Allen L Roland's Weblog

WEST UNDERESTIMATES MORAL STRENGTH OF IRAN, AT ITS OWN PERIL

2012-01-27T10:00:00.000-08:00

The west underestimates the true moral strength of Iran at its own peril for Iran’s character and ancient Persian roots will not cave in to demonization, fear and sanctions and are far more likely to follow the words of their greatest poet, Rumi ~ Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real Sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl: Allen L Roland

The more I interact with Iranians, especially in my capacity as an online columnist and frequent interviews with Press TV, ( http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221983.html ) ~ the more I realize how resilient Iranians are and unafraid of an obvious policy of forced Regime Change by the West in their quest for oil and natural gas to fuel their on going imperialistic agenda and war machine.

Obama’s own words during his recent State Of The Union pep rally demonstrate his on going efforts to demonize Iran for all the old and worn out political reasons ~ “ and we will safeguard America's own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests. Look at Iran. Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one. The regime is more isolated than ever before; its leaders are faced with crippling sanctions, and as long as they shirk their responsibilities, this pressure will not relent. Let there be no doubt: America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal. But a peaceful resolution of this issue is still possible, and far better, and if Iran changes course and meets its obligations, it can rejoin the community of nations.”( We’re still in control, so don’t rock the boat )

This is simply hot air and empty threats for the politically gullible and then Obama goes on to justify American imperialism and exceptionalness with these self-righteous words of bluster and hypocrisy ~ “ From the coalitions we've built to secure nuclear materials, to the missions we've led against hunger and disease; from the blows we've dealt to our enemies; to the enduring power of our moral example, America is back. Anyone who tells you otherwise, anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn't know what they're talking about….. Yes, the world is changing; no, we can't control every event. But America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs - and as long as I'm President, I intend to keep it that way.” ( In other words, it’s our way or the highway )

President Obama is now at the laughable stage of denial where he is drinking his own Kool-Aid and fails to see that the so called War on Terror has finally revealed the true culprit which is the West’s War of Terror, often operating under the guise of NATO, which is still committed to illegal preemptive regime change ~ and now has Iran in its sights.

Obama’s faux populism is brilliantly captured by Robert Scheer who wrote ~ “ l admit it: Listening to Barack Obama, I am ready to enlist in his campaign against the feed-the-rich Republicans ... until I recall that I once responded in the same way to Bill Clinton’s faux populism. And then I get angry because betrayal by the “good guys” for whom I have ended up voting has become the norm.” See article ~ http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/26

With the desire to better understand the 70 million Iranian people as well as their rich culture and heritage ~ I recently watched Rich Steve’s outstanding presentation on Iran after he spent a few weeks there in 2008.

It verified that not everything we hear about Iran is true, nor is everything we hear false, but even the truth out of context can be misleading.

If you ask a politician about Iran they're likely to tell you what you already think you know, Iran is bad, they're working on nuclear weapons, they did some horrible thing in 1979, and they're all religious fanatics. If you ask John McCain, in particular, he might sing "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" again and make us all laugh or gasp in horror.

Turn to the main stream media for answers on Iran and you'll hear pretty much hear the same thing.

But ask an objective travel writer, like the personable Rich Steve, about Iran and he'll tell you about the people of Iran. He'll tell you about their character and the culture and the things we've never thought about as well as their deep fundamentalist faith ~ where they proudly see themselves as Persians, not Arabs.

With the war drums beating again against Iran, let us get to know a little something about the PEOPLE who will bear the brunt of that war, should it ever come to pass and remember Steve’s words when he says ~ “ Don’t underestimate the strength and unity of the Iranian people, if invaded or attacked, they will fight until the last person dies”

58 minute Video:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/3692.html

People of the world don't look at themselves, and so they blame one another: Rumi

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/west-underestimates-moral-strength-of.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

IRAN CRISIS / FOLLOW THE MONEY, IT'S ALL ABOUT PETRODOLLARS

2012-01-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

As Obama refuses to acknowledge that Obamanomics is rapidly sinking ~ a closer look at the Iran crisis reveals, if you follow the money, that the real issue is petrodollars in that Iran is dumping the dollar in its trade with Russia as it has already done with China and Japan. As such, Regime Change is now the goal of the Obama administration as it was in 2000 when Iraq’s late Saddam Hussein abandoned the petrodollar and recently when Libya’s late Muammar Gaddafi proposed a gold dinar as currency for his energy resources: Allen L Roland

Its classic good cop / bad cop with Obama positioning himself as the good cop who is trying to restrain an impetuous Israel who wants to attack Iran. Things got a little too dicey last week, with the Mossad assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist, so Obama cancelled the joint war games with Israel ~ particularly since Israel still refuses to agree not to launch preemptive action against Iran without U.S. approval.

Here’s an insightful update from Real news with Paul Jay and investigative reporter Gareth Porter: 14 minute Video

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=7813

But as Pepe Escobar writes ~ “ This larger-than-life psychodrama we call “Iran” may turn out to be as much about China and the U.S. dollar as it is about the politics of the Persian Gulf or Iran’s nonexistent bomb .”

To get a handle on this psychodrama , we have to follow the money and that means the implied threat to petrodollars ~ which send shivers up the spine of the global financial elite. Escobar elaborates ~ “...consider 2012 the start-up year as well for a possibly massive defection from the dollar as the global currency of choice. As perception is indeed reality, imagine the real world ~ mostly the global South ~ doing the necessary math and, little by little, beginning to do business in their own currencies and investing ever less of any surplus in U.S. Treasury bonds."

Excerpt: “ That Iranian isolation theme only gets weaker when one learns that the country is dumping the dollar in its trade with Russia for rials and rubles -- a similar move to ones already made in its trade with China and Japan. As for India, an economic powerhouse in the neighborhood, its leaders also refuse to stop buying Iranian oil, a trade that, in the long run, is similarly unlikely to be conducted in dollars….Translation, if any was needed: in the near future, with the Europeans out of the mix, virtually none of Iran’s oil will be traded in dollars.

In this context, it’s worth remembering that in September 2000 Saddam Hussein abandoned the petrodollar as the currency of payment for Iraq’s oil, and moved to the euro. In March 2003, Iraq was invaded and the inevitable regime change occurred. Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi proposed a gold dinar both as Africa’s common currency and as the currency of payment for his country’s energy resources. Another intervention and another regime change followed.” See full story: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article30269.htm

So what we are really talking about now with Iran, as it was with Iraq and Libya, is REGIME CHANGE ~ for Obamanomics, like the Titanic, will surely sink unless those precious Eurodollars are investing in the ever growing surplus of U.S. Treasury bonds.

Pepe compares it to Poe’s classic The Pit and the Pendulum ~ “ If this were an economic rewrite of Edgar Allen Poe’s story, “The Pit and the Pendulum,” Iran would be but one cog in an infernal machine slowly shredding the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Still, it’s the cog that Washington is now focused on. They have regime change on the brain. All that’s needed is a spark to start the fire (in -- one hastens to add -- all sorts of directions that are bound to catch Washington off guard).

As Petrodollar expert William Clark writes regarding Petrodollar Warfare ~ “the upcoming Iran bourse will introduce petrodollar versus petroeuro currency hedging, and fundamentally new dynamics to the biggest market in the world - global oil and gas trades. In essence, the U.S. will no longer be able to effortlessly expand its debt-financing via issuance of U.S. Treasury bills, and the dollar’s international demand/liquidity value will fall.” See story ~ http://www.energybulletin.net/node/7707

To make it simple, Obama is captain of a sinking ship, overloaded with ever increasing debt, but he still stands on the bow convinced he is flying when in reality he is just one spark, or a few minutes, or days away from a complete economic disaster.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/iran-crisis-follow-money-its-all-about.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

WILL YOU TAKE A STAND FOR TRUTH AND JUSTICE / AS MLK DID?

2012-01-15T13:30:00.000-08:00

The words and inspiration of Martin Luther King Jr return every third Monday in January but in the troubled days of 2012 King’s words demand a deeply personal moral stand ~ Are you willing to protect something so precious that you will die for it? Allen L Roland

As our civil liberties slowly erode with a corporate state under control of the Military/Industrial complex and global elite ~ there will come a time when we all must take a stand for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause or some great truth.

The question is ~ are you willing to stand alone and overcome fear for what is right in a world apparently gone blindly wrong.

Martin Luther King Jr asked himself that same question at 38 years old, on November 5, 1967, in a sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church when he obviously sensed his mission and destiny and knew there was only one answer he could live with.

"SO PRECIOUS THAT YOU WILL DIE FOR IT"

“ I say to you, this morning, that if you have never found something so dear and so precious to you that you will die for it, then you aren't fit to live.

You may be thirty-eight years old, as I happen to be, and one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid. You refuse to do it because you want to live longer. You're afraid that you will lose your job, or you are afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity, or you're afraid that somebody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house.

So you refuse to take the stand. Well, you may go on and live until you are ninety, but you are just as dead at thirty-eight as you would be at ninety. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. You died when you refused to stand up for right. You died when you refused to stand up for truth. You died when you refused to stand up for justice....

Don't ever think that you're by yourself. Go on to jail if necessary, but you never go alone. Take a stand for that which is right, and the world may misunderstand you, and criticize you. But you never go alone, for somewhere I read that one with God is a majority. And God has a way of transforming a minority into a majority.”

Personally, I have taken a stand for a great truth, for a Unified Field of love, joy and soul consciousness ~ that exists beyond time and space as well as deepest within each one of us and whose principle property is the universal urge to unite. Like King, I have been to the top of the mountain, I’ve seen what lies both within and beyond our present state of fear based ego consciousness and like King, I’ve seen what lies beyond the difficult days ahead, for as King wrote ~ “We are all tied together in the single garment of destiny, caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. And whatever effects one directly effects all indirectly.”

Here is a clip from Martin Luther King Jr’s last but incredibly moving speech before he was assassinated on April 4^th, 1968 ~ 1.17 minute Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0FiCxZKuv8

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/will-you-take-stand-for-truth-and.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

AN ELECTABLE RON PAUL TRIUMPHS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

2012-01-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul, the protector of our once sacred constitution, seized the moment in New Hampshire by finishing a strong second in the Republican Primary and gleefully announced to a stunned Republican establishment that he is not only electable but dangerous to the status quo: Allen L Roland

Libertarian Congressman Ron Paul has been bucking the trade winds of the Republican establishment for years and making little headway in his efforts to defend the constitution and protect our liberties. Last night in New Hampshire, Paul shocked the establishment with the help of the youth, Independents and a beaten down Middle Class by finishing a strong second to Mitt Romney and shattered the myth that Ron Paul is non-electable. Watch this 15 minute video of his victory celebration and witness a Ron Paul with the wind at his back and finally seizing his moment in New Hampshire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=jdUA910WYFY

It is my opinion that, minus the main stream media sponsored myth of non-electability, Ron Paul would have garnered at least 30% of the New Hampshire vote ~ which would truly have him nipping at Mitt Romney’s heels.

Now watch Doug Wead, Senior political adviser to Ron Paul explain the Republican Party’s best kept secret ~ Ron Paul Is Electable and Can Beat Obama !

Why? Because as Wead explains Paul is incorruptible, has integrity and matches up against Obama better than any other candidate. 4 minute Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmafSP3vxEA&feature=player_embedded

Then there’s Jesse Benton, Ron Paul's youthful Campaign Chair Interview with Piers Morgan After Paul’s N.H 2nd Place Finish ~ where Benton predicts Paul will continue his momentum in South Carolina as people begin to realize that he is the only conservative alternate to Mitt Romney ~ and that Paul’s enthusiasm and honesty is contagious. 4 minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlYjgvEgSLc&feature=player_detailpage

Then there’s the highly intelligent Bruce Fein, another Paul Senior political advisor, on Fox explaining that Ron Paul "Is the only major candidate who is hawkish on defending Americans in America ~ and not all over the world“ who eloquently outlines Paul’s campaign strategy and appeal. 5 minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=28eDF1dNnD0

Wednesday morning I was interviewed for 90 minutes by Mike Harris, on the Republic Broadcasting network, and we entertained questions from listeners regarding Ron Paul’s strong finish in New Hampshire and the response from across the country was unanimous ~ Ron Paul is electable!

Not only that but there’s a wide cross section of this country that support his candidacy regardless of the Main Stream Press’s attempt to marginalize his campaign .

A white Catholic from the Northeast called and shared his worry that Paul’s candidacy would be such a threat to the establishment that they would attempt to stop him ~ much like the Kennedy’s and Martin Luther King were stopped ~ because his message and presence was so needed at this time.

A black man from Chicago stressed Ron Paul’s moral integrity, character and honesty which have been so sadly lacking in the White House.

A woman from Louisiana commented on the hypocrisy of both Gingrich and Santorum in contrast with Paul’s honesty and integrity.

And lastly a Texas neighbor of Dr. Paul spoke movingly about Paul’s down to earth friendliness and how, as an OB, he has delivered over 4000 babies and has a direct or indirect relationship with virtually the whole town ~ how often he sees him riding his bicycle and waving to his neighbors and that what you see with Ron Paul is what you get in real life or in the political arena.

I was moved by these unsolicited comments from across the country and am now firmly convinced that the myth that Ron Paul is non-electable has been planted and continually stroked by the Republican establishment who are deathly afraid of not only Ron Paul’s message and its consequences to a Party that is still married to Wall Street and the Military/Industrial complex ~ but that Paul is the real thing (a true conservative) in a cast of pretenders and a constant reminder to the establishment of how far they have strayed from their core beliefs.

Watch out South Carolina and Florida ~ Ron Paul finally has the wind behind him and he is most certainly not only electable but dangerous to the status quo and Republican establishment.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/electable-ron-paul-triumphs-in-new.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

THE CASE AGAINST ATTACKING IRAN

2012-01-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

Almost 4 years after President Obama took office, his campaign strategy of Change and Hope we can believe in has shifted to exploiting Fear. He now joins the leading Republican presidential candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, in demonizing Iran to the extent that war is almost inevitable ~ a war that would benefit only Israel and the military/industrial complex at the further expense of the American tax payer: Allen L Roland

There are no real grounds for war with Iran.

If you're going to argue for war, you had better at least know what you're talking about, especially if you're going to be debating George Galloway. Here is Galloway responding on air to a questioner who uses all the talking points regarding the premise that Iran must be neutralized for the good of the world. ( very similar points that were made regarding invading Iraq ~ which Galloway points out )

George Galloway vs. the warmonger parrot who is very similar to Republican right wing zealots including Presidential contender Rick Santorum who said on NBC television's "Meet the Press" that he would tell Iranian leaders that either they open up those facilities, begin to dismantle them and make them available to inspectors ~ “ or the U.S. would attack them “.

7 Minute must see Video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/5887.html

Let’s talk about these recent U.S. sanctions against Iran ~ measures that were obviously supported by war hawk advisors in the White House as well as the powerful Zionist lobby ~ which the Bush/Obama administration continues to cater to. Dr. Ismail Salami, Veterans Today, comments on the U.S. Engineered sanctions and their effect and ultimate meaning ~ “The war of words which ensued between Iranian army commanders and the American military men testifies to the fact that the wall of fear has collapsed before the eyes of the Iranians and that the U.S. is no longer seen as an indomitable enemy.” http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/01/04/us-engineered-sanctions-no-coup-de-grace-for-iran/

What is the United States and Israel really afraid of, since Iran’s nuclear capability has yet to be proven?

The answer is obvious and it’s the fact that Iran has upgraded its medium range conventionally-armed missiles with GPS technology, making its missiles much more accurate. This means Iran can now target Israel's own nuclear, bio and chemical weapons stockpiles, located inside Israel, as well as the Dimona nuclear reactor.

As Mark H Gaffney correctly writes ~ “I believe the US will exploit the situation to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. But, even more importantly, the US will target Iran's conventional missiles. Indeed, I believe this is the real reason for US sanctions in the first place, and for the buildup of tensions in recent days. Despite public perceptions, and all the rhetoric about nukes, the present crisis has nothing to do with Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program. In my opinion, that is just a cover story. I believe the present crisis has been manufactured to create the pretext for a US air campaign to take out Iran's conventional missile sites. The US will also target Iran's nuclear facilities, but the primary target will be Iran's conventional missiles. The US will be doing Israel's bidding. The Zionist tail will be wagging the servile US dog…

Obviously, you can't generate public support for such a bombing campaign, on Israel's behalf. Hence the cover story about nukes and the alleged Iranian threat to wipe Israel off the map, all of which is untrue but very effective propaganda nonetheless.”

Let’s get something straight about that threat ~ the supposed quote of newly elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to “Wipe Israel off the Map “ was fabricated by the U.S. media in order to justify an all-out war on Iran ~ a lie that is still being used by Obama and leading Republicans in order to garner support from Israel as well as the Military/Industrial complex.

Here are the facts, according to Arash Norouxi ~ “ In his speech, Ahmadinejad declares that Zionism is the West's apparatus of political oppression against Muslims. He says the "Zionist regime" was imposed on the Islamic world as a strategic bridgehead to ensure domination of the region and its assets. Palestine, he insists, is the frontline of the Islamic world's struggle with American hegemony, and its fate will have repercussions for the entire Middle East…Ahmadinejad acknowledges that the removal of America's powerful grip on the region via the Zionists may seem unimaginable to some, but reminds the audience that, as Khomeini predicted, other seemingly invincible empires have disappeared and now only exist in history books. He then proceeds to list three such regimes that have collapsed, crumbled or vanished, all within the last 30 years:

(1) The Shah of Iran- the U.S. installed monarch

(2) The Soviet Union

(3) Iran's former arch-enemy, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein

In the first and third examples, Ahmadinejad prefaces their mention with Khomeini's own words foretelling that individual regime's demise. He concludes by referring to Khomeini's unfulfilled wish: "The Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time. This statement is very wise". This is the passage that has been isolated, twisted and distorted so famously. By measure of comparison, Ahmadinejad would seem to be calling for regime change, not war.”

This is blatant Manipulation through fear as Arash Norouxi definitively points out in Global Research ~ “ What has just been demonstrated is irrefutable proof of media manipulation and propaganda in action. The AP deliberately alters an IRNA quote to sound more threatening. The Israeli media not only repeats the fake quote but also steals the original authors' words. The unsuspecting public reads this, forms an opinion and supports unnecessary wars of aggression, presented as self defense, based on the misinformation. This scenario mirrors the kind of false claims that led to the illegal U.S. invasion of Iraq, a war now widely viewed as a catastrophic mistake. And yet the Bush administration and the compliant corporate media continued to marinate in propaganda and speculation about attacking Iraq's much larger and more formidable neighbor, Iran. Most of this rests on the unproven assumption that Iran is building nuclear weapons, and the lie that Iran has vowed to physically destroy Israel. Given its scope and potentially disastrous outcome, all this amounts to what is arguably the rumor of the century.”

Read full article ~ http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=21188

Manipulation through fear ~ the ongoing mantra of the Bush/Obama administrations and most certainly the fuel that drives the Military/Industrial complex in its quest for unending war for perpetual financial profits.

The late George Carlin nailed it when he said War to many Americans and most certainly our political leaders is a macho game and they’re still playing it ~ with the exception of Ron Paul. See 7 minute video but beware ~ this is George Carlin at his x rated best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaS2bRGS86c

As Paul Craig Roberts writes in his Outlook for The New Year ~ “The concepts that the Bush/Obama regimes have institutionalized are totally foreign to the Anglo-American concepts of law and liberty. In one decade the US has been transformed from a free society into a police state. The American population, to the extent it is aware of what has occurred, has simply accepted the revolution from the top.

Ron Paul is the only American seeking the presidency who opposes the tyranny that has been institutionalized, and he is not leading in the polls.

This tells us all we need to know about the value Americans place on liberty. Americans seem to welcome the era of tyranny into which they are now entering.” Read full article : http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2011/12/31/the-outlook-for-the-new-year/

80 years ago, Germany, steeped in a depression, also seemed to welcome the era of tyranny they entered into when they gave up their liberties and rights and allowed themselves to be controlled by institutionalized fear ~ and in the process became a police state while ravaging the world with their imperialistic agenda.

"As nightfall does not come all at once ~ neither does oppression. In both instances there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air - however slight - lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas

The twilight in America is rapidly fading into darkness and is fully revealed in the fear mongering of Iran by the Bush/Obama administration’s continuing effort to exploit fear for our own imperialistic purposes. In summary, there is no case for attacking Iran and the American people must make this case now ~ before it’s too late.

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/case-against-attacking-iran.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

2012 / DARKNESS AND BOTTOM UP CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN

2012-01-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

As the dark storm clouds of an economic depression and perhaps war with Iran bring down the curtain on 2011 ~ be aware that 2012 will initially bring deeper economic stress and turmoil ~ but out of that cocoon of darkness will finally emerge the change that millions of Americans voted for in 2008 and never received from a president who failed to deliver and never stopped campaigning: Allen L Roland

Make no mistake about it, 2012 has emerged from the blackness of a growing depression, which the White House still refuses to acknowledge ~ a depression that won’t be obvious until Americans are hit with a sledgehammer of reality which includes the fact that US government census figures reveal that 1 in 2 Americans have fallen into poverty or are struggling to live on low incomes.

Here’s some reality ~ The true unemployment rate is nearly 23% (according to Shadowstats.com) if it was calculated the way Bureau of Labor and Statistics reported it in 1994 and earlier. See story

http://bit.ly/ulYS7J

As Charlie McGrath, founder of Wide Awake News, explains ~ “Our nation is an empire in decline and there is a reason most of us have no idea what is going on. The lame stream media has us all focusing the latest trends and people fighting over shoes, while our rights are usurped and our government involves us in ever more conflicts overseas.

We are spread way too thin and we are losing the freedoms we were supposedly fighting for.

People are going to start waking up, but NOT because CNN, FOX, or MSNBC decided to actually start informing people. They are going to wake up because they've been hit with a sledgehammer of reality...” See 7 minute video

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/6366.html

That long overdue wake up call will also include President Obama who will realize too late that his only base is the Wall Street corporate establishment ~ which is notoriously fickle when they realize their candidate is deeply wounded.

The time for the truth and transparency is now as we creep into 2012 and the immediate start of the Presidential primaries. In that regard, a vote for Ron Paul in the primaries is a vote against the establishment and the special interest groups that have hijacked our Republic as well as both parties.

The establishment is rightly afraid if not terrified of the possibility of President Ron Paul because his platform is largely in sync with what the vast majority of Americans want and have not received under the Obama administration. The Republican right wing is in lockstep with the corporate establishment and committed to the status quo ~ and they also fear a Paul presidency.

I’ll humorously make my point by parodying the great movie about the final days of Hitler's regime, titled "Downfall", with clever subtitles. (This is the famous scene from the movie where Hitler is told that Berlin's defenses have evaporated and the Thousand Year Reich is doomed) ~ but here Hitler apparently wants to support Newt so the corporate establishment can stay in control : 4 minute video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hgRq6s7G

Here’s some more reality regarding Obama ~ The last day of 2011 was also the last day of representative democracy in America, as Corporate Puppet President Barack Obama chose the New Year's Eve holiday to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (H.R.1540) into law ~ with little if any comments from the lame stream press.

Along with signing NDAA, Obama released a Presidential Signing Statement in which he assured "Moreover, I want to clarify that my Administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens. Indeed, I believe that doing so would break with our most important traditions and values as a Nation."

That may sound reassuring, but it doesn't mean much. Presidential Signing Statements are political documents that have no Constitutional basis and do not modify the laws to which they refer. In these Orwellian times, Obama's empty promise that we have nothing to worry about should warn us that in fact we have plenty to worry about. It’s also is another example of the classic Obama straddle ~ where he appears to be taking a stand on principle after the bill passes and thus he doesn’t have to take responsibility for its consequences and can blame Congress if the people revolt even though he approved the bill.

As Michel Chossudovsky writes “To say that January 1st 2012 is "A Sad Day for America" is a gross understatement. The signing of NDAA (HR 1540) into law is tantamount to the militarization of law enforcement, the repeal of the Posse Comitatus Act and the Inauguration in 2012 of Police State USA.
As in Weimar Germany, fundamental rights and freedoms are repealed under the pretext that democracy is threatened and must be protected.
The NDAA is "Obama's New Year's Gift" to the American People”.

See story www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=28441

Mike Whitney correctly writes ~ “Ron Paul is the only antiwar candidate who has a (microscopic) chance of winning in 2012. He’s also the only candidate who will make an effort to restore the Bill of Rights and reverse Congress’s decision to allow the president to “indefinitely” imprison American citizens without due process. For these reasons alone, Paul should garner the support of leftists, liberals, and progressives.”

The time for the truth and transparency is now at hand as we nervously creep into 2012 ~ a vote for Ron Paul in the Iowa caucus is an important first step against the establishment and status Quo ~ as well as the special interest groups that have not only hijacked our Republic but are responsible for the Militarization of our Homeland.

As Robert Naiman, writes in Truthout: "While media may miss this story now, if election-night exit polls show antiwar Democrats and independents gave Paul the margin of victory, that story will appear in media around the world."

“Little by little, in the name of fighting terrorism, our Bill of Rights is being repealed.... The Patriot Act, as bad as its violation of the 4th Amendment, was just one step down the slippery slope. The recently passed [NDAA] continues that slip toward tyranny and in fact accelerates it significantly.... The Bill of Rights has no exemption for ‘really bad people’ or terrorists or even non-citizens. It is a key check on government power against any person. This is not a weakness in our legal system; it is the very strength of our legal system.” Congressman Ron Paul

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-darkness-and-bottom-up-change-we.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

THE PARTY’S OVER, THE BUBBLE HAS BURST, LET’S CLEAN UP THE MESS

2011-12-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

Detroit's former Lee Plaza Hotel closed in the '90s. (photo: Marchand, Meffre /TIME)

The Party’s over for America, the greed bubble fueled by excessive debt has finally burst. Its time to clean up the mess started by the Bush/Cheney administration, perpetuated by the Obama/Biden administration and which is now a deserted ballroom ~ strewn with broken dreams, broken promises and economic devastation: Allen L Roland

As 2011 crawls to a close, the true reckoning of the financial devastation wrought by the policies of the Clinton and Bush administrations and perpetuated by the Obama administration have yet to be fully revealed ~ but the economic devastation by these political actions and inaction is now fully felt and experienced by millions of Americans.

Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz, Vanity Fair, brilliantly summarized this devastation on December 25, 2011 ~ “It has now been almost five years since the bursting of the housing bubble, and four years since the onset of the recession. There are 6.6 million fewer jobs in the United States than there were four years ago. Some 23 million Americans who would like to work full-time cannot get a job. Almost half of those who are unemployed have been unemployed long-term. Wages are falling-the real income of a typical American household is now below the level it was in 1997... The Bush and Obama administrations justified a bailout on the grounds that only if the banks were handed money without limit-and without conditions-could the economy recover….The banks got their bailout. Some of the money went to bonuses. Little of it went to lending. And the economy didn't really recover ~ output is barely greater than it was before the crisis, and the job situation is bleak. The diagnosis of our condition and the prescription that followed from it were incorrect … In the end, bank managers looked out for themselves and did what they are accustomed to doing..“ Read full article ~ http://www.readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/9092-the-book-of-jobs

Stiglitz correctly makes this important point ~ “The fact is the economy in the years before the current crisis was fundamentally weak, with the bubble, and the unsustainable consumption to which it gave rise, acting as life support. Without these, unemployment would have been high. It was absurd to think that fixing the banking system could by itself restore the economy to health. Bringing the economy back to "where it was" does nothing to address the underlying problems.”

And therein lies my point ~ for re-inflating the same debt bubble that eventually burst in 2008 is not going to succeed when personal debt and unemployment are at such historic heights and real income is below the level it was in 1997. In other words, the financial elite are telling people to keep spending, keep borrowing by using your credit cards, keep the mirage of financial stability in tact, keep wishful thinking and, by all means, keep the debt party going ~ even though the economic dance hall is in shambles.

Here are the facts ~ 42% of all financial wealth is controlled by the top 1% in that 400 Americans have more money than the other 155 million Americans. Add to that, the fact that the billionaire Banksters, who wrecked the economic well-being of millions for pure profit, have apparently got off scot-free. Is it any wonder that a growing nonviolent Occupy movement has risen to decry those acts of greed as unjust, immoral and undemocratic.

Then we have the obvious hypocrisy of Pope Benedict, cloaked in gold and jewels, holding his solid silver staff, showing Jesus hanging on the cross, sardonically telling 1.3billion Roman Catholics “ Look through the glitter of Christmas “ http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1549/5/NL/Bejeweled_Pope_Says_Look_Through_The_Glitter_Of_Xmas.html

It’s all a blatant illusion, folks ~ and as far as the Obama administration is concerned, the ballroom is still operating, it’s only intermission and the music will resume at any moment. Just keep drinking my oratory Kool Aid, and re-elect me next year and then I’ll deliver on the many promises I never fulfilled because of the evil obstructionist Republicans (chuckle).

In other words, I’m your known political betrayer of your moral values and the constitution (which I swore to defend), so why replace me with an unknown betrayer of those same values and the constitution?

It’s all a big lie ~ Everything is rigged to give the illusion that things are fine; Illegal occupations are glorified as wars; Body counts are falsified ~ only those killed on the battlefield are listed as KIA ~ if you died from your wounds while in transit to care or in care, you are not listed as KIA ( Courtesy of Bush/Cheney ); Unemployment figures are falsified where large numbers of workers have supposedly left the labor force and they are not counted as unemployed; The core cost of living index does not include food and energy costs (thanks to Bill Clinton) ~ thus distorting the true inflation figures and robbing seniors of needed social security income; the stock market is rigged ( think plunge protection team ) whereas unregulated high speed trading as well as derivatives give the false impression of stability in a highly leveraged crap game fierce with insider trading. Regarding the still unresolved mountain of Derivatives ~ “Contrary to popular belief, which blames the global financial crisis on subprime borrowers, it was the derivatives, based upon the likelihood that those borrowers would pay their debts, that were the primary catalyst triggering the global economic crisis of 2008. Back then, the derivative obligations of AIG (AIG) imploded the insurer. Under the pressure of fear-mongering from the Federal Reserve and the financial industry, the U.S. government committed hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out AIG's counter-parties, including the biggest banks of Europe and America. Had the government not stepped in, virtually all the banks on Wall Street would have gone bankrupt. A host of European and Asian banks would have followed……Even if we net out the notional value of the derivatives involved, down to the net potential obligation, the amount is so large that the United States could not hope to pay it off without a major dollar devaluation…..” See story ~ http://seekingalpha.com/article/301260-bank-of-america-dumps-75-trillion-in-derivatives-on-u-s-taxpayers-with-federal-approval

The name of the game is to maintain the status quo and Obama was chosen by the global financial elite to do that very thing ~ and it is one of the few promises that he has kept. Meanwhile, almost 50% of Americans are in poverty or at a "low income" level ~ a claim based on a report by the Census Bureau that includes health care, transportation, and other essential living expenses in the poverty calculation.

The party’s over, the Bubble has burst , there’s no music and no one reveals this truth more knowingly than Gerald Celente ~ In his latest interview Celente discusses a variety of different topics ~ from Iran and Europe to domestic militarization and the economy ~ and warns that our worst fears will soon be realized.

“ Bottom line? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet ~ This (National Defense Authorization Act) passed the Senate by 93-7. I’m mentioning this because all the pieces are in place now; The economy is going to crash. There is going to be chaos. Economic martial law will be called. Banks will close. And, chaos will ensure. The law is now in place for the military to come in and take over. Fascism has come to America.”

Celente Warns Of 2012: Economy Will Crash, Banks Will Close, Chaos Will Ensue, Military Will Take Over | Before It's News http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1519/121/NL/

Meanwhile, the slow beat of corporate fascism continues on ~ While on Christmas vacation in Hawaii, Obama tapped Jerome Powell to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
Powel served as the undersecretary for finance under president George H. W. Bush and was a partner of The Carlyle Group. The Carlyle Group is a massive private equity firm and one of the largest defense contractors in the world. See story ~ http://beforeitsnews.com/story/1556/379/NL/

There is a solution and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has offered it as a Constitutional Amendment to the Constitution to exclude corporations from First Amendment rights to spend money on political campaigns. The Sanders amendment is co-sponsored by Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), and a similar amendment has been proposed in the House by Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.).

Watch and listen to one of our true constitutional patriots make his impassioned case that Corporations are not persons with constitutional rights; that corporations are subject to regulations by the people; that corporations cannot make campaign contributions and that Congress and the states have the right to regulate campaign finance. 12 minute video http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29930.htm#.TuRfMsr974w.email

“Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, and the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential vital quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change.” Robert F. Kennedy

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/partys-over-bubble-has-burst-lets-clean.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

BAND OF BROTHERS #8 / CONQUERING MILITARY RACISM

2011-12-22T11:49:00.001-08:00

Six Vietnam combat veterans, all Pacific Islanders with major issues with racial discrimination as well as PTSD, went through their fears, opened their hearts and found not only themselves ~ but another heart felt choice of behavior and began to heal themselves in only eight weeks: Allen L Roland

Love alone is capable of uniting living beings is such a way as to complete and fulfill them for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest within themselves: Teilhard de Chardin

The ultimate fire fight is on the battleground of the heart for it is there that we meet our deepest fears and issues of unworthiness. Combat veterans are often bonded in combat whereas the loss of their buddies is just as traumatic as the loss of a family member. A heart centered approach to PTSD often re-opens their closed hearts and accelerates the self healing process ~ but when military racial discrimination issues added to the equation, the path to self healing is even more challenging.

Such was the case with Band of Brothers #8 ~ all Hawaiian, Pilipino, Korean, or Korean/American Vietnam Combat veterans and all with PTSD as well as deep unresolved issues of race-related trauma in Vietnam. These issues included ostracism, degradation, and abandonment from their “white” counterparts in Vietnam for “looking like the enemy”. Their deep seeded racial discrimination fears even included the fear of being shot at or killed by their fellow soldiers.

Anger and rage was a common issue for them but so was trust and forgiveness ~ and they all had issues of unworthiness. But they also had something else ~ a deep sense of connectedness to not only their culture and nature but also a rare strong sense of family values and social responsibility.

The first meeting of the Healing The Wounded Heart Veterans Workshop #8 was held on October 14, 2011 at 11 AM in Vallejo, California.

They had never met me but they had been told about me, by their adjustment counselor Sal, and were prepared for an eight week commitment to face their fears and open their hearts in the process. They knew I was a former active duty Naval aviator and that made a big difference.

We met once a week for approximately three hours. All of them had some symptoms of PTSD and even TBI but all had the common symptom of a closed heart and the inability to love and receive love ~ mainly because of deep unworthiness issues that originally started in childhood and were reinforced through their military experience.

I told them that this was an action based heart centered transformation workshop and if they did their homework they would reach a place of not only another choice but would open their closed hearts in the process. They would also begin to see through different eyes ~ eyes unclouded by fear, anger and unworthiness. I also explained through my Cycle Of Life chart how psychic pain will override Joy to the extent that most people have no idea that beneath their deepest pain and aloneness is love, joy and connectedness ~ a Unified Field of love, joy and soul consciousness.

After each session ~ part of their homework was to read each session in my book RADICAL THERAPY / SURRENDER TO LOVE AND HEAL YOURSELF IN SEVEN SESSIONS ( NOT SEVEN YEARS ) which reinforced the previous group session. I also told them that these sessions were all about transformation and that these action based sessions could well bring up painful memories ~ but that beneath that deep pain was as even deeper thread of love, joy and innocence ~ which all of them had experienced at one time in their childhood.

Of course, that first session I shared my own heart's journey to find a lost and alone little boy within myself who not only wanted to fly, and became a Navy Fighter pilot, but also to love as deeply as I loved my beloved grandfather before I was torn away from him at six years old. They all mentioned the war and its effect and all of them briefly shared their heart's journey and by the end of three hours ~ they began to feel a sense of commonality. Their homework was to produce a life chart of the path of their individual heart's journey ~ which they would share with the group over the next two sessions. The objective of the life chart is for the participant to see their life as a quest, versus a struggle, to find their authentic innocent self and how every love relationship, including the war, has played a role in that quest.

I told them that I was their coach, not therapist, and that they had free access to me by telephone or email at any time ~ which all of them took advantage of.

The life chart is something like a crime scene where something happened and someone was lost in childhood. In essence, I help them connect the dots to help them find where they separated from their original innocent state of being, when they made the decision to be something other than themselves and how their whole life has been an inner QUEST, not a struggle, to find and fully experience their authentic self again. I also help them see how all of their love relationships, regardless of the pain that may have ensued, have been gifts on that quest as they most certainly have been in my life. Sharing their individual life charts, with my guidance, in front of the entire group not only established commonality but was a major step in coming out of their self imposed cocoons of fear as well as the important realization that it was safe and exciting to be honest, real and authentic. The life charts set the stage for the exercises and transformation that would occur later in the sessions.

I’ll let their post workshop evaluations tell the story of their eight week inner journey through fear to love, self acceptance and joy;

1. Please tell us if and how the workshop has been helpful to you?

E.S. I am free!

M.L. I surrendered and never thought that was possible!

A.R. It helped me open my heart to those that I love dearly. It helped me overcome my fears ~ particularly my fear of rejection.

L.L. It has given me a better understanding of myself and what I did to my life and self.

F.B. It helped me release the pain, fear, anger and depression that were so much of my life.

M.N. I learned to love rather than hate.

2. What personal changes have you overcome from this workshop?

E.S. I ended my negative thinking.

M.L. I overcame fear, knowing I cannot control others and I feel better about myself ~ I love me!

A.R. My fear of rejection has gone and my fear of totally surrendering to love.

L.L. I’m less fearful, I am fully experiencing joy and I have fully opened my heart.

F.B. I have learned to love and forgive.

M.N. I can now feel being loved and to love. I found that fear is only an illusion and I learned to love myself.

This was a transformational event for all the participants or as Alex wrote ~ This is one of the best workshops I’ve ever attended ~ a Life changer!

Once they complete this workshop they are now much more inclined to participate in the other venues of the Vet Center’s heart centered approach which includes Healing Touch, Meditation and Tai Chi.

In Summary, all of them were once stuck in the grey zone of anger, pain and unworthiness as well as the trauma of racial discrimination but now a heart centered light has gone on within each one of them. As such, they can now begin to clearly see the path to their full recovery. In essence, by opening their hearts they all finally met themselves ~ which reminds me of Derek Wolcott’s wonderful poem about the significance of that auspicious and joyful reunion, Love After Love;

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here, Eat.

You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart to itself, to the stranger who has loved you all your life ~ whom you ignored for another, who knows you by heart.

Take down the love letters from the bookshelf, the photographs, the desperate notes ~ peel your own image from the mirror.

Sit, Feast on your life

And feast on their life, they are ~ For they have all, in their own ways, gone to the edge and found themselves and each other in the process. They are now a true Band of Brothers as well as a gift to each other and movingly acknowledged that in their final session. They all survived the ultimate fire fight on the battle ground of the heart by opening their hearts, surrendering to love and defeating fear in the process.

These workshops are funded by Legion Posts, Veterans Organizations and Veterans foundations but the VA has yet to official sanction alternative health care even though General Peter Chiarelli, the Army's No. 2 officer, has acknowledged there are more effective ways to treat PTSD than just drugs ~ a fact that I have been proving for over two years with my heart centered Healing The Wounded Heart workshops for veterans with PTSD. See http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/07/05/armys-top-brass-acknowledge-need-alternative-ptsd-vet-care/

And the biggest gift I have given them was just being my irrepressible self, not being afraid of their pain and lovingly acknowledging their individual quests to reach that same promised land within themselves. This is, without a doubt, the most powerful and rewarding work I have done in over 35 years of private practice. Seeing the light go on within combat veterans, who were taught to kill, is an unforgettable and heart warming experience.

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us." Albert Schweitzer

Holiday Blessings,

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/band-of-brothers-8-conquering-military.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

SHOEING OF BUSH WAS THE PEOPLE'S VERDICT OF IRAQ OCCUPATION

2011-12-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

In this image from APTN video an Iraqi journalist throws his shoes at US President George W. Bush, while screaming “This is your farewell, you dog” during a news conference with Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2008, in Baghdad, Iraq.

It was just three years ago that Iraq journalist Muntadhar Al-Zaidi rightfully threw his shoes at George W Bush as a gesture of utter contempt for trying to justify an illegal attack and occupation of his country at the expense of millions of lives ~ and electrified the world in the process. There are no heads held high, as Obama claims, pursuant to our misadventure in Iraq but instead constant denial of the deep guilt and shame regarding the unnecessary, cruel and murderous havoc we have wrought on this sovereign country: Allen L Roland

FALLUJAH, Iraq ~ Hundreds of Iraqis set alight U.S. and Israeli flags on Wednesday as they celebrated the impending pullout of American forces from the country in the former insurgent bastion of Fallujah. Shouting slogans in support of the “resistance,” the demonstrators held up banners and placards inscribed with phrases like, “Now we are free” and “Fallujah is the flame of the resistance.”

In Iraq, they are rightfully considered freedom fighters against the American occupying force of 9 years as the Obama administration attempts to spin an obvious defeat of historic proportions into peace with honor ~ think Vietnam.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/12/14/hundreds-in-fallujah-burn-u-s-flag-to-celebrate-troops-pulling-out-of-iraq/

As an online commentator and columnist and in the spirit of Iraqi shoe thrower Muntadhar Al-Zaidi, I am throwing both my shoes today at President Barack Obama for continuing to rationalize the Bush/Cheney lie regarding our illegal attack and occupation of Iraq ~ and attempting to airbrush an obvious defeat of our imperialistic Neocon agenda in Iraq with words like “honor “ and “Sacrifice “.

Last Thursday in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Mr. Obama said the US military was leaving Iraq with "heads held high", and thanked military families for sharing in the troops' sacrifice. In essence, President Barack Obama used his speech to US troops to embrace the nine-year occupation of Iraq, that he had originally opposed and declared dumb, and to declare the blatant destruction of the country a “success. Nearly 1.5 million Americans served in Iraq, with 30,000 wounded and nearly 4,500 dead, Mr. Obama said, but "those numbers don't tell the whole story of Iraq".

So here’s the whole story, along with both of my shoes, Mr. Obama ~

1. Number Of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation Of Iraq 1,455,590

2. Number of U.S. Military Personnel Sacrificed (Officially acknowledged) In America's War On Iraq: 4,801 www.icasualties.org/oif/

3. Number of U.S. Military Personnel wounded in Iraq : 54,834

4. Number of Iraq war widows 750,000

5. Number of orphaned Iraqi children: One million

6. Number of Iraqis displaced from their country: 4.5 Million

7. Number of Iraqi prisoners in American jails in Iraq: 50,000

8. Number of war handicapped persons in Iraq : 60,000

9. Number of unemployed in Iraq : 30% +

10. Iraq is rated the fourth most-corrupt country in the world according to the watchdog group Transparency International.

See the Human Cost of Iraq : http://web.mit.edu/humancostiraq/

It is obvious that the illegal war and occupation of Iraq was intended to show the extent of America’s power (remember Shock and Awe) but instead it only succeeded in showing the limits of American Imperialism as well as its self defeating role as a hated global bully.

And now we have fresh evidence of U.S. Iraqi atrocities, revealed yesterday by the New York Times, in transcripts of military interviews from the investigation into the Haditha massacre of 2005 ~ which were found at a trailer in a junkyard in Baghdad, which specializes in selling trailers and office supplies left over from American military base closings. http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/308-12/8918-documents-reveal-us-massacre-in-haditha-iraq

Excerpt: "The documents ~ many marked secret ~ form part of the military's internal investigation, and confirm much of what happened at Haditha, a Euphrates River town where Marines killed 24 Iraqis, including a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair, women and children, some just toddlers."

A Iraqi Girl Tells of U.S. Attack in Haditha

2 minute Video: Ten-year-old Iman Walid witnessed the killing of seven members of her family in an attack by American marine in Haditha and exclaims “ I hate Americans”
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13452.htm

So who made money on the Iraq war and occupation?

A rhetorical question for which you already know the answer ~ the Military Industrial Complex and the military contractors (mercenaries) who made and are still making millions if not billions of dollars on this illegal war and occupation and they will most certainly remain in Iraq to protect their blood stained interests. They are the vultures who feed on the victims of our rapacious greed and imperialistic adventures ~ as well as financially line the pockets of our elected political leaders and President.

So, on the third anniversary of Muntadhar Al-Zaidi’s shoeing of George W Bush ~ which I consider the inspirational start of the worldwide Occupy Protest movement ~ let’s review with Paul Jay, senior editor of the Real News Network, the events of that day as experienced by Al-Zaidi himself in a 7 minute video interview from Beirut. Al-Zaidi fully explains why he did it and how “I expected to be killed the day I threw my shoes at Bush.”

TRNN Exclusive: The man that "shoed" Bush

http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5131

“Nothing is more powerful than individuals acting out of their own conscience.” Vaclav Havel~ ( who died today at 75 tears old )

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/shoeing-of-bush-was-peoples-verdict-of.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

NAT DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT CONFIRMS BATTLEFIELD USA

2011-12-12T12:20:00.003-08:00

Click on Photo to enlarge

With the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 (NDAA), America takes another giant step toward tyranny. It was the White House that wanted this bill applied to U.S. Citizens with minor modifications as America slides towards fascism as well as the Israelification of a militarized Police force: Allen L Roland

The Defense Authorization Act was passed by both the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.1540) and the U.S. Senate (S.1867), and now lacks only the signature of President Obama to become law. If he signs it, the corporate fascist takeover of America initially exposed and delayed by USMC General Smedley Butler in the 1930s will be complete. War is a racket ~ http://www.scuttlebuttsmallchow.com/racket.html

Larry Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, calls the National Defense Authorization Act a draconian violation of our civil rights. See seven minute video interview on Real News; http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=7688

Section 1031 of the NDAA as currently worded authorizes the President to use Military Force to detain indefinitely based on suspicion alone and without trial American citizens on American soil, effectively making the United States a Police State similar to Nazi Germany in the 1930’s and 40’s. You can read the wording here: http://tinyurl.com/c4w2wdh

This is in direct conflict with and an overt attempt to override the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments to the Constitution:

Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.

“ In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence."

See ratified amendments: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am4

While we continue our illegal wars, occupations and economic rape of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as justifing torture and curtailed freedoms as a means to this criminal end ~ I immediately think of Milton Mayer’s classic THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE (The Germans 1933 – 1945) ~ for German exceptionalism in the 1930’s was really not too different, in many ways, than American exceptionalism now and we are very likely headed for the same disastrous fate.

Pg. 166 / 167 THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE

But Then It Was Too Late ~ "What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it … this separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.”

Apathy increases with each measured step, as it most certainly has in America, and Mayer knowingly describes the consequences for Germany in the early 1930’s ~ when the burden of self deception becomes so heavy, as it is now, that suddenly you realize that your whole world has changed and you have accepted things (out of fear) that you would never have accepted before the War on Terror.

Pg 171 THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE FREE

“In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and, if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D ~ and one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying 'Jewish swine,' collapses it all at once, and you see that everything, everything, has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you live in ~ your nation, your people ~ are not the world you were born in at all. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way… You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined … Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven't done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing).” Read article ~ http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/New_World_Order/TheyThoughtTheyWereFree.html

And that is Mayer’s main point ~ it is the spirit that dramatically changes when we accept if not condone the disintegration of our national moral values and civil liberties through illegal wars and occupations as well as our crimes against humanity such as torture, secret renditions as well as intrusive full body scans and pat downs, which will continue to be extended under the pretext of national security and the so called War on Terror.

So here we are in 2011 and the next ominous step ~ the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1867) will officially confirm that America is a battlefield state ~ with the continued shredding of our constitution and Bill of Rights which started under the Cheney/Bush administration.

Make no mistake about it ~ NDAA confirms Battlefield USA as well as the Israelification of our militarized police force. Max Blumenthal, writing fellow of the Nation Institute, confirms this sad reality that American civilians will increasingly be treated as the terrorist enemy. The Posse Comitatus Act was meant to limit the powers of local governments and law enforcement agencies from using federal military personnel to enforce the laws of the land and poses this question;

How does our government get around that without an act of congress?

It's simple, turn the 'domestic' police force into an Israelified standing army ~

8 minute must see Video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/6080.html

Also note that this week, KBR (the security corporation which handles FEMA emergency camps) put out a call to staff their FEMA camps ~ and to be ready on a 72 hour notice. Here is the link to KBR security corporation needing to staff FEMA camps along with the 72 hour notice:
static.infowars.com/2011/12/i/general/kbr-doc.pdf

This web page identifies the 93 Senate Traitors who voted YEA for NDAA and the 7 Patriots who voted NEA against it, those being Senators Coburn (R-OK), Harkin (D-IA), Lee (R-UT), Merkley (D-OR), Paul (R-KY), Sanders (I-VT) and Wyden (D-OR) - 3 Democrats, 3 Republicans, 1 Independent: http://tinyurl.com/7v6zlq3

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) issued this warning regarding NDAA: "The bill is an historic threat to American citizens and others because it expands and makes permanent the authority of the president to order the military to imprison without charge or trial American citizens,' said Christopher Anders, ACLU senior legislative counsel. 'The final amendment to preserve current detention restrictions could turn out to be meaningless and Senators Levin and Graham made clear that they believe this power to use the military against American citizens will not be affected by the new language. This bill puts military detention authority on steroids and makes it permanent. If it becomes law, American citizens and others are at real risk of being locked away by the military without charge or trial."

http://tinyurl.com/d8vyg38

And Representative and Presidential candidate Ron Paul (who voted against the bill) correctly warns that its passage is the last nail in the coffin of an American Republic ~ that has mistakenly ruled that the sacrifice of civil liberty is essential for freedom. 5 minute must see Video ~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fG8rhNEuVJw

Once signed into law by President Barack Obama, this bill will officially make America a police state, wherein United States citizens can be arrested solely on suspicion of wrongdoing and held indefinitely without trial. Or as the Associated Press put it, the legislation would "deny suspected terrorists, even U.S. citizens seized within the nation's borders, the right to trial and subject them to indefinite detention."

“All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but that once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force.” George Orwell

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/nat-defense-authorization-act-confirms.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

U.S. FALLOUT FROM UNJUST WARS / INCREASED VETS SUICIDE RATE

2011-12-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

One U.S. veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan attempts suicide every 80 minutes, according to new study and 1,868 veterans made suicide attempts in 2009 alone. Taught to kill in a morally unjust occupation and pacified by drugs, many returning veterans rapidly find themselves in a no-choice situation where life is no longer worth living. As such, PTSD is the silent scream that is never heard but acutely experienced: Allen L Roland

“I cry for no reason, my country shouts treason

All the pills and the booze,

make bad memories ooze

I was 19 in June,

under a bright crystal moon

I died that day,

but I’m still here to say

For the brave and the free,

my award PTSD.”

Excerpt from poem titled “PTSD” by Tony McNally

How fitting on Pearl Harbor day, December 7^th ~ to write about America’s greatest shame ~ the rapidly increasing veterans suicide rate whereas one U.S. veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan attempts suicide every 80 minutes, according to a new study and where 1,868 veterans made suicide attempts in 2009 alone.

Is it possible that sending our young people off to fight in morally unjust wars and occupations to supposedly ‘serve’ their country has not adequately prepared them for the harsh reality of witnessing and participating in both the unintentional and intentional killing of innocent civilians ~ as well as the unsettling awareness that their cause was not a morally just cause?

The answer is an unequivocal YES and this shame based guilt is a common symptom among the scores of combat veterans I have worked with in my heart centered Healing the Wounded Heart workshops ~ which includes Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans. Combat vets with PTSD truly know the price they pay for the false dreams of their political leaders. See article ~ http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/11/14/combat-ptsd-vets-know-price-they-paid-for-a-false-dream/

Greg Zoroya also writes in USA Today that Feelings of Guilt may be a top factor in PTSD. http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-11-23/study-of-marines-ptsd/51386488/1

Excerpt: “A leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder is guilt that troops experience because of moral dilemmas faced in combat, according to preliminary findings of a study of active-duty Marines. The conflicts that service members feel may include "survivor's guilt," from living through an attack in which other service members died, and witnessing or participating in the unintentional killing of women or children, researchers involved in the study say… The idea of "moral injury" as a cause of PTSD is new to psychiatry. The American Psychiatric Association is only now considering new diagnostic criteria for the disorder that would include feelings of shame and guilt, says David Spiegel, a member of the working group rewriting the PTSD section.”

Zoroya confirms the depth of this ongoing moral injury ~ Half of all Iraq and Afghanistan veterans treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs have been diagnosed with mental health issues and the most common is PTSD, which is experienced by nearly 200,000 of these veterans, according to the VA. PTSD caused by moral injury can lead to more severe reactions such as family violence or even suicide, says Jonathan Shay, a psychiatrist who has worked on military mental health policies… their condition was more closely linked to an inner conflict rather than threats to their lives, the sight of bodies or blood or family problems, the study said.”

The words of Winter Soldier and combat vet Mike Prysner speak for many veterans ~ who feel betrayed by their government and know that the real enemy is our own bought politicians and Military/Industrial complex ~ that still use and teach racism to justify our illegal and morally repugnant wars and occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and eventually, if we don’t stop them, Iran.

Five minute Video ~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow38iOYXx5Q&feature=related

So now let’s talk about the moral shame and guilt of our military when they realize they are often the foot soldiers and pawns on a global chessboard ~ where they are willingly sacrificed by the whims of the kings and queens of the global financial elite as well as the Knights of the Military Industrial Complex.

Let’s use Pearl Harbor ( December 7,1941) as an example ~ On March 11, 2002, Douglas Cirignano interviewed Robert B. Stinnett , author of Day Of Deceit , in an extensive interview which asked the question Do Freedom of Information Act Files Prove FDR Had Foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor?

Excerpt: “Stinnett’s book is dedicated to Congressman John Moss, the author of America’s Freedom of Information Act. According to Stinnett, the answers to the mysteries of Pearl Harbor can be found in the extraordinary number of documents he was able to attain through Freedom of Information Act requests. Cable after cable of decryptions, scores of military messages that America was intercepting, clearly showed that Japanese ships were preparing for war and heading straight for Hawaii. Stinnett, an author, journalist, and World War II veteran, spent sixteen years delving into the National Archives. He pored over more than 200,000 documents, and conducted dozens of interviews. This meticulous research led Stinnett to a firmly held conclusion: FDR knew.”

According to Day Of Deceit ~ “In October 1940 FDR adopted a specific strategy to incite Japan to commit an overt act of war. Part of the strategy was to move America’s Pacific fleet out of California and anchor it in Pearl Harbor. Admiral James Richardson, the commander of the Pacific fleet, strongly opposed keeping the ships in harm’s way in Hawaii. He expressed this to Roosevelt, and so the President relieved him of his command. Later Richardson quoted Roosevelt as saying: “Sooner or later the Japanese will commit an overt act against the United States and the nation will be willing to enter the war… To those who believe that government conspiracies can’t possibly happen, Day Of Deceit could prove to them otherwise. Stinnett’s well-documented book makes a convincing case that the highest officials of the government ~ including the highest official( the President) ~ fooled and deceived millions of Americans about one of the most important days in the history of the country.” Must See full interview ~ http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=408

To those who believe that government conspiracies can’t possibly happen, Day Of Deceit should prove to them otherwise ~ and remember, approximately 3000 Americans died at Pearl Harbor in what was essentially a bait and cover operation (we knew the attack was coming) which was set up and condoned by our highest officials (including the President) in order to justify a war with Japan and eventually our entry into World War 2.

Human Cost: 405,000 American deaths and well over a million civilian deaths ~ including Hiroshima and Nagasaki .

Now fast forward 20 years to December 11, 1961 and remember the approximately 500,000 Vietnamese civilian deaths who died in Vietnam ~ and what was essentially a false flag operation ( Bay of Tonkin) which was set up and condoned by our highest officials (including the president) in order to justify an illegal war and occupation.

Human Cost: 58,000 American deaths and 1.3 million civilian casualties.

Now fast forward another 40 years to September 11, 2001 and remember the approximately 3000 Americans who died in what was essentially a false flag operation which was set up and condoned by our highest officials (including the President and Vice President) in order to justify a war and occupation of both Afghanistan and Iraq as well as an economically debilitating War on Terror.

Human cost: 7000 American deaths and at least a million civilians slaughtered.

Now fast forward another 10 years to December 7, 2011 and hear the war drums beating again as we covertly adopt a specific strategy (in conjunction with Mossad) to incite Iran to commit an overt act of war ~ and thus justify a military attack and perhaps World War 3.

Human cost: Immeasurable

Now think of the Veterans of Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan who sacrificed their lives for these unjust wars and occupations and you begin to understand the moral dimensions of our combat veterans, both in the field and when they return home, and how the hardest person for them to forgive is quite often themselves ~ which accounts for their rising suicide rate as well as America’s greatest shame.

Our morally wounded veterans and rising suicide rate is the canary in the mineshaft warning America of the true human moral and economic cost for our continuing imperialistic agenda and unjust wars ~ and all for the benefit of an out of control military Industrial complex and the global financial elite.

“We are stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death.... The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than living." General Omar Bradley

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/us-fallout-from-unjust-wars-increased.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

ARAB SPRING MOVES FROM STREETS TO BALLOT BOX / OWS TAKE NOTE

2011-12-03T10:48:00.001-08:00

The Arab spring has become a fall parliamentary election and yet another step toward a true Egyptian Democracy. There are still stumbling blocks ahead but they will most likely be turned into stepping stones by an empowered people who are more than willing to take to the streets in demanding true change ~ Occupy Wall Street take note: Allen L Roland

The Occupy Movement started in Egypt last spring but that wave of revolt has now become a tsunami of occupy movements throughout the world ~ for each success of the people asserting their power against the military or financial elite inspires countless others to flex their muscles and take action.

Nothing can stop this global revolution for it is already too big to fail and most certainly too strong to cave under the military repression of any country or state. The people have tasted the water of freedom but it has not quenched their thirst ~ they want to drink directly from that well. And their excitement is palpable as witnessed by the extraordinary high turnout ~ 2 minute Video http://www.aol.com/video/high-voter-turnout-for-egyptian-elections/517216628/

Egypt is, once again, showing the way with the commencement of their parliamentary election this week. Russia Today (RT) interviewed me yesterday on the significance of these elections. Here, in essence, are their questions and my answers;

(RT) Early results indicate that the Muslim Brotherhood and ultra-conservative Salafists are leading the polls. Are we seeing Egypt turning into an Islamic republic with Sharia law instead of a western-style democracy?

Answer: It’s much too early to tell. Only 9 of Egypt’s 27 provinces have voted and that total only represents 30% of the seats. It was expected that Egypt’s most powerful fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, would make the strongest showing in what is the first parliament elections since the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

(RT) A record turnout in the elections... But how much power and influence will the Parliament actually have, or will the military still pull the strings, as some fear? After all Egypt’s ruling military have said the newly elected parliament would not have the authority to dismiss the Prime Minister who they appointed or his government ~ so who exactly is in power?

Answer: This is an important first step for millions of Egyptians to make a difference and change the system. There will be on turning back until they achieve their goals and this open and fair election is the second step. The first step was taking to the streets and demanding the removal of Mubarak and this election. The next step will be demanding real authority for the freely elected Parliament. With each step, they increase their power and numbers and the military will have to acquiesce or face an even greater people revolt in Tahrir square.

(RT) So if the muslim Brotherhood does secure power in Egypt~ how does this affect Cairo’s relations with its neighbors and Western countries?

Answer: The trends indicate that Egypt’s most powerful fundamentalist group, the Muslim Brotherhood, will make the strongest showing in the first parliament elections since the fall of Mubarak ~ perhaps 30 to 40% of the vote. Remember, that this initial vote, which takes place in three two day stages, only covers nine of Egypt’s 27 provinces ~ which in turn determines only 30% of the seats. The reality is that the Muslim Brotherhood will have a seat at the political table but will have to work with other factions within the Parliamentary system. The West is going to have to accept a dramatically changing political situation in Egypt for their leverage and control has weakened considerably ~ for on the streets, the West is still viewed with well deserved suspicion.

(RT) What does Egypt’s election mean for other countries caught up in the Arab Spring ?

Answer: Egypt is an inspiration for countries across the world to realize that change and democracy is possible ~ but only if you take to the streets and put your life on the line in order to claim it. Think American Revolution which went rapidly from an idea of freedom to open rebellion and finally to a war against oppression and eventually independence. It was a long and grueling process but it was worth it.

The Arab spring which started in Egypt has finally reached the Ballot Boxes and each stepping stone to freedom and independence should be celebrated but there are many steps left in this process ~ which includes the Military (and the West) willingly letting go of their influence and control.

Tony Karon, Time, says it best ~ “2011 will be remembered as the year the middle East, as a region, declared its independence from U.S. influence”

Egypt also remains an inspiration to the OWS movement who must soon take our rebellion against political deception and financial oppression to the ballot box in the form of constitutional amendments or independent candidates who are deeply committed to our constitution and change WE, the people, can all finally believe in.

What if it is better to perish fighting for freedom than to live as a slave? What if freedom’s greatest hour of danger is right now?

5 minute must see Video: http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/5863.html

It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds: Samuel Adams

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/arab-spring-moves-from-streets-to.html

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )