Netanyahu Returns To Washington A La Boehner

I don't know how to express my undying fury with +John Boehner and Benjamin Netanyahu in terms of a beginning. I'll just say this as I see it. Today is a sad day for everyone who worships within the Jewish faith. Netanyahu's constant sabre rattling is going to start WW III (I remember mentioning this in an earlier post) and it's becoming more apparent that he's itching to start it. I know the reason, it's to distract the world away from the crumbling peace process and from continued calls for the genocide of the Palestinians.

In terms of Boehner, that's also simple. It's to get another +GOP President in +The White House and to instill the permanent reign of the far-right wing. And we thought George W. Bush would be the last of these ultra-radicalized, war-mongering conservatives. Nope, not even close. This next crop of Republican Presidential candidates will be even more reactionary than Bush, Jr. ever was. They will make him seem left-wing/center-left and/or centrist in comparison.

Additionally, there's a second reason, which is to undermine +Barack Obama's authority as President of the United States. If anything, it's Boehner's means of throwing a tantrum since Obama's not caving, at all. For Boehner, this would be the best day in his life if he successfully helps Netanyahu undermine and potentially kill off the negotiations to rein in Iran's nuclear program.

I find that Bibi has a problem with honesty, as he helped to lie us into Iraq back in 2002, just like he's trying to do now with Iran in 2015.

Sources:
http://www.netanyahu.org.il/en/
http://www.jgsf1987.com/2012/02/a-new-round-of-threats-between-israel.html
http://www.alternet.org/world/benjamin-netanyahu-has-been-lying-americans-20-years

Net Neutrality Holds

I have to say that I'm exceedingly satisfied to share this bit of news. The FCC voted to uphold net neutrality by declaring the internet to be a public utility under Title II of the Communications Act. This means that the companies that tried to kill net neutrality like +Comcast, +AT&T, +Verizon FiOS, etc., will now have to keep all internet traffic flowing at equal bandwith, not more, not less.

Maintaining net neutrality is the base of upholding free speech rights online, and always keep that in mind as the big boys mentioned above try to throw their weight around and looking to profit over allowing those rights.

The Need For Getting Free

We all have times where we feel exceedingly trapped and no means to free ourselves. That's how I'm feeling right now, like I'm stuck drowning in a pool of muck.

I'm not going to point fingers and start blaming others, and I will say that because of many of my own actions are contributing to it. Maybe I'm holding myself too accountable too often for events outside my control.

Trans-Pacific Partnership: The Case Against It

The more we hear about the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the more we realize how bad of a deal it is for everyone outside of big business. I've seen enough posts on +Facebook to understand why.

First of all, I see too many red flags just on the basis of the 1st Amendment, particularly regarding free speech. Who's to say that we could have laws of another country imposed upon on us, or that corporations here in America will start censoring out what they don't want us to see (particularly of voices critical of their activities)? This is true in regards to net neutrality.

Another red flag I see has to do with environmental laws, specifically that they could end up weakened to make room for more of a dominant voice from big oil/big energy, such as +Koch Industries. They'll be fighting for the unrestrained ability to make our air, food and water dirty and toxic, and make a profit off of it as well. Uh...how batshit are they? Batshit enough to be this psychopathic and antipathic to the rest of us who dare to blast them for making us breathe and ingest their noxious chemicals? I'd say a big, fat yeah! However, this is just the tip of the iceberg, we're talking about here. Let me put it a different way, how much would the Charles and David Koch care if your kid were to develop either asthma, emphyzima, bronchitis, or COPD from breathing in their chemicals? How about cancer, specifically lung cancer? Answer: None! They'd be very happy and sleep very easily knowing your kid is sick, as clean air is a privilege to them.

Republicans And Netanyahu, A Real Mixture

I'm not sure how to start this, other than to say that the +GOP has really outdone itself in undermining the President, again. Only this time, it's in the most unconstitutional way possible; as in encroaching upon the sphere of foreign policy, which is the President's prerogative. Basically +John Boehner, by inviting +Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before Congress without letting +Barack Obama know, is a complete lack of comprehension towards the principle of separation of powers. Essentially, Boehner's action was completely unconstitutional as it's the President, not Congress that sets our nation's foreign policy, and besides being an utter lack of respect, it's also a severe breach of international protocol on the part of Netanyahu who needed to first get clearance via Obama. Because Obama did not approve of this, there's no reason for the invitation.

As for Netanyahu, this is little more than a campaign stunt for the upcoming Israeli elections in March. There's better ways to go about campaigning and for Netanyahu to do this, given that he tried to swing the Presidential Election to +Mitt Romney in 2012, he's really got no credibility doing this. And his message of Obama making Israel and the region less safe by talking to Iran is complete bulls**t if you ask me. It's the same tired line from the Neocons, as a way of getting their d**ks hardened watching our nation go to war somewhere in the world.

But here's the real kicker in all of this, the Republicans in Congress have gotten themselves in such a corner, there's no way they'll be able to get themselves out. How? +Fox News isn't even backing up their sorry asses. Without Fox, the Republicans are defenseless.

State Of The Union 6 Years In

While it's true that +Barack Obama is not up for re-election in 2016, it should be noted that he's done quite a lot, more than he's been given credit for over the past 6 years. All in spite of the Republicans trying to block him every step of the way. Take for instance the economy, it's been growing at its fastest rate since 2008. 

Selma Movie

After watching the film, +Selma Movie, with my lady yesterday, it got me thinking hard about the real lessons we ought to take out of Martin Luther King's head-on effort to kill one of the worst chokeholds that remained of Jim Crow in the South, the blocking of the Black vote and Black registration to do so. One of those lessons is that we shouldn't be ignorant of the fact that there are still forces in this country seeking to keep White hegemony intact and doing so by intruding upon one of our most basic rights, the right to vote. Don't underestimate this movement's power and strength because the movement for White supremacist hegemony is one with a history of violent resistance to racial equality.

I want to point out something about what the Dixicans (Dixie [Southern] Republicans) are doing to the vote. By making registration nearly impossible for Black voters in Southern states, like Mississippi and Alabama, the Republicans are attempting to enforce the same code of racial hierarchy as there had been from 1877-1964 put in place by the Dixicrats (Dixie [Southern] Democrats). I need to stress that not all former Southern Democrats were committed racists and/or segregationists, just like not all Southern Republicans are that way either. But many are, and the ones that are about racial superiority and/or separateness are the people we need to keep an eye out for. As I've said in earlier posts, these people would like to take us back to at least the Antebellum.

What To Watch For From Republicans

While I'm 100% aware of what many media outlets on the left are saying about 2016, I'm finding it exceedingly ironic that they're parroting the same lines that I've been spewing at times over the past 4 years. It's important to keep our eyes open to the reality that the Republicans will rig the vote in 2016 to capture the Presidency (2000 & 2004 should sound familiar). 

President Obama and North Korea

I need to praise +Barack Obama  in the starkest of terms as his response to what could be a string of cyberattacks from North Korea has been measured and swift. I'm not surprised in the least that the North Koreans would have threatened to retaliate against us for not bowing down to their will and for even daring to defy them by going on to watch the film +THE INTERVIEW. Consdering The Interview, it's a stupid movie, and in my opinion, not the greatest use of either +Seth Rogen or +James Franco's talents. Not only that, I found the humor too uncomfortable, but nonetheless indiscriminatory.

As for Kim Jong-Un, attempting to start nuclear warfare with the world's second-biggest stockpile of such weaponry is military suicide. I can't attest to Kim's sanity, and I won't bother. That's for experts well above my level of education (BA for a History Major with a Russian Minor). However, I will say from my History background that decisions by state actors to attack states bigger than their own rarely come out successful. Perhaps the best examples are Japan attacking America and Germany attacking the Soviet Union during WWII. Think about the end results for both countries, and this will explain why Kim's nihilism at this point will come back to bite him in the butt.

I'm not saying that Obama should threaten Kim with nuclear weapons, as I think that would only feed Kim's ego of himself as being a strong leader. However, Obama should make the point to Kim that continued provocative acts and actions could possibly lead to more severe consequences. Of course, such warnings and promises only lead to threats in return, which continues this tension cycle.

Only now, Kim's really upped the ante by plowing through a racist slur towards Obama. The only question I have is, why? If his point is too insult our president to the point that open season-like nuclear warfare ensues, that's not going to be the result. I think the Foreign (State) Department's response was appropriately measured, but it won't do much in terms of resolving the crisis.

Article Credit: +ABC News 

Torture Report And More On The Protests Of Racialized Policing Across America

I'll start by saying that the Torture Report released by the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is very heartening to see. It took a while for Dianne Feinstein to get all the pieces together due to the +Central Intelligence Agency continually stonewalling the investigation, which took a particularly nasty public turn back in the lame duck session of the 112th Congress in 2012, in addition to around this time in 2013. Still it's good that it's released, and that its contents that are public give the rest of us a clearer picture as to what the CIA did in the time frame from the immediate aftermath of 9/11 to George W. Bush's exit from office in January 2009. While I haven't read it yet, what I do know is that from seeing articles published on it is that the CIA went to Bush and Dick Cheney with this plan from before the attacks, and in the aftermath, got the clearance to go about implementing the "enhanced interrogation techniques" and using it on figures such as Khalid Sheik Mohammed. The fact is that these techniques were not only useless in obtaining any credible information for breaking up attacks, they destroyed our credibility across the world as now we can't get any information on anything unless someone chooses to give us the information voluntarily.

As for the protests, luckily the craziness in Berkeley seems to be dying down (as in no one getting on the interstate freeways). Still, it's lucky enough that Berkeley Police and Police from around the Bay Area are working together to help facilitate the protests so that they can go about peacefully. One key note to these protests turning into riots, most of the anarchists taking part are actually not from the Bay Area and/or from the Berkeley area itself. Most I think are coming here from the Central Valley, primarily around Fresno, just to start trouble for the sheer heck of it. Then again, this is not a huge surprise, come to think of it. Since many in the Valley areas have no real love for the Bay Area, and in particular both San Francisco and Berkeley, due to what many of them see as a sinner's haven of Liberalism that must be destroyed at all costs.