More Truth from the Glowing Screen -- and a Violent Reaction

Recently CNN showed reporter Christiana Amanpour’s three part documentary, “God’s Warrior’s,” whose general theme is that: ‘during the last 30 years, each faith [Jewish, Muslim, and Christian] has exploded into a powerful political force, comprised of followers – “God’s warriors” – who share a deep dissatisfaction with modern society, and a fierce determination to place God and religion back into daily life and to the seats of power. Their political and cultural struggles to save the world from what they view as secular materialism, greed and sexual corruption have caused anger, division and fear.’



The first hour was about Jews – in particular Zionists and the “settlers” on Palestinian land, the second about Muslims, and the third (which I haven’t watched yet) about Christians. I was amazed at the facts which Ms. Amanpour and CNN managed to get away with presenting on American television, particularly where the lies and subterfuge and usually unreported terrorism of the militant settlers are concerned, although I felt she was too easy on the Zionists and too hard on the Muslims out of deference for America’s silent censorship.

It’s obvious that influential Jews did not feel as I did, because lo and behold, the prime time MSNBC program, “MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams” has just devoted an entire hour – or what seemed like the entire hour – to Abrams’ harsh attack on Ms. Amanpour. Are you surprised to learn that his objection wasn’t that she had been too hard on the Muslims or too easy on the Jews, or that she had insulted Christians, but that she had outrageously favored the Muslims and smeared the Zionists?

Dan Abrams -- who last summer became General Manager of MSNBC, replacing former MSNBC president Rick Kaplan -- literally spewed spittle in his indignant enthusiasm as he denounced Ms. Amanpour because she had presented Israelis as less than perfect and Muslims (particularly the Palestnians) as less than embodiments of evil. How could anyone dare to besmirch the reputation of the virtuous and victimized Israelis by comparing them in any way with the Arab terrorists?

The pro-Zionist machinery does not take much time or provocation to get the buzzsaws spinning, and outside of some Fox News propaganda, I have never seen a television program so overtly dedicated to downplaying truths which had been told on another program.

I should add for those who haven’t seen “God’s Warriors” that its message is conveyed almost primarily by interviews with Jews, Arabs, and Christians, along with some video footage of events, and not by commentary by Christiana Amanpour.

A Line to Remember

Last night I heard a remarkable line in the movie, “The Million Dollar Hotel”.

A detective says to the rich Jewish character, Stanley Goldkiss, “You wanna stick with me, you’re gonna get the truth.”

Goldkiss responds:

“My people decide the truth in sixty countries every morning. And in every one it's different.”

I offer this as evidence supporting my last post.

The New York Times:

"A stark assessment released Thursday by the nation’s intelligence agencies depicts a paralyzed Iraqi government unable to take advantage of the security gains achieved by the thousands of extra American troops dispatched to the country this year."

I Didn't Do It! I Didn't Do It!

Just after considering a break from MOON, I can’t resist remarking about the latest Washington perfidy.

It is becoming clear from the statements of President Bush and Republican as well as Democrat politicians that a clear strategy for getting out of Iraq is being evolved: Blame the mess on Iraqis.

If you’ve created a disaster (and all the Americans mentioned in the first paragraph are guilty), just pretend that somebody else is responsible.

In this case you keep saying that the Iraqi puppet government you’ve created and sheltered in your U.S. Green Zone is to blame for all of Bush’s failures. We’re beginning to hear an astonishingly unified chorus in Washington that even if the Bush military efforts (The Surge in particular) give the impression of some success, it will do no good because of those useless Iraqis, who have only themselves to blame for the hell they’re in.

Think of it: Suddenly, in light of this new lie, Bush has waged a successful war and must withdraw his troops from Iraq only because he cannot (and of course should not) control Iraqi politics. The generals look good for "winning" militarily, even Bush looks a bit better than a two day old piece of road kill, and the Democrats have an excuse for shucking Iraq after one of them becomes president – which must be why Hillary is suddenly heard singing in Bush’s choir.

Beneficial as this new lie is to the American warmongers and those who live with their snouts in the tax-fed trough, it heaps additional disgrace on the infamy of the invasion of Iraq and the complete failure of the U.S. to create any positive results from that carnage.

After all, look at all we’ve done for the Iraqis: Destroyed their country, their infrastructure, their army, and their police force, not to mention their irreplaceable ancient treasures. Murdered most of their leaders who had succeeded in creating a stable and prosperous Iraq, an almost miraculously unified Iraq considering the obvious difficulties now in plain view. Killed tremendous numbers of citizens. Reduced a once well-off people to poverty, hunger, and misery. Unleashed a civil war which would not have occurred except for the American occupation.

In spite of all those good things, the Iraqis ignominously persist in killing Americans and one another, while their U.S.-pampered politicians fail again and again to bring back the pre-war peace and stability. How can they be so incompetent? How can they be so ungrateful? They even have the effrontery to take vacations, something unheard-of in Washington, D.C.

To me this latest propaganda campaign is the most inexcusable since the “weapons of mass destruction” lies. The burglar breaks into your home, ransacks and vandalizes it, and then lectures you on your failure to repair the damage and clean up the mess.

The future Big Lie we can expect, around the next big turn in the road, is that the Americans have left Iraq when they actually have not left.

Thoughts About This Blog

In case anyone is interested, I just haven't felt inspired about writing for VIEW FROM THE MOON lately. Maybe it's the way the world news has gone, maybe it's the fact that my topics have become repetitious -- or maybe it's that I've said everything I have to say on the subjects covered here.

I do feel that I have created a valuble resource for anyone who is interested in the subject matter, but I'm not sure that additional regular posting is going to enhance what is already here.

I do not want to join those who simply add to the thousands of comments on daily mainstream news developments. (In particular I want nothing to do with stories about candidates for an election to be held a year and a half in the future!)

I want to contribute something original, to uncover what is not generally perceived. And I'll continue to try to do those things, but I have a feeling that my posts here are going to become less frequent.

WHAT THIS FLOWER TELLS IS GREATER THAN ALL THE "NEWS" THAT WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE WORLD TODAY

I thank all those who have read this blog, and especially those who have encouraged me with comments.

Stock Market Update

On August 10 I wrote:

‘Based on the chart of the S&P 500 index, which ended yesterday at 1453.09, it looks as if a drop below about 1430 would mean a more prolonged decline for the U.S. stock market unless there’s an immediate bounce-back. A drop to the 1430 area on high volume with a strong rebound on the same day could, in fact, be a good sign for those who want the market to go up. But a real break below about 1430 would likely precede a significant further drop.’

The S&P 500 is at 1389 as I write this. It paused for about a day at the 1430 level without enthusiasm, then broke sharply down. I would say that 1453 to 1385 (earlier this morning) constitutes a significant decline.

Any technical analyst can see that there are several indications of technical support around 1380, which means that the decline will probably slow or stop in that area at least temporarily. The next likely place for a pause or a rebound is close to 1300.

AGGRESSION ENGENDERS DANGEROUS ALLIANCES

I feel as if I’m cheating by being lazy when I publish other people’s articles in my blog, but on the other hand I love being agreed with. A recurring theme in VIEW FROM THE MOON has been my warning that the aggressive international behavior of the United States, particularly since the latest Bush put on the costume of president, would drive other nations and regions into defensive alliances. DEFENDING AGAINST A SUPERTYRANT (February 11, 2007); THE U.S. IS PROVOKING OTHER COUNTRIES AND REGIONS TO FORM ALLIANCES AGAINST IT (May 17, 2007). The US will then face potentially hostile bodies of military and economic strength far greater than what would have existed had the US stayed home and minded its own business.

Image by Julia


‘US Hegemony Spawns Russian-Chinese Military Alliance

By Paul Craig Roberts
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review.

08/09/07 This week the Russian and Chinese militaries are conducting a joint military exercise involving large numbers of troops and combat vehicles. The former Soviet Republics of Tajikistan, Kyrgkyzstan, and Kazakstan are participating. Other countries appear ready to join the military alliance.

This new potent military alliance is a real world response to neoconservative delusions about US hegemony. Neocons believe that the US is supreme in the world and can dictate its course. The neoconservative idiots have actually written papers, read by Russians and Chinese, about why the US must use its military superiority to assert hegemony over Russia and China.
Russia and China have now witnessed enough of the Bush administration’s unprovoked aggression in the world to take neocon intentions seriously. As the US has proven that it cannot occupy the Iraqi city of Baghdad despite 5 years of efforts, it most certainly cannot occupy Russia or China. That means the conflict toward which the neocons are driving will be a nuclear conflict.

Reagan and Gorbachev ended the cold war. However, US administrations after Reagan’s have broken the agreements and understandings. The US gratuitously brought NATO and anti-ballistic missiles to Russia’s borders. The Bush regime has initiated a propaganda war against the Russian government of V. Putin.

These are gratuitous acts of aggression. Both the Russian and Chinese governments are trying to devote resources to their economic development, not to their militaries. Yet, both are being forced by America’s aggressive posture to revamp their militaries.

Americans need to understand what the neocon Bush regime cannot: a nuclear exchange between the US, Russia, and China would establish the hegemony of the cockroach.’

Stock Markets and Gold Stocks

S&P 500

For what it’s worth, I’m posting my opinion on the US stock market and the gold market. I am definitely not an investment advisor. I’ve studied the stock market for years and abandoned most methods of prediction because they didn’t work.

I soon adopted a “technical” approach rather than a “fundamental” approach, which means that I go by charts based on price and volume rather than by facts and figures about the economy or the companies traded on the exchanges.

First opinion: I think that gold mining stocks are, after a long, flat consolidation, getting ready for a big run upward. I’m not talking in terms of days, but of months.

Second opinion: The stock markets have jumped into the headlines because of a couple of large daily losses, and if there’s another big loss in the US today, the journalistic fervor will increase. But a few days of large losses doesn’t in itself mean anything. Based on the chart of the S&P 500 index, which ended yesterday at 1453.09, it looks as if a drop below about 1430 would mean a more prolonged decline for the U.S. stock market unless there’s an immediate bounce-back. A drop to the 1430 area on high volume with a strong rebound on the same day could, in fact, be a good sign for those who want the market to go up. But a real break below about 1430 would likely precede a significant further drop.

The public tends to think in terms of “bargains” when they read about sensational declines in stocks, but that is a shortsighted and simplistic view based only on recent prices rather than the bigger picture. If a market is in the process of peaking and experiencing sharp drops before a long decline (one can never be sure), an apparent bargain bought at that time will become a disaster.

The main result of all my research on the stock market over many years is that prediction of price movements for periods of months is very risky at best, and that the charts give valuable information about “where we are” rather than “where we are going.” But it’s a lot more helpful to have a map of where you are (e.g. in a deep valley or on a high mountain) than to rely on headlines about the most recent price movement. Perspective helps.

I’ll tell you the secret I learned after trying many ways of “investing” in stocks, sometimes with very little money which became even less money. It is that I made money with any consistency only when I began what is called “day trading.” In that term I now include, for myself, trading on price movements in a time frame of anything from an hour to several days. While it is impossible to know in advance where the market is going to be in a month or a year, technical analysis combined with nimble action on short price movements can produce more profits than losses if one obeys the cardinal rule of getting out quickly when things go against you. It may seem contrary to common sense to say that it’s safer to buy and sell in the extremely short term than to “buy and hold” long term, but it’s true. Caveat: You have to know what you’re doing!

I repeat. I am not an investment advisor, and I’m not suggesting that anyone act on anything I’ve written here. I must say that in order to keep from being fined by some regulatory agency!