Jerusalem

I am not sure why Jerusalem is considered the hub of spirituality. The Bible? Any competent historian can attest to the fact that the Bible is nit historically accurate, Not even close. Christian texts and the Koran, being based around the Old Testament are equally unreliable, and that is being kind. All are based around the idea a that the Creator likes either the Jews, the Moslems, or the Christians best. This is a childish mentality and it should have died out years ago
But humans remain childish and, as a result of Trump's insistence on moving our embassy to what was a backwater town until David settled his little Kingdom there, people are being killed and injured at a frantic rate. I have praised the President over many of his actions, but this was a bad move.
The people of the Gaza strip live in nightmarish conditions, vastly overcrowded, impoverished, and with no hope of improvement. If you are sitting near an open gas can, you don't start tossing lit matches at it, yet that is what Trump has done.
The USA gains nothing by this. Trust me, all this talk of Israel is just talk. When push comes to shove, they will always play both sides against the middle to get what they want. History, if you are not too lazy or stuck in your World view to do some research, bears this out. No, I am definitely not anti Semitic. May I remind everyone that the people of Gaza are Semites. Nor am I anti Jewish. I really could not care any less about such nonsense. Religion and ethnicity mean nothing to me.
I do care about peace and progress.. Touching off further hostilities in the Mid East contributes to neither.

What is being Hidden?

Something odd is happening. I have no idea what, but some odd thing is being hidden.
The news is weird. Nothing of import comes out. Just the same old thing, day after day, but there is an incredible tension in the air. Trump's legal woes, possible peace in Korea, the start of the mid-term elections are all issues, bit the fact that they are all that is talked about on the news is a sign that something else is afoot. The way that these issues are pushed and the entire rest of the World pushed aside means that something big is being buried.
Add to that the now steady stream of multiple shootings.  Here in N. Georgia we wake up each morning to tales of folks rinning amoj and shooting up homes, bars and the streets and I am given to understand that this is going in all over the Nation. The economy gas picked up, but still, people are working multiple jobs to get by and, face it, prices are rising.
The big news today is the we have moved our embassy is Israel to Jerusaem. Why do I care? This does not affect my life one iota. I am neither for or against it, but it is being hailed as the greatest diplomatic triumph since  the end of WW2..
Stage magicians perform their craft by misdirecting your attention. That is what is happening now.
So, what is happening? One of 2 things. The impending blow up of Kilauea is one possibility. It, now that it is more than just pretty streams of red rock flowing, is a possible alert to the fact that the Earth's crust is now very unsteady. Major earthquake and volcanic activity are not something anyone is ready to deal with and I am sure that Government agencies have some clue about  what is happening. But, they are conspicuously silent.
Another contender is the constant Mid-East problem. The populations of both Iran and Saudi Arabia are about fed up with their rulers and thise 2 significant powers are fighting proci wars in Syria and Yemen and, like idiots, the USA and Rissia gave taken sides and, of course, Israel is using all of this as an excuse to start lobbing missiles into Iran's bases in Syria. The whole region is set to blow and no one will win, Still, we hear little detail about this. Oh, we hear of minor victories and heart warming tales of heroism. but little of what is really going on
Other possibilities? Sure. We here few detailed reports about the wide spread and deplorable human trafficking problem. Fentanyl is being distributed in vast quantities and placed in a variety of goods, causing death to many who would not think if touching any drug. How about the ties of the NXIVM cult to those financing and participating in the highest level if politics and business in thus Nation. Don't hear news about any of that.
Folks, we are being played by the media and their puppet masters. Something huge is about to hit the fan. Be ready to duck.

America - Watch the Pea

I imagine most folks have seen the shell game. You know, the one where the con man put a pea under a walnut shell, flanked by 2 empty shells, shuffles them around and the poor idiot who bet with him has to pick the one with the pea under it. The con man always wins. Americans are being conned.

We are being urged to be concerned about wiretapping. Look, everyone spies on everyone. Every nation with any sort of power tries to influence other nations and everyone in any country's political system spies on every other politician. That is just the way things are and no amount of investigating is going to change a bit of it.

We are told that we should be vitally concerned about the Supreme Court Nominee's hearing. Why? It's a done deal. When Trump was elected, he got to make his pick and while you may not be happy about it, that is the way Government works, The Nominee is qualified and, thanks to he Democrat's own parliamentary manipulations, the work of Harry Reid, they cannot even filibuster the matter. Truth be told, with the exception of abortion rights and, maybe gay rights, their is little that the appointment is likely to change. Even in those cases, the issues will likely go back to the States, where they always belonged, and if you are not happy with your State, you have the right to move.

What is being hidden? Two things. First, real climate change. I do not believe humans are destroying the environment with fossil fuels, but we have done plenty of damage by dumping toxic wastes in an indiscriminant manner and by attempting to hide nuclear waste in old mines instead of spending the money to learn how to recycle fuel rods. I might also add our seeming obsession with growing useless grass by wasting vast amounts of good water. But. all that aside, the climate is changing, likely due to natural cycles of change. Geologist know that the climate just sometimes changes, radically and we are at one of those times. No need to panic, we can adapt, but not if we don't get busy. We don't get busy because a great deal if the problem is happening around coastal areas and there is no good solution except moving people out. But, they are important business and resort areas, so we don't want to do that. Atlantic City, NJ and Miami Beach, Fl are subjected to regular flooding these days, but we don't want to deal with it.

The other issue being hidden is the fact that the World has seemingly gone quite insane. Russia is now saying that, if confronted by a threatening conventional army, it would consider using nukes to 'de-escalate' the crisis. This would be like putting a fox in a henhouse to de-escalate a squabble between 2 chickens and it is madness. But, there is more. Israel is now flying bombing raids and lobbing missiles in Syria. The pretext is to prevent arms shipments to Lebanon; the reality is to put pressure on Iran to stay out of Syria, Iran is going to do no such thing, so the tension will rise. Add to this China's reluctance to rein in the fat Korean kid (or maybe they just can't do it) and war of some sort is becoming a real possibility. US officials don't want you thinking about this because they would have to admit that they cannot do much about any of this. Contrary to what we have been taught, we do not rule the World.

So don't sweat all of these Senate investigations. Don't get yourself in an uproar over the Health Care bill (yeah, it's bad deal. Don't fret, it won't pass). Relax, enjoy your time while you can because it is going to get rough soon.

America - Look at What's Happening

This weekend we are going to have the Super Bowl. We have been hit with controversy and protests over the immigration issue and Democrats are threatening all sorts of things they cannot do to stop Trump's SCOTUS appointment. Do not pay any attention to a bit of that. Ignore demonstrations in Berkley. Give not 15 seconds thought to possible LGBT discrimination or religious freedom rants.

Fascinating issues, one and all, but side shows. Watch Russia, Iran, Israel, China and Korea if you want to see the future. We are entering a war time era. Will we see true warfare any time soon? Maybe, but even if we do not, there will be incredible tension. When? Good question. Ten minutes from now is a distinct possibility. Within 10 years is almost a sure bet. However, there is a way out, for the USA. The folks running this Administration, and how much that includes Trump I don't know and really don't care (Trump may be part of the side show), are smart and competent. Russia is playing odd games, but we can deal with them, carefully. China is desperate. They cannot grow enough food and with increasing efficiency in American industries, we really do not need them to turn out cheap goods. S. Korea is a corrupt mess and N. Korea seemingly has a suicide wish because they keep stirring the hornet's nest, even though they cannot possibly get their way. Iran and Israel will, one day, finally blow up and Iran will be no more.

But, what do we do? We seem to be moving on 2 fronts. One, fear. We are scaring the crap out of other nations while getting ready to rebuild and modernize our already awesome military. Second, withdrawal. We are closing borders, ousting illegals and making it clear that all future economic deals will favor us. Corporations are coming home and seem to understand that in the current world atmosphere, home is the safest place to be. They even seem willing to boost the sagging lifestyle of the average American, maybe because of altruism but, certainly because they know a somewhat prosperous middle class (which has been decimated by previous Administrations) is not going to be given to upsetting the apple cart.

So, again, if all goes well, things will be okay, maybe even good. But that will only happen after a very rocky period.

America and The Powers That Be, Other Players

As you look about at information about those trying to rule the World, some bit players show up. These folks really play minor roles but, some would have you believe that they were stars of the show. Some are important. Some have their positions very distorted.

Organized crime, especially drug dealers are big time players, as are arms dealers. They show up everywhere, interacting with various organizations but, they are merely small time thugs being used by the truly powerful.

The various militaries get mentioned. Again, important, powerful, but the days of militaries taking over governments are over, except in some 3rd World Nations ( I hate that term, but it is handy). In any advanced country, if the military takes over, it will be at the behest of more powerful folks. The armies are just minions of the powerful elite.

That goes double for intelligence agencies. Here and there, I see the CIA painted as demons spawned in Hell. They are not. The CIA, like any other organization, is not monolithic. There are factions. Some have been almost leftist, some very much fascist, and most, in the middle just doing their jobs. There have been power struggles, back stabbing, and hostile takeovers. There certainly have been rogue elements who perpetrated atrocities, both in foreign lands and in our own, but they were just that, rogues, operating outside of the agencies main focus. True, some of these rogues were high ranking, powerful men, but they did not represent the whole agency. And guess what? In the long term scheme of things, they were simply lackeys, doing the bidding of their masters. By the way, all of these things can be said about our other agencies such as the FBI and the DEA and I bet they would also apply in any discussion of the KGB.

There is another group often singled out by those trying to figure out just who runs things, Jews. Let me say, loudly and clearly, there is no Worldwide Jewish Conspiracy to take over the World. None. This nonsense has gone on long enough. Are there wealthy, powerful Jews? Of course, just as there are wealthy and powerful Hindus and Mormons and Baptists. That means nothings. Are the Rothschild's powerful? Absolutely, but so are the Rockefellers and the Royal Family of England. And guess what, there are a whole lot of poor Jews. I know, because I have been friends with quite a few. Well, what of Zionism and Mossad? Mossad, like every other Intelligence Agency, like any other group of people, has good and bad and has done no more evil than any other group operating on the fringes of social structures. As far as Zionism is concerned, they wanted the creation of a Jewish state, Israel.  Since that's a long done deal, Zionism is kind of silly to bring up at this point, yet some continue that idiocy. Israel exists so, get over it.

Nope, the big players are the ones mentioned in the previous posts: the Vatican, fascists, mega Banks and mega Corporations, with a smattering of the old aristocracy and the remnants of Fabian Socialism (aka Progressives, just think Hillary and Barak). How these interact in America will be the next topic then I'll wrap things up with a few, surprisingly optimistic forecasts. Well, optimistic in an odd sort of way.

Is Paris Burning? Part 2

Before I continue with history, I must comment on the Presidential news conference I just saw. The definition of insanity, someone once said, is to continue doing the same thing and expect different results. Yet, that is Obama's plan. I will return to this lunacy later.

After WW2, Israel was created out of Palestine and the seeds of our current series of disasters were sown. To keep things brief, just know that wars were fought with their neighbors and refugees flooded Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. The Palestinians who did not leave were finally shoved into tiny areas and Israel has been squeezing them tighter and tighter ever since. The Palestinians live in a desperate, near hopeless situation and do what most any of us would do, they fight. There have been countless uprisings, each doomed before it started. This did, however prompt the formation of the PLO, and thus began the rise of terrorist organizations. The PLO has since given way to Hezbollah and the madness continues.

After continuous squabbling, Israel and Egypt reached an understanding and very quickly the 2 leaders who signed the treaty were shot. The Palestinians in Lebanon kept attacking Israel and, while unsuccessful, did manage to form a party, Hamas, which took  over the Lebanese government in reasonably free elections and The US has been upset about that ever since.

We have been upset before. At one time, Iran was led by a monster, the Shah. He was deposed and, again in fair elections, Iran chose a leader,  Mosaddegh. He demanded better pay from England for Iranian oil and when told no, nationalized their oil. This did not sit well with the US or Britain, so we called him a Communist and British intelligence, with the CIA, organized a coup, ousted him and put back the Shah. We didn't count on the stubbornness of the Iranians however and they again ousted the Shah and brought in the Ayatollah Khomeini, threw all Westerners out and have been a mortal enemy ever since.

We did get our way in Iraq, a state created when we broke up the Ottoman state after WW!. After a series of useless monarchs, we got our boy, Sadam Hussein, in power, and he did his job. He went to war with Iran. He didn't win, nor did he lose. The war just sort of petered out, but not before he used the chemical weapons we gave him on the Iranians killing 1000s. Just for good measure, he used them on some of his own people, the troublesome Kurds. By the way, we have admitted we gave these weapons to him, a violation of several International treaties, not to mention all standards of human decency.

As to the rest of the Middle East, things sort of drifted along. Jordan tried to be neutral, Syria's own monster, Assad, played both sides. Saudi Arabia , whose leaders had at least had sense enough to keep control of their own oil, grew rich and fat, and in support of their radically conservative Wahabbist beliefs, poured fortunes into various terrorist groups.

Of course, Libya had as its leader, one of the world's true lunatics, Moammar Gadhafi, who also supported terrorism. Yemen was little known and under the thumb of, yes, another brutal dictator. Qatar was of no importance, neither was Morocco and Algeria ( they seemingly had used all of their energy throwing the French out). The UAE, like Saudi Arabia, grew rich on oil and stayed quiet. Yes, they too have a brutally repressive regime. However, they do build awesome resorts. There has always been a Moslem presence in Africa and, slowly, it gained more and more power.

Further East, we have Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan, since it was created as a place for Moslems to go when India gained independence from India, has spent most of its existence quarreling with the Hindus and oppressing its own people. In this case, that oppression may have been a good idea because their people are very hostile tribesmen who just love fighting, as do their brothers in Afghanistan. This is understandable since there isn't much to do in either country. They are so strictly Islamic that they are forbidden almost anything created after the Stone Age. Those lands are barren stretches of rock, mountains and sand and are worthless, unless you are a goat herder. Well, actually not worthless. Afghanistan, at one time, produced some very fine hashish. I have no idea if they still do that, but they definitely have one other domestic product, opium, and this, we will see in the next installment, is one of the keys to the present problems.

Thus you have a thumbnail sketch of the events leading up to our current environment of terror. Next stop, 9/11 and after.