Monbiot: “the bailout is as American as apple pie and obesity”

On the US bailout, George Monbiot writes:

According to Senator Jim Bunning, the proposal to purchase $700bn of dodgy debt by the US government “is financial socialism, it is un-American”. The economics professor Nouriel Roubini calls George Bush, Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke “a troika of Bolsheviks who turned the USA into the United Socialist State Republic of America”. Bill Perkins, the venture capitalist who took out an advertisement in the New York Times attacking the deal, calls it “trickle-down communism”.

They are wrong. The banking subsidies Congress rejected last night are as American as apple pie and obesity. The sums demanded by Bush and Paulson might be unprecedented, but there is nothing new about the principle: corporate welfare is a consistent feature of advanced capitalism. Only one thing has changed: Congress has been forced to confront its contradictions.

One of the best studies of corporate welfare in the United States is published by my old enemies at the Cato Institute. Its report, by Stephen Slivinski, estimates that in 2006 the federal government spent $92bn subsidising business. Much of it went to major corporations like Boeing, IBM and General Electric.

Read more.

G’Day World #342 – Dr Craig Johnson on Hitler

I had the very great pleasure of hanging out with Pastor Dr Craig Johnson in Paris back in July. We had a terrific time, including some very great laughs walking through the Louvre. Craig is an Evangelical Protestant clergyman. He is the founder and Pastor of Bethel Christian Fellowship in Agoura Hills, California.  He is  currently the host of two weekly television programs: Another Cable Show about God and The Veritas Forum, and he has authored three books: Nehushtan: The Enemy of Revival; The Alexander Code: Alexander the Great and the Hidden Prophecies of the Bible; and Tardemah: The Deep Sleep that Awakens Your Dreams. He has degrees in Theology and Philosophy.

While in Paris, we talked a great deal about Hitler and the roots of Antisemitism, something Craig happens to know quite a lot about.

So, following on from this blog post I did recently, we chatted today about the roots of Hitler’s worldview and whether or not Hitler and the Nazi’s were Christians. I, of course, take the position that Hitler and the National Socialist Party were Christians – Craig argues they were not.

My main references are:

This list of quotes from Hitler’s speeches and writings in which he professes his Christian beliefs here.

The official National Socialist Party Platform which states:

“24. We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the Germanic race. The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any one denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and around us, and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from within on the framework: common utility precedes individual utility.”

I think Hitler was just trying to bring Matthew 13:49-50 to life:

13:49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
13:50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

After all, didn’t he build furnaces of fire?

Craig references a book called “Hitler’s Table Talk”, which is a series of statements Hitler said in private meetings, which were apparently recorded and transcribed. You can download a copy of “Hitler’s Table Talk” here. But you should first read this analysis of the book’s English translation which claims that the English version has been deliberately translated to sound much more anti-Christian than the original German. Also read this post which explores the credibility of the men who discovered and translated the document. The bottom line seems to be that Hitler definitely believed in Jesus but thought the version of Christianity developed by Paul of Tarsus was akin to Communism. Hitler also believed he was following in Jesus’ footsteps by attacking the Jews. So the question is – does that make him a Christian or not?

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A brief history of Russia & the West

I recently read this post by Richard Moore on the history between Russia and the West and I thought I should share it with you. It provides some interesting perspective on what’s happening over in Georgia at the moment. According to Moore, Georgie is just the latest in a long line of pawns being moved by the West to provide an excuse to ramp up another Cold War.

Here’s an excerpt:

The Cold War, an invention of the West, embodied two primary objectives. First and foremost, it provided an excuse for interventions all over the globe on the part of the US – ostensibly ‘protecting the free world from Communism’ – while in fact exploiting the hell out of what were deemed to be ‘underdeveloped’ nations. Secondarily, the Cold War amounted to a long-term attempt to destabilize the Soviet Union, which finally succeeded in 1990. The Cold War was perhaps the most successful of the historical series of attacks on Russia.

Russia, in concert with China, is beginning to eclipse the US-EU Axis in many areas, including manufacturing, control over energy supplies, productive economic activity, and monetary reserves. Only in military capability does the US continue to hold a #1 rating, and the actual military advantage slips day by day away from the Pentagon, as Russia and China develop their ‘asymmetric’ counter-measures.

This is the context in which US-NATO trained, armed, and encouraged Georgia to launch its brutal and illegal attack on South Ossetia, intentionally killing Russian citizens and peace-keepers, and intentionally targeting civilians generally. Nearly all of the casualties in the overall conflict were inflicted by Georgian forces at the outset of hostilities. The US and UK media refer to the total number of casualties, and imply that Russia is to blame for them. Such is the nature of our so-called ‘free press’.

Read the full post by Richard Moore.

It’s interesting to just quickly run your eyes over the list of headlines about Georgia in Google News to see how the Western press is depicting the events.

“Russians remain in Georgia”, TVNZ, New Zealand

“Deadline passes for Russian withdrawal from Georgia”, ABC Online, Australia

“US Says Russia Must Remove All Military Equipment From Georgia”, Voice of America

“Russia’s Might in Georgia Reflects Pattern, Rice Says”, Bloomberg

“Rice: NATO won’t let Russia succeed in Georgia”, San Diego Union Tribune

“Russia moves SS-21 missiles into Georgia: US defense official”, AFP

“US says Russia should withdraw from Georgia”, Reuters

“Despite Cease-Fire, Russia Stays In Georgia”, NPR

Any guesses who the bad guy is here?

Alternative headlines might read:

“Russia Continues To Defend South Ossetia Against Georgian Attacks”

But good luck finding that one.

G’Day World #321 – Communism, The Four Hour Work Week and more.

I’m back this week with my first show from Brisbane!! Today it’s just me talking about TPN’s recent technology woes, my decision not to take venture capital, communism, the origins of the concept of family, an up date on my personal coach, Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Work Week, The Spider And The Starfish, and more!

Today’s music is:

These Are The Good Times PeoplePresidents Of The United States Of America
“Sharpen Up Those Fangs” (mp3)
from “These Are The Good Times People”
(Cooking Vinyl)
More On This Album

Why Did The CIA Get Involved In Afghanistan?

If you’ve seen the recent Hollywood blockbuster “Charlie Wilson’s War”, you probably think you know why the CIA decided to lend support to the mujahadeen in Afghanistan in 1980. It was to help defeat the evil invading Soviet army – right?

Wrong.

According to former CIA director Robert Gates and President Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brezinski, the CIA were involved in Afghanistan at least six months before the Soviet’s invaded. Okay, I know this isn’t new news, but I’m just catching up.

The CIA, with Presidential approval, were illegally supporting terrorist forces within the country to help them attack and overthrow the pro-Soviet government run by Nur Muhammed Taraki. Taraki, who had taken power via a coup from Mohammed Daoud Khan, a member of the Royal Family, was upsetting Muslims by trying to modernize the country – including the establishment of full women’s rights and the implementation of land reform. These are things you’d think the USA would support, right?

Wrong.

The USA was doing everything they could to prevent the spread of Communism. But why?

I’ve often wondered where this American fear of communism comes from. I know we’ve all been programmed from birth to believe “communism = evil, capitalism = good”, but why? If communism is just another political idea, like being a Democrat versus being a Republican, why not just let “the people” decide what they want? Why the massive scare campaign about the ‘red terror’?

I finally figured it out. Okay, I know, I must be dumb. It’s because the powers than run the USA are wealthy white men, otherwise known as the bourgeoisie. They are, by definition, anti-Communist. They have money and power and communism would take that power away from them and disperse it amongst the people. The success of socialism or communism around the world would encourage the people inside the USA to think about the benefits of Marxism and this would run contrary to the self-interest of the American upper classes. In fact, it is probably the last thing they want the people to think about. Think about football, celebrities, game shows, Saddam Hussein, New York Governors and their expensive hookers, ANYTHING – just don’t think about a different political system which would stop protecting the position of the privileged and the wealthy.

So anyway, back to Afghanistan. When the civil war, funded and supported by the CIA, was getting out of control, President Taraki asked the Soviets to help. They told him that sending troops in would be a VERY BAD IDEA. They knew what would happen. They knew the USA would use it as a pretext for further support.

After Taraki was assassinated, allegedly by a member of his own Government, then the Soviets invaded. And the rest is history.

Why is all this important? Because it goes to show, yet again, how you can’t just believe the official version of events.

If you believe the official version of events, the CIA stopped meddling in the affairs of other countries after the Church Committee Report came out in 1975. Yeah, right.