into Pennsylvania, from flat land to mountains with lotsa trees, big ones.
My stop in Gettysburg was unforgettable, as was a trek into Amish country in Lancaster County on the way.
Upon arrival at my destination and tired of fighting the interstate, I parked my car in front of my hosts’ house and they gave me a break from driving and transported me to Independence Hall, to Betsy Ross’s house, and to many, many other locations (I got a close-up look at the Liberty Bell, among other things). On day two we ventured into Atlantic City where I got to stroll on the Boardwalk and pick up shells on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean.
Prior to my journey back to Texas, I returned to my abandoned car to jot down how many miles I had driven to get there (I had set the trip meter before leaving). To my great surprise the mileage was 1,776 miles! What are the odds?
I went through the Smoky Mountains and saw other landscapes on my way home, which ended at the 3,813 mark for the whole trip. While on my return, I took a short detour to Florence, Ala. to try to find out more information about one of my great-great-great grandfathers who died fighting in the Civil War and visited a remarkable public library there that had an extensive genealogy center. Everyone in Florence was helpful and friendly.
When at Independence Hall earlier in the trip, the tour guide explained how the Declaration of Independence was written and debated by our founding fathers. His remarks at the end were on point and dealt with the requirement for strict adherence to the Constitution, something our corporate officials of today try to ignore and are attempting to destroy.
At home, one of the first things I did was check on my keyhole gardens <www.keyholefarm.com>. The plants had more than doubled in size!
During the drive, I listened to radio stations that pertained to where I was at the time. Interesting. Garmin and I had a few disagreements on the trail (“recalculating” she said quite often), but overall the trip was a big success and my appreciation for the Lone Star State was enhanced some.
My brother wanted me to sing “Texas, Our Texas” upon leaving the state and crossing back over, but the song that came to mind more for me was “Deep In The Heart of Texas.” Don’t worry. I didn’t torture Miss Garmin with my vocals.
An End To Aggression Is Imperative
While health care legislation and political party battles have dominated proceedings of this 111th Congress, there are “number one” priorities that have gone unserved, mainly the economy and war.
First, Congress critically needs to limit spending drastically. The country is in a financial mess, not because of its inhabitants, but because of their government which went on a spending spree during the first 10 years of this century, a trend that continues today.
It is being called a recession, but for too many it is a depression; this depends upon who you ask. If you ask an elected official, it’s not much of a problem, he or she is taken care of. If you ask a middle-class worker where both the husband and wife are forced to work (if they can find a job) and they are barely scraping by, then it is a depression. Nearly every age bracket is in this category.
The trillions of dollars being appropriated to benefit major corporations will not solve the problem, nor will the empty promise of President Obama to fund new programs with money to be stolen from future generations of Americans. The burdens will overwhelm any token advances.
Congress must face the reality that it has caused the problem, somewhat due to its laxity in holding the Executive Branches of Presidents Bush and Obama accountable. But much of the blame goes to the hawkish endeavors to squat on the property of other nations and spend lavishly to gain control.
It is quite literally insane to believe that the U.S. armed forces can invade a Middle East Muslim country, establish a democratic government, and when leaving believe that this government will remain in power. Consider the gigantic costs that derive from these failures. The military debacle in Iraq instigated by one of the most crooked corporate servants alive, George W. Bush, does not justify the loss of thousands of American lives, including 30,000 disabled from our country, not to mention the many thousands of deaths, disfigurements, and losses piled upon innocent Iraqis. And this does not take into consideration the monetary loss to American taxpayers — hundreds of billions of dollars so badly needed here that were quite literally stolen by Bush and his conglomerates.
And now, Obama wants to go on his spending spree by expanding the war in Afghanistan. And, on the horizon, what are the costs going to be in Yemen or Somalia where to attempt to extract their money to benefit American corporations would most definitely be paid for — again — by taxpayers and the lives of our soldiers.
Remember this. “They” do not want us there. Our troops in any Muslim country causes resentment and an ever-expanding war scenario — acts aimed at further destroying the American economy.
The Three ‘Bares’ Go To Washington
Once upon a time there were three bears — a papa bear, a mama bear, and a baby bear.
Papa Bear had invested heavily in the stock market. He had become rich and had put aside several million dollars, but he didn’t have a way to spend it in the forest. “I’ve got money,” he said, “so I’ll run for Congress.” And he did.
His opponent was a wise four-legged creature that liked to scale mountains. The creature’s campaign theme was “I’m baaaaaaaa-d, I’m fast, and I’m smart.”
Papa Bear, feeling that he might lose the election, launched a barrage of Swift Goat ads and was eventually proclaimed the winner. It was only then that he realized he couldn’t do all his representing from the forest. He asked Brother and Sister Bear how he could possibly handle business from home.
But his kinfolks said, “Bear, move away from there. They said, Washingtonie is the place you ought to be,” so he loaded up the truck and moved to Dee Cee.
Papa Bear had a hard time in Congress. First, he was criticized for shedding on the furniture. Next, when asked whether he was a donkey or an elephant, he said, “No, sir, I’m a bear.” Again, he was criticized, until members of the parties realized they needed his vote, so he became the target of the two-party lobbyist effort controlled by large corporations, which he didn’t mind, for his popularity among them grew.
Mama Bear was having troubles of her own. She didn’t like the traffic and Baby Bear was constantly the subject of Show and Tell at school. The cub had found a friend, a little girl named Goldilocks, a bed-hopping, porridge-slopping glutton, who liked to break chairs by jumping on them. Mama Bear was worried that Baby Bear would pick up some bad habits, but was glad that Baby Bear had found a chum.
Being new to Congress, Papa Bear sought counsel regarding protocol, which came in abundance.
First, he was told by a Democrat, “You must always vote against an issue first. Then, after the bill is revised, vote for it. That way, when you get back home and no matter who you talk to you can say in all honesty you cast a vote that your constituency will approve of, one way or the other.”
A Republican Congressman quickly added, “That’s called a Kerryism.”
The Democrat scowled.
The Republican offered this advice: “Get yourself a press secretary. That way you don’t have to answer the hard questions, and if the PR guy happens to blunder on your behalf and it is embarrassingly discovered later, you can simply claim that he was misinformed. ‘Misinformed’ is a favorite governmental word these days.
“And, oh yes, never ever question the authenticity of the 9/11 attacks. It’s not proper. I realize there is no way an airliner would ever fit in the hole made in the Pentagon, but some things are best left undiscussed. National security, you know. Wouldn’t want to ruffle the feathers of the Big Man at the national bank.”
The Democrat picked up on an earlier point, “Kerryism? The Republicans coined the word and the technique. They also call it flip-flopping, which is what happened when the Republican Party abandoned its ideals of fiscal responsibility and became the biggest spenders known to man and beast.”
“Wait,” said the Republican, “that’s not true. Our party simply attempted to adjust the balance of wealth to correct a long-standing wrong. You see, those with wealth, like yourself, Congressman Bear, are best at determining how to invest it. The peons get what they deserve, which is usually very little. You see, we steal from them at every opportunity. That’s why God created the caste system. And never be mistaken, God speaks to the Republican Party.”
The Democrat was shaking his head. “The Republicans are well known for appointing their friends and business associates to high places. Just look at the vast majority of Bush’s appointees — friends, business associates, and most importantly, oil barrons.”
Now the Republican was shaking his head. “And Obama’s appointees,” he said, “ — Wall Street geek elites who are actually his rulers. They put him in and he knows they can take him out. All Democrats are rubberstamped by the greatest of thieves, the Fed, and your rubber stamp, Mr. Bear, is being prepared.”
“We could argue all day,” said the Democrat, “but what it comes down to is that as a Congressman you are in an elite group and must maintain that stature. Screw the little guy every chance you get, only tell him it’s in his best interests, and throw a war in so that he will blindly and, hhrmph, patriotically, go along.
“For you, my friend Mr. Bear, the most important thing to remember is that you should never visit a zoo, for obvious reasons. You see, the real world is a zoo and you wouldn’t want to be mistaken for one of its inhabitants.”
The bear departed, dazed.
When he got home, he told Mama Bear what he had learned.
“So, you see, there apparently are two worlds, one real and one not. Right now, the Washington world is real to us; the other one is not.”
Mama Bear had misgivings about what was said, fearing Papa Bear had been brainwashed.
“Here’s how I am going to look at it,” she finally said. “It’s all part of the same world and, in a way, we are all part of the United States….
“But Washington, D.C. is not a state. It is a state of mind. That’s a bare fact!”
Captain Courageous Witnessed: Dr. Kelly Assassinated!
So you’ll never tell anyone else that your government sexed up the evidence on weapons of mass destruction, will you? Well, at least I’ve told what I know about the Bush Team’s cover-up of military casualties, whatever he does to me. You became frightened and tried to recant, while I’ve been flying at them stirring up as much fuss as possible. I hope my plan works better than yours.
December 10, 2009
Dr. David Kelly, the UK scientist and war critic with connections to the BBC and the New York Times, predicted that he would be assassinated for daring to be right about the lack of Iraq WMD evidence while UK leaders chose to be wrong. His corpse, found on July 17, 2003 under mysterious circumstances, proved his prescience. At the time Tony Blair and George W. Bush were meeting in Washington to discuss their wobbly war, and to menace their critics. Coming when it did, Kelly’s murder was something right out of Macbeth or Machiavelli.
Captain Eric H. May, the U.S. journalist and war critic with connections to NBC and the New York Times, likewise predicted that he would be assassinated for speaking truth to power about the Iraq war. Ironically, May, a lifelong Texan, had contacts, even friendships, with Bush administration insiders. In 1995 The Wall Street Journal asked him to write an essay on the art of executive speech writing. A year later he was interviewing with Team Bush about becoming the then-governor’s speechwriter for the upcoming 2000 presidential campaign.
After the outbreak of the Iraq war, though, the former Army intelligence officer became an enemy of what he contemptuously called the “Bush League” when it collaborated with the mainstream media to cover up the April 5-9 Battle of Baghdad. Heavy Army and Marine losses were hidden under embellished stories about Pvt. Jessica Lynch. During this heinous act of stolen valor, the Bush administration kept a lid on things back in the U.S. by threatening and medicating the bereaved families of the fallen.
Exposing the Battle of Baghdad Cover-Up (BOBCUP) became Captain May’s crusade. He confirmed it through political, media, and military contacts. Going to Ft. Stewart, Ga., he received details of the battle, and a chilling death threat from a Special Forces officer. Col. Neil Dennington’s insinuation that dissent would be met with “special forces detachment” was an early hint of the Bush/Cheney “executive assassination” Special Forces detachments reported by New Yorker investigative journalist Seymour Hersh last year.
After the 2003 July 4th weekend, three months after BOBCUP, May sensed an anti-Bush movement in the country, especially within the armed forces, and resolved to tell the truth to the American people, damn the consequences. He knew that it would be a perilous mission. An astute political observer, he anticipated and annotated the US/UK assassinations of July 17-22, 2003. During this “July Jumble,” as it came to be called, a wide array of VIP figures would be murdered, including the UK’s David Kelly, New York City Councilman James Davis and Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay. George W. Bush may have been on the hit list himself, as suggested by the notorious “Shooting Bush” political cartoon published by the LA Times on July 20 — in the middle of the July Jumble: http://www.why-war.com/files/politicsshootingbush.jpg.
Surprised to find himself still alive at the end of it all, May published a report that has already become an underground classic of military intelligence and principled action. The Lone Star Iconoclast is proud to vouch for the valor of its intelligence editor, Captain Eric H. May, and the validity of his historic opus, Ghost Troop Introduction, http://tinyurl.com/6e76bq. In it investigators and readers will find e-mails exposing the motives behind war and politics — as well as cover-up and assassination. They will find the best military analyses in America, both published and unpublishable. Finally, they will find appended information proving that, if dedicated to his cause, a courageous captain may win a battle, influence a war, and even change the course of history.
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Founded in 2000 to cover Crawford, Texas — home of Bush’s “Western White House” — The Lone Star Iconoclast received international acclaim as much-needed Texas truth in the post-9/11 neocon wilderness.
For further reference:
Dr Kelly WAS murdered and there has to be a new inquest, say six top doctors
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