Water water everywhere: Too much of it -- or too little?

     I've been told that you can get instructions for making a freaking atomic bomb right off the internet.  All you need is uranium, a cyclotron or two and a stick of dynamite.  Just score some of that stuff and you're good to go.   Easy-peazy.  Hell, even North Korea could do it.

     And ever since Hiroshima, some of the best minds of our generation have been dedicated to the proposition of blowing stuff up.  But is this really what the world needs right now?  Yet another way to make things go ka-boom?  I think not.  We've got way much bigger challenges facing us right now.  https://972mag.com/another-unnecessary-war/132905/

     For instance, on one hand the world's ocean water levels are currently rising even faster than America's national debt.  And on the other hand, deserts are spreading all across the world even faster than school shootings are spreading across the U.S.  One part of the globe has too much water.  Another part has not even enough.

     What to do?

     Wouldn't it be nice if our top scientists would put away their childish things and start working on stuff that really matters?  Like how to desalinate all the oceans' extra water and transport it to the Gobi and the Kalahari and the Sahara and Death Valley?  Where it can really do some good.

     I've been to some of these desert places.  All you gotta do is add water to the dust there and then stir.  Voila!  Instant dirt.  It's magic.  It's like making Kool-Aid.  Instant Eden.

     Why aren't our scientists working on this?  Instead of dedicating their lives to making our planet uninhabitable and radioactive?

PS:  And of course I'm going to somehow tie all of this stuff back to the Middle East as usual -- and why not?  I love visiting the Middle East.  The people there are friendly, hospitable and not really deserving of being bombed, napalmed and slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands.  Mass murder is never a good idea -- whether it's done by Hitler, Stalin or the Pentagon.   https://247wallst.com/special-report/2018/02/20/20-companies-profiting-the-most-from-war/2/

     "But," you might say, "what about ISIS and Al Qaeda?"  Do your research.  Most of them are using missiles, deadly gases and even Toyota trucks that America gave them.  Humph.  https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/23/the-coming-wars-to-end-all-wars/

     And as for election tampering, parts of the Middle East really do have their hands in the American electoral cookie jar.  Here's an article that mentions in passing just how much influence Saudi Arabia and Israel have on American elections:  http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=21181%27%20style=%27color:#000;https://youtu.be/Ql06w6jPkvw

     Places in the Middle East such as Yemen, Iraq, Syria, etc. could easily be turned from killing fields to paradises -- if only all those evil vicious bastards in America didn't make so much money on weapons sales.  But then in in places like Parkland and Sandy Hook and Columbine,  I'm probably preaching to the choir. 

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A tale of two cities: Houston TX & San Juan, Puerto Rico     

      Even in your wildest dreams could you ever imagine that Americans would ever put up with allowing Houston, Texas, to go without electricity for almost a year after being hit by a hurricane?  "Inconceivable!"  And yet San Juan, Puerto Rico, another American city that was hit by a hurricane at the same time as Houston, STILL has very little electrical power -- and doesn't reasonably expect to get its electricity up and running before this summer either.  "Unheard of."

     One American city had the necessary recovery funds pumped into it fast.  Lights went back on within days.  Another American city still sees its students studying by candlelight and living without refrigeration or air conditioning 24/7 -- even months and months after the event and also for many more months to come.  https://portside.org/2018-02-02/puerto-rico-living-and-learning-dark

      If such a horrendous third-world un-American thing such as going without power for almost a year had happened to Houston, then I bet all y'all anything that within hours Colonel Travis himself would be rolling over in his grave and Texans would have succeeded from the Union or/or marched on Washington with torches and pitchforks!

    And here's something else of interest about this sad tale of two cities -- that somehow Puerto Ricans are now being blamed for all the destruction caused by the same act of nature that Texans are NOT being blamed for -- that somehow Hurricane Maria was somehow the fault of those spendthrift Puerto Ricans and thus they deserve to suffer for their sins and to get no relief.  Yet Houston is blameless.

     Huh?

     But then I talked with a friend of mine who had just returned from both San Juan and Houston -- and he reminded me that things were just not as simple as that.  "There are other factors," said my friend.  "In Puerto Rico, for instance, Hurricane Maria was so fierce that it almost flattened much of the island's infrastructure.  In Houston, on the other hand, the problem had more to do with flooding."

     He then surprised me by saying that FEMA had actually been well-prepared ahead of time for the Puerto Rico hurricane and that, not like in New Orleans, FEMA had actually done a good job.  "FEMA arrived even before the hurricane hit, bringing tons of emergency food supplies which were then stored on ships docked in the port.  However, getting the supplies to the people who needed them was another story altogether.  The roads were a mess.  Electrical poles were down.  It was dangerous to drive trucks.  Distribution was a huge problem.  And another huge problem is that, although the US has pledged seven billion dollars to help Puerto Rico get back on its feet, more like 40 billion dollars is desperately needed.  There was unbelievable damage to the infrastructure."

     With regard to corruption, my friend didn't know much about corruption in Houston -- but America has allowed corruption in Puerto Rico to go on for over a century, selectively applying the Rule of Law to help the powerful and well-off.  

      "One example of corruption in Puerto Rico," continued my friend, "is that the island's power company is making it almost impossible to install solar facilities because solar power would not benefit it.  And also power was restored to the wealthier part of San Juan while the rest of the island will be blacked out for many more months."

     My own personal theory is that the only difference between corruption in Puerto Rico and corruption in Texas is that if someone wants to do something corrupt in Houston, he first makes it legal.  

     But Houston and San Juan do have one very important thing in common -- its wonderful people.  "In both places I saw people working together, neighbors helping less fortunate neighbors on a very person-to-person level.  In both cities, it was inspiring and humbling to watch."

PS:  And here's another sad tale from a third American city -- Washington DC.  Completely flooded by money-changers in the temple, it has now become a total disaster area, even more of a swamp than ever, drowning in whole hurricanes of corruption --  corruption that is now legal.

     In a few days I myself am going to slog off to Washington DC and heroically wade through the catastrophic results of Hurricane K Street, attending both the March 2nd "Israel Lobby and American Policy" conference and also a rally against AIPAC (The American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) on March 4th.  See you there too?   http://israellobbyandamericanpolicy.org/  I'd give you more info on where the anti-AIPAC rally is going to be held, but Google doesn't list it.  No surprise there. 

     The New York Times keeps telling us that it was Hurricane Russia that interfered with the 2016 presidential election -- but to paraphrase America's colorful 36th president, "The Zionist-Saudi alliance has America's pecker in its pocket."  Hurricane AIPAC has been slamming into our elections full-force for the last 40-odd years.

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The American presidency: A short history of auctioning it off to the highest bidder

     "And what am I bid for this White House?" the auctioneer cries.  Sometimes I think that Christie's or Sotheby's are running our government -- not the electoral process.  

      The weapons manufacturer in the front row holds up his paddle.   "I bid four million bucks to put this here Hollywood actor into the White House".  Sold!  And Ronald Reagan suddenly becomes presidential -- if only he can follow the script and declare a phony proxy war on Central America (and Reagan also imported MS 13 in the bargain as well).

     Eight years later.  Same thing.  "And the White House goes to that guy in the third row dressed up like James Bond."  Then, boom, just like that George Bush Senior steps into the job (with a little help from his pal Willie Horton).  And suddenly the man who was in Dallas when Kennedy was shot is now calling the shots himself and we get that phony Gulf War as a result -- plus that bloody ten-year proxy war on Iran as well.  Two phony wars for the price of...ten.

     Bill Clinton goes on the auction block next -- and we get that phony war on Yugoslavia.  And why not?  His handlers did place the highest bid.

   Next comes that joke George W. Bush, "the man you would most likely want to have a beer with".  His handlers bought the White House for him -- and we taxpayers are still paying the price of that bid.  But it was well worth it to his handlers -- eleven trillion bucks profit from a few million dollars' bid.  Those phony wars on Afghanistan and Iraq were worth every cent.

     "What am I bid for Obama?" the auctioneer asks next.  Some Deep State guy in the back row slowly raises his hand.  "Sold!"  Cheap price to pay for the trillions in profits from those phony proxy wars on Syria, Libya, Ukraine and Gaza.  https://consortiumnews.com/2016/06/08/democrats-are-now-the-aggressive-war-party/

     And in 2016 we learned once again that the highest bidder always gets to purchase the White House -- as Donald Trump is shoved into the Lincoln bedroom.  So what new phony wars will we get the honor of paying for under his watch?  https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/05/why-we-should-fear-the-washington-establishment-figures-who-are-pulling-the-strings-in-the-trump-administration/

PS:  Nobody in America seems to be paying attention!  Not only has our democracy been auctioned off to the highest bidder but our way of life has been auctioned off to the war machine as well.  Let's let Trump have his military parade.  Why not?  We've paid for it -- trillions and trillions of dollars.  We might as well see what we've chosen to buy instead of buying stuff that will make us be happier, feel safer, live longer and have healthier kids.  https://www.wrmea.org/018-march-april/immigration-aid-and-the-israelization-of-america.html

     Are you aware that Israeli and US warplanes and/or missiles have just bombed Syria AGAIN?  Trying to wave a red flag at Russia, trying to start a nuclear war, a weapons manufacturer's ultimate wet dream -- but not mine!  And all this freaking talk here at home about "Russia Russia Russia" is clearly geared to get us ready for World War Three.  And, fools that we be, we'll deserve it if (when) we get it.  https://www.rt.com/news/418180-us-strike-syria-aggression/

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Extra! Extra! Saudis ban war reporters from Yemen!

     It used to be that American journalists had full real-time access to news from the battlefield or even went there themselves.  That just doesn't happen any more.  Mostly "war correspondents" these days just write what they are told to write -- and from a safe distance.

     Back during World War II, heroic reporters like Ernie Pyle, Edward R. Murrow, Martha Gellhorn and William L. Shirer covered all the battles.  During the war on Vietnam we had Walter Cronkite reporting the nightly news.  Uncle Walter never steered us wrong.  Seymour Hersh, Daniel Ellsberg and Neil Sheehan kept our minds right.  And then war reporting rapidly went downhill from there.  You had to be "embedded" to get into Iraq.  I got embedded.  It was fun.  Except when a suicide bomber almost blew me up.

   But now?  Syria did let me in.  I reported from Damascus.  But Libya?  No way.  All that American-made "Humanitarian Intervention" did not include a free press.  It still doesn't.  And I recently got thrown out of the West Bank by Israeli neo-colonialists.  And don't even try to get into Gaza.  "Closed Military Zone".  Yeah right.  And Ukraine is being run by fascist wannabes right now and you can imagine how they feel about reporters.  http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2017/09/grilled-my-experience-at-israeli-border.html

      But I'm still game.  I still want to go report on wars.  I still want to report on what is happening in Yemen these days for instance.  Fat chance of that ever happening.  The Saudis have closed the airports, bus stops and cruise lines.  Even freighters and NGOs can't even get in.  Nobody gets to go into Yemen and watch thousands of Yemeni children starve to death -- thanks to America and the Saudis.  http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com/2016/08/disneyland-or-yemen-where-to-go-over.html

     Hell, there's not even one war that I can think of right now that would actually let me report on it -- even if I won the lottery and could hire James Bond to escort me.  No one wants me in a "war" zone.  I might even tell the truth.  War reporting just isn't what if used to be.  Nobody wants us to know what is going on Over There any more.

     Now we can only get our on-the-spot news from FaceBook.

PS:  "Write or Die" is my new favorite motto.  

PPS:  What are we gonna do now that Robert Perry is no longer around to tell us the truth?  His recent death was one of journalism's great losses.  So many of our reporters today are simply suck-ups and cowards.  Anybody who cares anything at all about truth in journalism will miss him.  I will miss him.  https://fair.org/home/a-tribute-to-robert-parry-independent-journalism-at-its-best/

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Flu vaccines: The biggest little con game in America this year

     "I'm SOOOO afraid of getting the flu this year," said my friend Richard.  "People are dropping like flies!"

     "But if you received your flu shot," I naively replied, "then you shouldn't have anything to worry about and should be protected from getting it, right?"  Wrong!  The drug companies have just reminded us that, because there are so many different types of flu strains out there, then getting a flu shot might not even protect us at all.

     Huh?

     So I began questioning my other friends.  "Did you too get a flu shot this year?" 

          "Yes, of course," most of them replied.

        "And did you also come down with the flu too, even after getting a flu shot?" I asked next.  Shockingly, a whole bunch of them answered "yes" to that question as well.  What a con game by Big Pharma!  We're talking genius here!  

     Drug companies sold millions of flu shots this year.  But then millions of people subsequently came down with the flu.  "Oops, my bad," says Big Pharma.  "Must have gotten the wrong strain."  Again.

     Then of course there's the drug industry's old-faithful fall-back con job too -- where they tell us with a perfectly straight face, "You would have gotten a much worse case of the flu if you hadn't gotten the shot."  Ur, what exactly could be worse than misery and death?  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xN0Cq8wa5_KGmK0IhQ0HS8G31M0XCr6J/view  

     And while millions of us are all lying up in our beds wishing we were dead or else in the hospital actually dying, Big Pharma is happily laughing all the way to the bank.  http://vaccineimpact.com/2017/why-are-nurses-and-healthcare-workers-across-the-u-s-refusing-mandatory-flu-vaccines/

PS:  I do gotta admit, however, that the "Biggest Little Con Game" lifetime-achievement award clearly must go to America's weapons manufacturers.  They have consistently screwed us out of billions and billions of $$$ every single year since the end of World War II.  What a racket.  "We will keep America safe," they constantly tell us, "by shooting up the rest of the world."  And how exactly is that keeping us safe -- when everyone in the rest of the world now hates us?   https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2018/02/02/us-has-no-evidence-to-confirm-reports-that-syrian-government-used-sarin-gas-jim-mattis.html

     "Pay no  attention to that man behind the curtain," they reply.  "Just give us another couple of trillion $$$ and you'll be even safer than lower Manhattan was on 9-11."  And so we cough up yet another trillion $$$ -- and then even more people in even more countries learn very quickly to hate us too -- especially those millions of folks whose families have been murdered by American guns and bombs.  https://tomluongo.me/2018/01/28/pipeline-wars-realpolitik-meets-geography/

     But I guess it could be worse.  Their families, like ours, could also be dying from flu shots.

PPS:  Whenever the Rule of Law fails to protect the least of us, then our society eventually fails too.   

     "Cough, cough, sneeze -- and then Boom!"  We're not being protected.

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Stop Wall Street and War Street from destroying our world.   And while you're at it, please buy my books.  https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Stillwater/e/B00IW6O1RM