TSA and Homeland Security Expose America's Biggest Threat

Why do Americans and others in the Western world feel so terrorized?

Earlier I watched a news clip in which travelers were asked their thoughts about the Naked-Body scanners and the Pat-Downs at the airports. Many people were very supportive of them, saying that if it saved their life from a terrorist it was worth it. Most people were very sincere and serious about their fears, really believing that the airplanes were dangerous and possibly full of terrorists, but never once mentioned fears of a plane crash, cancer caused by radiation, or of feeling insulted by a pat-down -- all of which are far more common and more likely to occur than terrorism.

It struck me as very interesting. It shows how much our fears are formed and caused by the media, rather than by logic.

It also shows how disgraced we are. We don't mind pointing fingers at others, other groups of people, singling them out and accusing them, blaming them, fearing them. We'd rather believe we are terrorized by a few people, than believe a machine causes cancer or that a plane could crash due to various factors. We love blaming people. We can't blame machines or planes crashing for feeling terrorized by our inability to control life and how it ends. We can't make naked body scanners or malfunctioning jet engines into scapegoats for our sins and fears -- but we can make people into scapegoats.

"I don't mind going through the body scanner or having a pat-down if it means keeping me safe from terrorists and saves my life."

And then, there are those who simply don't care. They don't care. They've never thought about it. It doesn't seem strange at all to remove their shoes and belongings, to pose in the scanner, or to be patted-down. It's only part of life, part of traveling, another process. They've become numb and hardened. These same people will strive to protect their family from unhealthy influences and foods, and will quickly accuse others of irresponsibility and sinfulness, but suddenly turn blind and dumb when they are accused of the same things.

And this may be why so many really aren't concerned about the body scanners and think that those who are must be paranoid. These people always laugh and say, "I don't have anything to hide. I'm innocent. Who cares." Most people really do believe they are innocent, or that their crimes are lesser than another's. They absolutely don't want to admit what the naked body scanner implies -- that they are guilty, that they are not innocent, that they are accused of a crime -- that they are a terrorist threat to the safety of others and to their friends, family, and country. It's too difficult to admit this.

We Americans will continue to feel terrorized and afraid of others until we admit we are guilty, imperfect, criminal, and stained. As long as those body scanners can only read the surface and those pat-downs only touch the surface, then we can also feel safe; for that scanner can't read our hearts and minds, and the pat-down can't grope our minds and find the weapons or evil intents we have hidden away. Go ahead, take my nail clippers, but don't you dare find the needles I use to prod my coworkers and family. Go, ahead, grope my groin, but don't reach into the cracks of my soul and pull out the hidden hate and excrement of my mind.

The real fear is not of foreign terrorists or men with dark skin. It is of ourselves. So, as long as it is easier for us to blame others and to point out those with superficial and skin-deep differences or obvious religious practices we will never have to look at that which lays beneath the skin and is not obvious. We will never have to look at ourselves.

We feel terrorized by our own self. This is why we feel terrorized and why we willingly submit to such things as the naked-body scanner. It takes a photo of our image, the false image we desire to project and to keep. It makes us feel as if we're doing something without actually doing anything. It allows us to continue lying to ourselves that we are not the terrorist and not a danger to our country or others.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Abraham Lincoln made these words from the Bible famous and embedded them into the American mind.

America is united in believing that the way to defend against terrorism is to divide against itself. Rather than becoming stronger and steadfast we believe the best way to defend and protect ourselves is to accuse each other, ban each other, pat each other down and collect naked photos at the airports.

Somehow, it "protects" and keeps us "free" to avoid admitting our own sins and weaknesses while blaming others. Those damn tobacco smokers, those damn Muslims, those damn politicians, those damn Constitutionalists, those damn drunk drivers, those damn drug dealers, those damn bad parents, those damn this, those damn that. Keep pointing at others and wanting to get rid of them and we'll never ever have to point the finger at our own chest.

A house divided against itself cannot stand. Each of us is a house. How can we divide from our own self, disconnect our image from our soul? We are doing a good job of trying to divide ourselves. We don't want to admit how we have hurt ourselves and ignored our own basic freedoms in our individual lives. We have taken that New Age Christian teaching of "Dying To Self" and we have attempted to kill our self and negate it and tell it to stop nagging us. We have terrorized our own self.

In a strange way, Homeland Security and the TSA have tapped into the truth of America. We each stand accused of terrorism. We all have harmed America with our apathy, ignorance, hatred and fear, arrogance, and self-righteousness. There is no grace in America, only Law. And when there is only Law with no foundation of mercy supporting it, then there is no justice, and the U.S. Constitution dies.

The United States Constitution is a document firmly grounded on grace. That Bill of Rights is all about mercy and about refusing to divide against one's self or neighbors even when they are imperfect and stand accused. There is no such thing as free speech, freedom of the press, or freedom of religion without grace towards those we don't agree with or even think dangerous. But in America we no longer have grace. We believe attacking and accusing and banning the minority will save us and keep us alive.

And how odd that America was founded upon the rights of the minority rather than the majority, and yet we fear the minority. The power of the minority was well-known by our founders. They liked that minority. They were a minority that shaped the way the majority lived. But America wants to destroy that powerful minority. We think it smokes too much and will kill us all. It goes to the wrong churches or no church and will ruin our beliefs. It dresses strange and wants to blow up airplanes. It reads the wrong news. It eats the wrong food. Isn't it interesting how this minority holds so much power over our lives and minds? Our founders were right. The minority is important and strikes fear into us. It seems that all the majority can think about is the minority. Somehow, these minorities strike fear into us because they force us to be strong, merciful, graceful, educated, and to live in an imperfect world.

When we get rid of the minority we get rid of choice and the freedom required to make choices as a minority of one. America doesn't need the Bill of Rights anymore, because the minority is nearly illegal. If we all agree and do as we're told by the authorities, never questioning, never thinking for ourselves, then we no longer need the 1st Amendment or any other Amendment to protect us -- because none of us is a minority dissenter anymore, since those are illegal. There is absolutely no point in the Bill of Rights if we're all in the majority and agree on everything.

According to the 1st Amendment of the Constitution I have a right as a minority to express freedom of speech by buying tobacco, I have the freedom to express my religious beliefs by smoking tobacco, and the right to express these beliefs in printed format. But because I am a minority and don't have millions of dollars to pay off my state politicians and to fund "science" that supports my views (and the stock in my product), suddenly, the 1st Amendment doesn't apply to me; the minority it is designed to protect. Because I refuse to support my local state health department's sick sense of humor, which advocates through cartoons the killing of cigarette smokers, or their racist advertising which links tobacco users to those of middle eastern descent -- because I am a minority and love other minorities, even those I don't agree with; I am labelled a danger to society.

I am a danger. I am a minority. I am one little person with one little lit cigarette. My vote doesn't count, but my actions do. I am the part of the house that most of America is divided against. I am the one to fear most. A naked body scan and a pat-down will not detect me. A law, a ban, cannot change my mind or who I am. The Constitution can fade, but in my heart it is still written and cannot be erased. I am the United States Constitution. I am freedom and liberty and without me, without those like me there is no such nation as the United States of America. If you are not for me, then you are against me. If you are against me you are against the Constitution, against your own country, against your own house.

Yes, it's dangerous to travel these days. Terrorists are everywhere. Each person who submits unquestioningly to the naked body scan and/or pat-down has failed. They, we are the reason America's safety is threatened. We cannot defend even the smallest minority, our self. If we will not stand even for our self, then who will stand for us? No one. And so, the TSA is doing a very effective job of identifying exactly how dangerous it really is in this country. We are surrounded by a majority of people who will defend no one. It's incredibly dangerous, for one could be raped or mugged in an airport and not one person would come to our aid, nor apprehend the perpetrator of the crime. Those few people who defend themselves are the percentage of people left in this country who will also defend others. There aren't many left. A minority.

Why do Americans feel so terrorized? Because on a daily basis, we each live with the terrorist and cannot get away from them. They are everywhere we are because they are us. And the aptly named Department of Homeland Security along with the Transportation Security Administration are doing a most excellent and thorough job exposing exactly how dangerous America is and how many terrorists there are. Perhaps, we should be applauding them for showing us how disgraced and dangerous America has become. We're naked and can't see it, defiled and don't care.

American Travelers Uncovered At Their Own Expense

I'll be traveling soon and have been studying the TSA site in hopes of passing the security exams I will encounter along the way. And I wonder to myself, if it's really this dangerous to fly, then why isn't it banned altogether as so many other health risks are these days?

It's amazing how much fear our government is in when it comes to travelers. Every particle must be examined and X-rayed. And now, passengers must stand in a Stick 'Em Up pose and have naked photos taken. Why would someone willingly give their government which is supposed to protect them, not expose them, a naked photo of them self, but not dear Granny or their own child?

Granny would take better care of that naked body shot than anyone else and protect it from all other eyes because it embarrasses her to even have such a thing, and she's embarrassed for you. She'd probably tear it into a million pieces, then burn it to make sure no one ever saw it.

And most children would also be embarrassed to possess a nude photo of their parent, and would hide it from any friends that may see it. Any parent who gave their child a naked photo of themselves would be considered a pervert. Conversely, any parent that gave a stranger a photo of their child naked would be a pervert. Any parent so afraid of their own child that they forced them to strip down upon entering and leaving the house needs help. And any child old enough to stand up for them self should never allow this kind of abuse from a parent. If a child is this dangerous, then they should be confined behind barbed wire and constantly monitored by professional guards.

What if you were a woman and had been raped by a knife-wielding man and from that point on demanded that all men, including relatives, entering your house submit to a strip search to make sure they weren't carrying any weapons or other dangerous objects? People would pity this woman and think her paranoid and in need of psychological help in order to regain her confidence and ability to live in a world were most are harmless and only a few dangerous. Wouldn't it also help such a woman to own a gun and learn self-defense techniques? America is this woman and has been attacked, but she hasn't been given the tools and confidence to face the world again.

Why would we trust the government and an invisible viewer with an image of our naked body but not a close friend or relative? It seems that a relative or close friend would be a better guardian and more respectful of this image than a person or government that has no personal love or interest in us. Not all of us are Playboy Play Mates or gigolos and there's a reason for that.

We live in a society that is image-obsessed, thinking that image is everything, and tells us everything about a person. Yet, increasingly, we are afraid of human touch and contact. We are paranoid of physical touch, which is not a cold image.

I've observed this fear of human contact around my little town. I've seen girls snap at men for touching them in the smallest way or by accident when passing by. I've seen guys stand like statues, their arms crossed over their chests in large crowds, glaring at anyone who dares tap them on the shoulder.

I've overheard girls talking about "the circle," an invisible area that others should know better than to enter. Evidently, there is an unspoken rule these days that says "thou shalt not cross within a few inches of any other person at any time." These girls were agreeing with each other that it was very rude of others to get too near, even though they were in a crowd. And this wasn't even about being touched or bumped up against, this was about getting too near although never having made physical contact. Yet, these same girls will post their image and every detail of their lives online and dress attractively. If one really doesn't want to be touched or have anyone get near to them they should refrain from bathing several days before going into public, step in a fresh dog pile, dump an ashtray over their head, and spill a glass of whiskey and coke on their clothes, and write "leper" across their forehead.

If you wanted to keep me at a distance you'd put on too much perfume. It works every time. My eyes roll up into my head, I feel as if a plastic bag is being wrapped around my head, and I wish there was a tobacco smoker in the vicinity to hide the smell (incidentally, where I live the indoor tobacco ban supposedly includes perfume, incense, candles and other strong smells in the air. I doubt that anything other than the tobacco ban is enforced).

Anyway, I'm not so much offended by the radiation factor of the full-body scan in airports, as by our society's willingness to give a government such power and a nude photo, which they never paid for. I don't know about you, but giving away naked photos of myself wasn't what I paid for when I bought my airline ticket. It offends me and breaks my heart when I see people standing in a pose reminiscent of a crucifixion.

Once, a long time ago, a man was hung on a cross, judged between two criminals. His crime was that he was a king, a person with dignity and who desired all people be royalty and their nakedness covered. He was naked and the entire world saw him and became obsessed with the image of him naked and bleeding, prone, unable to cover himself from our gaping and disrespectful eyes. And now, we are all like him, naked, being judged with the terrorists although we are royalty.

Anyone who thinks a naked body scanner protects them from death is a hypocrite. That America is this weak, this afraid is sad. A naked body scanner cannot save us or protect us from evil. Uncovering people has never saved anyone from crime. Whenever people are uncovered, laid bare, and treated as criminals by their master or government it has been a time of great suffering and hatred.

Can a naked body scanner read a heart? If it could I'd put the things at the entrance of every state capitol building and in Washington, D.C., for this is where the most danger to American safety resides. These few men and women have images that appear clean and safe, but are their hearts free of terrorist threats, do they use their pens as weapons of defense against evil or to enact evil upon women and children by stealing freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and fought for by a few belligerent and brave souls during the Revolutionary War?

I'm not Jesus and I won't sacrifice my life for a government that is afraid of me. If I sacrifice my life and my dignity it will be for those I love and for freedom and those brave enough to love me.

What is America so afraid of, what is our government afraid of? Why do we believe it makes us safe to hand over our freedom and ease of travel to a government agency? When a government restricts and controls freedom of movement and travel, rather than increases it we should be very concerned. When a government accuses all citizen travelers of being potential threats, then we must wonder why. Has America grown so weak and prone, so exposed and defenseless that it fears everything and everyone? What happened to the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave? Where are those who remember these words and what they mean?

Free doesn't mean tobacco free, sugar free, or free from something. It means free to DO something. Freedom is an action, not something that is excluded from the mix. We've twisted the word free to mean something is missing and that somehow this is a good thing. We now identify ourselves as free from this or that, rather than free to do this or that. America is not free if it thinks it's terrorist free. America is free when it's free to do, to take action, to move about, to stand for freedom, to stand against evil -- because evil is everywhere and always will be.

The only way to fight evil is with freedom to do, not freedom from.

Note: I will be requesting a pat down in place of the full body scan wherever possible. I can see who is touching me and prefer this human touch, even if slightly invasive and humiliating. I'd rather not lie to myself that I am fully clothed by stepping into the full body scanner. I much prefer the truth and the truth is often quite unpleasant -- which is why so many silently step into the scanner.

image: Amelia Earhart

Graceful Choices and the Freedom to Make Them

"We cannot go back. That's why it's hard to choose. You have to make the right choice. As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible" (Nemo in the film Mr. Nobody)

I haven't had the opportunity to view Mr. Nobody, as it hasn't been released in my part of the world, but it seems to be about the many choices a person is faced with and the ramifications of those choices which in turn leads to the many possible lives a person can or could live.

It seems that this film has left some with the feeling that life is beautiful eye candy with no absolute meaning.

"As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible." If we don't choose, then another will choose for us, and often it is the opportunists and power-hungry that take advantage of our inability to make a choice. Not making a choice is a choice -- the choice to be powerless and allow others to make choices for us -- to remain a helpless and dependant child.

"As long as you don't choose, everything remains possible" for evil to succeed unhindered.

This is the problem with most societies and groups of people. They think that choosing a certain leader will be an easier choice than having to take personal responsibility for the choices they make. The leader will make the choices and pass the laws, which always end up limiting choice, even banning certain choices.

We see this with laws and with certain fundamentalist religions. The law gets carried away and says "Thou Shalt Not," rather than allowing a person the freedom to make a choice for themselves based upon the knowledge they possess and the risks they are willing to take.

And because we cannot go back in time and make the "right" choice it is very important that a society is free to make choices. A society where there is no freedom is one in which one is trapped in the choices they have made and cannot move forward or improve their situation with new choices. A free society must rely upon Grace as a crutch to hold it up when parts of it fail.

When there is no freedom to choose we see situations such as the recently publicised case in Iran in which a woman was sentenced to be stoned to death for having affairs with two men after her husband was murdered. In Iran this woman's choice leads to death. In a free society in which one is allowed the choice to make what may seem immoral decisions, this woman would be allowed the choice to mend her ways and get on with life and Grace would overlook her past mistakes if it saw that she was making healthier and wiser choices. If Grace couldn't cover her, she could make the choice to move to a place where no one knew of her past.

In societies where choice has been given over to a few elites there is no freedom to move about freely, travel where one chooses, move up in the world, leave bad relationships, eat what one chooses, work where one chooses, worship how one chooses, smoke where one chooses, wear what one chooses, etc., etc...

These are Disgraced societies.

In order for a movie such as Mr. Nobody to even come to fruition there must still be free choice alive and well in the world. This movie is about personal choice and love, but there is no personal choice or pursuit of true love unless one lives in a society in which the possibilities are endless.

My personal belief is that each of us has been chosen for the moment in time that we live in. If we don't make a choice to seize hold of the moment and the role we've been handed, another will step in and fill the role; but will another do it as well us us? The trick is taking that incredible role and doing the best with it that we possibly can. We've each been prepared for those great pivotal moments of choice and can bring unique passion and knowledge to the role we play.

We cannot go back, but we can move forward.

Russia Says Smoke More For Healthy Economy, While U.S. and E.U. Tell People To Chew Coal Tar Candy To Help Weaken Economy

That's it, I'm going to Russia.

Russia's finance minister, Alexei Kudrin is telling "people to smoke and drink more, explaining that higher consumption would help lift tax revenues for spending on social services" ("'People Should Smoke and Drink More,' Says Russian Finance Minister," Telegraph, 1 Sep 2010).

According to the Telegraph article Kudrin says, "People should understand: Those who drink, those who smoke are doing more to help the state."

Really? Tell that to Europe and the Unites States of America, land of pharmaceutical phascism.

Those dumb Russians. They must be stuck in the Stone Age. Don't they know that the Western world all chews or sucks scabs of coal tar now? Haven't they heard of Chantix, which boosts the health of society and the economy by turning sane people into suicidal maniacs and diabetics? Jeepers, where's Nikon and his anti-tobacco league of nose-slitters when you need them?

I hear that tobacco use is popular in China too. China's government grows the stuff since they don't like importing it or relying upon the U.S. for their supplies.

If Russia's finance minister says that buying tobacco and alcohol helps the economy and even "[upholds] birthrates" (Telegraph), then conversely not buying these must harm the state coffers and the economy.

Kudrin would say that a ban upon these items and others is harmful and unpatriotic.

Hypothetically speaking, if you wanted to undermine another country's morale, economy and peace what would you do? You'd send out the agents of dissent and fear to propagandize and create confusion and panic so as to immobilize, paralyze, and silence.

Hypothetically speaking, how would you invade another country and move in right under their noses and never let them know what was happening so that they would not retaliate against you because they had no idea that they were even under attack, instead pointing fingers at each other?

Instead of openly invading the enemy country, instead of sending hundreds of thousands of troops across the ocean to attempt a new Normandy invasion, instead of dropping bombs and other expensive and finite devices you would buy people. You'd pay out several million, or billion dollars to a few experts and highly respectable personalities and let them spread ideas and false beliefs. These false beliefs would spread across the land and many would fall in line spreading the lies and hate, never realizing that they were helping the enemy agenda, never getting paid for their work.

This has occurred before, especially within Communist movements. There are a few paid subversives and many unpaid and ignorant adherents that spread the ideas until they become mainstream and no longer recognizable as dangerous. This is why joining any mass movement, be it religious or political is highly dangerous, perhaps nearly suicidal.

What I am trying to get at is that hypothetically speaking, smoking bans may actually be propaganda campaigns planted by foreign states to undermine the strength and stability of Europe's and America's economies as well as unity of their peoples.

No smoking ban has ever benefited a city, state, or country. Billions of dollars in revenue and taxes have been lost, unemployment increased, guilt increased, and hatred of fellow citizens increased.

A tobacco or alcohol ban keeps the populace busy blaming each other, wasting millions of dollars in enforcement, and divides them against each other. A tobacco or alcohol ban causes large segments of society from gathering together, removes them from benefiting society with money, ideas, or courage. The enemy wants us afraid of each other, separated, hidden, and guilt-ridden.

If smoking tobacco is healthy for Russia, then why nowhere else?

Do Europe, the United States and Canada really believe that undermining their own morale and economies with tobacco and alcohol prohibitions is healthy or wise? Do we really believe that forcing at least 25% of the population into hiding is good for the economy and for health? Do we really believe that forcing 25% of the population onto toxic and foreign coal tar-derived gums, candies, and patches is good for society? Do we really believe the delusion that prescribing varenicline to war veterans with shell shock, making them into homicidal maniacs at home is better for health and family than using tobacco products?

We know that most Nicotine Replacement "Therapy" is produced in foreign countries. We know that states, such as Ohio are spending 3 million dollars to collect 1 million in fines. We know that the states are pushing million dollar add campaigns to force people onto toxic NRT products and drugs. We know that children are being recruited in schools to spread the campaign of hate and fear. We know that tobacco farmers are being reduced to poverty, and millions have lost their jobs due to the trickle-down affect of tobacco bans.

What we know is that to "save" lives and money lost to tobacco use, our states are spending even more on enforcement and dangerous NRT promotions. How many of our state and federal representatives are agents of foreign governments? Who is paying them? Where is the money coming from? It makes no sense to undermine E.U. or American stability unless one is working specifically to do so with the purposeful intention of destroying us. I.G. Farbenindustries worked to subvert American strength throughout the 1920s and 30s in preparation for war.

It will be shown in future years that the tobacco bans along with the pushing of dangerous NRT products was a deliberate attack upon America and Europe. It will be shown that these bans were enacted to waste our money, to stop the flow of money, and to divide the people. All tobacco and alcohol restrictions benefit the enemy, whoever they may be. All tobacco and other bans are deliberate distractions and propaganda campaigns.

There is only one way to protect one's self from being duped by any kind of propaganda campaign, be it foreign, religious, or political -- Grace.

Because one can never know what the truth is at any one time, because one can never have all the information or knowledge, there is only one way to prevent one's self from being used against their own country and friends. Grace.

When we stand back and look objectively at things we can see a larger picture and see that those who incite us to hate others or fear them are the true enemies. It is un American to live in fear of food, tobacco, alcohol and other common parts of life. If a society is paralyzed by fear of the common, noncriminal, the ordinary parts of life how will it ever stand against real enemies and evils?

If a cigarette makes a "strong" Christian quake, if a chubby child is repulsive to the First Lady, if a stumbling drunk has the power to endanger a town's safety then we must be the most spineless and softest people that has ever walked the face of the earth. I'm embarrassed.

I'll be visiting Russia before I visit California. If Russia's not afraid of me, then I'll be boosting their economy and sunbathing in Red Square on a beach of snow and slathered in a heavy coat and hat as I watch the waves of tanks roll past on their way out towards the sea of Western arrogance and atrophied muscle. C'mon America, spit out the coal tar candy. Man up and light up before it's too late.

Rangel's H.R. 5741 Universal National Servitude Act

On July 15, 2010 Charlie Rangel introduced in Congress the Universal National Slavery Act, or H.R. 5741 Universal National Service Act:

"To require all persons in the United States between the ages of 18 and 42 to perform national service, either as a member of the uniformed services or in civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and homeland security, to authorize the induction of persons in the uniformed services during wartime to meet end-strength requirements of the uniformed services, and for other purposes"

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-5741

H.R. 5741, The Universal National Slavery Act, will require every man and woman to give up all rights and freedoms for a bare minimum of two years and if they do not perform their services satisfactorily they will be penalized. Isn't being forced into servitude penalty enough? They'd have to come up with some kind of torture to penalize me, because I'd be pretty numb and unable to feel punished if I was a walking dead person anyway.

Supposedly, America needs more homeland security and reserve power for when we go to war. We've been at war since I was born. It's like Brave New World and I have grown almost apathetic towards it. We're always in some little podunk country, fighting drug cartels or religious extremists. Supposedly, they're always uncivilized and living in the Stone Age, yet seem to wreak havoc and put our technology and enlightenment to the test. And we always think we have a moral perrogative to discipline these dirty little children for fear of their Weapons of Mass Destruction and fundamentalist religions.

Are we officially the home of the New Nazi Germany? Who the heck are we planning on invading and going to war with in the near future that requires forced national servitude to Homeland Security and the Armed Forces? Why does America see a need for increased Homeland Security?

The fact is that the U.S. is slowly being turned into a giant continental prison. We are tracked, scanned, told what we can and can't ingest, and controlled for our own "protection," exactly the same way prison inmates are treated. Often, when a prisoner is let loose they don't know how to function in the free world and end up back in prison. Americans are inmates and have no idea how to function outside its dirty walls.

America doesn't need Universal National Slavery. We need people to have a country that makes them proud and protective and loving enough to volunteer of their own free will. We need hearts, not mere bodies in the Armed Forces. I want the best and the best comes from the heart and freedom, not from forced servitude. Slaves don't put pride into their work. Free people do.

image: Arch of Titus

Philip Morris' "Avalanche" Scenario Predicted Current Economic Woes In 1999

In the 1990s Philip Morris set up a very interesting program of forecasts called Project Sunrise. Contrary to the common media depiction, there is nothing evil or insidious about Project Sunrise. In fact, these forecasts of America's possible future 10 to 20 years out from the 1990s is fascinating. Project Sunrise set up four possible future scenarios for the United States, naming them "Mostly Sunny," "Avalanche," "New Game," and "Blade Runner."

I have one document with each of the four scenarios side by side. This one is interesting because it covers everything that is part of our daily life from economy, health, socialization, technology, politics, and even a pharmaceutical nicotine monopoly. From a literary standpoint it's fascinating to see how there are so many paths we can choose and the predictable results of them.

Avalanche is the worst possible scenario envisioned for the country with freedoms limited, privacy eroded, hatred high, and a national healthcare program. The only hope is the younger generation who may, with persistence and wisdom beyond our years, throw off the yoke of bondage placed upon us by the self-obsessed Baby Boomers, thieves of our livelihood and freedoms.

The following is from a presentation on the "Avalanche" scenario of the future by Tim Beane for Philip Morris in 1999. Of course, some of the predictions were off, such as predicting Al Gore would win the presidency after Clinton's time was up. But generally, speaking it is still fairly accurate:

http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/vex75c00/pdf

"It is now October 2006 and, in contrast to Mostly Sunny and New Game, these are the images which have shaped the world for smokers in the U.S. over the past ten years. In Avalanche, a victimization ethos and an increasingly polarized society have created an environment where smokers, smoking and tobacco companies experience losses on many fronts. Smoker discrimination, restrictive legislation, litigation setbacks, negative media coverage, powerful enemies [Big Pharmaceutical Nicotine, Johnson & Johnson, Robert Wood Johnson (Synthetic Toxic Nicotine)Foundation, Corrupt States] and ally erosion define our world.

"How did our environment deteriorate to this point? Well, in retrospect, the seeds of our current situation were sown in late 1996 when, following Clinton's re-election, the U.S. economy entered a deep and protracted recession. Unemployment grew rapidly, the budget deficit ballooned and the combination of a Democratic President and a Republican Congress was unable to deal with the economic situation.

"An angry national mood, fueled by the paralysis in Washington, led to a broad based desire for an interventionist government. In the 1998 mid-term elections, Democrats took control of the House and Senate. This resulted in a more liberal government and one which conveniently blamed smokers and tobacco companies for many of society's financial and health care problems.

"By playing on the prejudices of a public looking for scapegoats and easy answers, it soon became a relatively simple task for the newly empowered government to implement strong-arm social policies targeting smokers, smoking, and tobacco companies.

"The boomers populating the second Clinton administration, and later, Gore's first, eagerly did what they felt was best for society. A single payer healthcare system was established. New environmental, health and safety requirements were passed. A tougher FDA evolved, one with undisputed control over cigarettes.

"This environment resulted in an ever increasing erosion of smoker rights. The social acceptability of smokers and smoking reached new lows as the very act of smoking came to be seen by many as impinging on everyone else's privacy. Although the importance of privacy was highly valued, events occurred which in effect compromised individual privacy.

"For instance, in an effort to allocate societal costs on those who were deemed responsible, legislation passed which made selected information about a person's health and personal habits available to employers, landlords, and insurance companies. This information could be used in making employment decisions and in determining insurance premiums. As you might expect, smokers did not fare well in these situations.

"When and where a person could smoke became more and more constrained. The rights of non-smokers began taking legal precedence whenever smokers and non-smokers were together. Depending on who they were with, smokers could even be prevented from smoking in their own homes or cars.

"Even outdoors, smokers are now harassed and marginalized because society views smoking as a costly vice. Costly for the smoker yes, but more importantly, the prevailing attitude is that smoking is costly for society as a whole. Simply put, the attitude now is your smoking costs me money so stop doing it.

"The cumulative impact of all of this is that smoking has become almost devoid of pleasure. Almost everyone, including some smokers, views smoking as a dirty habit, one not worthy of a respectable person. Smoker's are angry at themselves, the government, the anti's and even the tobacco companies. They are also ashamed of themselves and of how they are now defined by this new society--'the nicotine dependant weaklings.'

"Tobacco companies are severely limited in their ability to improve the situation for smokers. The anti movement is strong, well-funded [by Big Pharma Nicotine companies and "philanthropies" such as Nicorette and Robert Wood Johnson (Synthetic Nicotine) Foundation] and emboldened by its successes...."

"This media frenzy is epitomized by Smoke Out, a popular new TV show which follows law enforcement officers as they conduct sting operations, intercept cigarette smugglers and track down smokers as they light up in restricted areas."

"Smokers were singled out to help ease the country's economic problems through large and repeated excise tax increases...."

"So in summary, what does our world look like in 2006 [or 2010]? We see angry and alienated smokers who are segregated and subjected to discrimination in very real ways. We see smoking as ever more restricted both legislatively and by an intolerant society. We see government controlled by people who think they know what's best for everyone and are given the mandate to act on this knowledge. We see tobacco companies without allies and who are hamstrung in their ability to defend themselves and to compete [against Big State & Pharma Nicotine]. In short, we see a set of individuals and an industry frozen in an onrushing avalanche[of Big Pharma Nicotine candy, gums; and suicide, cancer, and diabetes-inducing drugs marketed variously as Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Breathing Cessation, Life Replacement Therapy, or simply Uncle Sam Wants You(th Dead)].

"If there is hope, it is in the fact that young adults resent the controls of big government and the pious morality of the aging boomer generation [yes, we do!]. They believe strongly in personal choice and as their rebellion begins to translate into political and economic power [if the boomers don't suck out our life blood first], opportunities may occur to reshape the debate. The boomers will not go quietly [oh, they may, since they're addicted to toxic Big Pharma dope in their bottles] however and it may be a long time before the avalanche recedes and a more open society emerges" ("Avalanche" scenario, Tim Beane, Philip Morris Tobacco, 1999; emphasis and brackets, mine).

My Town Is Dying

My town is dying. It looks alive, but I can feel it, as if its spirit is drowsy, blurry, and apathetic. My town puts on more makeup and visits the plastic surgeon, but beneath the surface the bones are cracking.

The big houses are standing empty, and all of the big plans for eco friendly green show neighborhoods where everyone lives a sterile and clean life of health, vanity, micro fleece, shiny biking costumes with butt pads and Birkenstocks and beany caps are empty fields on the edge of town. A big scam. Someone sold the idea and got paid for it.

Hundreds of people were made to move from a very nice, green trailer court with mature pines and willows and large lots and good families. Now it's a haven for transients and needle pushers. Many of the mobile homes still remain with their doors and windows hanging loose, the stairs tilting off to the side, the grass tall. And next door is a neighborhood of palaces with moats and giant windows. They probably believed that they would soon be next door to one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the nation with shops, nature trails, and the old flour refinery turned into a microbrewery.

But no. The refinery is still a middle of the night haunt for kids with cans of spray paint and a knowledge of satanic symbolism. It still smells of skunks and the owls still fly out in the dark night. It's still as spooky and dark as when I was a kid.

I knew the eco dreams were false. How could forcing hundreds of people to leave a nice affordable and quiet trailer park work? I knew it was a scam because it was all about vanity and impressing the nation with a first of its kind facade. Really, do people live above their businesses anymore and hang tomatoes out to prove they're sustainable? People want that early 1900's dream, but without the reality and nitty gritty that goes with it. The real living was in the trailer court, but those people didn't matter. And I was right. Rather than making life; these fake, greedy, vain, and self-righteous people created a black hole -- death.

And others are complaining about the old brewery building with its chain link fence around it to protect from falling brick. Half the building is demolished. I used to spend quite a bit of time in that building, as several businesses I had contact with were located there. The neighborhood is upset that the building sits there rotting, neither being torn down or restored. They wish the city would force the owners to follow through with their plans of a big restaurant and new brewery. Hmm. Who would the customers be if it was finished? My town is dying, and a dead entity doesn't go out to sip foamy beers or eat fresh ravioli.

Main Street looks nice with its boutiques and hanging flower baskets. But it has a big hole blown in it where a gas explosion took out part of a block. The owner of one of the bars, now a black hole, was a prime supporter of the smoking ban. At the time he was taking his bar from a famous dive that was so packed patrons stood shoulder to shoulder; changing it into one of those granite-tiled artsy-fartsy places where the doctors and boring people go. He knew his new and trendy bar would not be able to compete any longer if it was the only non-smoking bar on the street. And it didn't. No one went after the remodel and the shiny granite bar with napkins was installed. He destroyed a landmark.

The same bar owner wanted the town to put up millions to build his kid a hockey rink too. This same bar owner has another bar across town where the older and wealthier gather to swing. It looks clean and "safe," but it's not. It's the only bar in town where I've seen a paid cameraman on a regular basis filming the girls. It's the only bar in town with wet t-shirt contests, foam baths, bikini contests with the bikinis supplied by the bar. Meanwhile that cameraman is rolling, and so is every football player's camera phone.

Has anyone ever asked if the bar owner is selling the images of those girls? And it's the only bar in town where it's common for married people to get with married people as if it's nothing. But it's clean and decent and serves pink drinks. All of this goes on below the surface and one has to watch very closely, but if one knows what to look for it's the most immoral place in town. I knew my town was dying when this became a popular location. A few years ago, people had to keep it secret that they went to a phony place. Now, that bar owner, a good upstanding citizen, wants the city to "loan" him money to rebuild his black hole on Main Street. He'll never pay it back.

My town is dying. It has a big new parking garage with business space attached. It was built with Hurricane Katrina relief money although we're nowhere near hurricane country. But it's empty and quiet.

My town is dying. The frat house, a former resident's mansion sits on an entire city block, looking pretty and wasting money since the city bought and refurbished it with tax payer money, rather than selling it to a law firm that would have made it into a property that benefited the community by paying taxes. This historic mansion eats up federal tax dollars. Somehow it managed to get tens of thousands of that Economic Stimulus money for an energy-saving remodel, which will save the taxpayer's on energy costs. Wouldn't it have saved the tax payers to have let a private business own and maintain it? How does it save money to spend taxpayer money? The government is the only entity that can say it's saving money by spending other people's money. When the rest of us spend other people's money we're called trust funders, irresponsible, greedy, and wasteful.

My town is dying. Last October the smoking ban went into effect. Now, on a Friday night the doors of the formerly crowded and bustling bars stand open and silently sad. The pool tables have sticks laying across them rather than in the hands of patrons. It used to be that one had to lay their quarters down and fight for a pool table. No longer. It use to be that one had to jostle and muscle their way to the front of the bar for a drink. It use to be loud and boisterous by 11 o'clock when the drinks began sinking in and the work week wore off. No longer. Now, there is a silent and wary group of tobacco smokers lurking outside the doors, wondering if they should even bother going back in.

Now, the bars are trying to lure people back in for a good time with live bands. But it's still dead most nights, with only a handful of people searching for other people. I use to think it was the music that drew the people, but now, I wonder if the music is the people. Without people there is no music, no laughing, no drunkenness, no joy, no sin, no money. Who do you play for when there is no audience or when the audience keeps walking out for a cigarette in the middle of the song?

My town is dying and people are looking for life. The people think they're going out for drinks and music, but really they are going out to be with others. Now, when a big band comes to town it sells out because everyone knows that everyone else will also be there. Now, the few people out all gather at one location, leaving every other establishment nearly empty. It didn't use to be this way, before the smoking ban. Even when a large event was occurring somewhere else, the crowd was evenly and generously distributed amongst the bars. People knew that even if they didn't go to the big show, they'd still have a good time in a large crowd somewhere else. In fact, it was even nice because certain crowds of people would clear out for the show, leaving an opportunity to meet an entirely new set of people.

I live in a college town famous for selling more beer than any other town west of the Mississippi. I wonder how that statistic is faring these days? Do dead people drink? My state lost about $40 million in tax revenues the first two months of the smoking ban. But of, course, it's saving lives to have a pharmaceutical Nicorette (sucks) monopoly. How is it that when the government says it's saving lives and money it's actually destroying lives and ability to make money? Is that how the rest of us save money, by finding ways of preventing our businesses from having customers and by preventing customers from patronizing favorite business. What an excellent way to cut costs -- get rid of customers and steady revenue. How novel. It's like Nazi eugenics applied to the economy. They saved a lot of money getting rid of millions of business owners and customers. They killed them. My town is dying.

The police force is doubled and the new Taj MaJail is nearly finished. Who will they lock up if the tobacco smokers aren't out drinking? Who will they lock up if no one has money to leave their homes? Someone has to pay the gigantic bill, and this town doesn't have enough crime to foot the bill. They will have to make criminals out of the tax payers and property owners one way or another. Maybe, all red cars will be targeted, or redheads, or people wearing red... Thank goodness, the legislature thought ahead last session and banned those red light cameras. My town had them everywhere and could hardly wait to start fining those sliding across the line on winter roads, or making right hand turns. They're still there, but illegal and can't be used until a special interest pays someone off to repeal the anti-red light camera law.

My town is dying. I can hear it. It's a silent sound and no one wants to hear it. The talk is how our local economy is impervious and strong. Whatever. How can one single town stand alone? It's like saying someone's hand is strong while the rest of the body is dying. Will the hand live without the body? A body can live without the hand, but not vice versa. My town is not the body. It is arrogant and blind. It is Californicated and a pretty little whore. It used to be a rather natural kind of girl with stray hair, cut-off shorts, a fun smile, and old cars; but somewhere she got the idea that guys like ultra-plucked eyebrows, big shiny dangles, and four-inch heels and a snotty attitude. It's not the free and easy place it was only a few years ago. My town is uptight and vain. It's dying and soon won't have a night spot to go to and be seen in. Nor will it have a day spot.

My town is dying. A town is the people. Why are the people so lethargic and unable to exercise their simple constitutional rights? Why are the parts of the body attacking, banning, and regulating the other parts? Isn't each part essential? Are we like a 90 year old body, slowly shutting down? Are we too old? My town is dying.

But somewhere in the night, in the corners are others like me, seeking out the flames, the lit matches, lighters, the spark of life and the scent of a familiar aroma--the sweet smell of recognition. Somewhere others seek communion with like-minded souls, and we will know each other when we meet as long lost family members. The reunion will bring joy and we will take each other's hand and rise above the old and dead parts, although mournful of a time and place now only a memory. My town may be dying, but I am not.

image: Rembrandt, Blinding of Samson

Americans Prefer the Taste of Corporatism (Fascism) to Communism

"Generally, fascism has come to mean a military dictatorship built on racist and powerfully nationalistic foundations, generally with the broad support of the business class (distinguishing it from the collectivism of Communism.)" (Kenneth C. Davis, "Boom to Bust to Big Boom," Don't Know Much About History:Everything You Need to Know about American History but Never Learned).

"It was rather easy, especially in the case of Germany and Italy, for demagogues to point to the smoldering ruins of their countries and the economic disaster of the worldwide depression and blame their woes on foreigners" (Kenneth C. Davis, Don't Know Much About History).

I see a very interesting repeat of history occurring in the United States of America, which has been steadily growing in size and becoming clearer in shape. The U.S. is steadily moving towards fascism, but the parties doing the moving don't see it that way, and most often believe they are fighting against fascism.

America's ruling classes have nearly always divided themselves into two factions: the liberal-progressive Marxist/Communist; and the conservative-right Socialist/Fascist. The rest of us, down on the ground are neither one or the other, but are easily and often gulled into leaning one way or the other and labelling ourselves as such and arguing all of the points of what we've been taught to say honestly and passionately, believing we are right and everyone else is wrong.

It cannot be helped that, generally, we are ignorant and unaware pawns. We're all guilty and have no idea of having ever committed a crime because we're told that we are on the correct side of things and that we are righteous and care for others. And we do, but those who lead us don't really give a damn about anyone other than themselves and their position of power. Because we are ignorant, and most of all, because we do care about others; these two qualities are used to guide us to think, say, and do things we would never have thought of left to our own devices. We only want to be free.

America has gone right of right. We have gone far right and are in the land of fascism. A liberal, Marxist movement only goes so far in the United States. It burns bras, protests on colleges campuses, has free love, and works in communes and fights for equal rights, then fizzles out for lack of substance. And one day, the equal rights Communist wakes up and looks in the mirror and sees they are old, bitter, and tired of free love. In fact, it's rather annoying that the free love turns into a free for all with all kinds of people wanting a piece of your love. The kids, the ex, the state, the gas pump, the church offering plate and everyone else wants a piece and it feels as if one is being taken advantage of.

Someone, something must be blamed for all of this giving away of one's self, which increasingly feels like taking, grabbing, and stealing.

And this is when the tough love fascist voice steps in and tells the people that the cure is found in limiting everything. All of that free love and pleasure must be replaced with good solid child-bearing wives, good religion, lots of kids, cleanliness, order, discipline, genetic purity, and ridding the government of poorly run programs that waste money on trying to help those that are burdens upon society.

In essence, fascism is a change from spineless political correctness to the opposite: harsh cruelty. It becomes a harsh, Spartan-like world, where only the fittest are deemed worthy of life, where babies are laid out in the elements after birth, where a mother's love is weakness, and men worship men. Fascism loves to use hard-core, fundamentalist religions. It doesn't care what the religion is: Islam, Christian, Jew, Mormon, etc, etc. Fascism hates all religions, and will bend them and twist them to serve its purposes. It has no regard for them other than as tools twisted into righteous skewers for disseminating austerity and hate.

Truthfully, neither Fascism or Marxism love anyone, and neither is able to operate responsibly with our money or time. They each fail on different levels. The Marxists go overboard with their political correctness and over complications, while the Fascists go overboard on their oversimplification and exterminations. Both are sure they're right. Both are wrong and harmful to the happiness and dignity of a people. They travel down different paths which always end up intersecting at the same place: Death and destruction.

Somehow, people forget that an earthly utopia is not a place where everyone thinks, looks and acts alike, or perfectly, or correctly. Ah, if only everyone would get along with us. What's wrong with everyone else? Why are they so dumb and blind to the "truth"? Why are they making my life so hard? Why are they so irresponsible, and why don't they work as hard as me? Why must I foot the bill for them?

It is easy to get angry at another group when one is unable to accrue any kind of wealth or happiness due to a government demanding more and more of an individual. This leads to jealousy when it is perceived or pointed out that another individual or group seems to never work while they receive welfare or, conversely, are very wealthy. If we were not so burdened by our governments we could not be made to hate others as easily. We may even say, "Ah, who cares if they're getting handouts. I've got plenty to go around."

And so, the United States is having a dramatic pendulum swing due to the years of allowing ourselves to be taken advantage of. We are swinging right. So far right that if events don't alter the movement we may knock ourselves out, sending the works out of the casing.

The thing about Fascism in America is that it has more power and popularity as a force than Communism. America considers itself a Christian country, although it is often decried from the pulpits that it is godless and needs saving. America is not godless. We have many gods, all claimed by their adherents as the ONE, the right one. If anyone seriously studied their Bible, rather than listening to others, they would find that the One God is nothing like what they've been told and doesn't very often go to church. If we knew this God, we wouldn't be so easily moved by Fascist leaders or Communist leaders, nor be so arrogant as to believe we can make the earth a utopia, free from evil.

But we don't often know this God, and so believe in angry and self-righteous movements against other angry and self-righteous movements, or against the defenseless. And this makes those at the top of the power class laugh in delight as they pull our strings and make us hop across the stage where we collide in violence against another puppet. Rather than looking up and getting angry at the person holding the strings, we focus on the other puppet and want to destroy or ban them for hitting us, when it is not their fault that they are being manipulated against us.

Another interesting sign that America is moving far right, mirroring Germany of the 1930's and 1940's is our fear of foreigners, our fear that they are invading our lands and taking our livelihoods, and will cover the land with their children, "tainting" our culture. America, along with most of the Western industrialized world, is at a zero or less population growth. We simply aren't reproducing, and many populations are predicted to decline dramatically in the next hundred years. This is also what was occurring in Germany when the Nazi Party took power. Somehow, subconsciously, we are aware of this and feel threatened by those of different races, cultures, and socioeconomic status who are having children.

The Nazi Party encouraged good, "pure" men and women to have more children and was obsessed with the health of mothers, and that they not contaminate their unborn children's lives (Utah, earlier this year tried to make it murder if a woman miscarries and is a tobacco user). There is most definitely an undercurrent in America that is pushing for women to live as nothing more than breeders, and that castigates them if they don't spend every moment serving this higher purpose. This idea of the woman, born brainless and only to serve the man and the breeding program is everywhere in pop culture.

The vampirism of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight books and movies is born of an odd spiritualist fundamentalism usually seen in fringe cults. These books are touted as a return to good morals and purity. The idea behind them is that a woman is nothing until she is impregnated by a good vampire male, thus gaining eternal life, apotheosis through male worship. When vampires and morality are mixed and sold as good for young women, a culture is sick, no matter how polite the vampire is. When a culture adopts fundamental fringe cult beliefs, making them mainstream, they have become fascist.

There is a growing obsession with reality T.V. programing that features mega families with perpetually pregnant, smiling, over-achieving mothers and fathers. Notice, these are all very wealthy and often "perfect" Americans. But if a less wealthy person, a less perfect person has too many children it is a grave sin against the country and should be outlawed. Sure, it may be irresponsible for some to have more children than they can care for, but our media attacks them, as inferior genetic stock, while fawning over the perfect and good-looking wealthy that help replenish good American stock.

Another sign that we are going far right is our obsession with food and health rules, and penalizing as a crime all who don't live like religious fanatics under sharia law. Again, Utah, comes up, here with its mandatory electronic scanning of I.D.s at bars and clubs. It's as if they're collecting a list of who and where the sinners are. This also means, that a person that went out to a club can be accused of D.U.I. even before they get into their car. This means that a patron that only drank water is guilty by association.

We are nearly back at Prohibition where it was legal to drink alcohol, but not to procure it or have it anywhere on one's property. It is technically, illegal, in my state to even have one's car keys on their person if they have had a beer. It is even possible to get a D.U.I. while walking home or sleeping in one's car. It doesn't matter if one is a public nuisance or not, it only matters who is on duty and what kind of mood they're in when they cross a person's path. Where I live, every driver is actually considered guilty of being drunk the moment they get into their car. One must prove they are not. It's the law.

In my state, they want to put those who have harmed no one, but have been caught for multiple D.U.I into the state mental institution. Do you know what this means? It means an expensive, fascist pharma experimentation program that will only grow, requiring more money and more souls. A country has moved far right when it ships downtrodden alcoholics to the infamous state mental institution, in the middle of a desolate part of the state, away from friends, family, and anyone able to defend them from strange crimes. I don't understand alcoholism, but I also don't believe these people are expendable, or that they should be sent to the insane asylum. If they've committed a crime against the community, such as violence, murder, theft put them in prison; which is an excellent rehab program.

Thank goodness, most are ignorant of the laws. Even laying a pack of cigarettes on the bar or smelling strongly of tobacco smoke is enough to levy a large fine upon a bar around here. But most aren't aware of this and haven't snitched on offenders yet. Soon, it will be illegal to smoke outside. First, the Pharmaceutical industry gods are implementing outdoor bans at the Holy Shrine of Our Hospital, then the Pharma Seminary/University, then they will move into town. It's nice to see the women standing on the street, looking like hookers, because they can't smoke in the parking lot for fear of contaminating the holy asphalt and hygienic air.

America is moving far right. It's in the air. I've been sniffing it for a few years now, but the odor of it has grown stronger and quite foul. It was more difficult to smell it before the smoking bans and near Prohibition took place because the smoke covered up the smell and the alcohol made one too tipsy to notice or care.

Arizona's strict law that targets illegal immigrants has helped to expose the growing fears and ignorance of Americans and illegals. Whether the law is right or wrong, it is laying bare the battle between Communism and Fascism. Those that are not legal citizens of the U.S. are being controlled by the Communist power faction, while those that fear them are being controlled by the Fascist power faction. Both are wrong and so busy hating each other that they will cause death before they fix anything. Summer is nearly here. And historically, heat, cities, media, and racial tensions don't mix when that tried-and-true rumor of the woman being brutally raped spreads amongst the masses.

Are Mexicans really threatening American stability, or is it our version of the Taliban, the drug cartels that are the danger? Are Mexicans threatening us, or is it the dealers in human bondage that hold them prisoner in countless houses across the country? Are Mexicans a danger to our way of life, or is it the giant foreign-owned corporations that use them like disposable labor because Americans are still free enough to turn our noses up in disgust at such slavery?

Remember, the Nazis blamed the Jews for Germany's economic problems. We're doing the same to the Mexicans. It's claimed they don't pay taxes and send all their money back to Mexico. It seems nearly impossible not to pay taxes in America unless one has an expensive attorney or accountant. Everything we do in this country is taxed. And how do they send all their money back to Mexico? How do they send their money back when they don't make any? The average American doesn't have money left over after paying the bills to send anywhere. If a Mexican can figure out how to get past the American system, then U.S. citizens must be idiots, because we haven't figured out how to beat the system after all these years. Maybe, we need more Mexican accountants and legal professionals to help us.

If a mass of Mexicans can really topple the American economy, close hospitals, and slip past taxes and surveillance; then it means that a mass of Americans can topple the dishonest corporations funding our government into fascism, that we too can shut down hospitals and universities that become arms of Big Pharma, rather than places of healing and learning; that we too can cut down on over taxation, and surveillance. If the Mexicans have so much power, then we do too.

If Americans would take the same fear and hatred of Mexican illegals and turn it against the giant monopoly corporations that influence our governments, universities, scientists, and non-profits nearly every problem we have with illegal immigrants would be solved. And our problems with employment in general would automatically go away. And the MexAmerican Taliban drug cartels would disappear, because there is no profit in crime, drugs, or people when a culture is content, happy, and FREE. Drug abuse decreases of its own when the people are intoxicated on freedom and liberty. When a people are free they have fewer health and mental problems and have no desire to numb themselves, or to induce sensations because they have been numbed by a fascist culture. When people are free they work harder, they produce more, they employ more, pay more, and are free enough to forgive others.

If we'd let Lady Liberty loose to trample out the grapes of wrath and pour her cup of indignation upon the fascist corporations, most of whom descend from Nazi Germany's IG Farbenindustries or are joined by "marriage," we'd have more than enough room in our land and in our hearts for as many immigrants as we could seat at our Thanksgiving table.

Fascism is also called Corporatism. This is what happens when a government and a few giant corporations unite to dictate to a country. Communism is when everything is owned and operated by the government.

This time, rather than a lone Hitler preaching over the country, America has many voices of Hitler. We are being dictated to by very charismatic and seemingly religious and patriotic people on a daily basis. They spout Samuel Adams and Ben Franklin. They spout the Bible and other trusted sources. Lest we forget, a great deal of Nazi literature and preaching also espoused Christian ideals, and supported Christian morals, using the word "Christian" all the time. If something was "Christian," then it was a good thing and the reason for cleaning up the country. Communism is godless, Fascism appeals to every god fearing person it can. A Corporatist state has to appeal to religious rightness in order to sell itself and motivate the masses into buying its product of mass death in order to save itself. Fascism thinks "Christian," "Muslim," and "Jew" are brand names to slap onto a product. Fundamentalist religion loves the idea of sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice. Money must be sacrificed, freedom must be sacrificed, lives must be sacrificed. Everything must be sacrificed to redeem the country and save its soul.

American talk radio has taken the opportunity of the dissatisfaction and corruption of our political system to begin a daily seminar of fear and religion. Glenn Beck, in particular is a dangerous orator. He cries, he talks religion, he has revivals, he's had revelations and messages from God. He pretends he speaks to the American Christian ideal. He talks revolution, yet says he doesn't. He authors poorly written books and paints. All faux intellectuals delve into art. This fact has fascinated me for years. Dictator types are jealous of artists and writers. They can't understand them and wish they could be them. They write horrible books and paint. It's a time-worn pattern.

Glenn Beck is what could be called "White Propaganda." This is when a person seems to be on the same side as the target audience and says what they think, or what they think they think. "Black Propaganda" is when it's obvious to the audience that the message is from the enemy. "Grey Propaganda" is exactly that, a bit blurry as to who it comes from and what the audience is supposed to think.

Glenn Beck is anti-Christian and warps the Bible every time he talks about it. For several years he has aired an Easter special with Pink Floyd's agonies screaming in the background while Beck narrates the crucifixion of Christ. Over and over he has crucified Christ, always stopping short of what happens after the crucifixion. The Romans and the Jews only crucified Jesus once. Beck does it every year and never lets Him conquer death. This is because it is a belief within his religion that one must pay for their own sins with sacrifice, and must work their own way to Heaven, and if they are good enough they will get to Heaven and be made a god. In Beck's world, in his religion Corporatism is a good thing.

Propaganda never lies. It always tells the truth. It is the intention behind the propaganda that lies. Any Christian that doesn't get the creeps after listening to Beck, may need to reasses their understanding and knowledge of God. I listen to him now, only for "inside" information. I use to listen to him regularly, but now, I find him a symptom of America's sickness, and he's always sick, always spouting fear.

Fascism loves religion, it loves conservatism and it has twisted these things into barbed weapons. Religion isn't bad. But when it lets hate and fear run it it's dangerous. When a religion teaches that one can become a god and have many wives in heaven, then it's dangerous (Islam, Mormon, and others espouse the harem teaching). When a religion teaches that certain genetic groups are inferior and collects a massive database of ancestry and genetics history it needs to be questioned.

When we have orators like Glenn Beck preaching and crying for our souls then it's time to get real and wonder where we are in history and how easily duped we can be. And people sure do get angry when their Beck is threatened. Why would anyone get angry, unless they really do believe in a world in which freedom of speech only applies to them?

Sure, America has quite a few illustrious orators right now. President Obama is said to be one of them, but he's not on the radio for hours and hours every single day. Obama lets the radio talk, kicks back with Big Pharma nicotine gums and candies, listens, and laughs to himself. All he has to do is make a speech and let the media voices work it out and stir up the masses. Viva la revolucion! It doesn't matter to our elected officials and their corporate backers how many Tea Parties are held. It only matters that they vote hard right in the coming elections, rather than investigating the donors to the political campaign--all of the donors. It only matters that the Tea Partiers are riled up, distracted, and manipulated for the purposes of further destroying freedom. It only matters that there is a massive movement to bounce the far left movements off of, in order to create a "Big Bang," and create the ultimate fascist security state in which everyone is enslaved.

So far, the Tea Party movement hasn't followed in the footsteps of their namesake event. The Boston Tea Party wasn't aimed so much at the political system and government officials as at the corporate monopoly money behind them. The Boston Tea Partiers were a small group of men dressed as Iroquois Indians because they admired the ideas of self-governance that the Iroquois had been encouraging the colonists to pursue. The orginal Tea Party was an attack upon the trade monopoly of the British East India Company control, against corporatism. The colonists understood the root of the problem. It doesn't look so good for our modern Tea Party. They haven't tossed out one monopoly product yet.

And as an aside....And how long has it been since we've had a President in office that knew how to use tobacco properly? Clinton banned tobacco in the White House, and had no idea what a cigar was for. Bush inhaled Laura's 2nd hand, and Obama thinks it's all about the addiction to free-base nicotine, rather than for pleasure. He really likes the gum. That's for kids hiding from Mom and Dad! Why doesn't he be the adult President and light up? Does he think he'll get banned from the Oval Office?

If I were President....If I were President the Oval Office would look like the Inklings at the Eagle and Child tavern. Being President is like having the Ring of Power in The Lord of the Rings. Good people with good intentions can be turned evil by such power. So, really, I'm not sure I could be trusted with such power. If the red phone rang at 3 in the morning would I answer it?

America and much of the world is moving far right into fascism. Fascism is Corporatism. Fascism is a religion. Fascism has many names and many hiding places, but it always has the same patterns. Fascism is like one of those multi-armed gods of the far East. It has one body, and many writhing arms. It is Sharia law, it is puritanical, it is Mormon, it is the Great Wall of China, it is the pater familias of Roman culture, it is the Spanish Inquisition, it is a ban upon everything that makes us human.

Fascism likes to remove citizenship from certain select groups of people, many of whom are native-born. Germany removed citizenship rights from the Jews and others. Many of the Jews in Germany were native-born. Many of Jewish ancestry had fled to Germany from other countries, such as Russia during its Bolshevik purges of Jews. There was a mix of native-born Jews and immigrant Jews, as well as many other groups of people displaced by the atrocities taking place around eastern Europe in the first years of the 20th century.

In America, we have in the past made certain native-born peoples into more or less non-citizens: Blacks, Indians, women, and others. Blacks, Indians, and women were not permitted to vote, freely travel, participate in business, own guns, go to schools and universities, and places of public gathering.

It must be wondered if the Mexican illegal issue is again going to create a way of making select groups of native-born Americans into non-citizens for the use and abuse of the fascist State. An identification system will have to be worked out in order to prove one's citizenship, to prove one is really an American citizen. It won't be adequate to prove one's family came over on the Mayflower and was the first to set foot on Plymouth Rock. No, the only way to prove one is a citizen will be to submit to being scanned, tracked, and branded. If one does not accept the identification system designed to keep non-citizens out, one will not be permitted to travel, work, shop, vote, or have legal representation.

And as in Nazi Germany, many native-born Americans will become non-citizens with no rights and will be the new slaves rounded up to work the jobs that citizens won't work. The German people rarely complained about this arrangement. I doubt American citizens will be any different.

America won't control the border or encourage Mexico to harness its resources to create wealth and jobs. America won't stop the MexAmerican Taliban drug cartel, nor the real foreign and native terrorist threats to security: Monsanto, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline and others that love fascism and want us to use their products religiously.

America's great symbols: The Statue of Liberty, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution, tobacco (the American Revolution was also known as the Tobacco Wars), open roads for free travel, the automobile, the farmer, the rancher, the immigrant starting new from nothing, rock'n'roll, and Paul Bunyan the greatest of loggers have all been derided as sinful and outdated symbols. Liberty, Independence, basic Constitutions, Tobacco, Travel, Farmers, Ranchers, Immigrants, Joyful Music, and Loggers are only destructive and harmful to the environments and morals of evil despots. And as long as we remember and know of these symbols and the meaning behind them, as long as they run in our blood America will live.

We do not choose the time we are born in, but we can choose who we will be in the time we have been alloted. Look at history, at myth, at fiction and decide who the heros are and why. Very often, that hero is a small, single person. Often, that person has no name, such as the silent operators along the Underground Railroad.

"In Germany, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) made scapegoats not only of the Communists and foreign powers who he claimed had stripped Germany of its land and military abilities at Versailles, but also of the Jews, who he claimed were in control of the world's finances. The long history of anti-Semitism in Europe, going back for centuries, simply fed the easy acceptance of Hitler's argument" (Kenneth C. Davis, Don't Know Much About History)

"Prior to the American entry into the war, the Nazi treatment of Jews evoked little more than weak diplomatic condemnation. It is clear that Roosevelt knew about the treatment of Jews in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, and about the methodical, systematic destruction of the Jews during the Holocaust. Clearly, saving the Jews and other groups that Hitler was destroying en masse was not a critical issue for American war planners" (Davis, Don't Know Much About History)

Tips For Defending America From Corporatism

Here is my list of ways to DO something to prevent the complete pharmaceutical and chemical monopoly that is currently being instituted in the United States of America in an attempt to make the country the new home of IG Farbenindustries which attempted a takeover of Europe with the help of Hitler and the people of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s:

*Watch the documentary film Food, Inc.

*Read History. Go to Dr. Rath's Health Foundation site and read the historic books and documents posted there, especially those pertaining to IG Farben. Then, ask yourself, objectively, do you see any eery similarities to our time? Have we been experimenting upon silent minorities and outcasts of society--prison inmates, alcoholics, children of unwed/poor mothers, the military, veterans, tobacco users, the elderly, illegal immigrants, etc. Do you care, or are these human "burdens" useful only as guinea pigs?

*Splurge One Meal A Week Or More On Grass-fed, Locally Raised Meat, Poultry, and Dairy. Each time you buy this food you are increasing demand, supporting a smaller, non monopoly person like yourself who cares about the community and puts money back into it. Grass fed, and free-range meat is happy meat, and humanely butchered. After watching Food, Inc. you will see how beautiful happy meat is, and you'll be glad to know that the steak or ground beef you're eating had a good life for you.

After watching Food, Inc. you will also feel proud of buying grass-fed and local because you are supporting FREE SPEECH! That's right, the one or two corporations that own nearly all of the patented corn and soybeans in the U.S. go after the farmers who dare to speak up, destroying their lives with military-like midnight raids, and lawsuits.

Buying local free-range inhibits the abusive employment of Mexican illegals who are shipped in to work the large corporate plants that process our meat, and pick our produce because they have no voice. These corporate operations don't want American citizens working these jobs because we have rights and can speak up without fear of deportation, changing the system, not working under abusive and inhumane conditions. Buy local, save American dignity, force Mexico and the corporations to clean up their act. Make a local farmer or rancher rich!

*Forget Your Political Or Religious Preferences. You may find that you have a lot in common with a "liberal" or a "conservative" person. If you dislike tobacco smoke but find that a tobacco smoker or group is working against corporate controls of the country or community, put your bias aside and love them as human. The objective is not to agree on much, except that you each are fighting for the right NOT to agree or be alike. The objective is to stand up for people's God-given right to NOT agree with each other.
If you are a Christian judge an individual of another religion separately from that religion.

If you are Black, White, or Hispanic judge each individual of other colors or backgrounds individually. Discriminating is not bad. Wine tasters are said to be "discriminating" in their taste. Discriminate based upon the individual, never the color, neighborhood, educational status, etc. Remember, the corporations want us to be separated, not to mix, to believe stereotypes, never be friends, because then we can be used against each other.

*Stop Keeping Up With The Joneses. No one likes them anyway.

*Never Vote For More Law Enforcement Or Bigger Jails, Or For School Bonds no matter how legitimate the reasoning behind their desires appears. The public school system is a monopoly and gets billions of our money. Let them whine. We do without all the time. We're not stopping them from making a budget or cutting the salaries of the overpaid bureaucrats. Small business owners do without to make payroll, so can the public school system. And the bigger the jail, the more police enforcement the more arrests for petty offenses, the more helpless the citizenry. We each have, arms, legs, and brains. If you see a crime, stop it!

*Don't Believe The Doctor Is A God. You don't know everything and neither do they. They know what you know and wear white coats and are allowed to cut people with fancy knives. The doctor is often a high-paid drug dealer and nothing more. Some are good, but usually as mystified about what ails a patient as the patient is. A doctor is useful in the way an auto mechanic is useful--for repairing broken bones, pipes, hearts/motors and such, but not much more.

Afraid of appearing like a nature nut and appearing "alternative" with dred locks and sandals? Stop worrying and change the stereotype. If you must go into the local food co-op to buy the local goat cheese and granola, so be it. Let everyone know who you are and what you're doing and why. Go shopping where you haven't before, let the business know there's a new kind of customer on the horizon.

*Support legal marijuana even if you don't believe in using it. Why? Because when marijuana is legalized it drives the state crazy because they stop receiving federal funding. Less federal funding means more freedom in all aspects of life. I only recently figured this out, and am now a supporter of legalized marijuana. Not to mention, if we allow the current corporate monopoly control of our governments we all may have to smoke it to ease our pain and poverty.

*Fight Tobacco Control And Codex Alimintarius. Summer's warming up. The pharma-backed anti-tobacco movements power up in summer because no one cares and doesn't show up for the meetings. Summer is when they implement all action.

*Fight Tobacco Bans. Why should you fight tobacco control? Go read up on pellagra and niacin and nicotinic receptors. The pharma monopoly wants our access to niacin through supplements and food cut dramatically. You think those pictures of lung cancer look bad, look at the photos of pellagra, which is associated with a corn-fed diet. And we are corn-fed people. You may need a cigarette, cigar, or pipe when you're done finding out the strange truth about how important niacin/nicotinic acid and tobacco are. Ask yourself is it really withdrawal when one quits tobacco, or is it deficiency of nicotinic acid? Is a tobacco ban really Pharma monopoly and control of our access to nicotinic acid? Yes. There is nothing moral or healthy about smoking bans.

*Join Toast Masters. This group of diverse people will help in a fun way to teach public speaking and in mastery of one's self even when nervous.

*Use the Written Word. All of the great pamphleteers of the past have written, usually anonymously. There is a growing movement against anonymity, claims that it is dishonest and a sign of fear in the author. This is a lie. Anonymous authors are difficult to catch and shut up. Daniel Defoe wrote anonymously and when found out he was put in the stocks. The citizens had loved what he wrote and showered him in flowers instead of refuse while he was displayed in the stocks. America's founding fathers wrote anonymously, as well as a few brave souls during IG Farben/Hitler's reign.

*Beware the Temptation to Join Mass Movements. Throughout history these mass groups of people have been used for bad purposes, thinking it was for good. A mass of people are easy to herd, easy to use, easy to blame, easy to catch. Mass movements distract from the real issues and solutions. If the individuals in mass movements would disperse back to their homes and towns and act there they would accomplish more and be more of a threat to corporate monopoly. A mass movement is a flood.

*Be A Spark. A raindrop cannot drown the land, but a spark can set a fire. A pebble dropped in the pond sends out wider and wider waves. Go be a spark at your local church potluck, shock a few people. Go sit down at the local bar and talk to the person next to you. The great movers and shakers of history have gone amongst the people living and working in the community, getting to know them, showing them they care. Every single day, be interested and interesting to those around you.

*Be Not Be Consumed With Hate. You lose and the enemy wins if one becomes bitter. Love is not wimpy and spineless. Let the love of freedom and mankind fuel all work, not hate. Love works harder than hate. Love is tougher and more resilient than hate. Love and compassion look really good when combating evil, which always pretends it acts in love; but tries to create emotional, hateful, frustrated outbursts from those it seeks to paint as "terrorists."

*Be Creative and Keep A Sense of Humor. Give those prudes funded by Pharmaceutical grants the other cheek, the full moon.

*Support the Local Rebellious Business Owner. Are they breaking the tobacco ban or other ban? Have they been fined by the local Pharma/Health Department? Go patronize them even if you'd rather stay home and aren't allowed to smoke indoors. If you don't drink, buy a couple drinks for someone else and tip the bartender. Conversely, was there a bar or business owner who supported the tobacco ban, and mysteriously happened to come across enough money for a high class renovation while campaigning for a smoke-free environment? Boycott that business and tell everyone why. Make new friends if your friends snub you for not joining them in patronizing that business.

*Support An Indian Casino, Hotel, or Tobacco Manufacturer. If we're not allowed to do these things off the reservation, then we need to show that off-reservation bans increase business on them. Show the State what they're losing. Indian tobacco manufacturers represent that smaller, more accountable, local, less monopoly business. Big Business doesn't mean corporate/state monopoly. It means success and quality. Also, the Tobacco Settlement gag order on defending tobacco doesn't apply to First Peoples. Their voice may defend those off the reservation and income derived from those off the reservation. If we belatedly defend the First People's rights, not by pushing for federal welfare, but by encouraging and requesting tobacco, grass-fed meat, non-patented produce, and so forth, we will boost their economy (which the State is afraid of) and preserve important sources of nicotinic acid which are primarily supplied by good meat and tobacco.

*Recharge. We are not machines. Go fishing, take a walk, work in the garden, stare at clouds, play the guitar, find a lover, eat a pleasurable food, build something, have a barbecue, read a work of fiction, enjoy silence. These are moments of being human and often when wonderful and unexpected knowledge is gained. It's not wrong, it's not lazy to enjoy life and have pleasures.

*Buckle Down And Remember Freedom Is MORE Important Than Money. There is no money without freedom. Freedom is not freedom if the rights of certain groups are trampled upon for the despotic "rights" of another group. Freedom is not free. It's priceless. The only monopoly America should strive for is a monopoly of liberty for all. Slavery to the State and to "Health Care" is not liberty or freedom to be born, live, or die as one chooses.

Why Taverns Are Dangerous To The United States of Pharma

If I had a church it would be Sheila Martin's Top Hat Tavern in Hutchinson, Kansas. And I'd get something in return for my tithes: Holy Communion with my brothers and sisters.

"Well, I'll tell you what you need to do if you think something's everywhere: start on your block. Start at your house. And spread out and get it stopped" (Sheila Martin).

Proving Citizenship In America

"The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.... He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands" (The Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1776).

Would you be able to prove that you are a legal citizen of the United States of America if asked to prove so while questioned by a police officer? Are you sure? Do you carry a birth certificate and a passport in your car or on your person?

Sure, you could pull out your driver's license, latest pay stub, show that you've paid taxes, served in the military, own a house, and countless other pieces of paper, but none of these would be sufficient.

Are you so very sure you have a birth certificate in the file cabinet? And even if you do, will you be allowed to go home and get it, or will you be locked up in the local jail? How long will you have to sit in jail, waiting for a birth certificate to arrive from the Vital Statistics office of the county you were born in?

Is that birth certificate any good? Most of us don't give this much thought.

I have a grandmother who could not receive social security benefits because her birth certificate didn't have her first name on it, only listing her as "Baby." It took quite awhile to prove she was that particular baby.

I haven't the foggiest idea where my birth certificate is. I hear rumours that it, along with the birth certificates of my siblings may have been tossed away with the turmoil and selfishness that occurs in family ruptures, not to mention a transient lifestyle.

And take a look at your child's birth certificate. Notice the past few years that, for some reason, the copy obtained these days is not always a certified birth certificate.

Really, it's amazing how much of life can be lived without ever having to think about one's birth certificate or the authenticity of it, although the latest presidential election and the anti-Mexican law recently passed in Arizona should cause us a bit more personal paper searching before we point fingers at others.

It would take quite awhile to prove myself a bona fide citizen. I have a family tree that goes back to Adam and Eve and dirt, but that wouldn't prove anything in front of a judge.

I wonder where I'd be deported to? Hopefully, New Zealand or Panama City, Panama.

Before one gets excited about Arizona's tough anti-immigration law, ask if it's a foot in the door to your house, under the guise of a boot to foreigners. Then, go look in the mirror, pull the log out of your eye, and use it to bare the door.