As IF Times

link:  https://tribune.com.pk/story/2481940/tulsi-gabbard-gives-stark-warning-on-kamala-harris

It’s beyond ironic that the political party that has the word ‘democracy’ implied in its name has always pursued the most undemocratic of tactics to gain and retain office. Only truly deranged and diabolical minds could create the machinations surrounding the tragic saga of the Joe Biden presidency.  I’m reasonably certain that historians will refer to his tenure as the “Joe Izuzu” administration for the outright knee slappers they’ve foisted on the public as being facts.

We’re not casting aspersions on Joe’s qualifications since he has spent all of his adult life in political office and debated with Abe Lincoln as well as fought tough gang members such as Corn Pop.  Most famously, he was against blacks before he was for them, including “that black guy” serving as is his defense secretary.

Recall that the Democrats foisted Joe as their standard bearer for the 2020 election and lo and behold, over 80 million voters apparently agreed with this choice and by some miraculous 13^th or 14^th hour vote tabulation, he was our guy!  We still don’t know the exact count, because they’re still tabulating them 4 years later…just in case.  His preferred Vice Presidential running mate was someone that finished 6^th out of 8 candidates during the debates….by Democratic party voters, so their own party didn’t think much of her.

With Joe’s “sudden” decision to withdraw from the next election campaign, this 6^th choice is bizarrely in a position to lead the United States.   And….nobody voted for her! I wonder if 80 million voters are collectively upset?  It’s as if you ordered something off the menu at The French Laundry; were told that only soup was available and eventually got served a Big Mac from the kid’s menu. You can’t complain because, you know, racist and sexist.

I’ve spoken about this topic before, of how the public is realistically removed from the ‘democratic’ voting process.  As we’ve seen in numerous elections recently, in France, in Canada and most conspicuously now in the U.S., a very miniscule part of the population determines who gets to rule over the vast number of hapless citizens.  It’s comical to hear the on-going bleats about the importance of voting when in reality, the choices and winners are pre-determined. George Carlin was correct.  If voting worked, they wouldn’t allow it.

link:  https://reason.com/2024/06/15/house-passes-bill-to-automatically-register-young-men-for-the-draft/

We frequently hear the word ‘war’ used to describe all manner of campaigns these days.  The war on drugs sure, but the war on obesity, on climate change, on hate? Such are examples of issues that are inflated to the level of war, when they really only rate a level of inconvenience at worst and are commercial enterprises at best.

The true effects of a real war include death, destruction and untold misery heaped upon millions of willing and unwilling participants alike.  In our recent times, most people are fortunate not to have been participants in an all-out world war.  The world is never absent of regional skirmishes of some kind, many of which are never highlighted in today’s corporately run media.

Wars have historically been fought over land, resources and influence, principally of the religious kind.  In our modern world the main reasons to fight wars are largely absent. Resources are negotiated by exchange and trade in world markets.  There is very little reason to mount a campaign of nationalism to fight against some imaginary enemy ‘X’.  The never-ending regional wars in the Middle East are perhaps an outlier, since disagreements there have lasted for hundreds of years and the ideologies involved will never come to agreement.  In reality, the Middle East conflict has always been a proxy war for adherents to either side of an historic cultural divide. As in all wars, endless money ensures that war’s continuance.

In the case of Western nations, there is no imminent threat of Russian hegemony despite the hysterical pronouncements by modern Neo-cons fighting the last war from decades ago.  No American or citizen of a Western nation is suffering because of the actions of a purportedly hostile Russia.  The average citizen dealing with high mortgage payments, spiraling food, energy and living costs cannot blame Russia.  Dealing with rampant inner city crime, lawlessness and social decay has nothing to do with external threats from Russia, or China or North Korea.

All of these issues are in fact consequences of actions or inaction by domestic governments.  If you consider the comment I made earlier about war wreaking death, destruction and misery upon a population, it appears that if there’s any war being propagated, it’s by the very governments whom are charged with protecting their constituency.  Very recently, the soon to be lame duck President of France, Emmanuel Macron threatened that France would enter a civil war if his party lost in their legislative elections.  As if things were going swimmingly now under his leadership.

There are clearly no shortages of resources in the modern world, yet nations are forced to pay the highest prices in history for things that are abundantly available everywhere.   Why should food, fuel, shelter and medical care be so expensive given the technology that exists in production and distribution?

Clearly there is mismanagement, corruption or subterfuge in distributing goods and services to the citizens of nations.  It’s concerning to hear all the sabre rattling about sending troops to far off nations to fight battles that have nothing to do with peoples’ everyday lives.  Some may be aware of recent maneuvers to implement automatic registration for conscription for those between the ages of 18 and 25 in the US.  Why is this necessary or even being considered?

There’s an old saw that posits that all wars are bankers’ wars and upon examination, it gets harder and harder to dispute this.  Before the next unqualified charlatan comes to the fore waving the patriotic flag for war, people had better think long and hard about what’s in it for them.  If there’s a war going on, it’s for the minds of ordinary citizens.