Stop the "War on Terror" in 5 Simple Steps
This inaugural TX911Truth.us post appears on the 2017 Memorial Day weekend. It prompts us to think about all of those soldiers who have bravely sacrificed themselves in the name of freedom and liberty for our country. We salute them.
It also reminds many of us of the so-called "War on Terror" whose real goal is to make a small group of rich and powerful elites even richer and more powerful. This is not what all those brave men and women fought and, in some cases, were injured or died for.
On this Memorial Day, to honor our past, current, and future soldiers and the families who love them, we plead and pray for an end to these needless wars for corporate greed.
But what can any of us do to bring the insanity to an end? What can I do? What can YOU do? Here are a few simple (though not necessarily easy) steps that can make a huge difference if we all follow them and share them with others.
1. RECOGNIZE THE REAL TERRORISTS
The first step is to really think about WHO is busy night and day constantly trying to scare/terrorize the pants off you and me. When was the last time a Middle Eastern extremist came into your house or car or a public space and made you fear for your life or the lives of your loved ones? Outside of 9/11, the answer for almost every American is: "Never."
Think about it. The ones who enter our homes and our lives every single day trying to scare us are those in the mass media, as the mouthpieces for the corporations and politicians who control them. They expect us to simply take their word that the bad guys "over there" are after us and will be on our doorsteps "over here" in a heartbeat if we don't stop them right now.
This inaugural TX911Truth.us post appears on the 2017 Memorial Day weekend. It prompts us to think about all of those soldiers who have bravely sacrificed themselves in the name of freedom and liberty for our country. We salute them.
It also reminds many of us of the so-called "War on Terror" whose real goal is to make a small group of rich and powerful elites even richer and more powerful. This is not what all those brave men and women fought and, in some cases, were injured or died for.
On this Memorial Day, to honor our past, current, and future soldiers and the families who love them, we plead and pray for an end to these needless wars for corporate greed.
But what can any of us do to bring the insanity to an end? What can I do? What can YOU do? Here are a few simple (though not necessarily easy) steps that can make a huge difference if we all follow them and share them with others.
1. RECOGNIZE THE REAL TERRORISTS
The first step is to really think about WHO is busy night and day constantly trying to scare/terrorize the pants off you and me. When was the last time a Middle Eastern extremist came into your house or car or a public space and made you fear for your life or the lives of your loved ones? Outside of 9/11, the answer for almost every American is: "Never."
Think about it. The ones who enter our homes and our lives every single day trying to scare us are those in the mass media, as the mouthpieces for the corporations and politicians who control them. They expect us to simply take their word that the bad guys "over there" are after us and will be on our doorsteps "over here" in a heartbeat if we don't stop them right now.
 | "...[T]errorists will hit U.S. in 2 weeks." Did it happen? No. Scare + reaction = Demand or compliance from the public (us) for something the corporatocracy wanted from us when they made up or over-hyped the threat. |
And many of us do take their word. We obediently respond to the prompts by getting scared. And we react, just as the manipulators want us to react. We don't travel anywhere that seems "dangerous." We fear and avoid those around us who seem "different." Instead of reaching out to others and uniting around our commonalities, we withdraw into our safe zones, where we receive more scary-bad news and become even more afraid...of everyone and everything. And we give a big thumbs-up to whatever our "protectors" want to do, as long as it means we'll be safer and less scared.
So the first step to stopping the "War on Terror" is for all of us to realize that the real terrorists (the ones making us scared every single day) are the mass media outlets.
First, they serve the corporatocracy that runs our country and needs us scared for reasons I'll get to in a minute. And second, the media know that if they don't report scary or upsetting news 24/7, keeping us glued to their channels, watching their sponsors' ads and buying their products, they will go out of business. Peace and harmony are simply not profitable.
Once we see the media as the real terrorists and disconnect ourselves from their emotional triggers, we are free to receive and evaluate news objectively.
So the first step to stopping the "War on Terror" is for all of us to realize that the real terrorists (the ones making us scared every single day) are the mass media outlets.
First, they serve the corporatocracy that runs our country and needs us scared for reasons I'll get to in a minute. And second, the media know that if they don't report scary or upsetting news 24/7, keeping us glued to their channels, watching their sponsors' ads and buying their products, they will go out of business. Peace and harmony are simply not profitable.
Once we see the media as the real terrorists and disconnect ourselves from their emotional triggers, we are free to receive and evaluate news objectively.
2. QUESTION AND WEIGH EACH THREAT AGAINST OTHER THREATS
The second step to ending the "War on Terror" is to research and really think about each threat our mass media is currently hyping.
Ask yourself a few questions. How bad is the threat, really? How likely is it to harm any Americans in the near future? And especially: What other threats are WAY bigger and badder that we need to take care of before we worry about this one?
A couple of years ago I was thinking sadly about the number of Americans and innocent civilians all over the world who have been killed or wounded in this "War on Terror." And I wanted to know how big the threat of terrorism really was that we needed to sacrifice so many soldiers, so many innocents, and so much money to fight it.
I was shocked by what I learned. I picked a typical year that had plenty of related statistics (2011) and charted the deaths of Americans due to various causes, including terrorism. Turns out there were only 17 terrorism deaths that year. In fact, 27 times more Americans (about 460) died that year in military combat. And to make matters worse, there were also 27 times more (another 460) victims of active duty soldier suicide than there were victims (17) of the Middle Eastern terror that this war is supposedly all about.
Now, compare the 17 terror-war deaths to the 2205 times more deaths from prescription drugs (about 37,500 deaths) and the 5582 times more deaths from medical mistakes (about 95,000 deaths).
Kinda looks like we're fighting the wrong war, doesn't it?
The second step to ending the "War on Terror" is to research and really think about each threat our mass media is currently hyping.
Ask yourself a few questions. How bad is the threat, really? How likely is it to harm any Americans in the near future? And especially: What other threats are WAY bigger and badder that we need to take care of before we worry about this one?
A couple of years ago I was thinking sadly about the number of Americans and innocent civilians all over the world who have been killed or wounded in this "War on Terror." And I wanted to know how big the threat of terrorism really was that we needed to sacrifice so many soldiers, so many innocents, and so much money to fight it.
I was shocked by what I learned. I picked a typical year that had plenty of related statistics (2011) and charted the deaths of Americans due to various causes, including terrorism. Turns out there were only 17 terrorism deaths that year. In fact, 27 times more Americans (about 460) died that year in military combat. And to make matters worse, there were also 27 times more (another 460) victims of active duty soldier suicide than there were victims (17) of the Middle Eastern terror that this war is supposedly all about.
Now, compare the 17 terror-war deaths to the 2205 times more deaths from prescription drugs (about 37,500 deaths) and the 5582 times more deaths from medical mistakes (about 95,000 deaths).
Kinda looks like we're fighting the wrong war, doesn't it?
Deaths from major Islamic terror attacks worldwide since Jan 2002: total of 1381 (about 92 deaths/year). NONE IN THE U.S.
| COMPARE the 1381 terrorism deaths of non-Americans since 2001 to the 490,000 pharmaceutical drug deaths of Americans since 2001. |  | Which war should we be fighting? |
You might be tempted to say that those 1381 non-American lives matter too. And you would be right. But it is not our responsibility, moral or otherwise, to save the world when so many more people right here at home are sick or dying from preventable causes.
Consider too that the Middle Eastern region, where at least half of those 1381 terrorism deaths occurred, has experienced ongoing fighting for CENTURIES.
What's more important is that the map of terror attacks above does not show the estimated 1,300,000 (1.3 million) deaths of innocents due to the military intervention of the US and other countries in this alleged "War on Terror."
It doesn't take a fifth grader to know the math just doesn't add up.
3. IDENTIFY THE REACTION THEY WANT FROM US
When the mass media terrorize us with news of bombings, shootings, poisonings or diseases overseas (or even on a smaller scale here in the US), they are often trying to shape our emotions to make us demand more protection from our government, law enforcement, and military.
They want us to demand more surveillance so they can better predict and prevent scary-bad things in the future. They want us to demand more protectors, law enforcement, or soldiers to prevent or stop scary-bad things in the future. And they want us to okay a LOT more taxpayer money to pay for all that extra-special protection we demanded. They also want us to be willing to give up more of our civil liberties if we believe that's what it takes for them to protect us better.
Consider too that the Middle Eastern region, where at least half of those 1381 terrorism deaths occurred, has experienced ongoing fighting for CENTURIES.
What's more important is that the map of terror attacks above does not show the estimated 1,300,000 (1.3 million) deaths of innocents due to the military intervention of the US and other countries in this alleged "War on Terror."
It doesn't take a fifth grader to know the math just doesn't add up.
3. IDENTIFY THE REACTION THEY WANT FROM US
When the mass media terrorize us with news of bombings, shootings, poisonings or diseases overseas (or even on a smaller scale here in the US), they are often trying to shape our emotions to make us demand more protection from our government, law enforcement, and military.
They want us to demand more surveillance so they can better predict and prevent scary-bad things in the future. They want us to demand more protectors, law enforcement, or soldiers to prevent or stop scary-bad things in the future. And they want us to okay a LOT more taxpayer money to pay for all that extra-special protection we demanded. They also want us to be willing to give up more of our civil liberties if we believe that's what it takes for them to protect us better.
If the scare is about a biological threat, like Ebola or Zika, they want us to demand vaccines or drugs, even though those products are untested and potentially dangerous. They make them widely available for "free," without telling us that our leaders are giving gazillions of our taxpayer dollars to the drug companies for these products. And they want us to be so scared that we pressure everybody we know to take those untested, insanely expensive vaccines/drugs. And it doesn't stop there. They want us to hate/fear those who choose not to vaccinate, and perhaps even report our friends and neighbors to the authorities if they don't comply.
If the scare is a psychological or ideological threat--say, from people labeled "domestic extremists," "anti-government" types, "conspiracy theorists," or even "abusive parents" (like those who refuse to give their children the drugs/vaccines mentioned above)--they want us to demand that the authorities make new laws to take away even more rights from the Labeled People (like the right to bear arms, travel freely, or refuse vaccines).. We may even authorize our "protectors" to indefinitely "detain" (imprison without due process) the Labeled People, or take away their children.
So once you can see what the media's terror reports are trying to scare us INTO, you're ready for the next step...
4. FIGURE OUT WHO BENEFITS (cui bono)
Now look at the actions the terrorist mass media have prodded us to demand or accept, then figure out who benefits from our demands or compliance.
The Latin expression "Cui bono?" means "Who benefits?" It typically suggests that those who benefit from a situation are likely to be the guilty parties responsible for the situation. We might also use the expression "Follow the money" to imply that those who benefit from a solution we were forced into are most likely the same ones who engineered the problem in the first place.
So once you can see what the media's terror reports are trying to scare us INTO, you're ready for the next step...
4. FIGURE OUT WHO BENEFITS (cui bono)
Now look at the actions the terrorist mass media have prodded us to demand or accept, then figure out who benefits from our demands or compliance.
The Latin expression "Cui bono?" means "Who benefits?" It typically suggests that those who benefit from a situation are likely to be the guilty parties responsible for the situation. We might also use the expression "Follow the money" to imply that those who benefit from a solution we were forced into are most likely the same ones who engineered the problem in the first place.
 |  |
So when we see that we've been driven by hyped-up fear toward a "solution" they wanted all along, we know that somebody (not us) is going to gain a lot more money and/or power from our demands or compliance. For example:
> If we demand more national security, the military-industrial complex (specifically the executives and government insiders who are in bed with them) makes more money.
> If they make us fear marijuana enough that we demand stronger enforcement of drug laws, the for-profit, private prison executives (and their government patners) make more money incarcerating poor people for victimless crimes.
> If we demand vaccines to protect us from the "deadly pandemic du jour," the drug companies (along with their government cronies) make boatloads of money...out of taxpayer's funds...to shove dangerous poisons into our bodies that make us too weak to fight back or even think clearly.
And don't be fooled into thinking the CDC is out there to protect the public's interests with their recommendations of vaccinations or assessments of biological threats. The CDC makes money off the very same vaccines and drugs they "recommend" that we and our vulnerable children take.
5. ESCAPE THE COLLECTIVE: THINK FOR YOURSELF and DON'T TAKE THE BAIT
When you faithfully follow steps 1-4 above, you'll know when you're bring manipulated, and you'll know why. You'll be better able to choose a course of action that fits the real situation, not the one they've created or artificially inflated to scare you for the benefit of their corporate or government puppetmasters.
> If we demand more national security, the military-industrial complex (specifically the executives and government insiders who are in bed with them) makes more money.
> If they make us fear marijuana enough that we demand stronger enforcement of drug laws, the for-profit, private prison executives (and their government patners) make more money incarcerating poor people for victimless crimes.
> If we demand vaccines to protect us from the "deadly pandemic du jour," the drug companies (along with their government cronies) make boatloads of money...out of taxpayer's funds...to shove dangerous poisons into our bodies that make us too weak to fight back or even think clearly.
And don't be fooled into thinking the CDC is out there to protect the public's interests with their recommendations of vaccinations or assessments of biological threats. The CDC makes money off the very same vaccines and drugs they "recommend" that we and our vulnerable children take.
5. ESCAPE THE COLLECTIVE: THINK FOR YOURSELF and DON'T TAKE THE BAIT
When you faithfully follow steps 1-4 above, you'll know when you're bring manipulated, and you'll know why. You'll be better able to choose a course of action that fits the real situation, not the one they've created or artificially inflated to scare you for the benefit of their corporate or government puppetmasters.
The final step toward ending the "War on Terror" is to simply THINK FOR YOURSELF and STOP TAKING THE BAIT.
Whenever the mass media puppets try to scare you, stop and look behind the curtain, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, to see how pathetically weak and empty their noisy threats really are up-close. When they are trying to get you to "look over here," take that as your cue to look elsewhere to find the bigger threats they're getting paid to distract you from.
And if you're fighting the right wars against those bigger issues (like combat deaths and suicides, drug/medical deaths, election fraud, etc.), stay on course. Don't let their scares take your focus off your mission.
Don't waste time spreading their false news. And, equally important, don't waste time telling others about their attempts to spread false news. If an action doesn't move your mission forward significantly, don't spend any of your precious time on it, or THEY win.
Just think for yourself, don't take the bait, act independently...and encourage others to follow the same 5 steps.
NOW DO THE SAME WITH ALL OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
It might be tempting to think you're with a group that prides itself on knowing and sharing Truth with a capital T, and therefore you don't need to follow these steps.
You would be wrong.
Whenever the mass media puppets try to scare you, stop and look behind the curtain, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, to see how pathetically weak and empty their noisy threats really are up-close. When they are trying to get you to "look over here," take that as your cue to look elsewhere to find the bigger threats they're getting paid to distract you from.
And if you're fighting the right wars against those bigger issues (like combat deaths and suicides, drug/medical deaths, election fraud, etc.), stay on course. Don't let their scares take your focus off your mission.
Don't waste time spreading their false news. And, equally important, don't waste time telling others about their attempts to spread false news. If an action doesn't move your mission forward significantly, don't spend any of your precious time on it, or THEY win.
Just think for yourself, don't take the bait, act independently...and encourage others to follow the same 5 steps.
NOW DO THE SAME WITH ALL OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION
It might be tempting to think you're with a group that prides itself on knowing and sharing Truth with a capital T, and therefore you don't need to follow these steps.
You would be wrong.
Nobody has a monopoly on Truth, and we are ALL vulnerable to the influences and biases that blind us and move us to action without our conscious awareness.
Other sources of pressure and manipulation can include: alternative media sources, political groups, religious institutions, social clubs, professional organizations and, yes, your network of family, friends, and acquaintances.
So-called "underground" media sources can promote the agendas of the power elite, either deliberately or unknowingly, by leaking "secrets" the mainstream media don't want us to know about, and generating fear or at least distraction.
The cui bono and payoff? Sometimes those who benefit may want something intangible like respect, or power and influence within or outside the group. They may want attention, to be in the spotlight. They may want to protect or shield you, or "cure" you of your delusions and wrong thinking. They may want to confuse you, or make you paranoid, or distract you from activist missions, keeping you surfing the web all day long so they can continue their dirty deeds without interference. Or they may indeed want money or material things.
The advice is the same no matter the source of the information or the scare: Follow the 5 steps.
See the Truth behind the scare. Don't take the bait, think for yourself, and act independently.
Other sources of pressure and manipulation can include: alternative media sources, political groups, religious institutions, social clubs, professional organizations and, yes, your network of family, friends, and acquaintances.
So-called "underground" media sources can promote the agendas of the power elite, either deliberately or unknowingly, by leaking "secrets" the mainstream media don't want us to know about, and generating fear or at least distraction.
The cui bono and payoff? Sometimes those who benefit may want something intangible like respect, or power and influence within or outside the group. They may want attention, to be in the spotlight. They may want to protect or shield you, or "cure" you of your delusions and wrong thinking. They may want to confuse you, or make you paranoid, or distract you from activist missions, keeping you surfing the web all day long so they can continue their dirty deeds without interference. Or they may indeed want money or material things.
The advice is the same no matter the source of the information or the scare: Follow the 5 steps.
See the Truth behind the scare. Don't take the bait, think for yourself, and act independently.
And one last point:
if you and your family are struggling financially
because you've been laid off by a defense contractor, please
think twice before you say, "I hate to say it, but we need another war."
No job is worth the slaughter of innocents.
____________
if you and your family are struggling financially
because you've been laid off by a defense contractor, please
think twice before you say, "I hate to say it, but we need another war."
No job is worth the slaughter of innocents.
____________
In Honor of Our Soldiers, Veterans, and Their Families
On this Memorial Day 2017, we ask all Americans to stop buying into the lies that scare us and make us demand more wars. We ask that you instead demand an end to these horrific wars for corporate profit and an end to the needless death and mutilation of our brave men and women in uniform.
Specifically, we ask our leaders to close the vast majority of our approximately 800 military bases occupying other people's countries. Get out of other people's business. Stop funding terrorists and deposing other people's leaders. Quit stuffing private military corporations with money and screwing over our soldiers. Bring our troops home. Stop the hemorrhaging of tax dollars into the pockets of corporate and government insiders. And create real, meaningful American jobs that improve the lives--and the security--of Americans all across this great land.
On this Memorial Day 2017, we ask all Americans to stop buying into the lies that scare us and make us demand more wars. We ask that you instead demand an end to these horrific wars for corporate profit and an end to the needless death and mutilation of our brave men and women in uniform.
Specifically, we ask our leaders to close the vast majority of our approximately 800 military bases occupying other people's countries. Get out of other people's business. Stop funding terrorists and deposing other people's leaders. Quit stuffing private military corporations with money and screwing over our soldiers. Bring our troops home. Stop the hemorrhaging of tax dollars into the pockets of corporate and government insiders. And create real, meaningful American jobs that improve the lives--and the security--of Americans all across this great land.
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