I hate war, but most of all I hate the so-called Leaders who send our young into battle while they sit back safe from the fray. I have always maintained that if we sent the children of the rich to war there would be no war.
Today, I am making an exception and will honor Roy P. Benevidez. The short video tells a tale of courage that goes far beyond the imagination. The most amazing thing of all is that he had been so gravely wounded, by stepping on a landmine, on his first tour that he was drummed out of the Army after returning. Roy built his body back up and returned to the service after proving himself fit and joined the elite Green Berets. He went back to Vietnam for a second tour for which he received the Medal of Honor. This is his story:
There are times when I truly wonder what motivates our media. Here are a couple of pictures that I'm sure few Americans have ever seen. This is the "TEAR DROP" made and installed by the Russians to honor those who died in 9/11 and a statement against terrorism. It is very impressive. The tear drop is lined up with the Statue of Liberty. Just more proof that the people of the world are not like the governments that oppress them.
At the end of his presidency, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a warning to the American people to be wary of the newly created "military-industrial complex". Although the wars (WW2 and Korea) were over, our economy had become forever changed due to our reliance upon the tools of war to sustain us. Now we have reached this point. It is truly incredible.The following is excerpted from Chalmers Johnson's new book, "Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic" (Metropolitan Books).
Once upon a time, you could trace the spread of imperialism by counting up colonies. America's version of the colony is the military base; and by following the changing politics of global basing, one can learn much about our ever more all-encompassing imperial "footprint" and the militarism that grows with it. It is not easy, however, to assess the size or exact value of our empire of bases. Official records available to the public on these subjects are misleading, although instructive. According to the Defense Department's annual inventories from 2002 to 2005 of real property it owns around the world, the Base Structure Report, there has been an immense churning in the numbers of installations.
The total of America's military bases in other people's countries in 2005, according to official sources, was 737. Reflecting massive deployments to Iraq and the pursuit of President Bush's strategy of preemptive war, the trend line for numbers of overseas bases continues to go up.
Using data from fiscal year 2005, the Pentagon bureaucrats calculated that its overseas bases were worth at least $127 billion -- surely far too low a figure but still larger than the gross domestic products of most countries -- and an estimated $658.1 billion for all of them, foreign and domestic (a base's "worth" is based on a Department of Defense estimate of what it would cost to replace it). During fiscal 2005, the military high command deployed to our overseas bases some 196,975 uniformed personnel as well as an equal number of dependents and Department of Defense civilian officials, and employed an additional 81,425 locally hired foreigners.
The worldwide total of U.S. military personnel in 2005, including those based domestically, was 1,840,062 supported by an additional 473,306 Defense Department civil service employees and 203,328 local hires. Its overseas bases, according to the Pentagon, contained 32,327 barracks, hangars, hospitals, and other buildings, which it owns, and 16,527 more that it leased. The size of these holdings was recorded in the inventory as covering 687,347 acres overseas and 29,819,492 acres worldwide, making the Pentagon easily one of the world's largest landlords.
These numbers, although staggeringly big, do not begin to cover all the actual bases we occupy globally. The 2005 Base Structure Report fails, for instance, to mention any garrisons in Kosovo (or Serbia, of which Kosovo is still officially a province) -- even though it is the site of the huge Camp Bondsteel built in 1999 and maintained ever since by the KBR corporation (formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root), a subsidiary of the Halliburton Corporation of Houston.
The report similarly omits bases in Afghanistan, Iraq (106 garrisons as of May 2005), Israel, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, even though the U.S. military has established colossal base structures in the Persian Gulf and Central Asian areas since 9/11. By way of excuse, a note in the preface says that "facilities provided by other nations at foreign locations" are not included, although this is not strictly true. The report does include twenty sites in Turkey, all owned by the Turkish government and used jointly with the Americans. The Pentagon continues to omit from its accounts most of the $5 billion worth of military and espionage installations in Britain, which have long been conveniently disguised as Royal Air Force bases. If there were an honest count, the actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases overseas, but no one -- possibly not even the Pentagon -- knows the exact number for sure.
It is time for America to convert from a nation of war to a nation of peace. Untold billions could be saved by closing just half of the bases we maintain worldwide. Our entire philosophy must change and President Obama is the perfect messenger to deliver that philosophy to the world. It's now or never.
Meet Gregory Pike — currently homeless in Santa Barbara, California — and his dog, cat and rat. Most days, Pike can be found on State Street there, along with his dog Booger, his cat Kitty, riding atop the dog, and his rat Mousey, riding atop the cat.
The Mayor of Santa Barbara reportedly found it so heartwarming a scene that she had it videotaped and sent it out as a holiday card. We find it to be right up there with the elephant and dog story out of Tennessee.
We also find it more than a little ironic that, if you go to the comments section beneath the dog-cat-rat-getting-along video on YouTube, you can find dozens of petty, mean-spirited, bickering comments from humans who seemingly can’t.
The best factual account of Pike and his animals we could find was in The Bottom Line, a bi-weekly newspaper sponsored by the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara.Pike, originally from Telluride, Colo., says he has been studying animal habitats and psychology for about 30 years, has worked with animal rescues and rehabilitation centers for mountain animals, and has a diverse background in animal training.Pike says the act started ten years ago “when someone said it couldn’t be done.”“I understand animals and why they do things. I understand some of the barks, and the meows, and what the different ways they do it mean. I’m not a Doctor Doolittle, but I know what they’re asking for.”
Pike told The Bottom Line that he has some insights into what makes people tick as well, and with his act hopes to be able to catch the attention of people to pass on his messages of peace and humanity to the human species. “Peace can happen anywhere — if they can do it why can’t people?” he said.Pike reportedly hopes to someday open a free pet adoption and rescue center, which is why he keeps a can out for money.
Administered by Israel, paid for by the US and tolerated by Arab rulers, Gaza is an open air concentration camp where snipers take pot shots at children, aircraft shoot missiles into crowds, and bulldozers randomly destroy homes with impunity. The recent mass assault is only the latest in a long string of atrocities.
Dishonest news outlets like the Associated Press talk about the bombing of the Gaza tunnels without pointing out that for over a year they are the only source of food, medicine, and other necessities for one million people walled in and surrounded by homicidal psychopaths.
U.S.-supplied Israeli F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters have fired missiles and dropped over 100 tons of bombs on dozens of locations in the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip. Over 300 people are dead and at least 1,400 more are injured. Many if not most of them are civilians. Food and medicine were already in short supply in Gaza and all medical facilities have been completely overwhelmed by this onslaught. Access to Gaza has been cut off by Israel.
This video documents the effect of just ONE missile attack. Israel's criminally psychopathic government is currently raining them down on one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Roughly half the population of Gaza is under 18 years old.
In London, England, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Israeli Embassy, waving flags and trying to push their way closer to the building, as police tried to hold them back and erect a barricade.
Police in Germany said about 2,000 protesters marched peacefully down Berlin's Kurfuerstendamm Boulevard and dispersed after about three hours.
Protesters also have taken to the streets in Denmark, France, Italy and Spain, according to news reports. There also were reports of demonstrations in Caracas, Venezuela.
Iranian media reported that thousands took part in anti-Israel demonstrations in Tehran on Monday, which the government declared a day of mourning for the Palestinians in Gaza.
Photographs of the rallies posted by Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency showed black-shrouded women and men holding shoes in the air -- widely considered an insult in the Middle East -- while others held Palestinian flags and signs that said "Down with U.S.A." in English and Farsi.
Greek riot police clashed with protesters in Athens during a demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy, according to police and images broadcast on state television.
If you were a captive of the US mind control police (i.e. the corporate news media) you'd believe two things:
1. Israel is "defending" itself against the Palestinians.
2. All Israelis support their government's policy of endless war against Palestinian civilians.
It's this second lie that the US-Israeli media mafia guards most closely - and desperately hopes Americans never figure out. Contrary to Israeli war party propaganda in the US, not all Jews and not all Israelis support Israel's Nazi-like conduct in the Occupied Territories. This simple fact is probably the single most censored piece of news in the United States. Here are some young people heading to prison because they won't join the genocide. WATCH THIS SHORT VIDEO
"I refuse to enlist in the Israeli military on conscientious grounds. I am not willing to become part of an occupying army, that has been an invader of foreign lands for decades, which perpetuates a racist regime of robbery in these lands, tyrannizes civilians and makes life difficult for millions under a false pretext of security."
First Sentence: 28th Sept. - 10th Oct. 2008 (12 days) Second Sentence: 12th - 30th Oct. 2008 (18 days) Third Sentence: 1st - 22nd Dec. 2008 (21 days)
