On target as always, Bill. "Patriotism" is another extremely destructive disease (like "American Exceptionalism"), not only for those in the rest of the world who suffer the consequences of our illegal wars carried out in the name of "spreading freedom and democracy," but also our own society and culture. Such diseases are toxic and, ultimately, fatal. Yet, institutions like the NFL drape themselves in the flag--all in the name of keeping the $$ flowing (as well as being de facto recruiting agencies). Meanwhile, the political class that makes up what is best called the War Party (with 2 wings, one called Democratic and one called Republican) shows that it is totally blind to how the rest of the world currently perceives the US, described as follows:
"A politically ruptured, globally disruptive superpower that often seems frighteningly violent: This is what the rest of the world increasingly sees as they gaze on the US."
Exactly. The propaganda/conditioning is so deeply embedded that Americans get angry when this is mentioned in public. Information no longer seems to be able to affect their mindset. What can be done about this?
I made several comments in this Washington Post article Saturday, 'Florida principal ousted over ‘David’ images gets to see the real thing' but this comment still in the Newspaper record, it seems to me, is of the same Spirit that moved Bill to write this article on where Americans place their FAITH.
Too many Americans have been indoctrinated and trained not to think too deeply, and generally don't think or care for what is really happening in the larger world, or even in the Greater USA.
That's True for people in other Countries too, but the US is supposed to be the Leader in THIS World, and ever more Countries are beginning to see the US is not a good example to follow.
The US, Economically and Militarily, still insists other Countries don't resist, and continue to follow US Dictates setting the Rules for the US Rules Based Order, the US being Exceptional.
The Revelation in US MSM Propaganda, not Russian, inform us mass killings in the US are on the increase, along with hunger, homelessness, teenage suicides, rising rents, groceries and everything else, but not too many questions why the financial, psychological and emotional costs are rising so fast in the FREE WORLD we're told we live in?
It's mostly focused on what's in it for me without having to wait too long, as if people really think they can buy a Stairway to Heaven on Earth.
We have a very, very, very short period of TIME to do something GOOD and lasting for the Betterment of Life on Earth in TIME that is already without END?
TIME continues without us when we EXPIRE.
Jesus who embodied the Revelation of the Christ Alpha, is recorded to have said, 'You hypocrites! Isaiah described you well. This people is close to me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain they worship me teaching as DOCTRINE, the commandments of men.'
The Returned Resurrected Christ Omega sees not much has changed on that score in the last 2000 years.
What is noteworthy is The Christ is not addressing those words to those who don't believe in the Living God, but to those who think they do.
More along the lines of the previous comment. There is one error as it titles Ike's 1963 speech "The Chance For Peace' when it is better known as 'The Cross of Iron' speech.
The military-industrial complex (MIC) that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about more than 60 years ago is still alive and well. In fact, it’s consuming many more tax dollars and feeding far larger weapons producers than when Ike raised the alarm about the “unwarranted influence” it wielded in his 1961 farewell address to the nation.
The statistics are stunning. This year’s proposed budget for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons work at the Department of Energy is $886 billion — more than twice as much, adjusted for inflation, as at the time of Eisenhower’s speech. The Pentagon now consumes more than half the federal discretionary budget, leaving priorities like public health, environmental protection, job training, and education to compete for what remains. In 2020, Lockheed Martin received $75 billion in Pentagon contracts, more than the entire budget of the State Department and the Agency for International Development combined.
This year’s spending just for that company’s overpriced, underperforming F-35 combat aircraft equals the full budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And as a new report from the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies revealed recently, the average taxpayer spends $1,087 per year on weapons contractors compared to $270 for K-12 education and just $6 for renewable energy.
The list goes on — and on and on. President Eisenhower characterized such tradeoffs in a lesser known speech, “The Chance for Peace,” delivered in April 1953, early in his first term, this way: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children"........................................................................................…
The Russia-Ukraine war has been a disaster for Ukraine, obviously – but also a calamity for the entire world. Ukraine has already suffered levels of death and destruction reminiscent of the height of the Yugoslav wars (1992-1995, 1998-1999) and the worst months of the Iraq War (2003-2011, 2014-2018); It even calls to mind the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.[1] The wealth, tenacity, and exceptional military power of the contestants – Russia, Ukraine, and USA-NATO – have made for a high-intensity war. Although physical destruction has been largely limited to Ukraine, the other effects of the war have not been limited. The impact on life and livelihood outside the combatant countries has been profound. In fact, many more people have died outside Ukraine due to the conflict than inside.
The war’s acute global effect is due partly to the importance of Russia and Ukraine to global agricultural and energy production. Amplifying this, however, is the intentional global economic warfare – sanctions, blockades, embargoes – that has accompanied the fighting. And that is only part of the war’s broader impact.
The conflict and the economic warfare it involves, have driven up food and energy prices worldwide, disrupted world trade, helped stall and reverse post-pandemic economic recovery, and drawn scarce resources away from other humanitarian crises and economic development efforts. The collateral effects of the war mean not only years of additional acute hardship for a billion global citizens and lowered living standards for billions more, but also reduced action on other global threats including climate change and health crises.
As outlined below, the financial expenditures associated with the war for Russia, Ukraine, and nations supporting Ukraine has been $25 billion a month. Longer term costs include reconstruction – presently estimated at $413 billion – and a sudden jump in the base-level of annual global military spending exceeding $300 billion. Already, this is a trillion dollar war.
Ukraine War Support vs Other Global Assistance
There was also a substantial redirection of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in accord with war policy.
In addition to humanitarian aid, direct support to Kyiv’s economy and war effort – about $200 billion in a single year – has far outpaced other recent international initiatives. It is equal to the total of global ODA and humanitarian aid combined……………………………………..
To be fair, though, if you're going to have a volunteer military you'll have to recruit somewhere, and an NFL event seems like a good choice. The alternative is to have some kind of draft, although the last time we had a draft the children of the upper classes were off at college and had an exemption. The best system IMHO is to have a draft whenever we become in any way involved in a conflict and the draft would pull in the children of the President and the Congress FIRST. That alone should keep us out of it.
On target as always, Bill. "Patriotism" is another extremely destructive disease (like "American Exceptionalism"), not only for those in the rest of the world who suffer the consequences of our illegal wars carried out in the name of "spreading freedom and democracy," but also our own society and culture. Such diseases are toxic and, ultimately, fatal. Yet, institutions like the NFL drape themselves in the flag--all in the name of keeping the $$ flowing (as well as being de facto recruiting agencies). Meanwhile, the political class that makes up what is best called the War Party (with 2 wings, one called Democratic and one called Republican) shows that it is totally blind to how the rest of the world currently perceives the US, described as follows:
"A politically ruptured, globally disruptive superpower that often seems frighteningly violent: This is what the rest of the world increasingly sees as they gaze on the US."
Read the full article here: https://johnmenadue.com/france-bets-on-future-by-backing-best-global-alternative/
Exactly. The propaganda/conditioning is so deeply embedded that Americans get angry when this is mentioned in public. Information no longer seems to be able to affect their mindset. What can be done about this?
And sadly, our "disposable warriors" continue to be duped into believing they're always the "good guys" by default.
I made several comments in this Washington Post article Saturday, 'Florida principal ousted over ‘David’ images gets to see the real thing' but this comment still in the Newspaper record, it seems to me, is of the same Spirit that moved Bill to write this article on where Americans place their FAITH.
Too many Americans have been indoctrinated and trained not to think too deeply, and generally don't think or care for what is really happening in the larger world, or even in the Greater USA.
That's True for people in other Countries too, but the US is supposed to be the Leader in THIS World, and ever more Countries are beginning to see the US is not a good example to follow.
The US, Economically and Militarily, still insists other Countries don't resist, and continue to follow US Dictates setting the Rules for the US Rules Based Order, the US being Exceptional.
The Revelation in US MSM Propaganda, not Russian, inform us mass killings in the US are on the increase, along with hunger, homelessness, teenage suicides, rising rents, groceries and everything else, but not too many questions why the financial, psychological and emotional costs are rising so fast in the FREE WORLD we're told we live in?
It's mostly focused on what's in it for me without having to wait too long, as if people really think they can buy a Stairway to Heaven on Earth.
We have a very, very, very short period of TIME to do something GOOD and lasting for the Betterment of Life on Earth in TIME that is already without END?
TIME continues without us when we EXPIRE.
Jesus who embodied the Revelation of the Christ Alpha, is recorded to have said, 'You hypocrites! Isaiah described you well. This people is close to me with their mouth, and honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain they worship me teaching as DOCTRINE, the commandments of men.'
The Returned Resurrected Christ Omega sees not much has changed on that score in the last 2000 years.
What is noteworthy is The Christ is not addressing those words to those who don't believe in the Living God, but to those who think they do.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/04/29/florida-principal-david-visit/
(p.s. minor edits to smooth the reading or accentuate.)
I trust people who read "Bracing Views" will be able to pass the Pentagon's "First Official International Nuclear War Questionnaire." -- https://occasionaljustice.com/NuclearWarQuestionnaire
from my fourty odd year participation in the military industry complex, about 20 years in I picked up smedley butler’s truth: ‘war is a racket’.
still convinced usa has broaden the Monroe empire to all the world.
Looks like an Elite Air Force PJ SERE Para Rescue Man in the Line-up there with Roger Goodell in his Dress Blues-- Respect..!
More along the lines of the previous comment. There is one error as it titles Ike's 1963 speech "The Chance For Peace' when it is better known as 'The Cross of Iron' speech.
The military-industrial complex (MIC) that President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned Americans about more than 60 years ago is still alive and well. In fact, it’s consuming many more tax dollars and feeding far larger weapons producers than when Ike raised the alarm about the “unwarranted influence” it wielded in his 1961 farewell address to the nation.
The statistics are stunning. This year’s proposed budget for the Pentagon and nuclear weapons work at the Department of Energy is $886 billion — more than twice as much, adjusted for inflation, as at the time of Eisenhower’s speech. The Pentagon now consumes more than half the federal discretionary budget, leaving priorities like public health, environmental protection, job training, and education to compete for what remains. In 2020, Lockheed Martin received $75 billion in Pentagon contracts, more than the entire budget of the State Department and the Agency for International Development combined.
This year’s spending just for that company’s overpriced, underperforming F-35 combat aircraft equals the full budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And as a new report from the National Priorities Project at the Institute for Policy Studies revealed recently, the average taxpayer spends $1,087 per year on weapons contractors compared to $270 for K-12 education and just $6 for renewable energy.
The list goes on — and on and on. President Eisenhower characterized such tradeoffs in a lesser known speech, “The Chance for Peace,” delivered in April 1953, early in his first term, this way: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children"........................................................................................…
https://tomdispatch.com/unwarranted-influence-twenty-first-century-style/
‘Catastrophe: The Global Cost of the Ukraine War’
The Russia-Ukraine war has been a disaster for Ukraine, obviously – but also a calamity for the entire world. Ukraine has already suffered levels of death and destruction reminiscent of the height of the Yugoslav wars (1992-1995, 1998-1999) and the worst months of the Iraq War (2003-2011, 2014-2018); It even calls to mind the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.[1] The wealth, tenacity, and exceptional military power of the contestants – Russia, Ukraine, and USA-NATO – have made for a high-intensity war. Although physical destruction has been largely limited to Ukraine, the other effects of the war have not been limited. The impact on life and livelihood outside the combatant countries has been profound. In fact, many more people have died outside Ukraine due to the conflict than inside.
The war’s acute global effect is due partly to the importance of Russia and Ukraine to global agricultural and energy production. Amplifying this, however, is the intentional global economic warfare – sanctions, blockades, embargoes – that has accompanied the fighting. And that is only part of the war’s broader impact.
The conflict and the economic warfare it involves, have driven up food and energy prices worldwide, disrupted world trade, helped stall and reverse post-pandemic economic recovery, and drawn scarce resources away from other humanitarian crises and economic development efforts. The collateral effects of the war mean not only years of additional acute hardship for a billion global citizens and lowered living standards for billions more, but also reduced action on other global threats including climate change and health crises.
As outlined below, the financial expenditures associated with the war for Russia, Ukraine, and nations supporting Ukraine has been $25 billion a month. Longer term costs include reconstruction – presently estimated at $413 billion – and a sudden jump in the base-level of annual global military spending exceeding $300 billion. Already, this is a trillion dollar war.
Ukraine War Support vs Other Global Assistance
There was also a substantial redirection of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in accord with war policy.
In addition to humanitarian aid, direct support to Kyiv’s economy and war effort – about $200 billion in a single year – has far outpaced other recent international initiatives. It is equal to the total of global ODA and humanitarian aid combined……………………………………..
https://comw.org/pda/catastrophe-the-global-cost-of-the-ukraine-war/
To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal - Henry A. Kissinger
https://news.antiwar.com/2023/05/02/us-in-talks-on-establishing-military-bases-in-finland/
Will this great man be the 3rd Kennedy the MIC and the CIA assassinates?
Please watch the full 21:01 of this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OsQ4TMzN7Y&t=214s
You say it so well, what can I say?
To be fair, though, if you're going to have a volunteer military you'll have to recruit somewhere, and an NFL event seems like a good choice. The alternative is to have some kind of draft, although the last time we had a draft the children of the upper classes were off at college and had an exemption. The best system IMHO is to have a draft whenever we become in any way involved in a conflict and the draft would pull in the children of the President and the Congress FIRST. That alone should keep us out of it.
Great work thank you for this post.
Bill....thanks
Lol