Some thoughts on 911, the economy, JFK and WWI

My father used to tell a story of young men from his hometown on the Ohio River deciding to get a jump on things by enlisting in the German army (in 1914) - after discussion with others about which side the USA would go in on. They were sure it would be on the side of the “Central Powers” - the side they also expected to win. But in January, 1917, Mexico opened negotiations with Germany, offering submarine bases on its coasts in return for help recovering Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. An intercepted and decoded diplomatic message about this was published in the U.S. press on March 1; demand from its public that the USA enter the war against Germany was immediate. My grandfather’s foolish friends were soon incarcerated in one of Germany’s prisoner-of-war camps.
About WWII, we know that much of the devastation of Pearl Harbor could have been avoided. We also know other conflicts were entered into based on less than dubious causus belli, and that many important political decisions have been made with eye toward electoral success rather than the public good. Many will try to down-play the importance of that, perhaps much to their own disadvantage.
Speculation on inconsistencies in public explanation of events and dubious matters of record keep conspiracy theorists interconnected for further information exchange, in all likelihood helping “national security” experts know who the active malcontents are, and where surveillance might produce results helpful to their careers. They say, “Follow the money” - think, “Who benefited?”
It seems to me that speculation about what actually happened might not be as important as conjecture about how to avoid more of the same. We’re currently in the thrall of a gullible public manipulated by a powerful, and secretive, elite – but this situation was addressed by the “Founding Fathers” when they constructed a bi-cameral legislature with checks and balances between three main branches of government. The bi-cameral legislature was to pit general public sentiment

against powerful, and better informed, vested interests. Which might have remained the case if not for high-paid lobbyists and “soft money” contributions by mega-corps. The whole world is now greatly influenced by decisions made in very secluded privacy, and that is very dangerous. But pointing an accusing finger is much more fun than seriously planning to undercut the authority of the immensely powerful!
To even just begin to put things right, there’s things which must be done pronto:
1. The legal fiction of corporate ‘personhood’ must end, now.
2. Military expenditures must be reduced, and all National Guard recalled to within national borders.
3. Political campaign finance must be reformed to lessen money's undermining of democracy.
4. Our tax laws must be simplified and made equitable, so that the rich will pay their share and others not depend so much on tax accountants.
5. Marijuana must be decriminalized and taxed, and marijuana prisoners released, and hemp again utilized for its many important purposes.
6. The US Federal Reserve Bank must be fully nationalized and the government allowed to stop borrowing.
7. Jobs programs instituting aspects of the CCC, WPA, VISTA and community radio must be begun.
8. As cleaning the whole water supply would now be impractical, free drinking water in glass bottles must be provided with easy access to all.
9. The educational system must be revitalized and improved to prepare our kids to compete in a world market.
9. The Supreme Court needs to reclaim some integrity - Anthony Scalia and Clarence Thomas must be removed.
10. The EPA must be truly empowered, and corporations in the Third World encouraged to act responsibly.
11. The USA must become a prime defender, not prime violator, of international law.

If we are to survive, our irresponsibility, and the nightmare of our “modern” follies, must end.
I guess the main point I want to make here is that we’ve been seduced - not only the general public, but the elite - by prospects of fun easy opulence, and, much to our own detriment, have become lazy - quite like any junkie.
Nightly, from August 23, 2001 until September 3, 2001, security cameras recorded truck vans devoid of markings entering the parking garage of the World Trade Center about 3 a.m. and leaving at 5 a.m. No similar vans had entered the World Trade Center at early morning hours for months prior. A State Department employee is convinced the mysterious trucks were used to transport explosives into the building. Susan Lindauer suffered a year of prison on a military base without a trial for her conviction that Republicans at the top echelons allowed the

events of 9/11 to happen. Even together, the collisions and jet fuel fires could not have collapsed the Towers. Dust from the World Trade Center tested positive for thermate explosives… and we’ve all heard more. My point here is only to refer to the lack of subsequent exposition of investigative results. To not find the related events suspicious is in itself suspicious, and I’ll leave it at that.
Some predictive speculation: regardless of who was behind the still mysterious events of 9-11-01, events of that day have helped people in the USA forestall coming to terms with the folly of over-using our earth’s limited resources. China, with four times the people, has used up so much of its resources it is desperately grabbing all the raw materials it can from Zimbabwe and Sudan, where others are loathe to invest. They’ve done much better than the Japanese did from investments in Myanmar a decade or so ago, or other investors are likely to reap from there, despite the Myanmar government feeling need of them to thward Chinese ambitions there.
It seems the GlobalCorp powers want a pipeline across Afghanistan and Pakistan to ports accessible to tankers; old habits die hard, fears of Russia remain, and addictive behavior demands the fix of gas from the old ‘Soviet Republics’ with names ending in -istan. Mercenary ‘security’ forces could replace the US military to guard them. Although pipelines from Myanmar have for several years now been delivering, unmolested by explosions, this other pipe-dream just ain’t likely to happen, because of tribal conflicts, the jockeying for power of various powerful mafias, and resentment of US brutality.
Keeping secrets may be part of doing business, and government a form of business, and perhaps some secrets need to be kept from children (I’m not really sure about that). But a dishonest life is not a good life, and we prefer honesty in both government and business. That we don’t get it is clear. That those most involved with money have little moral integrity is also clear, as is that money has interfered with academic integrity.
We have only small power in relation to the circumstance of corruption which surrounds us, but to concede to defeat is but to give as inheritance to children one loves only pain and death. It is this feeling makes some willing to become martyrs. To do nothing against the moral rape we have been enduring is to be nothing.
Those who cannot share have no joy. To share is to be open, honest, generous and unafraid.