thewakingtimes--2020-03-25--Two Hundred and Thirty Years of Rights and Liberties Shredded: Why I Oppose The Lockdown

Although it was nearly twenty years ago , I can remember 9/11 like it was yesterday .
I remember the shock of hearing about the planes crashing into towers , at first believing it was a tragic accident and quickly learning it to be otherwise .
I remember being told that 19 hijackers , part of a fundamentalist plot to destroy America , were behind the attacks and that the mastermind was a man in a cave in Afghanistan named Osama bin Laden .
As all of America was glued to their television screens , many rushed out to give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do something to help one another .
George W. Bush ’ s answer for Americans was to go to work and then go out and shop .
Americans dutifully complied .
But the government ’ s answer , in tandem with mainstream media , was also to be afraid .
Very afraid .
Americans also complied with this request , perhaps more than any other .
In the days and weeks after the initial shock , a college professor informed me about a bill called the PATRIOT ACT that would essentially eviscerate much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
After class , I questioned him further about the bill , which he explained , and suggested that if I really wanted to understand what was happening , I should read 1984 by George Orwell .
I went home and did just that and was surprised to learn that not only was he right , but that I was watching what I was reading happen in front of me in real life .
I watched as the fear of speaking your mind and saying certain words became known as freedom .
I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their communications were listened to , frightened of what they said , but justifying it as they praised their country for being unlike the totalitarian governments of the past .
Peace became war .
Any suggestion that invading Afghanistan was wrong was unpatriotic .
In fact , any criticism of the government was considered unpatriotic and anyone who valued freedom over temporary security was borderline a traitor .
I watched as the United States became The Homeland and I watched as my friends had their window busted out of their car because they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ window flags .
Still , shortly after the event itself , I began speaking out against the erosion of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights .
I questioned the official story of 9/11 and fought against the passage of the PATRIOT ACT .
In those days , anyone who did either of these things was considered either woefully ignorant and naive or a traitor who was giving moral support to the enemy .
I spoke out after 9/11 and was largely alone with a few notable exceptions .
I was forced to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ give away the most precious thing they had , the things which no other country could lay claim to , and the thing that they claimed they were supporting war to protect .
America gave away a huge chunk of its rights in the wake of 9/11 and , though they were promised the measures were only temporary , twenty years on we have never received them back .
Instead , police officers are now often indistinguishable from military soldiers , the United States is still in Afghanistan as well as Iraq , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and a host of theatres across the world where its undefinable “ interests ” apparently lie .
It is now a foregone conclusion that cellphone , internet , and all other communications are monitored .
It is well understood that the iron fist of the state can come down with lack of due process and the Second Amendment is under daily attack .
Torture is now general practice for foreign and domestic arrestees .
Now , here we are close to twenty years later .
Americans once again have a shadowy nemesis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ failed to provide adequate information .
Once again , the governmental response is not a robust rethinking of how we got to be where we are , ( in this case how medical care is provided , who has access to it , or the overarching philosophy behind it ) , but a massive police state , quasi martial law , and the evisceration of what is left of the liberties and rights they didn ’ t give away twenty years ago or give away gradually in the time between .
This time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President leading the charge to burn the Constitution , but Governors all across the country , acting in concert with one another .
But they aren ’ t acting alone .
Because of the massive propaganda mouthpiece of the mainstream media blasting hysteria and panic as well as the desired conclusions they intend for their audiences to reach , many Americans are demanding that their rights be taken away and that they and their fellow citizens be forced off the streets and into their homes at gunpoint .
My opposition to the potential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ based on the fact that over two hundred and thirty years of rights and liberties should not be shredded on the basis of any threat , real or imagined .
Americans either have rights or we don ’ t .
There is no asterisk in the Constitution that states the Bill of Rights is null and void in the event of a terrorist attack or a virus outbreak .
If we do not maintain our rights in a time of crisis , then , simply put , we do not truly have rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ maintain these rights , our country , such as it is , ceases to exist .
As Peter Hitchens , one of the few critics of this Lockdown mentality ( happening all over the world and , in his case , Britain ) wrote in his recent article for the Mail Online , Hitchens ’ article is well worth reading , not only for his views but for his critique of the scale of the pandemic , which is highly questionable .
Secondly , we are quickly driving this country to a second @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never before seen and where only the 1 % and the major banks have anything resembling wealth .
This Depression will be so devastating that it will make the first look weak in comparison , not just because of employment but because of the real human toll after decades of globalism , Free Trade , and urbanization have gutted this country of its workforce , manufacturing , healthcare , education , production capabilities , and general living standards .
With more Americans living urban lives and fewer and fewer farms by the day @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many more people than the virus and leave those left alive scrounging for crumbs at the bottom .
Already , since the beginning of this virus emergency , we have witnessed a huge transfer of wealth from the lower classes to the higher and we will no doubt witness more as this insane Lockdown attempt continues .
After the Lockdown passes , Americans will complain about low wages and lack of work .
They will wait in lines for benefits that may or may not exist and that will be lower than their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loss of their rights , the benefits will be temporary .
But Americans won ’ t be able to fully blame Wall Street this time around since it was the media and the people who listen to it who were howling in the streets for Lockdowns and shutdowns .
They will have gotten what they wanted as well as the opportunity to live to regret it .
So here I am , twenty years after a writing career began as a result of generally good people who were frightened into giving away their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thing yet again .
Of course , there may be time to reverse the direction in which we are heading .
The next few weeks will most likely determine that matter .
One thing is for certain , however , if Americans give up their rights now , they will never get them back .
I don ’ t have any illusions about the effect this article will have on the direction we are heading as a nation .
Instead , I expect it to bring about more criticism , more insults , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer “ credible ” as the propaganda repeaters seen on the major cable networks are credible .
But it will be worth it , for no other reason than to register my voice so that , for the record , there was at least a few people who retained their sanity through this worldwide era of panic and did not willingly sacrifice his rights on the altar of fear .
If we are able to step back from the abyss , perhaps the “ credibility ” and respect that I lose from peers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ someday be returned .
But if we are not able to step back , I can ’ t imagine anyone will be able to remember anything I ’ ve said here and , if that is the case , it probably wouldn ’ t matter if they did .
Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books , Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom , 7 Real Conspiracies , Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident , volume 1 and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The Anglo-American Assault on Syria , The Difference it Makes : 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President , and Resisting The Empire : The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome .
Turbeville has published over 1500 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health , economics , government corruption , civil liberties and , most notably , geopolitics and the Syrian crisis .
His most recent release is a book of poetry , Dance , Amputee .
Brandon Turbeville @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tracks can be found at UCYTV .
His website is BrandonTurbeville.com .
He is available for radio and TV interviews .
Please contact activistpost ( at ) gmail.com .
He is from Columbia , SC .
This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link .
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth , peace , and freedom news .
Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $ 1 per month at Patreon .
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Two Hundred and Thirty Years of Rights and Liberties Shredded: Why I Oppose The Lockdown
Brandon Turbeville, Guest
Waking Times
Although it was nearly twenty years ago, I can remember 9/11 like it was yesterday. I remember the shock of hearing about the planes crashing into towers, at first believing it was a tragic accident and quickly learning it to be otherwise. I remember being told that 19 hijackers, part of a fundamentalist plot to destroy America, were behind the attacks and that the mastermind was a man in a cave in Afghanistan named Osama bin Laden.
As all of America was glued to their television screens, many rushed out to give blood in an effort to at least do something to help one another. George W. Bush’s answer for Americans was to go to work and then go out and shop. Americans dutifully complied. But the government’s answer, in tandem with mainstream media, was also to be afraid. Very afraid. Americans also complied with this request, perhaps more than any other.
In the days and weeks after the initial shock, a college professor informed me about a bill called the PATRIOT ACT that would essentially eviscerate much of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. After class, I questioned him further about the bill, which he explained, and suggested that if I really wanted to understand what was happening, I should read 1984 by George Orwell. I went home and did just that and was surprised to learn that not only was he right, but that I was watching what I was reading happen in front of me in real life.
I watched as the fear of speaking your mind and saying certain words became known as freedom. I watched as Americans came to assume that their communications were listened to, frightened of what they said, but justifying it as they praised their country for being unlike the totalitarian governments of the past. Peace became war. Any suggestion that invading Afghanistan was wrong was unpatriotic. In fact, any criticism of the government was considered unpatriotic and anyone who valued freedom over temporary security was borderline a traitor.
I watched as the United States became The Homeland and I watched as my friends had their window busted out of their car because they did not have one of those ridiculous window flags.
Still, shortly after the event itself, I began speaking out against the erosion of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I questioned the official story of 9/11 and fought against the passage of the PATRIOT ACT. In those days, anyone who did either of these things was considered either woefully ignorant and naive or a traitor who was giving moral support to the enemy.
I spoke out after 9/11 and was largely alone with a few notable exceptions. I was forced to watch the majority of my fellow Americans give away the most precious thing they had, the things which no other country could lay claim to, and the thing that they claimed they were supporting war to protect. America gave away a huge chunk of its rights in the wake of 9/11 and, though they were promised the measures were only temporary, twenty years on we have never received them back.
Instead, police officers are now often indistinguishable from military soldiers, the United States is still in Afghanistan as well as Iraq, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Ukraine, and a host of theatres across the world where its undefinable “interests” apparently lie. It is now a foregone conclusion that cellphone, internet, and all other communications are monitored. It is well understood that the iron fist of the state can come down with lack of due process and the Second Amendment is under daily attack. Torture is now general practice for foreign and domestic arrestees.
Now, here we are close to twenty years later. Americans once again have a shadowy nemesis for which our government has once again failed to provide adequate information. Once again, the governmental response is not a robust rethinking of how we got to be where we are, (in this case how medical care is provided, who has access to it, or the overarching philosophy behind it), but a massive police state, quasi martial law, and the evisceration of what is left of the liberties and rights they didn’t give away twenty years ago or give away gradually in the time between.
This time, it is not so much the President leading the charge to burn the Constitution, but Governors all across the country, acting in concert with one another. But they aren’t acting alone. Because of the massive propaganda mouthpiece of the mainstream media blasting hysteria and panic as well as the desired conclusions they intend for their audiences to reach, many Americans are demanding that their rights be taken away and that they and their fellow citizens be forced off the streets and into their homes at gunpoint.
My opposition to the potential Lockdown is twofold but principally it is based on the fact that over two hundred and thirty years of rights and liberties should not be shredded on the basis of any threat, real or imagined. Americans either have rights or we don’t. There is no asterisk in the Constitution that states the Bill of Rights is null and void in the event of a terrorist attack or a virus outbreak. If we do not maintain our rights in a time of crisis, then, simply put, we do not truly have rights at all.
If we do not maintain these rights, our country, such as it is, ceases to exist.
As Peter Hitchens, one of the few critics of this Lockdown mentality (happening all over the world and, in his case, Britain) wrote in his recent article for the Mail Online,
All the crudest weapons of despotism, the curfew, the presumption of guilt and the power of arbitrary arrest, are taking shape in the midst of what used to be a free country. And we, who like to boast of how calm we are in a crisis, seem to despise our ancient hard-bought freedom and actually want to rush into the warm, firm arms of Big Brother.
Hitchens’ article is well worth reading, not only for his views but for his critique of the scale of the pandemic, which is highly questionable.
Secondly, we are quickly driving this country to a second Great Depression where unemployment is at levels never before seen and where only the 1% and the major banks have anything resembling wealth. This Depression will be so devastating that it will make the first look weak in comparison, not just because of employment but because of the real human toll after decades of globalism, Free Trade, and urbanization have gutted this country of its workforce, manufacturing, healthcare, education, production capabilities, and general living standards. With more Americans living urban lives and fewer and fewer farms by the day, the Second Great Depression will kill many more people than the virus and leave those left alive scrounging for crumbs at the bottom. Already, since the beginning of this virus emergency, we have witnessed a huge transfer of wealth from the lower classes to the higher and we will no doubt witness more as this insane Lockdown attempt continues.
After the Lockdown passes, Americans will complain about low wages and lack of work. They will wait in lines for benefits that may or may not exist and that will be lower than their current living standards require. Unlike the loss of their rights, the benefits will be temporary. But Americans won’t be able to fully blame Wall Street this time around since it was the media and the people who listen to it who were howling in the streets for Lockdowns and shutdowns. They will have gotten what they wanted as well as the opportunity to live to regret it.
So here I am, twenty years after a writing career began as a result of generally good people who were frightened into giving away their rights, writing about exactly the same thing yet again. Of course, there may be time to reverse the direction in which we are heading. The next few weeks will most likely determine that matter. One thing is for certain, however, if Americans give up their rights now, they will never get them back.
I don’t have any illusions about the effect this article will have on the direction we are heading as a nation. Instead, I expect it to bring about more criticism, more insults, and more claims that I am no longer “credible” as the propaganda repeaters seen on the major cable networks are credible. But it will be worth it, for no other reason than to register my voice so that, for the record, there was at least a few people who retained their sanity through this worldwide era of panic and did not willingly sacrifice his rights on the altar of fear.
If we are able to step back from the abyss, perhaps the “credibility” and respect that I lose from peers as a result of this article will someday be returned. But if we are not able to step back, I can’t imagine anyone will be able to remember anything I’ve said here and, if that is the case, it probably wouldn’t matter if they did.
Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1500 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, civil liberties and, most notably, geopolitics and the Syrian crisis. His most recent release is a book of poetry, Dance, Amputee. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. He is from Columbia, SC.
This article may be freely shared in part or in full with author attribution and source link.
Image: Anthony Freda Art
Subscribe to Activist Post for truth, peace, and freedom news. Become an Activist Post Patron for as little as $1 per month at Patreon. Follow us on SoMee, Flote, Minds, Twitter, and Steemit.
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thewakingtimes--2020-03-25--Suspending the Constitution: Police State Uses Crises to Expand Its Lockdown Powers

You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis , legitimate or manufactured .
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception .
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties , but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts , medical intervention , protection and sustenance .
Unless we find some way to rein in the government ’ s power grabs , the fall-out will be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for years—government overreach , invasive surveillance , martial law , abuse of powers , militarized police , weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry , and so on—has coalesced into this present moment .
The government ’ s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding .
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot Act , the police state—a.k.a .
the shadow government , a.k.a .
the Deep State—has been anticipating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment ’ s notice .
It should surprise no one , then , that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “ other ” emergencies .
It ’ s that “ other ” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause , if not spur you to immediate action ( by action , I mean a loud and vocal , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ apolitical , nonpartisan resistance ) .
In fact , the Department of Justice ( DOJ ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution .
We ’ re talking about lockdown powers ( at both the federal and state level ) : the ability to suspend the Constitution , indefinitely detain American citizens , bypass the courts , quarantine whole communities or segments of the population , override the First Amendment by outlawing religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the economy , muzzle dissidents , “ stop and seize any plane , train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease , ” reshape financial markets , create a digital currency ( and thus further restrict the use of cash ) , determine who should live or die… You ’ re getting the picture now , right ?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent .
Specifically , the DOJ wants to be able to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial .
The DOJ also wants @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and suspend the statute of limitations on criminal and civil cases .
Both signify a clear violation of every right espoused in the Constitution , including habeas corpus .
Habeas corpus , a fundamental tenet of English common law that guards against arbitrary and lawless state action , does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights .
Its importance was such that it was enshrined in the Constitution itself .
And it is of such magnitude that all other rights , including those in the Bill of Rights , are dependent upon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significance of all other rights crumbles .
The right of habeas corpus was important to the Framers of the Constitution because they knew from personal experience what it was like to be labeled enemy combatants , imprisoned indefinitely and not given the opportunity to appear before a neutral judge .
Believing that such arbitrary imprisonment is “ in all ages , the favorite and most formidable instrument of tyranny , ” the Founders were all the more determined to protect Americans from such government abuses .
Translated as “ you should have the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal action , or writ , by which those imprisoned unlawfully can seek relief from their imprisonment .
Derived from English common law , habeas corpus first appeared in the Magna Carta of 1215 and is the oldest human right in the history of English-speaking civilization .
The doctrine of habeas corpus stems from the requirement that a government must either charge a person or let him go free .
Throughout the twentieth century , the importance of the right of habeas corpus has repeatedly been confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ founders risked their lives to secure their freedoms , we find ourselves right back where we started , with a government determined to strip us of every vestige of our freedoms .
The DOJ ’ s latest request to Congress is merely a signal that the police state is ready to step out of the shadows , with the current national emergency being a convenient cover for their dastardly deeds .
Bear in mind , however , that these powers the Trump Administration , acting on orders from the police state , are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself .
Unofficially , the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress , the courts or the citizenry .
As David C. Unger , observes in The Emergency State : America ’ s Pursuit of Absolute Security at All Costs : This rise of an “ emergency state ” that justifies all manner of government tyranny @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is all happening according to schedule .
The civil unrest , the national emergencies , “ unforeseen economic collapse , loss of functioning political and legal order , purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency , pervasive public health emergencies , and catastrophic natural and human disasters , ” the government ’ s reliance on the armed forces to solve domestic political and social problems , the implicit declaration of martial law packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation ’ s security : the powers-that-be have been planning and preparing for such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just with active shooter drills and lockdowns and checkpoints and heightened danger alerts , but with a sensory overload of militarized , battlefield images—in video games , in movies , on the news—that acclimate us to life in a police state .
Whether or not this particular crisis is of the government ’ s own making is not the point : to those for whom power and profit are everything , the end always justifies the means .
Comprising the country ’ s Continuity of Government ( COG ) plan , these directives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 ) , which do not need congressional approval , provide a skeletal outline of the actions the president will take in the event of a “ national emergency.
” Mind you , that national emergency can take any form , can be manipulated for any purpose and can be used to justify any end goal—all on the say so of the president .
Just what sort of actions the president will take once he declares a national emergency can barely be discerned from the barebones directives .
However @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the event of a national emergency , the president will become a dictator because while the COG directives ensure the continuity of executive branch functions , they do not provide for repopulating or reconvening Congress or the Supreme Court .
Thus , a debilitating attack would give unchecked executive , legislative and judicial power to the executive branch and its unelected minions .
The country would then be subjected to martial law by default , and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would be suspended .
Originally devised as a plan for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concept arose during the Cold War .
The fear was that a nuclear strike would paralyze the federal government .
These concerns continued into the 1980s .
Under President Ronald Reagan , an elaborate plan was created in which three teams consisting of a cabinet member , an executive chief of staff and military and intelligence officials would practice evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against the Soviet Union from a variety of high-tech , mobile command vehicles .
If the president and vice president were both killed , one of these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ranking cabinet official serving as president .
Among those Reagan handpicked to advise an inexperienced and potentially incompetent successor in a time of crisis were Congressman Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld , then a business executive with G. D. Searle & Co. At least once a year during the 1980s , Cheney and Rumsfeld vanished on top-secret training missions , where each of the teams practiced evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against Russia .
This all changed after the attacks of September 11 , 2001 , when it became clear that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Cold War no longer applied : there would be no warning against a so-called “ terrorist ” attack .
Thus , instead of relying on part-time bureaucrats and evacuation schematics , the Bush administration permanently appointed executive officials , stationed outside the capital , to run a shadow government .
The U.S. military has reportedly already been given standby orders under COG for this present coronavirus pandemic .
The plans for the shadow government administered by those who run the Deep State are more elaborate than many realize .
Massive underground bunkers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ throughout the country for the government elite to escape to in the event of a national emergency .
Mount Weather , near Bluemont , Va. , is one of a number of such facilities .
Built into the side of a mountain , this bunker contains , among other things , a hospital , crematorium , dining and recreation areas , sleeping quarters , reservoirs of drinking and cooling water , an emergency power plant and a radio/television studio .
There is also an Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all the federal departments and agencies .
This facility was largely unknown to everyone , including Congress , until it came to light in the mid-1970s .
Military personnel connected to the bunker have refused to reveal any information about it , even before congressional committees .
In fact , Congress has no oversight , budgetary or otherwise , on Mount Weather , and the specifics of the facility remain top-secret .
What is the bottom line here ?
We are , for all intents and purposes , one crisis away from having @ @ @ @ @ @ @ shadows , at which time democratic government will be dissolved and the country will be ruled by an unelected bureaucracy .
Thus far , we have at least pretended that the government abides by the Constitution .
Those who wrote our Constitution sought to ensure our freedoms by creating a document that protects our God-given rights at all times , even when we are engaged in war , whether that is a so-called war on terrorism , a so-called war on drugs , a so-called war on illegal immigration , or a so-called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each successive presidential administration to rule by fiat merely plays into the hands of those who would distort the government ’ s system of checks and balances and its constitutional separation of powers beyond all recognition .
Remember , these powers do not expire at the end of a president ’ s term .
They remain on the books , just waiting to be used or abused by the next political demagogue .
So , too , every action taken by Trump and his predecessors to weaken the system of checks and balances @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and expand the power of the executive branch of government has made us that much more vulnerable to those who would abuse those powers in the future .
Although the Constitution invests the President with very specific , limited powers , in recent years , American presidents ( Trump , Obama , Bush , Clinton , etc . )
have claimed the power to completely and almost unilaterally alter the landscape of this country for good or for ill .
The Trump Administration ’ s willingness to circumvent the Constitution by leaning heavily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powers constitutes a gross perversion of what limited power the Constitution affords the executive branch .
The powers amassed by each successive president through the negligence of Congress and the courts—powers which add up to a toolbox of terror for an imperial ruler—empower whomever occupies the Oval Office to act as a dictator , above the law and beyond any real accountability .
In other words , each successive president continues to add to his office ’ s list of extraordinary orders and directives , expanding the reach and power of the presidency @ @ @ @ @ @ @ powers .
This abuse of presidential powers has been going on for so long that it has become the norm , the Constitution be damned .
We no longer have a system of checks and balances .
All of the imperial powers amassed by Barack Obama and George W. Bush and now Trump—to kill American citizens without due process , to detain suspects ( including American citizens ) indefinitely , to strip Americans of their citizenship rights , to carry out mass surveillance on Americans without probable cause , to wage wars without @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wartime , to disregard laws with which he might disagree , to conduct secret wars and convene secret courts , to sanction torture , to sidestep the legislatures and courts with executive orders and signing statements , to direct the military to operate beyond the reach of the law , to establish a standing army on American soil , to operate a shadow government , to declare national emergencies for any manipulated reason , and to act as a dictator and a tyrant , above the law and beyond any real accountability—have become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s toolbox of terror .
These presidential powers—acquired through the use of executive orders , decrees , memorandums , proclamations , national security directives and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting president—enable past , president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution .
Think on this : the presidential election is right around the corner .
Suddenly , the improbable possibility of any incumbent president attempting to extend the police state ’ s stranglehold on power by using current events @ @ @ @ @ @ @ an election—forfeiting the people ’ s rights to govern altogether—and establishing a totalitarian regime seems less far-fetched than it did even a few years ago .
The emergency state is now out in the open for all to see .
Unfortunately , “ we the people ” refuse to see what ’ s before us .
Most Americans , fearful and easily controlled , would sooner rouse themselves to fight for that last roll of toilet paper than they would their own freedoms .
This is how freedom dies .
We erect our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rights dwindle away , we forge our own chains of servitude to the police state .
Be warned , however : once you surrender your freedoms to the government—no matter how compelling the reason might be for doing so—you can never get them back .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , no government willingly relinquishes power .
If we continue down this road , there can be no surprise about what awaits us at the end .
The America metamorphosing before our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I grew up in , and that ’ s not just tragic—it ’ s downright terrifying .
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute , where this article ( Suspending the Constitution : Police State Uses Crises to Expand Its Lockdown Powers ) was originally published .
He is the author of A Government of Wolves : The Emerging American Police State and The Change Manifesto .

Suspending the Constitution: Police State Uses Crises to Expand Its Lockdown Powers
John W. Whitehead, Rutherford
Waking Times
“That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn’t even any rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn’t even an enemy you could put your finger on.”― Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
You can always count on the government to take advantage of a crisis, legitimate or manufactured.
This coronavirus pandemic is no exception.
Not only are the federal and state governments unraveling the constitutional fabric of the nation with lockdown mandates that are sending the economy into a tailspin and wreaking havoc with our liberties, but they are also rendering the citizenry fully dependent on the government for financial handouts, medical intervention, protection and sustenance.
Unless we find some way to rein in the government’s power grabs, the fall-out will be epic.
Everything I have warned about for years—government overreach, invasive surveillance, martial law, abuse of powers, militarized police, weaponized technology used to track and control the citizenry, and so on—has coalesced into this present moment.
The government’s shameless exploitation of past national emergencies for its own nefarious purposes pales in comparison to what is presently unfolding.
It’s downright Machiavellian.
Deploying the same strategy it used with 9/11 to acquire greater powers under the USA Patriot Act, the police state—a.k.a. the shadow government, a.k.a. the Deep State—has been anticipating this moment for years, quietly assembling a wish list of lockdown powers that could be trotted out and approved at a moment’s notice.
It should surprise no one, then, that the Trump Administration has asked Congress to allow it to suspend parts of the Constitution whenever it deems it necessary during this coronavirus pandemic and “other” emergencies.
It’s that “other” emergencies part that should particularly give you pause, if not spur you to immediate action (by action, I mean a loud and vocal, apolitical, nonpartisan outcry and sustained, apolitical, nonpartisan resistance).
In fact, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been quietly trotting out and testing a long laundry list of terrifying powers that override the Constitution.
We’re talking about lockdown powers (at both the federal and state level): the ability to suspend the Constitution, indefinitely detain American citizens, bypass the courts, quarantine whole communities or segments of the population, override the First Amendment by outlawing religious gatherings and assemblies of more than a few people, shut down entire industries and manipulate the economy, muzzle dissidents, “stop and seize any plane, train or automobile to stymie the spread of contagious disease,” reshape financial markets, create a digital currency (and thus further restrict the use of cash), determine who should live or die…
You’re getting the picture now, right?
These are powers the police state would desperately like to make permanent.
Specifically, the DOJ wants to be able to indefinitely detain American citizens without trial. The DOJ also wants to be able to pause court proceedings and suspend the statute of limitations on criminal and civil cases.
Both signify a clear violation of every right espoused in the Constitution, including habeas corpus.
Habeas corpus, a fundamental tenet of English common law that guards against arbitrary and lawless state action, does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights. Its importance was such that it was enshrined in the Constitution itself. And it is of such magnitude that all other rights, including those in the Bill of Rights, are dependent upon it. Without habeas corpus, the significance of all other rights crumbles.
The right of habeas corpus was important to the Framers of the Constitution because they knew from personal experience what it was like to be labeled enemy combatants, imprisoned indefinitely and not given the opportunity to appear before a neutral judge. Believing that such arbitrary imprisonment is “in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instrument of tyranny,” the Founders were all the more determined to protect Americans from such government abuses.
Translated as “you should have the body,” habeas corpus is a legal action, or writ, by which those imprisoned unlawfully can seek relief from their imprisonment. Derived from English common law, habeas corpus first appeared in the Magna Carta of 1215 and is the oldest human right in the history of English-speaking civilization. The doctrine of habeas corpus stems from the requirement that a government must either charge a person or let him go free.
While serving as President, Thomas Jefferson addressed the essential necessity of habeas corpus. In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1801, Jefferson said, “I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government cannot be strong; that this government is not strong enough.” But, said Jefferson, our nation was “the world’s best hope” and, because of our strong commitment to democracy, “the strongest government on earth.” Jefferson said that the sum of this basic belief was found in the “freedom of person under the protection of the habeas corpus; and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.”
Throughout the twentieth century, the importance of the right of habeas corpus has repeatedly been confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet 200-plus years after America’s founders risked their lives to secure their freedoms, we find ourselves right back where we started, with a government determined to strip us of every vestige of our freedoms.
The DOJ’s latest request to Congress is merely a signal that the police state is ready to step out of the shadows, with the current national emergency being a convenient cover for their dastardly deeds.
Bear in mind, however, that these powers the Trump Administration, acting on orders from the police state, are officially asking Congress to recognize and authorize barely scratch the surface of the far-reaching powers the government has already unilaterally claimed for itself.
Unofficially, the police state has been riding roughshod over the rule of law for years now without any pretense of being reined in or restricted in its power grabs by Congress, the courts or the citizenry.
As David C. Unger, observes in The Emergency State: America’s Pursuit of Absolute Security at All Costs:
“For seven decades we have been yielding our most basic liberties to a secretive, unaccountable emergency state – a vast but increasingly misdirected complex of national security institutions, reflexes, and beliefs that so define our present world that we forget that there was ever a different America. … Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have given way to permanent crisis management: to policing the planet and fighting preventative wars of ideological containment, usually on terrain chosen by, and favorable to, our enemies. Limited government and constitutional accountability have been shouldered aside by the kind of imperial presidency our constitutional system was explicitly designed to prevent.”
This rise of an “emergency state” that justifies all manner of government tyranny in the so-called name of national security is all happening according to schedule.
The civil unrest, the national emergencies, “unforeseen economic collapse, loss of functioning political and legal order, purposeful domestic resistance or insurgency, pervasive public health emergencies, and catastrophic natural and human disasters,” the government’s reliance on the armed forces to solve domestic political and social problems, the implicit declaration of martial law packaged as a well-meaning and overriding concern for the nation’s security: the powers-that-be have been planning and preparing for such a crisis for years now, not just with active shooter drills and lockdowns and checkpoints and heightened danger alerts, but with a sensory overload of militarized, battlefield images—in video games, in movies, on the news—that acclimate us to life in a police state.
Whether or not this particular crisis is of the government’s own making is not the point: to those for whom power and profit are everything, the end always justifies the means.
The seeds of this present madness were sown several decades ago when George W. Bush stealthily issued two presidential directives that granted the president the power to unilaterally declare a national emergency, which is loosely defined as “any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions.“
Comprising the country’s Continuity of Government (COG) plan, these directives (National Security Presidential Directive 51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20), which do not need congressional approval, provide a skeletal outline of the actions the president will take in the event of a “national emergency.”
Mind you, that national emergency can take any form, can be manipulated for any purpose and can be used to justify any end goal—all on the say so of the president.
Just what sort of actions the president will take once he declares a national emergency can barely be discerned from the barebones directives. However, one thing is clear: in the event of a national emergency, the president will become a dictator because while the COG directives ensure the continuity of executive branch functions, they do not provide for repopulating or reconvening Congress or the Supreme Court.
Thus, a debilitating attack would give unchecked executive, legislative and judicial power to the executive branch and its unelected minions. The country would then be subjected to martial law by default, and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights would be suspended.
Originally devised as a plan for quickly restoring constitutional government, the COG concept arose during the Cold War. The fear was that a nuclear strike would paralyze the federal government.
These concerns continued into the 1980s.
Under President Ronald Reagan, an elaborate plan was created in which three teams consisting of a cabinet member, an executive chief of staff and military and intelligence officials would practice evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against the Soviet Union from a variety of high-tech, mobile command vehicles. If the president and vice president were both killed, one of these teams would take control, with the ranking cabinet official serving as president.
Among those Reagan handpicked to advise an inexperienced and potentially incompetent successor in a time of crisis were Congressman Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, then a business executive with G. D. Searle & Co. At least once a year during the 1980s, Cheney and Rumsfeld vanished on top-secret training missions, where each of the teams practiced evacuating and directing a counter nuclear strike against Russia.
This all changed after the attacks of September 11, 2001, when it became clear that the assumptions that drove COG planning during the Cold War no longer applied: there would be no warning against a so-called “terrorist” attack. Thus, instead of relying on part-time bureaucrats and evacuation schematics, the Bush administration permanently appointed executive officials, stationed outside the capital, to run a shadow government.
The U.S. military has reportedly already been given standby orders under COG for this present coronavirus pandemic.
The plans for the shadow government administered by those who run the Deep State are more elaborate than many realize. Massive underground bunkers the size of small cities are sprinkled throughout the country for the government elite to escape to in the event of a national emergency. Mount Weather, near Bluemont, Va., is one of a number of such facilities. Built into the side of a mountain, this bunker contains, among other things, a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power plant and a radio/television studio.
There is also an Office of the Presidency at Mount Weather, which regularly receives top-secret national security information from all the federal departments and agencies. This facility was largely unknown to everyone, including Congress, until it came to light in the mid-1970s. Military personnel connected to the bunker have refused to reveal any information about it, even before congressional committees. In fact, Congress has no oversight, budgetary or otherwise, on Mount Weather, and the specifics of the facility remain top-secret.
What is the bottom line here?
We are, for all intents and purposes, one crisis away from having a full-fledged authoritarian state emerge from the shadows, at which time democratic government will be dissolved and the country will be ruled by an unelected bureaucracy.
This is exactly the kind of mischief that Thomas Jefferson warned against when he cautioned, “In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
Power corrupts.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Thus far, we have at least pretended that the government abides by the Constitution.
Those who wrote our Constitution sought to ensure our freedoms by creating a document that protects our God-given rights at all times, even when we are engaged in war, whether that is a so-called war on terrorism, a so-called war on drugs, a so-called war on illegal immigration, or a so-called war on disease.
The attempts by each successive presidential administration to rule by fiat merely plays into the hands of those who would distort the government’s system of checks and balances and its constitutional separation of powers beyond all recognition.
Remember, these powers do not expire at the end of a president’s term. They remain on the books, just waiting to be used or abused by the next political demagogue.
So, too, every action taken by Trump and his predecessors to weaken the system of checks and balances, sidestep the rule of law, and expand the power of the executive branch of government has made us that much more vulnerable to those who would abuse those powers in the future.
Although the Constitution invests the President with very specific, limited powers, in recent years, American presidents (Trump, Obama, Bush, Clinton, etc.) have claimed the power to completely and almost unilaterally alter the landscape of this country for good or for ill.
The Trump Administration’s willingness to circumvent the Constitution by leaning heavily on the president’s so-called emergency powers constitutes a gross perversion of what limited power the Constitution affords the executive branch.
The powers amassed by each successive president through the negligence of Congress and the courts—powers which add up to a toolbox of terror for an imperial ruler—empower whomever occupies the Oval Office to act as a dictator, above the law and beyond any real accountability.
As law professor William P. Marshall explains, “every extraordinary use of power by one President expands the availability of executive branch power for use by future Presidents.” Moreover, it doesn’t even matter whether other presidents have chosen not to take advantage of any particular power, because “it is a President’s action in using power, rather than forsaking its use, that has the precedential significance.”
In other words, each successive president continues to add to his office’s list of extraordinary orders and directives, expanding the reach and power of the presidency and granting him- or herself near dictatorial powers.
This abuse of presidential powers has been going on for so long that it has become the norm, the Constitution be damned.
We no longer have a system of checks and balances.
“The system of checks and balances that the Framers envisioned now lacks effective checks and is no longer in balance,” concludes Marshall. “The implications of this are serious. The Framers designed a system of separation of powers to combat government excess and abuse and to curb incompetence. They also believed that, in the absence of an effective separation-of-powers structure, such ills would inevitably follow. Unfortunately, however, power once taken is not easily surrendered.”
All of the imperial powers amassed by Barack Obama and George W. Bush and now Trump—to kill American citizens without due process, to detain suspects (including American citizens) indefinitely, to strip Americans of their citizenship rights, to carry out mass surveillance on Americans without probable cause, to wage wars without congressional authorization, to suspend laws during wartime, to disregard laws with which he might disagree, to conduct secret wars and convene secret courts, to sanction torture, to sidestep the legislatures and courts with executive orders and signing statements, to direct the military to operate beyond the reach of the law, to establish a standing army on American soil, to operate a shadow government, to declare national emergencies for any manipulated reason, and to act as a dictator and a tyrant, above the law and beyond any real accountability—have become a permanent part of the president’s toolbox of terror.
These presidential powers—acquired through the use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting president—enable past, president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution.
Think on this: the presidential election is right around the corner.
Suddenly, the improbable possibility of any incumbent president attempting to extend the police state’s stranglehold on power by using current events to justify postponing or doing away with an election—forfeiting the people’s rights to govern altogether—and establishing a totalitarian regime seems less far-fetched than it did even a few years ago.
The emergency state is now out in the open for all to see. Unfortunately, “we the people” refuse to see what’s before us. Most Americans, fearful and easily controlled, would sooner rouse themselves to fight for that last roll of toilet paper than they would their own freedoms.
This is how freedom dies.
We erect our own prison walls, and as our rights dwindle away, we forge our own chains of servitude to the police state.
Be warned, however: once you surrender your freedoms to the government—no matter how compelling the reason might be for doing so—you can never get them back.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, no government willingly relinquishes power.
If we continue down this road, there can be no surprise about what awaits us at the end.
The America metamorphosing before our eyes is almost unrecognizable from the country I grew up in, and that’s not just tragic—it’s downright terrifying.
About the Author
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute, where this article (Suspending the Constitution: Police State Uses Crises to Expand Its Lockdown Powers) was originally published. He is the author of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State and The Change Manifesto.


thewakingtimes--2020-03-25--“We’re Going To Be Fine” – Nobel-Winning Biophysicist Predicts Quicker COVID-19 Recovery

Michael Levitt , a Stanford biophysicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 , has made a bold statement that the end of COVID-19 pandemic could be near and has cited China ’ s curve flattening to support his hypothesis , reported the Los Angeles Times .
Levitt is now predicting a curve flattening in infections could be around the corner for the US as strict social distancing measures are being implemented across major metro areas .
Levitt accurately forecasted the deceleration in confirmed cases and deaths in early February in China .
He said the initial @ @ @ @ @ @ @ province was 30 % per day , but on February 7 , something changed : “ The number of new infections started to drop linearly and did not stop , ” Levitt said .
“ A week later , the same happened with the number of deaths .
This dramatic change in the curve marked the median point and enabled better prediction of when the pandemic will end .
Based on that , I concluded that the situation in all of China would improve within two weeks .
And , indeed , now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Levitt reviewed data from 78 countries that reported more than 50 new confirmed cases of the virus per day and said he notices deceleration in many of these countries .
He said he ’ s not focused on overall cases or deaths but rather on growth rates : He said in South Korea , confirmed cases are still being reported daily , though , in recent weeks , new cases per day have inched below 200 , suggesting the outbreak is slowing .
Levitt said recent trends in confirmed cases in Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it suggests the outbreak there “ is past the halfway mark.
” Italy is still in an acceleration period , he noted .
Cases and deaths have been exponential in the last several weeks .
However , 15 days since the countrywide lockdown began , it appears the halfway point could be nearing , as per the chart shown below by Nordea : Levitt has gone on the record to say that the virus outbreak could disappear from China by the end of March .
He said most individuals are immune to COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the passengers on the Diamond Princess contracted the infection .
Levitt said when countries unite behind a common goal of stamping out the virus , through mass quarantines , social distancing , working from home , closing education systems , limiting businesses from operating , and banning mass gatherings , the infection curve tends to flatten out .
As other researchers are calling for the virus to be sticking around for months , or even years , it appears Levitt is making a bold prediction that the worst could be soon over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We must note that the Spanish flu occurred over a series of waves .
When it comes to the US , cases and deaths are exponential at the moment , and as soon as social distancing kicks in , the curve could start flattening .
Still , it ’ s anyone ’ s guess when that will occur .
As for buying the corona-dip in the stocks , Bill Ackman was heard on Monday as saying , “ We are all long , no shorts , you know , ‘ betting on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zero Hedge / Used with Permission

“We’re Going To Be Fine” – Nobel-Winning Biophysicist Predicts Quicker COVID-19 Recovery
Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge
Waking Times
Michael Levitt, a Stanford biophysicist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013, has made a bold statement that the end of COVID-19 pandemic could be near and has cited China’s curve flattening to support his hypothesis, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Levitt is now predicting a curve flattening in infections could be around the corner for the US as strict social distancing measures are being implemented across major metro areas.
“What we need is to control the panic,” he said. In the grand scheme, “we’re going to be fine.”
Levitt accurately forecasted the deceleration in confirmed cases and deaths in early February in China. He said the initial infection rate in China’s Hubei province was 30% per day, but on February 7, something changed:
“The number of new infections started to drop linearly and did not stop,” Levitt said. “A week later, the same happened with the number of deaths. This dramatic change in the curve marked the median point and enabled better prediction of when the pandemic will end. Based on that, I concluded that the situation in all of China would improve within two weeks. And, indeed, now there are very few new infection cases.”
Levitt reviewed data from 78 countries that reported more than 50 new confirmed cases of the virus per day and said he notices deceleration in many of these countries. He said he’s not focused on overall cases or deaths but rather on growth rates:
“Numbers are still noisy, but there are clear signs of slowed growth.”
He said in South Korea, confirmed cases are still being reported daily, though, in recent weeks, new cases per day have inched below 200, suggesting the outbreak is slowing.
Levitt said recent trends in confirmed cases in Iran point to a slowdown. He said it suggests the outbreak there “is past the halfway mark.”
Italy is still in an acceleration period, he noted. Cases and deaths have been exponential in the last several weeks. However, 15 days since the countrywide lockdown began, it appears the halfway point could be nearing, as per the chart shown below by Nordea:
Levitt has gone on the record to say that the virus outbreak could disappear from China by the end of March.
He said most individuals are immune to COVID-19 and pointed out that only 20% of the passengers on the Diamond Princess contracted the infection.
Levitt said when countries unite behind a common goal of stamping out the virus, through mass quarantines, social distancing, working from home, closing education systems, limiting businesses from operating, and banning mass gatherings, the infection curve tends to flatten out.
As other researchers are calling for the virus to be sticking around for months, or even years, it appears Levitt is making a bold prediction that the worst could be soon over for many regions of the world.
We must note that the Spanish flu occurred over a series of waves.
When it comes to the US, cases and deaths are exponential at the moment, and as soon as social distancing kicks in, the curve could start flattening. Still, it’s anyone’s guess when that will occur.
As for buying the corona-dip in the stocks, Bill Ackman was heard on Monday as saying, “We are all long, no shorts, you know, ‘betting on the country.
“I built a lot of confidence over the last week that the president and his team are heading in the right direction,” Ackman said, adding that he had no ‘inside knowledge’ of any administrative decision.
By: Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge / Used with Permission


thewakingtimes--2020-04-17--Global Crisis – Messages from Meetings with the Plants

Global Crisis – Messages from Meetings with the Plants I sometimes wonder what effect the presence of shamanic plant medicines and other psychedelic or entheogenic substances have truly had on Western culture .
While journeys with these medicines are such deeply personal and healing experiences , our world is shaped by the conduct of all individuals combined .
As so many individuals transform , there must be some larger effect on our world .
When will we see it manifest ?
Those who ’ ve had the calling and the courage to step into sacred ceremony tend to carry these @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , processing them , integrating them , and continually learning from the awarenesses they offer .
In a universal sense , the big message feels like a calling or an invitation , to awaken from the trance of contemporary culture .
It ’ s a challenge to prioritize connection to nature and to source , to place a higher value on life , to see through separation , and above all to heed the call to be of service .
It always vibrates with the frequency of undeniable truth .
In 2013 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way : In 2018 , author and researcher Graham Hancock received this insight from Ayahuasca , sharing it with the world in an urgent message : “ …Our species seems close to tearing itself apart and rendering the Earth uninhabitable in the process .
What fools we are to allow such a state of affairs to persist , and to allow politicians and religious mis-leaders – for their own short-term gain — to divide us from one another in order to rule us .
Brothers and sisters , wherever we are , no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ political or religious system chance brought us to be born , the time has come to awaken from this nightmare of our own making and remember the truth about ourselves — that we are all members of one family , no matter how widely scattered , that none of us have the slightest justification to claim superiority over any other , and that we all share the same hopes , fears , courage , fragility and capacity for love .
United we stand .
It is just plain madness to continue to allow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the artificial barriers of nation , race or creed .
We must remember our common humanity , remember that we are one family , and put that realisation first before all other considerations if our species is to survive the challenges of the coming years and return once again to being good stewards of this precious garden of a planet.
” ~Graham Hancock Ethnobotanist and author Jonathon Miller-Weisberger in 2015 wrote about integral salvation as the message of the plants : “ Because our modern way of life is failing us and Mother @ @ @ @ @ @ @ new operating system that will encompass everyone and everything , and guide us all back to a harmonious co-relationship with each other and with nature .
There is no other choice , nothing else will work at this point , and this is precisely what the sacred plants teach , and why their message is resonating with so many in these times .
Sacred plants and especially the entheogenic plants such as Ayahuasca and Yagé , Iboga , San Pedro Cactus and Peyote , among others , ask us to reach towards an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not achieve salvation of our own self , but rather that we must reach towards the salvation of all nature and all life .
In order to do this , we must abandon all discriminations to all forms of life , holding no discrimination towards any form of life .
No matter what form they take or don ’ t take , no matter what type of transformation they have undergone to get here .
Whether it be from womb , from egg , from cocoon , from slime or any other type @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we raise our vibrational level , and be ready always to serve at whatever level is within our reach .
For some , simply smiling is the best they can do , and it is necessary as it uplifts people ’ s energy around you… In any of the many manifest forms that this can take , we must awaken to a universal culture of service that sees other ’ s joys and other ’ s sorrows as if they were our very own .
This is how to dissolve the illusory boundary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of creation.
” ~ Jonathon Miller-Weisberger As a collective , we ’ re missing something .
Something big .
It ’ s happening all around us and we should be able to see it , but our perception of reality is limited by the clouds we live in .
What we ’ ve created is not working , but we don ’ t see it .
In 2014 , I penned the following : “ …These shamanic medicines are swiftly working their way into the consciousness of the modern , ‘ civilized ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is under severe ecological assault and the individual is bombarded with fear , polluted with toxic foods and a toxic environment , and suffering from dreadful mental and emotional health .
We have largely lost our connection to the divine , to the source of life and consciousness and to the very earth that sustains us .
Whereas ancient cultures communicated directly with nature to gain the necessary wisdom to live by , we have convinced ourselves that nature is here for our exploitation.
” ~Dylan Charles In these challenging times , when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ built is collapsing , I appreciate reminders like these which elevate my awareness so that the big picture can be seen .
We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us .
Earlier today I came across the following post from Paul Stamets , the legendary wizard of all things fungi .
I felt a rush of remembrance and was lifted out of my thoughts .
And I smiled .
In the video he shares something he learned in a particularly strong psilocybin journey : “ I realized , Oh My God , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all connected .
We are individuals within one giant organism .
The concept of Gaia… is this feeling of self obvious truth , of interconnectedness , and the fact that we ’ re all part of the same inter-molecular , connected entity .
And that the voices called out to me to say , ‘ wake up , don ’ t you see ?
You are in such a uniquely cherished position , as the ascended species , but with that you have a responsibility .
What are you going to do ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ you going to help this planet , beyond your lifetime ?
You were given the gift of life , and a voice , and a body .
Millions of people died before us .
Billions of people will die after us , but this is our moment in time .
Take this responsibility as a cherished opportunity to be able to make a positive difference for the commons .
And what is your legacy in the context of nature ?
And I think it ’ s a call to arms , and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now .
It ’ s a call to arms for everyone on this planet to come together .
Across political borders , boundaries of countries .
Realize that we share a universal consciousness with nature together.
” [ Source ] Finally , my friend , author Gary ‘ Z ’ McGee said the following : I hope this finds you well and in peace , and that in spite of such magnificent chaos you somehow find a way to look forward to overcoming and learning from the challenges we all face together , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ editor of Waking Times and host of Battered Souls : A Podcast About Transformation , both dedicated to ideas of personal transformation , societal awakening , and planetary renewal .
His personal journey is deeply inspired by shamanic plant medicines and the arts of Kung Fu , Qi Gong and Yoga .
After seven years of living in Costa Rica , he now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains , where he practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and enjoys spending time with family .
He has written hundreds of articles , reaching and inspiring @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This article ( Global Crisis – Messages from Meetings with the Plants ) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Dylan Charles and WakingTimes.com .
It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution , author bio , and this copyright statement .

Global Crisis – Messages from Meetings with the Plants
Dylan Charles, Editor
Waking Times
I sometimes wonder what effect the presence of shamanic plant medicines and other psychedelic or entheogenic substances have truly had on Western culture.
While journeys with these medicines are such deeply personal and healing experiences, our world is shaped by the conduct of all individuals combined. As so many individuals transform, there must be some larger effect on our world. When will we see it manifest?
Those who’ve had the calling and the courage to step into sacred ceremony tend to carry these experiences with them for a long time, processing them, integrating them, and continually learning from the awarenesses they offer.
In a universal sense, the big message feels like a calling or an invitation, to awaken from the trance of contemporary culture. It’s a challenge to prioritize connection to nature and to source, to place a higher value on life, to see through separation, and above all to heed the call to be of service.
It always vibrates with the frequency of undeniable truth.
In 2013, author Rak Razam presented our dilemma this way:
“The history of Western culture in the last two thousand years could be seen as the “Empire of the Mind conquering the exterior world and extinguishing the interior one, with the result that we have atrophied our spiritual connection.” –Rak Razam
In 2018, author and researcher Graham Hancock received this insight from Ayahuasca, sharing it with the world in an urgent message:
“…Our species seems close to tearing itself apart and rendering the Earth uninhabitable in the process. What fools we are to allow such a state of affairs to persist, and to allow politicians and religious mis-leaders – for their own short-term gain — to divide us from one another in order to rule us. Brothers and sisters, wherever we are, no matter on which land or under which political or religious system chance brought us to be born, the time has come to awaken from this nightmare of our own making and remember the truth about ourselves — that we are all members of one family, no matter how widely scattered, that none of us have the slightest justification to claim superiority over any other, and that we all share the same hopes, fears, courage, fragility and capacity for love. United we stand. It is just plain madness to continue to allow ourselves to be divided and defined by the artificial barriers of nation, race or creed. We must remember our common humanity, remember that we are one family, and put that realisation first before all other considerations if our species is to survive the challenges of the coming years and return once again to being good stewards of this precious garden of a planet.” ~Graham Hancock
Ethnobotanist and author Jonathon Miller-Weisberger in 2015 wrote about integral salvation as the message of the plants:
“Because our modern way of life is failing us and Mother Earth, we need to design a new operating system that will encompass everyone and everything, and guide us all back to a harmonious co-relationship with each other and with nature. There is no other choice, nothing else will work at this point, and this is precisely what the sacred plants teach, and why their message is resonating with so many in these times. Sacred plants and especially the entheogenic plants such as Ayahuasca and Yagé, Iboga, San Pedro Cactus and Peyote, among others, ask us to reach towards an integral salvation, which means we cannot achieve salvation of our own self, but rather that we must reach towards the salvation of all nature and all life. In order to do this, we must abandon all discriminations to all forms of life, holding no discrimination towards any form of life. No matter what form they take or don’t take, no matter what type of transformation they have undergone to get here. Whether it be from womb, from egg, from cocoon, from slime or any other type of transformation. It is imperative that we raise our vibrational level, and be ready always to serve at whatever level is within our reach. For some, simply smiling is the best they can do, and it is necessary as it uplifts people’s energy around you… In any of the many manifest forms that this can take, we must awaken to a universal culture of service that sees other’s joys and other’s sorrows as if they were our very own. This is how to dissolve the illusory boundary of separation between ourselves and the rest of creation.” ~ Jonathon Miller-Weisberger
As a collective, we’re missing something. Something big. It’s happening all around us and we should be able to see it, but our perception of reality is limited by the clouds we live in. What we’ve created is not working, but we don’t see it.
In 2014, I penned the following:
“…These shamanic medicines are swiftly working their way into the consciousness of the modern, ‘civilized’ world at a time when the planet is under severe ecological assault and the individual is bombarded with fear, polluted with toxic foods and a toxic environment, and suffering from dreadful mental and emotional health. We have largely lost our connection to the divine, to the source of life and consciousness and to the very earth that sustains us. Whereas ancient cultures communicated directly with nature to gain the necessary wisdom to live by, we have convinced ourselves that nature is here for our exploitation.” ~Dylan Charles
In these challenging times, when the house of cards we’ve built is collapsing, I appreciate reminders like these which elevate my awareness so that the big picture can be seen.
We have a tremendous opportunity in front of us.
Earlier today I came across the following post from Paul Stamets, the legendary wizard of all things fungi. I felt a rush of remembrance and was lifted out of my thoughts. And I smiled. In the video he shares something he learned in a particularly strong psilocybin journey:
“I realized, Oh My God, we are all One. We are all connected. We are individuals within one giant organism. The concept of Gaia… is this feeling of self obvious truth, of interconnectedness, and the fact that we’re all part of the same inter-molecular, connected entity. And that the voices called out to me to say, ‘wake up, don’t you see? You are in such a uniquely cherished position, as the ascended species, but with that you have a responsibility. What are you going to do? What is your responsibility? How are you going to help this planet, beyond your lifetime? You were given the gift of life, and a voice, and a body. Millions of people died before us. Billions of people will die after us, but this is our moment in time. Take this responsibility as a cherished opportunity to be able to make a positive difference for the commons. And what is your legacy in the context of nature? And I think it’s a call to arms, and that’s what we’re seeing now. It’s a call to arms for everyone on this planet to come together. Across political borders, boundaries of countries. Realize that we share a universal consciousness with nature together.” [Source]
http://www.facebook.com/FungiFilm/videos/221315558966625/
Finally, my friend, author Gary ‘Z’ McGee said the following:
“The essence of the earth has risen again. It has risen inside me. It has the potential to rise inside you, as it resides within us all. And it must be unleashed, “painfully and passionately” lest things –bees; oceans; monarch butterflies; people– collapse into an unhealthy state of existence. This is the essence of sacred activism. This is the lighting of the third fire: each of us realizing that we are a force of nature first and a person second.” – Gary ‘Z’ McGee
I hope this finds you well and in peace, and that in spite of such magnificent chaos you somehow find a way to look forward to overcoming and learning from the challenges we all face together, right now.
About the Author
Dylan Charles is the editor of Waking Times and host of Battered Souls: A Podcast About Transformation, both dedicated to ideas of personal transformation, societal awakening, and planetary renewal. His personal journey is deeply inspired by shamanic plant medicines and the arts of Kung Fu, Qi Gong and Yoga. After seven years of living in Costa Rica, he now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where he practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and enjoys spending time with family. He has written hundreds of articles, reaching and inspiring millions of people around the world.
This article (Global Crisis – Messages from Meetings with the Plants) was originally created and published by Waking Times and is published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Dylan Charles and WakingTimes.com. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution, author bio, and this copyright statement.