The truth at any cost lowers all other costs — curated by former US spy Robert David Steele.
William C. Triplett II
Monday, November 2, 2009
On Oct. 21, the incoming commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, Adm. Robert F. Willard, made a little-noticed but astonishing accusation to reporters in Seoul:
“I would contend that in the past decade or so, China has exceeded most of our intelligence estimates of their military capability and capacity every year. They've grown at an unprecedented rate in those capabilities.”
Remainder of story no longer easily found online:
Dr. Ron Paul calls Obama's H1N1 swine flu program a ‘total failure'
Rep. Ron Paul, the 11-term Republican congressman from Texas who mobilized millions of supporters and about $35 million for his unsuccessful presidential run last year, has added the federal government's faltering flu immunization program to his list of things worthy of denunciation.
A medical doctor himself, Paul, who at 74 is older even than John McCain, sees the Obama administration's oft-delayed H1N1 swine flu immunization plan as typical of many government-run programs — poorly planned, overloaded, inefficient, too expensive, late and quite possibly not even necessary.
Just another government grab for more federal power, as he puts it in a video….
Continue reading “Journal: Ron Paul as Truth-Teller & Weak Signal”
Paul Kawika Martin, Political and Policy Director for Peace Action, said:
I think the question should be: How much U.S. credit should we use on the war in Afghanistan? As it stands, the over $230 Billion we have already spent has mostly been borrowed money adding to the U.S. deficit. Of course, just like buying a car or home, sometimes it's good to do things on credit. But this isn't the true cost. As Noble Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Harvard professor Linda Bilmes points out, that figure fails to include interest on debt, veterans benefits and other costs to society. They estimate the costs for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could top a staggering $5 trillion to $7 trillion.
Phi Beta Iota: Other “pundits” can be read within the full story. The cost is far more than the “tangible debt.” It includes the hollowing out of America–the loss of integrity, the failure of paradigms, the cheating culture, and on and on and on. We have in essence sacrified the Republic in the name of partisan politics and corporate greed, enabled by civitas minimus. America is less safe and less prosperous today than it was on 9/12.
Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation ‘Gutted,’ Paul Says
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) –By Bob Ivry
Representative Ron Paul, the Texas Republican who has called for an end to the Federal Reserve, said legislation he introduced to audit monetary policy has been “gutted” while moving toward a possible vote in the Democratic-controlled House.
The bill, with 308 co-sponsors, has been stripped of provisions that would remove Fed exemptions from audits of transactions with foreign central banks, monetary policy deliberations, transactions made under the direction of the Federal Open Market Committee and communications between the Board, the reserve banks and staff, Paul said today.
‘Jobs Created or Saved’ Is White House Fantasy: Caroline Baum
Commentary by Caroline Baum Oct. 28 (Bloomberg)
Heresy, thy name is Christina Romer.
Last week, the chairman of President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers — a position that carried the title “chief economist” until Larry Summers took up residence in the White House — testified to the Joint Economic Committee on the economic crisis and the efficacy of the policy response.
Here’s the executive summary in case you missed it:
Continue reading “Journal: Economic Fantasy and Economic Reality”
Foreign Service Office & Former Marine Resigns
Full Explanation Letter Available Online
This officer's letter is both extraordinary and common–it is extraordinary in its demonstration of integrity and common sense, and common in that we all feel this way less a few craven individuals so enamoured of power they have forgotten where they left their integrity.
Ralph Peters
October 28, 2009
AFGHANISTAN isn't com pletely hopeless, just use less. It's a strategic joke with a bloody punch line. Even if everything went perfectly in Afghanistan — which it won't — the results would be virtually meaningless: Our mortal enemies (above all, al Qaeda) have dug in elsewhere, from Pakistan to Somalia. … From line doggies up to bird colonels (and even a few junior generals), there's a powerful sense that we're throwing away soldiers' lives for theories that just don't work. We enforce rules of engagement that kill our own troops to avoid alienating villagers who actively support the Taliban and celebrate our deaths. …
Iraq made sense to me. The stakes there were (and are) enormous. But Afghanistan's a strategic vacuum that sucks in resources and lives to no sensible purpose. By propping up President Karzai's government of thieves and attempting to force our vision on Afghanistan we've rescued a defeated Taliban from oblivion. So much for COIN theory.
Killing our nation's enemies always makes sense. Sacrificing our troops for the Pentagon's equivalent of Beanie Babies is despicable. Won't a single four-star general stand up and be counted?
