THE MASS MURDERERS OF WASHINGTON D.C.

Pennsylvania Avenue is the bloodiest street in the world. Hands down.

That famous strip of roadway running between the White House and the Capitol in Washington D.C. has seen more than its fair share of war mongers, global pirates and international terrorists. Yes, terrorists.

Of course, we don’t tend to think of our president or members of congress as terrorists or war criminals. But we should.

So to return to the point I made in my last blog entry: If the Nuremberg laws were applied to our presidents, every one of them since WWII would be indicted as war criminals and probably end up dangling at the end of a rope.

Think about that.

By merely applying those laws to "us" as we did to the Nazis, every commander in chief would get dusted.

We like to think that we live in a righteous land, symbolized by the stars and stripes, bald eagles and a bunch of infallible old slave owners called the Founding Fathers. And that "we’re" right and "they’re" wrong. That this is God’s country and the president is His man at the wheel.

We've been blinkered and brainwashed so well that we've bought into a whopper of a lie: If "we" do it to "them," it's justified; if "they" do it to "us," it's an outrage. Hypocrisy at its finest courtesy of the world's bully.

Well we have to get away from that line of thinking. Now and forever. If we don’t, the cycle will continue and we will be partly to blame. And, sooner or later, we will all pay the price.

If you’d like a rundown of presidential war crimes, check out this audio of Professor Noam Chomsky doing just that.
*For video, go to the 27:40 mark of this clip.


The United States, more and more, has taken to acting unilaterally around the world – inventing reasons for invasions and government overthrows and whatever else it needs to do to increase its power. And these days presidents don’t bother getting the rubber stamp for their wars from congress -- even though the constitution itself states that war is strictly the business of congress:

"ARTICLE 1, SECTION 8

The Congress shall have Power:

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;..."

Of course, the way all of this should really work is through an international body. Nations working together to resolve crises and using military action only when absolutely necessary.

But the U.S. (and others, at times) isn't interested in doing things the right way, it does things its way. And anybody who has listened to any president on the issue of military initiatives knows this is an absolute truism. Bush II sounded like something out of a bad Western most of the time -- Reagan, of course, with his "make my day" faux heroics (he never saw a day of combat himself) went the Dirty Harry route. Pretty pathetic.

The leaders of the United States -- the elites in government, corporations and so forth -- are interested in power. That is their drug of choice. And all the speeches and one-liners and false explanations (e.g. Colin Powell lying his butt off at the U.N. with those ridiculous graphics) are just window dressing for the masses.

And next time a president or a congressman or such starts reeling off a feelgood speech that includes the word "we" a whole bunch, remember that you have next to nothing in common with that person. They are elites with money and power and their own agenda. You are a vote or, looking at it the other way, part of the potential roadblock to their filthy plans. "We" equals the people, you and me, not that thin layer of privileged types with their hands on the levers.

There's so much to say about this I will dip back into it in future entries. I just wanted to established the primary thesis here: The U.S. (we're talking about its leadership) is a terrorist nation presided over by war criminals. Fact! If you don't believe it, study the Nuremberg conventions, then look at the dirty work done by all the presidents since WWII -- yes, even sweet old Jimmy Carter.

And Obama? Well, he's sending another 30,000 troops to Afghanistan by summer to prop up that invasion, and he's calling for another $30 BILLION to pour into the same big crime. And that would be YOUR money. Money that ISN'T going to hospitals/health care, roads, alternative energy, environmental health, education and all those other things that are in a sorry state because, apparently, we don't have the money to pay for them. Thirty billion that might achieve, as foreign aid, what all the precision military hardware never will. How long will we suck on this?

We'll come back to this another time. I want to end on a different note.

Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, linguistics genius and tireless political activist, was this week refused entry into the West Bank by the Israeli government.

Chomsky, a pacifist, gives talks and lectures all around the world on the important issues that are vitally important if the planet is to 1/ survive; 2/ become a better place for all. He was planning to give a lecture at a university in the West Bank.

I once interviewed Chomsky (who is of Jewish descent) for the Boston Phoenix and I know him casually. I have also studied his writings carefully. I am convinced he is one of the most moral people I have ever met and easily the most intelligent.

This makes him very dangerous to the people in the greed-and-oppression business. Anyone familiar with the Israeli government's record of violence over the decades -- or its appalling veto record at the U.N. -- will understand why they don't want to see too much of Chomsky. Same reason Fox, CNN, NBC and all the rest don't want him beamed into our homes too often: The truth works like an acid on the iron fist of control.

But what struck me about all this was a simple irony: The West Bank is a Palestinian territory illegally occupied by Israel. That's kind of like a burglar telling a plumber he can't come into somebody else's house and work on the pipes.

Or like Israel grabbing California and telling us when we can and cannot visit the Golden State. You see, if it happened to us, it would be very different!

Keep your thinking caps on, folks. Like the man said: I may be paranoid, but that don't mean they ain't out to get us!

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

FOOTNOTE:
Send an email to your Congressperson and tell them you don't want to foot the bill for an escalation of the debacle in Afghanistan.

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might like to take a look at "THEY'RE BEING EXECUTED ON THE BATTLEFIELD."

THE FIRST AMENDMENT BELONGS TO YOU

I write this blog for everyone.

It doesn't matter where you live, what you do, or what your political persuasion. I don't care if you hate what I say: That is your right. My goal is to provoke thought and debate while highlighting problems and offering practical actions in response to those problems.

Most of the subjects I address are patently universal. Certainly they are all global in their impact.

But, necessarily, I most often address specifics that obtain to the United States of America. This stands to reason since -- for now at least -- the U.S. is the most powerful, influential and interfering nation on Earth. (In this usage, "nation" refers to the U.S. government and U.S. corporations and all institutions, instruments and individuals at their disposal in achieving selfish aims.)

So I believe it is very important at this point in my blogging to devote an entry to the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America.

It reads:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

My main concern here, at this time, is the subject of free speech. In America, according to the First Amendment -- which is part of a supposedly sacred document that even the white men who run the planet swear by -- YOU have the right to have your say.

Provided you do not abuse this right -- for example, through slander -- you are protected by the law of the land. Of course, it does take courage to speak up in the face of power and power will often bark back: often with its own slanders and often in courts of law. But whatever may be thrown your way, the First Amendment is still your last best hope of bringing truth to the surface, and power to heel, in America.

And as you can see above, the First Amendment also tells you you have the right to fight the powerful, the corrupt, those seemingly above our reach: "the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

If you are a U.S. citizen it is vital that you are aware of your First Amendment rights and exercise them at every opportunity. Because you can bet that every greedy and pernicious corporation, every dishonest public official, every ego-tripping TV talk show nut job, every journalist and media outlet that gives us less than the whole truth and nothing but the truth, every PR agency that will create Big Lies for a price, every warmonger who profits from misery, every U.S. citizen who would put him or herself ahead of the good of the many, WILL exercise that right to the detriment of the greater populace.

And even if you do not live in the United States, whether you know it or not, you rely on the First Amendment as well. Do all you can to ensure that your fellow citizens of the world who reside in the U.S. do not allow their protection under this critical piece of legislation to go to waste.

This is a big subject and there are many technicalities we could look at. Perhaps another time. My goal here was to explain one important way in which you have more power than you may realize.

Use it!

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING you might also like to take a look at FDR's SECOND BILL OF RIGHTS and A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THE FABULOUS BILL HICKS.

EVERY CHILD COUNTS

I have lived in the United States for the past 15 years and I am prepared to draw ire by saying that it is the most self-absorbed country I am aware of.

I do not say that to offend. I say it because I believe it is true and it is significant. It is an observation I can make as a migrant – especially since I am from another Western, First World nation.

The United States government, virtually since the Revolution and certainly in the era of mass media, has succeeded in developing a modern society that is quite hermetically sealed. Certain information -- e.g. raw footage of carnage in Iraq -- is not permitted to come in from the “outside,” at least not via the mainstream media. Other, somewhat less “controversial” information is allowed in in dribs and drabs so we can still be told we have a free press and live in a real democracy.

The media are so controlled, their messages so carefully crafted and sanitized, that the world view of the citizenry is continually being shaped for them. With America at the center of that world, of course. The U.S. is the “light on the hill,” “God’s country,” the “greatest country in the world.” And a considerable segment of its high school kids can’t find Mexico on a map, let alone Iraq or Afghanistan. Call it “skewed education.”

Patriotism has been made into a fine propaganda curtain in the U.S. If you dare to question the system, you might get branded “un-American.” Conversely, if you want to get a chunk of the population on board for the invasion of a Mid East country, you might talk about the threat to American ideals or security or some such nonsense. It’s us-against-them stuff. And if you aren’t with us, you’re against us and it will be noted.

This is how it goes when you have the biggest stick.

I’d like to take this thinking to the nth degree. Americans (I’m talking generally), are very patriotic – one could argue nationalistic. They also take pride in many of their institutions, like the Bill of Rights and the Constitution and their favorite NFL team. They believe they live in the world’s greatest country largely because many of them haven’t bothered to learn much about other cultures – and their education system certainly hasn’t broken its back encouraging them to. I come from Australia. It’s a pretty good place, trust me. And we don’t get all unhinged about it being the best or the greatest. It’s just a good place to be.

The American Dream (myth) is often savagely defended, at least rhetorically, sometimes violently. America has the best athletes and its champion teams are world champions even though they only play amongst themselves. The nuclear family (a fading concept) is still touted as the model for American life for all those still living the Norman Rockwell fantasy. And our kids (I have an American son), our kids are our jewels.

Okay. So say the great cosmic lottery didn’t land you in America. Say you were born in, oh, Iraq. You bake bread for a living. You have a spouse and two children. It is the only life you know. You are satisfied with the simpler things.

One day, your village is bombed by American planes dropping American bombs paid for with American tax dollars that swelled the coffers of some American corporations. Your spouse and children are killed. They are “collateral damage.” How would you feel?

I’m obviously alluding to a lot of things that will need to be revisited another time, but I wanted to brush some broad strokes to paint a clear context: I love my son more than my own life, but can I say he is more precious than an Iraqi child? Or an Afghan child? Or the collateral damage kids anywhere else on the globe where the country with the biggest stick has self-righteously – and with God’s implicit consent – “protected its interests”?

I cannot. Because parents everywhere love their kids. ALL children are precious. Sure we love our own and see them as special. They are our kids so it’s natural that they’re very special to us.

But look at what we have done to so many places that a lot of us can’t even find on a map. We’re rather indifferent about what our government and its brethren corporations have done in our name “over there,” considering many of us are capable of turning into attack dogs should someone insult our flag… let alone one of our kids!

Are we really that blind?

Well, yes and no. Millions of Americans do NOT fit the description I’ve laid out. But the machinery that perpetuates the American myth and American greed doesn’t want you to know that.

Every major decision made in Washington D.C. has great consequences. Some domestically, some internationally, some both. And a lot of kids are affected. Maybe your kids, maybe not.

But isn’t it our responsibility to take actions and voice opinions that protect them all? Everywhere? If we don’t, what kind of people are we? Surely it needn’t take our own homes being bombed for us to recognize our selfishness. Surely we are blessed enough that we can afford to have compassion for children just like ours regardless of where they happened to be born. And turn that compassion into action.

You have more power in your hands than you realize.

Take care,
Adrian Zupp

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE:

1/ Contact your political representatives and tell them what you think: about poverty, using your taxes to invade sovereign nations, etc. Go here and put in your zip code: http://www.congress.org/

2/ On a more personal level, you can sponsor a child in the Third World. I use World Vision and feel pretty comfortable that the money goes where it should. www.worldvision.org

3/ Locally, you can donate food, clothing and other items to the poor. Goodwill is one very good organizaion: www.goodwill.org Or search the Web for others in your area. There are also those large clothing bins that dot most towns and suburbs.

4/ Pick a career that involves helping others.

5/ Protest, agitate, get involved. Search the Internet for like-minded people, groups and discussion forums.

6/ Do anything but be idle.

IF YOU HAVE OTHER IDEAS PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT
I INVITE YOU TO ALSO TAKE A LOOK AT MY POST "CHILD HUNGER -- THE SCOURGE OF THE PLANET."