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http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/28664645/

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:32:46 -0800

The Book of the Samurai
Tsunetomo Yamamoto
(the quotes are from the movie Ghost Dog)

"The Way of the Samurai is found in death. Meditation on inevitable death should be performed daily. Every day when one's body and mind are at peace, one should meditate upon being ripped apart by arrows, rifles, spears and swords, being carried away by surging waves, being thrown into the midst of a great fire, being struck by lightning, being shaken to death by a great earthquake, falling from thousand-foot cliffs, dying of disease or committing seppuku at the death of one's master. And every day without fail one should consider himself as dead."

"It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream. When you have something like a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream. It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this."

"Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige's wall, there was this one: "Matters of great concern should be treated lightly." Master Ittei commented, "Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.""

"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you will still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."

"In the words of the ancients, one should make his decision within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break through to the other side."

"Our bodies are given life from the midst of nothingness. Existing where there is nothing is the meaning of the phrase, "form is emptiness." That all things are provided for by nothingness is the meaning of the phrase, "Emptiness is form." One should not think that these are two separate things."

"It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done. Thus it is important to make the best out of every generation."

Historical context (via wiki)

"After his master died, Tsunetomo himself was forbidden to perform tsuifuku, a retainer's ritual suicide, by an edict of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Hagakure may have been written partially in an effort to outline the role of the samurai in a more peaceful society. Several sections refer to the "old days", and imply a dangerous weakening of the samurai class since that time.

The Hagakure was written approximately one hundred years after the start of the Tokugawa era, a time of relative peace. With no major campaigns to fight the samurai were transforming from a warrior to an administrative class. His work represents one approach to the problem of maintaining military preparedness and a proper military mindset in a time when neither has much practical application."

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/28412530/

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:48:12 -0800

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/26175525/

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:37:49 -0700

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/13090680/

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:17:13 -0700

It is discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit - Noel Coward

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12696938/

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:15:47 -0700

Someone told me recently that "common sense shows that C[ontrolled]D[emolition] is the 'back and to the left' of 9/11." That's the problem. It is. Look at where 40 years of "back and to the left" has got John Kennedy. - Jeff Wells

I think the only honest emphasis for a 9/11 movement should be Investigate, Investigate, Investigate.
Back in the day, "9/11 Truth" meant we want the truth. Now, "9/11 Truth" means we have the truth. No investigation necessary: We know the towers were demolished/struck by exotic weapons/missiles whatever. The questions have been answered to the satisfaction of the adherents. Now, it's a Truth cult.
Screw that; I don't want to be a part of it. - Jeff Wells

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12518060/

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:08:44 -0700

"In a Time of Universal Deceit Telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act" - George Orwell

"Most people prefer to believe that their leaders are just and fair, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, because once a citizen acknowledges that the government under which he lives is lying and corrupt, the citizen has to choose what he or she will do about it. To take action in the face of corrupt government entails risks of harm to life and loved ones. To choose to do nothing is to surrender one's self-image of standing for principles. Most people do not have the courage to face that choice. Hence, most propaganda is not designed to fool the critical thinker but only to give moral cowards an excuse not to think at all." - Michael Rivero

"The real menace of our republic is this invisible government which like a giant octopus sprawls its slimy length over city, state and nation. Like the octopus of real life, it operates under cover of a self created screen....At the head of this octopus are the Rockefeller Standard Oil interests and a small group of powerful banking houses generally referred to as international bankers. The little coterie of powerful international bankers virtually run the United States government for their own selfish purposes. They practically control both political parties." - New York City Mayor John F. Hylan, 1922

"Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding up both puppets!" - Bill Hicks

"Le secret des grandes fortunes sans cause apparente est un crime oubli�, parce qu' il a �t� proprement fait." - Balzac
Usually paraphrased in English: "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."

"Tyranny is always better organized than freedom." - Charles Peguy.

"Freedom is never an achieved state; like electricity, we've got to keep generating it or the lights go out." - Wayne LaPierre

"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetrated in the name of the noblest causes." - Thomas Paine

"The secret of happiness is freedom. And the secret of freedom is courage." - Thucydides

"Liberty without learning is always in peril and learning without liberty is always in vain." - John F. Kennedy

"The World is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything." - Albert Einstein

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12504835/

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:14:17 -0700

Flying Nuclear Bombs over the USA
(And why it couldn't have been an accident)

All ACMs loaded with a nuclear warhead have distinct red signs distinguishing them from ACMs without a nuclear yield, he said. ACMs with nuclear warheads also weigh significantly more than missiles without them.

"I just can't imagine how all of this happened," said Philip Coyle, a senior adviser on nuclear weapons at the Center for Defense Information. "The procedures are so rigid; this is the last thing that's supposed to happen."
link

The last time the Air Force is known to have flown nuclear weapons on a bomber was during the so-called Chrome Dome missions in the 1960s when the Air Force maintained a dozen bombers loaded with nuclear weapons in the air at any time.
link

Why the hubbub over a B-52 taking off from a B-52 base in Minot, North Dakota and subsequently landing at a B-52 base in Barksdale, Louisiana? That's like getting excited if you see postal worker in uniform walking out of a post office. And how does someone watching a B-52 land identify the cruise missiles as nukes? It just does not make sense.

So I called a old friend and retired B-52 pilot and asked him. What he told me offers one compelling case of circumstantial evidence. My buddy, let's call him Jack D. Ripper, reminded me that the only times you put weapons on a plane is when they are on alert or if you are tasked to move the weapons to a specific site.

Then he told me something I had not heard before.

Barksdale Air Force Base is being used as a jumping off point for Middle East operations. Gee, why would we want cruise missile nukes at Barksdale Air Force Base. Can't imagine we would need to use them in Iraq. Why would we want to preposition nuclear weapons at a base conducting Middle East operations?

His final point was to observe that someone on the inside obviously leaked the info that the planes were carrying nukes. A B-52 landing at Barksdale is a non-event. A B-52 landing with nukes. That is something else.

Now maybe there is an innocent explanation for this? I can't think of one. What is certain is that the pilots of this plane did not just make a last minute decision to strap on some nukes and take them for a joy ride. We need some tough questions and clear answers. What the hell is going on? Did someone at Barksdale try to indirectly warn the American people that the Bush Administration is staging nukes for Iran? I don't know, but it is a question worth asking.
link

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12504827/

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 06:13:47 -0700

post continued...

"This little fairy tale doesn't hold up to the slightest scrutiny. In order to believe it you have to be willing to slander a whole parade of people who, by definition, are the very best at what they do. I'm not willing to do that. I've never flown with a crew of morons. Ordnance people, ground crews, and the maintenance chief with the aircraft log book are not a bunch of shambling zombies. The entire chain of custody for those special weapons did not include people prone to making the biggest screw up in the history of the Air Force. Many posters here have pointed out that the people in this story are all top-flight professionals. What if that is true? What if every single one of them did exactly what they are trained, and required, to do? What if everything went exactly according to plan, until somebody smelled a rat and called the press? As Sherlock Holmes would say, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
The undeniable fact is that 6 special weapons were moved from Minot to Barksdale, or, 6 special weapons were moved from secure storage to a staging area for the ME. Let us not ignore the obvious- the administration is openly ramping up a conflict with Iran. They have been reported as having floated the idea of using nukes on deeply buried targets. They have already performed acts that caused an enormous, global, public outcry. I suspect that the officers who leaked this story feared that they were witness to the start of the greatest war crime in history, feared that their own chain of command was complicit in it, and did the only thing they could think of to do to stop it. That would make this story exactly what it sounds like- a coverup based on the first panicked lie the administration could think of." -seemslikeadream
link

Who was in Charge of the B-52 Incident?

Who ordered the loading of Advanced Cruise missiles on to a B-52 in violation of Air Force regulations? The quick reaction of the Air Force and the issuing of a public statement describing the seriousness of the issue and the launch of an immediate investigation, suggests that whatever occurred, was outside the regular chain of military command. If the regular chain of command was violated, then we have to inquire as to whether the B-52 incident was part of a covert project whose classification level exceeded that held by officers in charge of nuclear weapons at Minot AFB.

The most obvious governmental entity that may have ordered the nuclear arming of the B-52 outside the regular chain of military command is the last remaining bastion of neo-conservative activism in the Bush administration.

Vice President Cheney has taken a very prominent role in covert military operations and training exercises designed for the "seamless integration" of different national security and military authorities to possible terrorist attacks. On May 8, 2001, President Bush placed Mr. Cheney in charge of "[A]ll federal programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction, consequence management within the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, and Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other federal agencies".
link

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12441157/

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 18:10:51 -0700

Mystery trader bets market will crash by a third

Cheney Orders Media To Sell Attack On Iran
Evidently they don't think they'll ever get majority support for this--they want something like 35-40 percent support, which in their book is "plenty."

Bin Laden plans 9/11 video message
Whatever his message, it's certain to stir up fears that Al Qaeda is planning to strike again soon.

"I think they're ready to attack," said Michael Scheuer, who created the CIA's Bin Laden unit, Alec Station, in 1996.

CIA Director Hayden Warns of New al-Qaida Attacks
In a rare public address CIA Director Gen. Michael Hayden warned of new attacks by al-Qaida:
"Our analysts assess with high confidence that al-Qaida's central leadership is planning high-impact plots against the U.S. homeland."
Hayden's unusual public address was made at his request at the Council of Foreign Relations.
The newly minted CIA chief also took the unusual step of making his appearance in military uniform, though as CIA director he is not on active military assignment.

B-52 mistakenly flies with nukes aboard
A B-52 bomber mistakenly loaded with five nuclear warheads flew from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30, resulting in an Air Force-wide investigation, according to three officers who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the incident.

The B-52 was loaded with Advanced Cruise Missiles, part of a Defense Department effort to decommission 400 of the ACMs. But the nuclear warheads should have been removed at Minot before being transported to Barksdale, the officers said. The missiles were mounted onto the pylons of the bomber's wings.

Air Force investigates mistaken transport of nuclear warheads
The Air Force announced that all flights of fighters and bombers in the United States will be halted on September 14 to allow for a review of procedures.

Feel free to get paranoid and connect the dots.

http://Jerome.stumbleupon.com/review/12009342/

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 04:35:53 -0700

Network (1976) Directed by Sidney Lumet.

Because you people
and 62 million other Americans are listening to me right now.
Because less than three percent of you people read books.
Because less than 15 percent of you read newspapers.
Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube.
Right now, there is a whole and entire generation
that never knew anything that didn't come out of this tube!
This tube is the Gospel. The ultimate revelation.
This tube can make or break presidents, popes, prime ministers.
This tube is the most awesome goddamn force in the whole godless world...
and woe is us if it ever falls into the hands of the wrong people!
[...]
And when the 12th largest company in the world
controls the most awesome, goddamn propaganda force
in the whole godless world,
who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network!
So you listen to me. Listen to me!
Television is not the truth.
Television's a goddamned amusement park!
Television is a circus, a carnival, a travelling troupe of acrobats,
storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks,
lion tamers and football players.
We're in the boredom-killing business.
So if you want the truth, go to God.
Go to your gurus.
Go to yourselves!
Because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth.
But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us.
We'll tell you anything you wanna hear. We lie like hell.
We'll tell you that Kojak always gets the killer
and that nobody ever gets cancer in Archie Bunker's house.
And no matter how much trouble the hero is in, don't worry.
Look at your watch. At the end of the hour he'll win!
We'll tell you any shit you want to hear!
We deal in illusions. None of it is true!
But you people sit there, day after day, night after night.
You're all ages, colors, creeds. We're all you know.
You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here.
You're beginning to think the tube is reality and your own lives are unreal.
You do whatever the tube tells you!
You dress like the tube, eat like the tube,
raise your children like the tube, even think like the tube.
This is mass madness, you maniacs!
In God's name, you people are the real thing!
We are the illusion!
So turn off your television sets. Turn them off right now.
Turn them off and leave them off.
Turn them off in the middle of this sentence.
Turn them off!

Video here.