lewrockwell--2020-10-06--Out of the Woods?

Out of the Woods?

Hallelujahs echoed across the Blue Media late last week when the news broke that Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus .
For four years the president had foiled every ambuscade set along his path by a morally-inflamed , predatory Resistance , and each time he beep-beeped his way around the trap .
But , now , with a little help from a pitiless universe , they had him !
A gazillion tiny , viral assassins were stealing through his bloodstream like so many microscopic jihadis , primping him for an agonizing death : his alveoli withering , red corpuscles robbed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issuing from his nostrils , toes and fingers turning blue-green — and most deliciously of all , he ’ d remain conscious of his imminent defeat , of the life ( which he ’ d never deserved in the first place ) draining by degrees from his wicked , orange , bloated , supine carcass… Except… wait a minute… what the hell… ?
How could it be !
Late Sunday he somehow arose from his bed-of-death , ordered pizza ( with meat ! )
for a thousand imps and demons camped outside Walter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ own power ( ! )
into a limousine to take a ride around the block and wave at his unholy minions !
The cheek of this man !
Donald Trump 2020 Coll ... Buy New $ 37.94 CNN had a whack attack .
Brian Stelter was beside himself , hinting that sinister forces had punked the network , and all the other righteous Resistance cadres , and that Mr. Trump could be endangering every federal employee down to the enlisted men posted overseas by venturing from his sickroom .
The New York Times @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , declaring that “ the murky and shifting narrative of his illness was rewritten again with grim new details.
” Nicely put by an outfit that has come to specialize in shifting narratives !
And indeed , the new Resistance narrative demands to know just exactly when did the president start to feel ill ?
Did he , perhaps on-purpose , haul his ailing , hulking , scheming Golem ass into the Cleveland debate venue with the hope of infecting his rival , delicate Ol ’ White Joe Biden ?
Did he recklessly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , dignitaries and luminaries coming and going , their family members , associates , underlings , servants , children ?
Did he threaten the global order , world peace , the fate of humanity ?
US Presidential Collec ... Buy New $ 29.95 So now , a keening wail of lamentation rings out across the land at Mr. Trump ’ s possible , dastardly recovery .
How dare he !
— to paraphrase Saint Greta Thunberg .
209,000 other Americans died , and not him !
What vile and unholy devices got him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No doubt Democratic Party astrologasters and consulting augurers will be searching for clues among the orbiting planets and the spilled organs of sacrificed chickens in the days to come .
Perhaps Rep. Adam Schiff ( D-CA ) can snare a few of the president ’ s attending physicians into his House Intel Committee and rev up another impeachment for going against doctors ’ orders .
Wouldn ’ t that be a delectable counter to the looming confirmation process for Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’ s replacement next door in the Senate this month ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Leader Chuck Schumer is hinting — a tantalizing prospect , with Covid-19 on the loose .
It was Chuck who memorably told Rachel Maddow of MSNBC in 2017 that the Deep State “ has six ways from [ sic ] Sunday at getting back at you.
” By my count , they ’ re well over their allotted six by now .
Not only did they all fail , but the seditionists behind them are liable to wind up behind bars before this is all over , perhaps even a few of Senator @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hat 2020 ... Buy New $ 14.99 Anyway , Majority Leader McConnell isn ’ t buying Mr. Schumer ’ s sob story .
“ The Senate ’ s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough , fair and historically supported confirmation process , ” McConnell said on Saturday .
The hearings are pegged to begin on October 12 .
Prediction : they will run three days , tops , and the nominee will sail through .
No doubt Senator Schumer and company will be combing the legislative rules thickets with their Lawfare bush-beaters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by-law that might prevent the deal from going down .
Or else Chuck will threaten to shoot a puppy on the floor of the Senate if the Amy Coney Barrett hearing proceeds .
The news has it this morning that the president might check out of Walter Reed later today .
The event is loaded to the brim with portentous metaphor , mainly , that Mr. Trump has overcome yet another adversity , specifically one that the Resistance has been using to scare the public into compliance with economy-wrecking rules .
As the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the days ahead , perhaps the rest of America will rethink the abnormalities of 2020 .
Perhaps they will notice the Democratic Party ’ s investment in the Covid-19 lockdown narrative , and what it has done to their livelihoods , their families , and their futures .
Maybe watching Mr. Trump get through this , they will see a way out of the woods .
The Best of James Howard Kunstler

Hallelujahs echoed across the Blue Media late last week when the news broke that Donald Trump tested positive for coronavirus. For four years the president had foiled every ambuscade set along his path by a morally-inflamed, predatory Resistance, and each time he beep-beeped his way around the trap. But, now, with a little help from a pitiless universe, they had him! A gazillion tiny, viral assassins were stealing through his bloodstream like so many microscopic jihadis, primping him for an agonizing death: his alveoli withering, red corpuscles robbed of their vital O2, pink foam issuing from his nostrils, toes and fingers turning blue-green — and most deliciously of all, he’d remain conscious of his imminent defeat, of the life (which he’d never deserved in the first place) draining by degrees from his wicked, orange, bloated, supine carcass…
Except… wait a minute… what the hell…? How could it be! Late Sunday he somehow arose from his bed-of-death, ordered pizza (with meat!) for a thousand imps and demons camped outside Walter Reed Hospital, and walked under his own power (!) into a limousine to take a ride around the block and wave at his unholy minions! The cheek of this man!
Donald Trump 2020 Coll... Buy New $37.94 (as of 05:17 UTC - Details) CNN had a whack attack. Brian Stelter was beside himself, hinting that sinister forces had punked the network, and all the other righteous Resistance cadres, and that Mr. Trump could be endangering every federal employee down to the enlisted men posted overseas by venturing from his sickroom. The New York Times went farther afield (of course), declaring that “the murky and shifting narrative of his illness was rewritten again with grim new details.” Nicely put by an outfit that has come to specialize in shifting narratives!
And indeed, the new Resistance narrative demands to know just exactly when did the president start to feel ill? Did he, perhaps on-purpose, haul his ailing, hulking, scheming Golem ass into the Cleveland debate venue with the hope of infecting his rival, delicate Ol’ White Joe Biden? Did he recklessly put at risk the White House staff, dignitaries and luminaries coming and going, their family members, associates, underlings, servants, children? Did he threaten the global order, world peace, the fate of humanity?
US Presidential Collec... Buy New $29.95 (as of 04:30 UTC - Details) So now, a keening wail of lamentation rings out across the land at Mr. Trump’s possible, dastardly recovery. How dare he! — to paraphrase Saint Greta Thunberg. 209,000 other Americans died, and not him! What vile and unholy devices got him out of a sure death sentence? No doubt Democratic Party astrologasters and consulting augurers will be searching for clues among the orbiting planets and the spilled organs of sacrificed chickens in the days to come. Perhaps Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) can snare a few of the president’s attending physicians into his House Intel Committee and rev up another impeachment for going against doctors’ orders. Wouldn’t that be a delectable counter to the looming confirmation process for Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s replacement next door in the Senate this month?
Over his dead body, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is hinting — a tantalizing prospect, with Covid-19 on the loose. It was Chuck who memorably told Rachel Maddow of MSNBC in 2017 that the Deep State “has six ways from [sic] Sunday at getting back at you.” By my count, they’re well over their allotted six by now. Not only did they all fail, but the seditionists behind them are liable to wind up behind bars before this is all over, perhaps even a few of Senator Schumer’s colleagues.
Donald Trump Hat 2020 ... Buy New $14.99 (as of 04:51 UTC - Details) Anyway, Majority Leader McConnell isn’t buying Mr. Schumer’s sob story. “The Senate’s floor schedule will not interrupt the thorough, fair and historically supported confirmation process,” McConnell said on Saturday. The hearings are pegged to begin on October 12. Prediction: they will run three days, tops, and the nominee will sail through. No doubt Senator Schumer and company will be combing the legislative rules thickets with their Lawfare bush-beaters in search of some recondite, magic by-law that might prevent the deal from going down. Or else Chuck will threaten to shoot a puppy on the floor of the Senate if the Amy Coney Barrett hearing proceeds.
The news has it this morning that the president might check out of Walter Reed later today. The event is loaded to the brim with portentous metaphor, mainly, that Mr. Trump has overcome yet another adversity, specifically one that the Resistance has been using to scare the public into compliance with economy-wrecking rules. As the president re-enters something like normal life in the days ahead, perhaps the rest of America will rethink the abnormalities of 2020. Perhaps they will notice the Democratic Party’s investment in the Covid-19 lockdown narrative, and what it has done to their livelihoods, their families, and their futures. Maybe watching Mr. Trump get through this, they will see a way out of the woods.
Reprinted with permission from Kunstler.com.
The Best of James Howard Kunstler


lewrockwell--2020-10-06--Eric Clapton Backs Van Morrison’s Call to ‘Save Live Music’

LEGENDARY musician Eric Clapton has joined Sir Van Morrison ’ s campaign to ‘ save live music ’ .
The three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said he shared the concerns of the Belfast crooner about the impact current Covid-19 restrictions are having on the live music industry .
Clapton said he believes if action is not taken “ live music might never recover ” .
It comes after Van Morrison launched a campaign to save the music industry and is donating profits from his new collection of anti-lockdown songs to musicians impacted by measures he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” .
Rubie ’ s Jurassic ... Buy New $ 45.00 Money from downloads of Born To Be Free , As I Walked Out and No More Lockdown will be distributed by his arts charity , the Van Morrison Rhythm and Blues Foundation .
But the musician ( 75 ) has faced criticism for his trio of protest songs calling for an end to rules aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus .
The Stormont health minister Robin Swann described the lyrics as “ dangerous ” , while a Belfast councillor called the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the city following his controversial intervention .
Now Clapton has voiced his support for Van Morrison ’ s efforts to find solutions so venues can reopen at full capacity .

LEGENDARY musician Eric Clapton has joined Sir Van Morrison’s campaign to ‘save live music’.
The three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said he shared the concerns of the Belfast crooner about the impact current Covid-19 restrictions are having on the live music industry.
Clapton said he believes if action is not taken “live music might never recover”.
It comes after Van Morrison launched a campaign to save the music industry and is donating profits from his new collection of anti-lockdown songs to musicians impacted by measures he claims do “more harm than good”. Rubie’s Jurassic... Buy New $45.00 (as of 04:52 UTC - Details)
Money from downloads of Born To Be Free, As I Walked Out and No More Lockdown will be distributed by his arts charity, the Van Morrison Rhythm and Blues Foundation.
But the musician (75) has faced criticism for his trio of protest songs calling for an end to rules aimed at stopping the spread of coronavirus.
The Stormont health minister Robin Swann described the lyrics as “dangerous”, while a Belfast councillor called the singer to be stripped of the freedom of the city following his controversial intervention.
Now Clapton has voiced his support for Van Morrison’s efforts to find solutions so venues can reopen at full capacity.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-10-06--John Lennon at 80: One Man Against the Deep State ‘Monster’

John Lennon , born 80 years ago on October 9 , 1940 , was a musical genius and pop cultural icon .
He was also a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist , and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority .
Long before Julian Assange , Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning were being castigated for blowing the whistle on the government ’ s war crimes and the National Security Agency ’ s abuse of its surveillance powers , it was Lennon who was being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to power about the government ’ s warmongering , his phone calls monitored and data files illegally collected on his activities and associations .
For a while , at least , Lennon became enemy number one in the eyes of the U.S. government .
GIM ME SOME TRUTH .
[ 2 C ... Buy New $ 79.98 Years after Lennon ’ s assassination it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him , including song lyrics .
J. Edgar Hoover , head of the FBI at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the musician .
There were also various written orders calling on government agents to frame Lennon for a drug bust .
“ The FBI ’ s files on Lennon … read like the writings of a paranoid goody-two-shoes , ” observed reporter Jonathan Curiel .
As the New York Times notes , “ Critics of today ’ s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds .
They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ … is the story not only of one man being harassed , but of a democracy being undermined.
” Indeed , all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance , militarism , corruption , harassment , SWAT team raids , political persecution , spying , overcriminalization , etc.—were present in Lennon ’ s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice , peace and a populist revolution .
For all of these reasons , the U.S. government was obsessed with Lennon , who had learned early on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ end by proclaiming a radical message .
More importantly , Lennon saw that his music could mobilize the public and help to bring about change .
Lennon believed in the power of the people .
Unfortunately , as Lennon recognized : “ The trouble with government as it is , is that it doesn ’ t represent the people .
It controls them.
” However , as Martin Lewis writing for Time notes : “ John Lennon was not God .
But he earned the love and admiration of his generation by creating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and led .
The appreciation for him deepened because he then instinctively decided to use his celebrity as a bully pulpit for causes greater than his own enrichment or self-aggrandizement.
” For instance , in December 1971 at a concert in Ann Arbor , Mich. , Lennon took to the stage and in his usual confrontational style belted out “ John Sinclair , ” a song he had written about a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes .
Within days of Lennon ’ s call for action @ @ @ @ @ @ @ released .
What Lennon did not know at the time was that government officials had been keeping strict tabs on the ex-Beatle they referred to as “ Mr .
Lennon.
” Incredibly , FBI agents were in the audience at the Ann Arbor concert , “ taking notes on everything from the attendance ( 15,000 ) to the artistic merits of his new song.
” The U.S. government , steeped in paranoia , was spying on Lennon .
By March 1971 , when his “ Power to the People ” single was released @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Having moved to New York City that same year , Lennon was ready to participate in political activism against the U. S. government , the “ monster ” that was financing the war in Vietnam .
John Lennon 1980 : The ... Womack , Kenneth Best Price : $ 18.13 Buy New $ 14.13 The release of Lennon ’ s Sometime in New York City album , which contained a radical anti-government message in virtually every song and depicted President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-tung dancing together nude on the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conflict to come .
The official U.S. war against Lennon began in earnest in 1972 after rumors surfaced that Lennon planned to embark on a U.S. concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration .
Nixon , fearing Lennon ’ s influence on about 11 million new voters ( 1972 was the first year that 18-year-olds could vote ) , had the ex-Beatle served with deportation orders “ in an effort to silence him as a voice of the peace movement.
” Then again , the FBI @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , prosecuting and generally harassing activists , politicians , and cultural figures .
Most notably among the latter are such celebrated names as folk singer Pete Seeger , painter Pablo Picasso , comic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin , comedian Lenny Bruce and poet Allen Ginsberg .
Among those most closely watched by the FBI was Martin Luther King Jr. , a man labeled by the FBI as “ the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country.
” With wiretaps and electronic bugs planted in his home and office , King @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FBI with the aim of “ neutralizing ” him .
He even received letters written by FBI agents suggesting that he either commit suicide or the details of his private life would be revealed to the public .
The FBI kept up its pursuit of King until he was felled by a hollow-point bullet to the head in 1968 .
While Lennon was not—as far as we know—being blackmailed into suicide , he was the subject of a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment by the U.S. government ( spearheaded by FBI Director @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by President Richard Nixon to have him “ neutralized ” and deported .
As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out , “ The F.B.I.
’ s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose .
What is more surprising , and ultimately more unsettling , is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.
” As Lennon ’ s FBI file shows , memos and reports about the FBI ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flying back and forth between Hoover , the Nixon White House , various senators , the FBI and the U.S. Immigration Office .
Nixon ’ s pursuit of Lennon was relentless and in large part based on the misperception that Lennon and his comrades were planning to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention .
The government ’ s paranoia , however , was misplaced .
John Lennon Decal Stic ... Buy New $ 4.99 Left-wing activists who were on government watch lists and who shared an interest in bringing down the Nixon Administration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York apartment .
But when they revealed that they were planning to cause a riot , Lennon balked .
As he recounted in a 1980 interview , “ We said , We ain ’ t buying this .
We ’ re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what ?
And replace it with what ?
.
.
.
It was all based on this illusion , that you can create violence and overthrow what is , and get communism or get some right-wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re all lunatics.
” Despite the fact that Lennon was not part of the “ lunatic ” plot , the government persisted in its efforts to have him deported .
Equally determined to resist , Lennon dug in and fought back .
Every time he was ordered out of the country , his lawyers delayed the process by filing an appeal .
Finally , in 1976 , Lennon won the battle to stay in the country when he was granted a green card .
As he said afterwards , “ I have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is where the action is .
I think we ’ ll just go home , open a tea bag , and look at each other.
” Lennon ’ s time of repose didn ’ t last long , however .
By 1980 , he had re-emerged with a new album and plans to become politically active again .
The old radical was back and ready to cause trouble .
In his final interview on Dec. 8 , 1980 , Lennon mused , “ The whole map ’ s changed and we ’ re @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we ’ re still all here , and while there ’ s life there ’ s hope.
” The Deep State has a way of dealing with troublemakers , unfortunately .
On Dec. 8 , 1980 , Mark David Chapman was waiting in the shadows when Lennon returned to his New York apartment building .
As Lennon stepped outside the car to greet the fans congregating outside , Chapman , in an eerie echo of the FBI ’ s moniker for Lennon , called out , “ Mr .
Lennon !
” Lennon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of gunfire as Chapman—dropping into a two-handed combat stance—emptied his .38-caliber pistol and pumped four hollow-point bullets into his back and left arm .
Lennon stumbled , staggered forward and , with blood pouring from his mouth and chest , collapsed to the ground .
John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital .
He had finally been “ neutralized.
” Yet where those who neutralized the likes of John Lennon , Martin Luther King Jr. , John F. Kennedy , Malcolm X , Robert Kennedy and others go wrong is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ movement with a bullet and a madman .
The Last Days of John ... Patterson , James Buy New $ 24.99 Thankfully , Lennon ’ s legacy lives on in his words , his music and his efforts to speak truth to power .
As Yoko Ono shared in a 2014 letter to the parole board tasked with determining whether Chapman should be released : “ A man of humble origin , [ John Lennon ] brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music .
He tried to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and he was .
He gave encouragement , inspiration and dreams to people regardless of their race , creed and gender.
” Sadly , not much has changed for the better in the world since Lennon walked among us .
Peace remains out of reach .
Activism and whistleblowers continue to be prosecuted for challenging the government ’ s authority .
Militarism is on the rise , with local police dressed like the military , all the while the governmental war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives across the globe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with John Lennon to imagine a world of peace , it ’ s getting harder to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state .
Meanwhile , as I point out in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , those who dare to speak up are labeled dissidents , troublemakers , terrorists , lunatics , or mentally ill and tagged for surveillance , censorship , involuntary detention or , worse , even shot and killed in their own homes by militarized police .
So what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lennon Connolly , Ray Best Price : $ 3.46 Buy New $ 14.74 “ If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set , then there ’ d be peace.
” “ War is over if you want it.
” “ Produce your own dream… .
It ’ s quite possible to do anything , but not to put it on the leaders… .
You have to do it yourself .
That ’ s what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began .
They can point the way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says , but the instructions are all there for all to see , have always been and always will be .
There ’ s nothing new under the sun .
All the roads lead to Rome .
And people can not provide it for you .
I can ’ t wake you up .
You can wake you up .
I can ’ t cure you .
You can cure you.
” “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; It ’ s something you make , Something you do , Something you are , And something you give away.
” “ If you want peace , you won ’ t get it with violence.
” And my favorite advice of all : “ Say you want a revolution / We better get on right away / Well you get on your feet / And out on the street / Singing power to the people.
” The Best of John W. Whitehead

“You gotta remember, establishment, it’s just a name for evil. The monster doesn’t care whether it kills all the students or whether there’s a revolution. It’s not thinking logically, it’s out of control.”—John Lennon (1969)
John Lennon, born 80 years ago on October 9, 1940, was a musical genius and pop cultural icon.
He was also a vocal peace protester and anti-war activist, and a high-profile example of the lengths to which the Deep State will go to persecute those who dare to challenge its authority.
Long before Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning were being castigated for blowing the whistle on the government’s war crimes and the National Security Agency’s abuse of its surveillance powers, it was Lennon who was being singled out for daring to speak truth to power about the government’s warmongering, his phone calls monitored and data files illegally collected on his activities and associations.
For a while, at least, Lennon became enemy number one in the eyes of the U.S. government. GIMME SOME TRUTH. [2 C... Buy New $79.98 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
Years after Lennon’s assassination it would be revealed that the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him, including song lyrics. J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI at the time, directed the agency to spy on the musician. There were also various written orders calling on government agents to frame Lennon for a drug bust. “The FBI’s files on Lennon … read like the writings of a paranoid goody-two-shoes,” observed reporter Jonathan Curiel.
As the New York Times notes, “Critics of today’s domestic surveillance object largely on privacy grounds. They have focused far less on how easily government surveillance can become an instrument for the people in power to try to hold on to power. ‘The U.S. vs. John Lennon’ … is the story not only of one man being harassed, but of a democracy being undermined.”
Indeed, all of the many complaints we have about government today—surveillance, militarism, corruption, harassment, SWAT team raids, political persecution, spying, overcriminalization, etc.—were present in Lennon’s day and formed the basis of his call for social justice, peace and a populist revolution.
For all of these reasons, the U.S. government was obsessed with Lennon, who had learned early on that rock music could serve a political end by proclaiming a radical message. More importantly, Lennon saw that his music could mobilize the public and help to bring about change. Lennon believed in the power of the people. Unfortunately, as Lennon recognized: “The trouble with government as it is, is that it doesn’t represent the people. It controls them.”
However, as Martin Lewis writing for Time notes: “John Lennon was not God. But he earned the love and admiration of his generation by creating a huge body of work that inspired and led. The appreciation for him deepened because he then instinctively decided to use his celebrity as a bully pulpit for causes greater than his own enrichment or self-aggrandizement.”
For instance, in December 1971 at a concert in Ann Arbor, Mich., Lennon took to the stage and in his usual confrontational style belted out “John Sinclair,” a song he had written about a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for possessing two marijuana cigarettes. Within days of Lennon’s call for action, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Sinclair released.
What Lennon did not know at the time was that government officials had been keeping strict tabs on the ex-Beatle they referred to as “Mr. Lennon.” Incredibly, FBI agents were in the audience at the Ann Arbor concert, “taking notes on everything from the attendance (15,000) to the artistic merits of his new song.”
The U.S. government, steeped in paranoia, was spying on Lennon.
By March 1971, when his “Power to the People” single was released, it was clear where Lennon stood. Having moved to New York City that same year, Lennon was ready to participate in political activism against the U. S. government, the “monster” that was financing the war in Vietnam. John Lennon 1980: The ... Womack, Kenneth Best Price: $18.13 Buy New $14.13 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
The release of Lennon’s Sometime in New York City album, which contained a radical anti-government message in virtually every song and depicted President Richard Nixon and Chinese Chairman Mao Tse-tung dancing together nude on the cover, only fanned the flames of the conflict to come.
The official U.S. war against Lennon began in earnest in 1972 after rumors surfaced that Lennon planned to embark on a U.S. concert tour that would combine rock music with antiwar organizing and voter registration. Nixon, fearing Lennon’s influence on about 11 million new voters (1972 was the first year that 18-year-olds could vote), had the ex-Beatle served with deportation orders “in an effort to silence him as a voice of the peace movement.”
Then again, the FBI has had a long history of persecuting, prosecuting and generally harassing activists, politicians, and cultural figures. Most notably among the latter are such celebrated names as folk singer Pete Seeger, painter Pablo Picasso, comic actor and filmmaker Charlie Chaplin, comedian Lenny Bruce and poet Allen Ginsberg.
Among those most closely watched by the FBI was Martin Luther King Jr., a man labeled by the FBI as “the most dangerous and effective Negro leader in the country.” With wiretaps and electronic bugs planted in his home and office, King was kept under constant surveillance by the FBI with the aim of “neutralizing” him. He even received letters written by FBI agents suggesting that he either commit suicide or the details of his private life would be revealed to the public. The FBI kept up its pursuit of King until he was felled by a hollow-point bullet to the head in 1968.
While Lennon was not—as far as we know—being blackmailed into suicide, he was the subject of a four-year campaign of surveillance and harassment by the U.S. government (spearheaded by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover), an attempt by President Richard Nixon to have him “neutralized” and deported. As Adam Cohen of the New York Times points out, “The F.B.I.’s surveillance of Lennon is a reminder of how easily domestic spying can become unmoored from any legitimate law enforcement purpose. What is more surprising, and ultimately more unsettling, is the degree to which the surveillance turns out to have been intertwined with electoral politics.”
As Lennon’s FBI file shows, memos and reports about the FBI’s surveillance of the anti-war activist had been flying back and forth between Hoover, the Nixon White House, various senators, the FBI and the U.S. Immigration Office.
Nixon’s pursuit of Lennon was relentless and in large part based on the misperception that Lennon and his comrades were planning to disrupt the 1972 Republican National Convention. The government’s paranoia, however, was misplaced. John Lennon Decal Stic... Buy New $4.99 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
Left-wing activists who were on government watch lists and who shared an interest in bringing down the Nixon Administration had been congregating at Lennon’s New York apartment. But when they revealed that they were planning to cause a riot, Lennon balked. As he recounted in a 1980 interview, “We said, We ain’t buying this. We’re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what? And replace it with what? . . . It was all based on this illusion, that you can create violence and overthrow what is, and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic. They’re all lunatics.”
Despite the fact that Lennon was not part of the “lunatic” plot, the government persisted in its efforts to have him deported. Equally determined to resist, Lennon dug in and fought back. Every time he was ordered out of the country, his lawyers delayed the process by filing an appeal. Finally, in 1976, Lennon won the battle to stay in the country when he was granted a green card. As he said afterwards, “I have a love for this country…. This is where the action is. I think we’ll just go home, open a tea bag, and look at each other.”
Lennon’s time of repose didn’t last long, however. By 1980, he had re-emerged with a new album and plans to become politically active again.
The old radical was back and ready to cause trouble. In his final interview on Dec. 8, 1980, Lennon mused, “The whole map’s changed and we’re going into an unknown future, but we’re still all here, and while there’s life there’s hope.”
The Deep State has a way of dealing with troublemakers, unfortunately. On Dec. 8, 1980, Mark David Chapman was waiting in the shadows when Lennon returned to his New York apartment building. As Lennon stepped outside the car to greet the fans congregating outside, Chapman, in an eerie echo of the FBI’s moniker for Lennon, called out, “Mr. Lennon!”
Lennon turned and was met with a barrage of gunfire as Chapman—dropping into a two-handed combat stance—emptied his .38-caliber pistol and pumped four hollow-point bullets into his back and left arm. Lennon stumbled, staggered forward and, with blood pouring from his mouth and chest, collapsed to the ground.
John Lennon was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He had finally been “neutralized.”
Yet where those who neutralized the likes of John Lennon, Martin Luther King Jr., John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Robert Kennedy and others go wrong is in believing that you can murder a movement with a bullet and a madman. The Last Days of John ... Patterson, James Buy New $24.99 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
Thankfully, Lennon’s legacy lives on in his words, his music and his efforts to speak truth to power. As Yoko Ono shared in a 2014 letter to the parole board tasked with determining whether Chapman should be released: “A man of humble origin, [John Lennon] brought light and hope to the whole world with his words and music. He tried to be a good power for the world, and he was. He gave encouragement, inspiration and dreams to people regardless of their race, creed and gender.”
Sadly, not much has changed for the better in the world since Lennon walked among us.
Peace remains out of reach. Activism and whistleblowers continue to be prosecuted for challenging the government’s authority. Militarism is on the rise, with local police dressed like the military, all the while the governmental war machine continues to wreak havoc on innocent lives across the globe.
For those of us who joined with John Lennon to imagine a world of peace, it’s getting harder to reconcile that dream with the reality of the American police state.
Meanwhile, as I point out in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, those who dare to speak up are labeled dissidents, troublemakers, terrorists, lunatics, or mentally ill and tagged for surveillance, censorship, involuntary detention or, worse, even shot and killed in their own homes by militarized police.
As Lennon shared in a 1968 interview:
“I think all our society is run by insane people for insane objectives… I think we’re being run by maniacs for maniacal means. If anybody can put on paper what our government and the American government and the Russian… Chinese… what they are actually trying to do, and what they think they’re doing, I’d be very pleased to know what they think they’re doing. I think they’re all insane. But I’m liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That’s what’s insane about it.”
So what’s the answer? Being John Lennon Connolly, Ray Best Price: $3.46 Buy New $14.74 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
Lennon had a multitude of suggestions.
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
“War is over if you want it.”
“Produce your own dream…. It’s quite possible to do anything, but not to put it on the leaders…. You have to do it yourself. That’s what the great masters and mistresses have been saying ever since time began. They can point the way, leave signposts and little instructions in various books that are now called holy and worshipped for the cover of the book and not for what it says, but the instructions are all there for all to see, have always been and always will be. There’s nothing new under the sun. All the roads lead to Rome. And people cannot provide it for you. I can’t wake you up. You can wake you up. I can’t cure you. You can cure you.”
“Peace is not something you wish for; It’s something you make, Something you do, Something you are, And something you give away.”
“If you want peace, you won’t get it with violence.”
And my favorite advice of all: “Say you want a revolution / We better get on right away / Well you get on your feet / And out on the street / Singing power to the people.”
The Best of John W. Whitehead


lewrockwell--2020-10-06--How a Supermarket Got Woke

How a Supermarket Got Woke

I suppose it was only a matter of time before the supermarkets got woke .
Amid the politicisation of absolutely everything , the identitarian culture war engulfing seemingly all areas of life , even peddlers of cabbages , yoghurt and frozen pizzas feel obliged to parade their fealty to the new orthodoxies .
At the end of last week , Sainsbury ’ s made a big song and dance about its plans for Black History Month , which has just got underway in the UK .
Nothing wrong with that , of course .
But it also strayed further into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defensive when it was called out for doing so .
In a statement , explaining what it was doing to support black workers , it said it had provided them with ‘ a safe space to gather in response to the Black Lives Matter movement ’ .
There was also some burble from its ‘ board member for ethnicity , religion and belief ’ about it being ‘ time for us to come together and drive change ’ .
It also tweeted a graphic , which read : ‘ We proudly represent and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ does not want to shop with an inclusive retailer is welcome to shop elsewhere.
’ Essentially it suggested that those who may have been irked by its vapid virtue-signalling were racists who could keep their damn money .
Woke : A Guide to Socia ... McGrath , Titania Best Price : $ 9.60 Buy New $ 12.99 A backlash ensued , led by actor turned anti-woke politician Laurence Fox .
In response to claims that the chain was practising a form of woke segregationism , something which has become alarmingly fashionable , Sainsbury @ @ @ @ @ @ @ safe space to ‘ online support groups ’ .
Its Twitter account has since gone about arguing with plonkers complaining about the lack of a White History Month .
A White History Month would , of course , be ludicrous , but it is strange that a supermarket chain feels the need to enter into culture-war non-debates with random outraged people on the internet .
Or is it ?
Since the death of George Floyd and the explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement , big corporates have been desperate to align themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ memorably , Unilever-owned ice-cream company Ben & Jerry ’ s pledged to ‘ dismantle white supremacy ’ .
These companies claim to be endorsing anti-racism .
But really they are endorsing what today passes for anti-racism – a bleak , censorious , divisive worldview that pretends no progress at all has been made on racial equality , and thinks that ignorant white folk , un-PC sitcoms and statues are all part of the reason for this .
As spiked ’ s Fraser Myers has argued , we shouldn ’ t assume this is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ identity politics , it seems , the capitalist class spies a means through which it can justify itself , it can feel good about itself and it can carve out some kind of moral mission beyond making money .

I suppose it was only a matter of time before the supermarkets got woke. Amid the politicisation of absolutely everything, the identitarian culture war engulfing seemingly all areas of life, even peddlers of cabbages, yoghurt and frozen pizzas feel obliged to parade their fealty to the new orthodoxies.
At the end of last week, Sainsbury’s made a big song and dance about its plans for Black History Month, which has just got underway in the UK. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But it also strayed further into more identitarian territory, and got remarkably defensive when it was called out for doing so.
In a statement, explaining what it was doing to support black workers, it said it had provided them with ‘a safe space to gather in response to the Black Lives Matter movement’. There was also some burble from its ‘board member for ethnicity, religion and belief’ about it being ‘time for us to come together and drive change’.
It also tweeted a graphic, which read: ‘We proudly represent and serve our diverse society and anyone who does not want to shop with an inclusive retailer is welcome to shop elsewhere.’ Essentially it suggested that those who may have been irked by its vapid virtue-signalling were racists who could keep their damn money. Woke: A Guide to Socia... McGrath, Titania Best Price: $9.60 Buy New $12.99 (as of 04:53 UTC - Details)
A backlash ensued, led by actor turned anti-woke politician Laurence Fox. In response to claims that the chain was practising a form of woke segregationism, something which has become alarmingly fashionable, Sainsbury’s updated its statement, changing safe space to ‘online support groups’.
Its Twitter account has since gone about arguing with plonkers complaining about the lack of a White History Month. A White History Month would, of course, be ludicrous, but it is strange that a supermarket chain feels the need to enter into culture-war non-debates with random outraged people on the internet.
Or is it? Since the death of George Floyd and the explosion of the Black Lives Matter movement, big corporates have been desperate to align themselves with the identitarian cause. Perhaps most memorably, Unilever-owned ice-cream company Ben & Jerry’s pledged to ‘dismantle white supremacy’.
These companies claim to be endorsing anti-racism. But really they are endorsing what today passes for anti-racism – a bleak, censorious, divisive worldview that pretends no progress at all has been made on racial equality, and thinks that ignorant white folk, un-PC sitcoms and statues are all part of the reason for this.
As spiked’s Fraser Myers has argued, we shouldn’t assume this is all insincere ‘woke-washing’. In identity politics, it seems, the capitalist class spies a means through which it can justify itself, it can feel good about itself and it can carve out some kind of moral mission beyond making money.
Read the Whole Article


lewrockwell--2020-10-06--As Our (Un)Civil War Escalates Towards the Real Thing, America Is in Throes of Unrest Unlike Any in

As Our (Un)Civil War Escalates Towards the Real Thing, America Is in Throes of Unrest Unlike Any in Our 244-Year History

Nearly two thirds of Americans believe the US is on course for civil war .
One third now support political violence .
The first Civil War ’ s death toll won ’ t be beaten , but the second ’ s nation-destroying potential will be unequalled .
The American left and right no longer inhabit a common moral universe .
In fact , that imagined universe does not exist .
The old , cherished political notions no longer apply , if they ever did .
Not only are the terms ‘ left ’ and ‘ right ’ complete misnomers under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not as they seem , or as they are made out to seem .
First , Trump is hardly the stereotypical right-wing despot that the ‘ resistance ’ makes him out to be , his rough demeanor and coarse rhetoric notwithstanding .
At the same time , the Democrats are hardly the vaunted champions of the ‘ working class ’ as imagined under the old dispensation .
Instead , the resistance to Trump is actually led by an entrenched political establishment , although their supporters apparently remain unimpressed by this minor detail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ $ 19.99 Take a look at this ironic and unlikely political alignment .
It should go a long way toward understanding the perturbations throwing the nation into convulsions .
The resistance includes the Democratic Party machine , the loyal Democratic Party voters , the ‘ never-Trumpers ’ among the Republican establishment , the permanent bureaucracy or ‘ deep state ’ , the riotous Antifa and Black Lives Matter foot soldiers , and , but for a few isolated and dwindling islands , the entirety of the mainstream media .
Given its uncontested hegemony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ universe of its own making and projects a fabricated simulacrum as reality .
The resistance establishment controls the official narrative , which includes a few prominent elements : the tropes that Trump is an inveterate liar , a huckster profiting from his incumbency , and a criminal who is committing unspeakable ( and undiscoverable ) crimes against the nation and humanity at large .
Nancy Pelosi ( D-CA ) , the Speaker of the House , went so far as to call Trump , the sitting president , an “ enemy of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump a dictator .
It now asserts as an incontrovertible article of faith that he will refuse to vacate the White House should he lose the upcoming election .
Despite its own chicanery and possible criminality , the resistance establishment is so sure that its success is guaranteed that Hillary Clinton boldly urged Joe Biden not to concede the election under any circumstances .
Rumors have even been floated that a contingent of military generals are prepared to remove Trump from the presidential domicile , if or when it comes to that .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ coronavirus , Democratic Party leaders , a frothing media , and ardent party supporters have been unable to contain their glee at the prospect of his early demise .
As an indication that ‘ civility ’ is a thing of the past , one may point to the recent spate of tweets by Trump haters openly wishing for his death by Covid .
Such posts became so prevalent and glaring that Twitter was forced to introduce a new policy declaring that any tweets wishing for the death of a politician would be removed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even temporarily banning tweeters who infringe the policy .
Such banning is routine for pro-Trump posters – and for far lesser infractions – if they are not contrived by the tech giant in the first place .
Google Archipelago : Th ... Michael Rectenwald Best Price : $ 4.99 Buy New $ 8.77 Meanwhile , Trump supporters are routinely caricatured as a reactionary and irredeemably racist band of blind loyalists , including a significant contingent of white supremacists willing and already engaging in acts of racist violence .
Even as Antifa and Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rubble in their wake , rightwing extremists , we are told , are the greatest domestic threat to national tranquility .
At the same time , Trump Republicans and their few allies in an otherwise overwhelmingly Democrat-favored corporate media point to a growing body of evidence that a coup has been ongoing since before Trump assumed power .
The director of national intelligence , John Ratcliffe , recently alleged in a letter published by Sen. Lindsey Graham ( R-SC ) , just hours before the first ( and perhaps last ) presidential debate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ campaign plan to stir up a scandal ” – by linking Trump to Russia in 2016 .
The letter also claims that then-President Barack Obama knew about her intent and role in the contrived affair and did nothing to prevent his former secretary of state from ordering up the concoction .
While the resistance hurls an endless series of increasingly outrageous accusations and epithets at Trump , pro-Trump forces in the state nevertheless continue to pile up dirt on the Democrats and their assets in the permanent bureaucracy .
For example , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ‘ Crossfire Hurricane ’ investigation of the Trump team ’ s supposed collusion with Russia has revealed evidence that a Russian asset , suspected by the CIA of being a spy , was the underlying source for the “ dirty dossier ” that prompted the FBI investigation .
The committee has pointed to evidence that former FBI Director James Comey knew the dossier was unsubstantiated garbage peddled by a gutter-sniping mercenary hack when he or his staff members submitted FISA applications .
Added to this , the Department of Justice has since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ belonging to members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller ’ s team were “ accidentally ” wiped clean of data before the Justice Department ’ s inspector general could comb them for records .
Springtime for Snowfla ... Michael Rectenwald Best Price : $ 10.51 Buy New $ 14.65 Ironically , the Senate Judiciary Committee has also asserted that the son of former VP and current presidential candidate Joe Biden , namely Hunter Biden , actually engaged in a kind of ‘ Russian collusion ’ – when he received a whopping 3.5 million dollars @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the corrupt former mayor of Moscow .
Hunter Biden then allegedly funneled a part of these funds into human trafficking and prostitution rings .
This alleged swindle , gained on the basis of his father ’ s influence peddling , would be added to the vast sums reportedly collected from corrupt oligarchs in Ukraine , China , and elsewhere .
All of these claims are either scoffed at and deemed conspiracies prima facie , or simply memory-holed by a complicit press .
Nothing , it appears , will ever come of any of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pro-Trump camp maintains that the attempted coup extends to the upcoming presidential election .
Fears are escalating that the Democratic Party ’ s election machinery has already been set in motion , harvesting fraudulent or otherwise invalid mail-in ballots in favor of Biden .
These deep misgivings are compounded by early reports of dumped and discarded ballots for Trump .
Among the ground forces in both camps , some informed and some merely inflamed by baseless rhetoric , hostility has reached fever pitch .
According to Georgetown University ’ s Institute of Politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans believe that behavior once considered unacceptable is now deemed acceptable in the political sphere .
Apparently , this behavior includes violence and threats of violence .
Other studies found that 61 percent Americans polled believe the country is headed inexorably towards civil war .
Other reports indicate that a nearly equal number of Democrats and Republicans ( 33 percent and 34 percent , respectively ) believe that violence will be justified if their side loses the impending presidential election , up from just eight percent on both sides who believed that three @ @ @ @ @ @ @ justifies its campaign of violence given the supposedly disproportionate unjustified police violence against blacks .
The ‘ right ’ justifies its pondered response as necessary self-defense and defense of the nation after months of almost unhampered rampages .
Cynical Theories : How ... Lindsay , James Buy New $ 21.14 Surging gun sales across the country suggest that many Americans fear continued and increasing conflict .
First-time gun and ammunition purchases have reached an all-time high .
One might reasonably suppose that potential counter measures from pro-Trump ground forces are being seriously contemplated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ controversy has both camps suggesting that they ’ re booted up and ready for action .
Any state response to such action , on the other hand , remains unclear .
Who , after all , will have the authority to direct state police forces if Democrats and their supporters claim that Trump ’ s ‘ occupation ’ of the White House is illegitimate ?
Pro-Trump pundits warn that the violence coming from ‘ leftists ’ since May has only been a warm-up act for November 3 and beyond .
There are so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ floated that one ’ s head is left spinning .
But suffice to say , anyone the least bit cognizant of the state of affairs is bracing for a massive confrontation .
The current and looming strife is demoralizing in the extreme , especially given the utterly incommensurable accounts held by the opposing sides .
It is especially alarming to me , living as I do in urban Pennsylvania – a ‘ swing state ’ with the potential to be a center of a disputed election result that looks to tip over into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voting in the early morning , then driving immediately to another , probably uncontested , state .
The alarming state of affairs has led me to revisit a harrowing poem by William Butler Yeats , ‘ The Second Coming ’ .
The first stanza captures the temper and pitch of the moment so well that I quote in its entirety : Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon can not hear the falconer ; The Coddling of the Am ... Haidt , Jonathan Best Price : $ 12.68 Buy New $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not hold ; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world , The blood-dimmed tide is loosed , and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned ; The best lack all conviction , while the worst I met my first grandchild for the first time the other day .
And I wept with trepidation for his future .

Nearly two thirds of Americans believe the US is on course for civil war. One third now support political violence. The first Civil War’s death toll won’t be beaten, but the second’s nation-destroying potential will be unequalled.
The American left and right no longer inhabit a common moral universe. In fact, that imagined universe does not exist. The old, cherished political notions no longer apply, if they ever did. Not only are the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ complete misnomers under the current configuration, but the players are not as they seem, or as they are made out to seem.
All-black NFAC militia members march on Lafayette in armed rally pic.twitter.com/gHJNUHWwvR — RT (@RT_com) October 4, 2020
First, Trump is hardly the stereotypical right-wing despot that the ‘resistance’ makes him out to be, his rough demeanor and coarse rhetoric notwithstanding. At the same time, the Democrats are hardly the vaunted champions of the ‘working class’ as imagined under the old dispensation. Instead, the resistance to Trump is actually led by an entrenched political establishment, although their supporters apparently remain unimpressed by this minor detail. Beyond Woke Michael Rectenwald Buy New $19.99 (as of 11:37 UTC - Details)
Take a look at this ironic and unlikely political alignment. It should go a long way toward understanding the perturbations throwing the nation into convulsions. The resistance includes the Democratic Party machine, the loyal Democratic Party voters, the ‘never-Trumpers’ among the Republican establishment, the permanent bureaucracy or ‘deep state’, the riotous Antifa and Black Lives Matter foot soldiers, and, but for a few isolated and dwindling islands, the entirety of the mainstream media. Given its uncontested hegemony, this establishment-backed resistance inhabits a parallel universe of its own making and projects a fabricated simulacrum as reality.
The resistance establishment controls the official narrative, which includes a few prominent elements: the tropes that Trump is an inveterate liar, a huckster profiting from his incumbency, and a criminal who is committing unspeakable (and undiscoverable) crimes against the nation and humanity at large. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), the Speaker of the House, went so far as to call Trump, the sitting president, an “enemy of the state.” This establishment resistance routinely declares Trump a dictator. It now asserts as an incontrovertible article of faith that he will refuse to vacate the White House should he lose the upcoming election.
The death of civility
Despite its own chicanery and possible criminality, the resistance establishment is so sure that its success is guaranteed that Hillary Clinton boldly urged Joe Biden not to concede the election under any circumstances. Rumors have even been floated that a contingent of military generals are prepared to remove Trump from the presidential domicile, if or when it comes to that. And now, since Trump contracted the coronavirus, Democratic Party leaders, a frothing media, and ardent party supporters have been unable to contain their glee at the prospect of his early demise.
As an indication that ‘civility’ is a thing of the past, one may point to the recent spate of tweets by Trump haters openly wishing for his death by Covid. Such posts became so prevalent and glaring that Twitter was forced to introduce a new policy declaring that any tweets wishing for the death of a politician would be removed. Conspicuously missing was any mention of even temporarily banning tweeters who infringe the policy. Such banning is routine for pro-Trump posters – and for far lesser infractions – if they are not contrived by the tech giant in the first place. Google Archipelago: Th... Michael Rectenwald Best Price: $4.99 Buy New $8.77 (as of 11:20 UTC - Details)
Meanwhile, Trump supporters are routinely caricatured as a reactionary and irredeemably racist band of blind loyalists, including a significant contingent of white supremacists willing and already engaging in acts of racist violence. Even as Antifa and Black Lives Matter rampage and riot, leaving rubble in their wake, rightwing extremists, we are told, are the greatest domestic threat to national tranquility.
A very American coup?
At the same time, Trump Republicans and their few allies in an otherwise overwhelmingly Democrat-favored corporate media point to a growing body of evidence that a coup has been ongoing since before Trump assumed power. The director of national intelligence, John Ratcliffe, recently alleged in a letter published by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), just hours before the first (and perhaps last) presidential debate, that Hillary Clinton orchestrated “a campaign plan to stir up a scandal” – by linking Trump to Russia in 2016. The letter also claims that then-President Barack Obama knew about her intent and role in the contrived affair and did nothing to prevent his former secretary of state from ordering up the concoction.
While the resistance hurls an endless series of increasingly outrageous accusations and epithets at Trump, pro-Trump forces in the state nevertheless continue to pile up dirt on the Democrats and their assets in the permanent bureaucracy. For example, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigations into the ‘Crossfire Hurricane’ investigation of the Trump team’s supposed collusion with Russia has revealed evidence that a Russian asset, suspected by the CIA of being a spy, was the underlying source for the “dirty dossier” that prompted the FBI investigation. The committee has pointed to evidence that former FBI Director James Comey knew the dossier was unsubstantiated garbage peddled by a gutter-sniping mercenary hack when he or his staff members submitted FISA applications.
Added to this, the Department of Justice has since reported that more than two dozen phones belonging to members of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team were “accidentally” wiped clean of data before the Justice Department’s inspector general could comb them for records. Springtime for Snowfla... Michael Rectenwald Best Price: $10.51 Buy New $14.65 (as of 10:49 UTC - Details)
Ironically, the Senate Judiciary Committee has also asserted that the son of former VP and current presidential candidate Joe Biden, namely Hunter Biden, actually engaged in a kind of ‘Russian collusion’ – when he received a whopping 3.5 million dollars from Elena Baturina, the wife of the corrupt former mayor of Moscow. Hunter Biden then allegedly funneled a part of these funds into human trafficking and prostitution rings. This alleged swindle, gained on the basis of his father’s influence peddling, would be added to the vast sums reportedly collected from corrupt oligarchs in Ukraine, China, and elsewhere.
All of these claims are either scoffed at and deemed conspiracies prima facie, or simply memory-holed by a complicit press. Nothing, it appears, will ever come of any of them.
Meanwhile, the vastly outflanked pro-Trump camp maintains that the attempted coup extends to the upcoming presidential election. Fears are escalating that the Democratic Party’s election machinery has already been set in motion, harvesting fraudulent or otherwise invalid mail-in ballots in favor of Biden. These deep misgivings are compounded by early reports of dumped and discarded ballots for Trump.
Anarchy in the USA
Among the ground forces in both camps, some informed and some merely inflamed by baseless rhetoric, hostility has reached fever pitch. According to Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, 83 percent of Americans believe that behavior once considered unacceptable is now deemed acceptable in the political sphere. Apparently, this behavior includes violence and threats of violence. Other studies found that 61 percent Americans polled believe the country is headed inexorably towards civil war. Other reports indicate that a nearly equal number of Democrats and Republicans (33 percent and 34 percent, respectively) believe that violence will be justified if their side loses the impending presidential election, up from just eight percent on both sides who believed that three years ago.
The ‘left’ justifies its campaign of violence given the supposedly disproportionate unjustified police violence against blacks. The ‘right’ justifies its pondered response as necessary self-defense and defense of the nation after months of almost unhampered rampages. Cynical Theories: How ... Lindsay, James Buy New $21.14 (as of 03:40 UTC - Details)
Surging gun sales across the country suggest that many Americans fear continued and increasing conflict. First-time gun and ammunition purchases have reached an all-time high. One might reasonably suppose that potential counter measures from pro-Trump ground forces are being seriously contemplated. The prospect of a protracted election controversy has both camps suggesting that they’re booted up and ready for action. Any state response to such action, on the other hand, remains unclear. Who, after all, will have the authority to direct state police forces if Democrats and their supporters claim that Trump’s ‘occupation’ of the White House is illegitimate?
Pro-Trump pundits warn that the violence coming from ‘leftists’ since May has only been a warm-up act for November 3 and beyond. There are so many related and somewhat disparate theories being floated that one’s head is left spinning. But suffice to say, anyone the least bit cognizant of the state of affairs is bracing for a massive confrontation.
‘Things fall apart’
The current and looming strife is demoralizing in the extreme, especially given the utterly incommensurable accounts held by the opposing sides. It is especially alarming to me, living as I do in urban Pennsylvania – a ‘swing state’ with the potential to be a center of a disputed election result that looks to tip over into open mortal combat. I plan on voting in the early morning, then driving immediately to another, probably uncontested, state.
The alarming state of affairs has led me to revisit a harrowing poem by William Butler Yeats, ‘The Second Coming’. The first stanza captures the temper and pitch of the moment so well that I quote in its entirety:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer; The Coddling of the Am... Haidt, Jonathan Best Price: $12.68 Buy New $13.39 (as of 02:43 UTC - Details)
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
I met my first grandchild for the first time the other day. And I wept with trepidation for his future.
Reprinted with permission from RT News.


lewrockwell--2020-10-07--How Can Junk Science Prove Hydroxychloroquine Is Junk Science?

A newly published study is creating news headlines that the widely touted medicine hydroxychloroquine ( HCQ ) for prevention against COVID-19 coronavirus has once again been found to be ineffective .
The study adds to the volumes of junk science already produced to allegedly prove this medicine is ineffective or even problematic .
The study met all the criteria science demands for credibility .
It was a double-blind , placebo-controlled , randomized clinical trial involving a sufficient number of participants to produce at least a statistical if not meaningful conclusion as to the safety and effectiveness of properly-dosed hydroxychloroquine ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the President of the United States name-dropped as an alternative to vaccines .
The objective was to measure if HCQ prevents COVID-19 coronavirus infection among healthcare workers .
Results of the study are published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn .
Internal Medicine , Sept. 30 , 2020 .
Better than nothing The Vitamin D Revoluti ... Soram Khalsa Best Price : $ 1.25 Buy New $ 10.69 Of course , this is just another of the misleading studies right from the get-go as the medicine ( hydroxychloroquine ) is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which is not real world .
What doctors should want to know is how HCQ stacks up next to vitamin D or zinc , which are known preventive agents .
All that this study could possibly prove is that HCQ is better than nothing .
The study was conducted among health care workers who care for COVID-19 coronavirus-infected patients to see if HCQ could prevent transmission of this virus .
The study involved 132 subjects who were without symptoms ( asymptomatic ) and had negative PCR ( polymerase chain reaction ) tests after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ HCQ was taken daily for 8 weeks .
The assumption was healthcare workers would have a 10 % infection rate .
Predictably , there was no significant difference in infection rates between HCQ-treated ( 6.3 % ) and placebo-treated participants ( 6.6 % ) .
There was no change in heart rate as some prior tests indicated .
If the test is flawed , how can the data be valid ?
None of the healthcare workers who were COVID-19-positive by PCR test required hospitalization and were without symptoms or had mild disease and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report ( did they ever have COVID-19 ? )
.
Given the PCR test produces 100 % false positives and is not specific for COVID-19 coronavirus , researchers came to nothing more than a presumptuous null effect conclusion .
Given that HCQ is a known zinc ionophore ( enhancer of zinc , a trace mineral required for the production of T-cells that kill off coronavirus-infected cells ) and zinc is a potential preventive agent that may underlie the preventive and therapeutic effects of HCQ , it appears to be an incomplete study by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ zinc , not zinc a companion to HCQ .
There are zinc lozenges now with a zinc ionophore included .
They would provide optimal effect .
Natures Plus Liquid Su ... Buy New $ 19.95 ( $ 1.25 / Fl Oz ) No accompanying zinc supplemental was employed nor was its use as a dietary supplement investigated among study subjects , nor was the use of any other potential preventive measures ( vitamin D , vitamin C , selenium , NAC , melatonin ) surveyed .
Regarding side effects , more than twice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ diarrhea ( 32 % ) vs placebo participants ( 12 % ) .
Of interest , zinc is a proven antidiarrheal agent in patients with respiratory tract infections .
A major question that needs to be answered is why any effort is being made to prevent infection at all , particularly in light of the absence of a vaccine .
At the present time the only way to protect the public is to develop antibodies/T-cells from natural transmission in the community .
Both natural exposure to any virus or inoculation of attenuated forms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccination ) would theoretically produce long-term antibody/T-cell immunity .
The more people who have already developed antibodies/T-cells , the fewer stand in need of vaccination .
Vaccination does not initially prevent infection as it IS infection or activation of antigens that produce antibodies/T-cells .
In fact , vaccines are designed to induce mild infection , produce an antibody-provoking fever , and therefore result in long-lasting immunity .
Inexplicably , we don ’ t close down hospitals when health care workers test positive for the flu , but we close down businesses and schools @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 coronavirus , which is not any more infectious or deadly as the flu .
The Vitamin D Solution ... Michael F. Holick Best Price : $ 2.01 Buy New $ 9.08 A healthcare worker who tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus is furloughed or quarantined whereas as healthcare worker who may in the future be vaccinated against COVID-19 coronavirus and therefore develop a fever and produce antibodies , would not be sent home .
In one study , 46 % of healthcare workers reported working while ill with influenza-like illness .
While news @ @ @ @ @ @ @ infectious and deadly than the season flu , a more comprehensive study conducted by Stanford researchers shows the fatality rate from COVID-19 is miniscule ( ranges from 0.0 % to 0.05 % ) for 99 % of adults under age 70 .
Advanced age , not virility of the virus , governs risk for death .
In other words , immune status of the patient prevails over infectiousness of the virus in regard to mortality .
Benefits of flu vaccination for healthcare workers is suspect Typically , studies conclude vaccination “ is effective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and may reduce reported days of work absence and febrile respiratory illness.
” But a pooled study of three clinical trials of healthcare workers published by the Cochrane Database reveals influenza vaccination did not have any effect whatsoever in proving that vaccination of healthcare workers prevents influenza among patients over 60 years of age .
A report published in the British journal LANCET indicates deaths among healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 are rare and mostly have affected workers older than 50 years of age .
Again , this should serve as evidence that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ target patient or healthcare worker , not the virility of the virus itself , that limits infection and death .
It is strikingly surprising , given the positive information about vitamin D that has emanated from this COVID-19 pandemic , and that a single large dose of vitamin D can be safely administered to achieve adequacy throughout the flu and coronavirus season , that hospitals have not mandated vitamin D supplementation across the board for healthcare workers , let alone COVID-19 patients .
In fact , with recognition that COVID-19 infection can spread @ @ @ @ @ @ @ COVID-19 infection , it is unconscionable to ignore universal use of vitamin D supplements for all patients and healthcare workers .

A newly published study is creating news headlines that the widely touted medicine hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for prevention against COVID-19 coronavirus has once again been found to be ineffective. The study adds to the volumes of junk science already produced to allegedly prove this medicine is ineffective or even problematic.
The study met all the criteria science demands for credibility. It was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial involving a sufficient number of participants to produce at least a statistical if not meaningful conclusion as to the safety and effectiveness of properly-dosed hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), the long-used anti-malarial drug that the President of the United States name-dropped as an alternative to vaccines.
The objective was to measure if HCQ prevents COVID-19 coronavirus infection among healthcare workers. Results of the study are published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. Internal Medicine, Sept. 30, 2020.
Better than nothing
The Vitamin D Revoluti... Soram Khalsa Best Price: $1.25 Buy New $10.69 (as of 08:00 UTC - Details) Of course, this is just another of the misleading studies right from the get-go as the medicine (hydroxychloroquine) is being tested against a so-called placebo, which is not real world. What doctors should want to know is how HCQ stacks up next to vitamin D or zinc, which are known preventive agents. All that this study could possibly prove is that HCQ is better than nothing.
Results
The study was conducted among health care workers who care for COVID-19 coronavirus-infected patients to see if HCQ could prevent transmission of this virus. The study involved 132 subjects who were without symptoms (asymptomatic) and had negative PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests after a nasal swab sample was obtained. HCQ was taken daily for 8 weeks.
The assumption was healthcare workers would have a 10% infection rate. Predictably, there was no significant difference in infection rates between HCQ-treated (6.3%) and placebo-treated participants (6.6%). There was no change in heart rate as some prior tests indicated.
If the test is flawed, how can the data be valid?
None of the healthcare workers who were COVID-19-positive by PCR test required hospitalization and were without symptoms or had mild disease and “fully recovered,” said the report (did they ever have COVID-19?). Given the PCR test produces 100% false positives and is not specific for COVID-19 coronavirus, researchers came to nothing more than a presumptuous null effect conclusion.
Naked hydroxychloroquine without zinc
Given that HCQ is a known zinc ionophore (enhancer of zinc, a trace mineral required for the production of T-cells that kill off coronavirus-infected cells) and zinc is a potential preventive agent that may underlie the preventive and therapeutic effects of HCQ, it appears to be an incomplete study by design. HCG is a companion to zinc, not zinc a companion to HCQ.
There are zinc lozenges now with a zinc ionophore included. They would provide optimal effect. Natures Plus Liquid Su... Buy New $19.95 ($1.25 / Fl Oz) (as of 04:18 UTC - Details)
No accompanying zinc supplemental was employed nor was its use as a dietary supplement investigated among study subjects, nor was the use of any other potential preventive measures (vitamin D, vitamin C, selenium, NAC, melatonin) surveyed.
Regarding side effects, more than twice as many study participants taking HCQ developed diarrhea (32%) vs placebo participants (12%). Of interest, zinc is a proven antidiarrheal agent in patients with respiratory tract infections.
Why prevent infection?
A major question that needs to be answered is why any effort is being made to prevent infection at all, particularly in light of the absence of a vaccine. At the present time the only way to protect the public is to develop antibodies/T-cells from natural transmission in the community. Both natural exposure to any virus or inoculation of attenuated forms of the virus via needle injection (vaccination) would theoretically produce long-term antibody/T-cell immunity. The more people who have already developed antibodies/T-cells, the fewer stand in need of vaccination.
Vaccination IS infection
Vaccination does not initially prevent infection as it IS infection or activation of antigens that produce antibodies/T-cells. In fact, vaccines are designed to induce mild infection, produce an antibody-provoking fever, and therefore result in long-lasting immunity.
Inexplicably, we don’t close down hospitals when health care workers test positive for the flu, but we close down businesses and schools when a single person tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus, which is not any more infectious or deadly as the flu. The Vitamin D Solution... Michael F. Holick Best Price: $2.01 Buy New $9.08 (as of 10:55 UTC - Details)
A healthcare worker who tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus is furloughed or quarantined whereas as healthcare worker who may in the future be vaccinated against COVID-19 coronavirus and therefore develop a fever and produce antibodies, would not be sent home.
In one study, 46% of healthcare workers reported working while ill with influenza-like illness.
While news headlines errantly claim COVID-19 is far more infectious and deadly than the season flu, a more comprehensive study conducted by Stanford researchers shows the fatality rate from COVID-19 is miniscule (ranges from 0.0% to 0.05%) for 99% of adults under age 70. Advanced age, not virility of the virus, governs risk for death. In other words, immune status of the patient prevails over infectiousness of the virus in regard to mortality.
Benefits of flu vaccination for healthcare workers is suspect
Typically, studies conclude vaccination “is effective in preventing influenza infection among healthcare professionals and may reduce reported days of work absence and febrile respiratory illness.”
But a pooled study of three clinical trials of healthcare workers published by the Cochrane Database reveals influenza vaccination did not have any effect whatsoever in proving that vaccination of healthcare workers prevents influenza among patients over 60 years of age.
A report published in the British journal LANCET indicates deaths among healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 are rare and mostly have affected workers older than 50 years of age. Again, this should serve as evidence that it is the immune status of the target patient or healthcare worker, not the virility of the virus itself, that limits infection and death.
It is strikingly surprising, given the positive information about vitamin D that has emanated from this COVID-19 pandemic, and that a single large dose of vitamin D can be safely administered to achieve adequacy throughout the flu and coronavirus season, that hospitals have not mandated vitamin D supplementation across the board for healthcare workers, let alone COVID-19 patients. In fact, with recognition that COVID-19 infection can spread throughout a hospital to patients admitted without COVID-19 infection, it is unconscionable to ignore universal use of vitamin D supplements for all patients and healthcare workers.