Professor: American Revolution Might be Impossible to Stop–“Reform” of Rot Is a Non-Starter…

Corruption, Offbeat Fun

Following a week of political unrest, capped off by Friday’s organized pro-democracy uprising across the USA, President Barack Obama dismissed his Cabinet on Saturday and stepped before television cameras calling for an end to the protests.

But he stopped short of resigning—as his people were demanding. They blame him for poverty, unemployment, widespread corruption and police brutality including over a dozen internment camps for “disobedient citizens”  carried over from his predecessor's “homeland security” program.

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On Saturday, protestors throughout the world including outside the United Nations in New York were also calling for Obama's resignation. By day’s end, dozens of protestors had been killed and dozens more injured. Then the military stepped in closing roads and sending F-16 fighter jets over downtown Washington.  Ron Paul, while refusing to talk to Ralph Nader or Cynthia McKinney or anyone else, asked the crowd to remain non-violent but persistent.

“My impression is that a revolutionary process has begun that might be impossible to stop—so I believe that the 30-year two-party tyranny has outlived its pretensions,” said Dr. Alfred Gerteiny of Westport, a retired professor of American studies and author of The Terrorist Conjunction (Praeger Security International). “It took the uprising in Tunisia and Egypt to lead me to posit that a domino effect will probably ensue, involving America as well.”

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In related news, a US inquiry on Thursday found that the 2008 financial crisis could have been prevented and that many of the conditions that led to Wall Street's near collapse have yet to be addressed. The findings could also lead to some people in the financial world facing criminal charges for the failures that led to the turmoil. The 10-member Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, created in May 2009 by…read more

Extract:  ‘Our financial system is, in many respects, still unchanged from what existed on the eve of the crisis,' the report said. ‘Indeed, in the wake of the crisis, the US financial sector is now more concentrated than ever in the hands of a few large, systemically significant institutions.'  While much of its findings have already been well documented by others, the panel painted a gloomy picture of questionable ethics, irresponsibility and incompetence by Wall Street bankers who dabbled in the US housing market using complex financial products that few of them could understand.

See Also:

Preconditions of Revolution in the USA Today

Gov. Jerry Brown Compares California to Egypt in State of the State Address

Monthly CrisisWatch Report N°90, 1 February 2011

01 Poverty, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Immigration, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, 10 Security, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, CrisisWatch reports, Government, Law Enforcement, Military

CrisisWatch N°90, 1 February 2011

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Historic events in the Arab world gripped the world's attention in January. In Tunisia weeks of escalating riots and demonstrations over dire economic conditions, corruption and government repression culminated in the ouster of President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali on 14 January. He was replaced by an interim government which announced the country's first free elections since independence.

Download the full issue of CrisisWatch N°90

The direction of Tunisia's transition, and its significance for the region, are not yet clear. But, assuming a successful transition, this could mark the first genuine popular revolt leading to a democratic government in the Arab world.

Inspired by the Tunisian uprising yet fuelled by their own long-standing grievances, hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Egypt towards the end of the month, protesting against authoritarian rule and poor living standards, and calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down. Over 135 people were killed and more than 2,000 injured during the initial police response. The army was deployed at the end of the month to curb increasing chaos and looting, but vowed not to use force against the protesters.

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Alleged Egyptian Activist Plan

Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Peace Intelligence
Marcus Aurelius Recommends

Seemingly somewhat similar approach to “monkeywrenching” ecotage (sabotage) of Earth Liberation Front originating in American Southwest…..not sure The Atlantic has done its homework–apart from the naivete of thinking that this would remain “controlled” it reads like a CIA-version of a faux activist plan.

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Egyptian Activists' Action Plan: Translated

The Atlantic,Jan 27 2011, 7:40 PM ET

Egypt protest leaflets distributed in Cairo give blueprint for mass action

Anonymous flyers provide practical and tactical advice for confronting riot police, and besieging government offices

Phi Beta Iota: Agree with Marcus Aurelius.  A simpler plan is “be on the street, be respectful and non-violent at all times, be patient.”  This is a word of mouth revolution, 26 pages is suspect and we have to wait to see the entire product as well as verification that this has gone anywhere other than The Atlantic.  This is the kind of thing CIA would do (violate the law, feed this to The Atlantic) to try to get on the boards “virtually.”  Fairly stupid to want to occupy buildings, the key is public presence, non-violent, nothing more.  V-sign?  Is this a 1960's annuitant on modern drugs?  We wait with bated breath to learn who is actually behind what the UK Guardian calls “the slickly produced 26-page document.”

FBI Intelligence Violations from 2001 – 2008

09 Justice, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Government, Law Enforcement, Open Government, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy
EFF report source in full

Executive Summary

In a review of nearly 2,500 pages of documents released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a result of litigation under the Freedom of Information Act, EFF uncovered alarming trends in the Bureau’s intelligence investigation practices. The documents consist of reports made by the FBI to the Intelligence Oversight Board of violations committed during intelligence investigations from 2001 to 2008. The documents suggest that FBI intelligence investigations have compromised the civil liberties of American citizens far more frequently, and to a greater extent, than was previously assumed. In particular, EFF’s analysis provides new insight into:

Number of Violations Committed by the FBI

  • From 2001 to 2008, the FBI reported to the IOB approximately 800 violations of laws, Executive Orders, or other regulations governing intelligence investigations, although this number likely significantly under-represents the number of violations that actually occurred.
  • From 2001 to 2008, the FBI investigated, at minimum, 7000 potential violations of laws, Executive Orders, or other regulations governing intelligence investigations.
  • Based on the proportion of violations reported to the IOB and the FBI’s own statements regarding the number of NSL violations that occurred, the actual number of violations that may have occurred from 2001 to 2008 could approach 40,000 possible violations of law, Executive Order, or other regulations governing intelligence investigations.1

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Americans Admire Military Personnel While Being Unaware & Uninterested in What They Do “In Our Name”

02 Diplomacy, 04 Education, 04 Inter-State Conflict, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Security, Civil Society, Corruption, Ethics, Government, Media, Military, Policy, Waste (materials, food, etc)

Troops Die Because of Their Country, Not For It

US admiration for its soldiers may be deep and widespread, but interest in what they are doing is shallow and fleeting

article

by Gary Younge
Published on Monday, January 31, 2011 by The Guardian

Most of the stories told about Benjamin Moore, 23, at his funeral started in a bar and ended in a laugh. Invited to testify about his life from the pews, friend, relative, colleague and neighbour alike described a boisterous, gregarious, energetic young man they'd known in the small New Jersey town of Bordentown since he was born. “I'll love him 'til I go,” his granny said. “If I could go today and bring him back, I would.”

Grown men choked on their memories, under the gaze of swollen, reddened eyes, as they remembered a “snot-nosed kid” and a fidget who'd become a volunteer firefighter before enlisting in the military. Shortly before Benjamin left for Afghanistan, he sent a message to his cousin that began: “I'm about to go into another country where they hate me for everything I stand for.” Now he was back in a flag-draped box, killed by roadside bomb with two other soldiers in Ghazni province.

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Highlights on the Democracy Front

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Officers Call
Tom Atlee

Dear friends,

There is need for bright news on the democracy front — and, luckily, there is some.  (I'm also working to create some in the background, but I've got nothing to announce yet.  Cross your fingers.)  So I thought I'd share a bit of it the good stuff I've seen.

The first article is an announcement that the Vermont legislature is planning to become the first state to ban corporate personhood statewide.  This is a move in the right direction to balance social power — a topic specifically addressed by the most popular article on the Co-Intelligence Institute website, “Democracy: A Social Power Analysis“, written by my father, John Atlee.  (Perhaps you'll get a sense of how my upbringing influenced my choice of career when you read it.)

Vermont Is Gearing Up to Strike a Major Blow to Corporate Personhood, Ban It Statewide

AlterNet by Christopher KetchamJanuary 22, 2011

The second article below is an interview with Frances Moore Lappé, one of my early mentors (see “Living Democracy“) exploring themes in her new book GET A GRIP 2.  She invites us to both work wholeheartedly on the issues that concern us AND to work on changing the systems (such as money's influence in politics) that create the problems we are trying to solve.

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BLOWBACK, Legitimate Grievances, & Integrity Lost

08 Wild Cards, Collaboration Zones, Communities of Practice, Corruption, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Officers Call, Policies, Real Time, Threats

Phi Beta Iota: The announcement of the Egyptian Army that it recognizes the “legitimate grievances” of the public and that it will not use force is in fact a recognition of both the substance of the public grievances, and the fact that force would backfire–there are not enough guns on the planet to repress the public, that cat is out of the bag forever.  Morality is a priceless strategic asset–individual integrity is a priceless enabler of a government's legitimacy.  From Hawaii to Vermont, the USA is facing domestic demands for secession that reflect the lack of legitimacy of the financial crime families that “own” the two-party system to the detriment of the public interest.  It's time to get right with God and our own Humanity.  There is much that is right with America–none of it to be found on Wall Street or in Washington, D.C.

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In Sorrows of Empire, Johnson discusses the roots of American militarism, the rise and extent of the military-industrial complex, and the close ties between arms industry executives and high-level politicians. He also looks closely at how the military has extended the boundaries of what constitutes national security in order to centralize intelligence agencies under their control and how statesmen have been replaced by career soldiers on the front lines of foreign policy–a shift that naturally increases the frequency with which we go to war.

Three More Covers & See Also Below the Line…

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