sent 4/18/2018 It appears that maybe there was no chemical attack in Syria at all

Our poor sad country went off the deep end again in attacking Syria without waiting for the United Nations to investigate and decide something.

"Famed War Reporter Robert Fisk Reaches Syrian 'Chemical Attack' Site, Concludes 'They Were Not Gassed,'" by Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge, April 17, 2018.  There was a lack of oxygen in some tunnels in Douma.

"The search for truth in the rubble of Douma--and one doctor's doubts over the chemical attack," by Robert Fisk, Douma, Syria, The Independent UK, April 17, 2018

"....There’s even a friendly doctor in a green coat who, when I track him down in the very same clinic, cheerfully tells me that the 'gas' videotape which horrified the world – despite all the doubters – is perfectly genuine.

"War stories, however, have a habit of growing darker. For the same 58-year old senior Syrian doctor then adds something profoundly uncomfortable: the patients, he says, were overcome not by gas but by oxygen starvation in the rubbish-filled tunnels and basements in which they lived, on a night of wind and heavy shelling that stirred up a dust storm."

"...There are ... many people I talked to amid the ruins of the town who said they had 'never believed in' gas stories – which were usually put about, they claimed, by the armed Islamist groups. These particular jihadis survived under a blizzard of shellfire by living in other’s people’s homes and in vast, wide tunnels with underground roads carved through the living rock by prisoners with pick-axes on three levels beneath the town."

"...Oddly, after chatting to more than 20 people, I couldn’t find one who showed the slightest interest in Douma’s role in bringing about the Western air attacks. Two actually told me they didn’t know about the connection."

Related: Glenn Greenwald on Syria: U.S. & Israel Revving Up War Machine Won’t Help Suffering Syrian Civilians Democracy Now! April 9, 2018 Anything the U.S. might do can only make things worse, just as it has always done. (from sent 4/11/2018 (videos) MUST SEE--Glenn Greenwald on 1. Syria; 3: Israel; and 2. Brazil)

love to you and your family,

Larry

sent 4/15/2018 The Syria bombing is a disgraceful act disguised as a noble gesture

1. "The Syria bombing is a disgraceful act disguised as a noble gesture," by Moustafa Bayoumi, The Guardian, April 14, 2018.  The US-led barrage shows just how little interest the global powers have in ending Syria’s ghastly war.

"...At this rate, should we expect that an aerial bombing mission to finally and completely destroy Assad’s chemical weapons will be launched every April?

"The question is ridiculous, of course, but so is the idea that this attack will accomplish anything beyond boosting the war-making egos of its protagonists and enabling Assad, his reprehensible regime, and his allies to complain of being the perpetual victims of western aggression. Beyond the bombast on both sides, Syria’s daily misery will continue...."

2. "In 'Clear Violation of Domestic and International Law,' Trump Bombs Syria," by Jon Queally, staff writer, Common Dreams, April 13, 2018.  "Strikes against the Syrian regime – without congressional input or authorization – shows a contempt for the U.S Constitution and is without legal justification."  Right!  And that is aside from the fact of said strikes doing no possible good for anybody but those in the military economy and the Zionists who need for Israel's borders to be expanded.  Yes, those in the military economy and the Zionists are people too--neighbors and friends even, but really!  It is not their job to be in charge of everything.

Let the legislators do their jobs, even if not doing anything seems to be the thing to do in the case of U.S. military involvements in the middle east.  The Constitution really is very clear about whose job it is to do any declaring of wars.  For what it's worth, I strongly disapprove of the use of the Unitary Executive Theory of government and have ever since Richard (Dick) Cheney started pushing it a few years ago.

Related: sent 4/11/2018 (videos) MUST SEE--Glenn Greenwald on 1. Syria; 3: Israel; and 2. Brazil

love to you and your family,

Larry

sent 4/11/2018 (videos) MUST SEE--Glenn Greenwald on 1. Syria; 3: Israel; and 2. Brazil

Yesterday April 9, 2018 Glenn Greenwald was on Democracy Now! for the full hour.  Boy is he knowledgeable and eloquent.  Perhaps you remember him from Salon and The Intercept.

1. Glenn Greenwald on Syria: U.S. & Israel Revving Up War Machine Won’t Help Suffering Syrian Civilians Anything the U.S. might do can only make things worse, just as it has always done.

3. “Apartheid, Rogue, Terrorist State”: Glenn Greenwald on Israel’s Murder of Gaza Protesters, Reporter  That is right: Israel is a terrorist state (too).

2. Glenn Greenwald: Brazil’s Right Wing Jailed Ex-President Lula Because They Couldn’t Win at the Polls  There is much corruption in Brazil.  The biggest corruption is among the wealthy.  People got much better off over the past 16 years or so with the workers' party, but now the wealthy have "taken care of" the leading workers' party candidate for 2018.  See the crowds of unhappy people.

For you I rearranged the three segments above according to my own priorities.

But actually I watched the Full Show with all three segments together.  Fascinating!

Related:
sent 3/20/2018 and 3/27/2018 Interview: Paul Bremer still thinks he was right; Matt Taibbi "The Legacy of the Iraq War"  (and included links to more related messages).
sent 10/21/2017 South Front: "War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery – NATO Information Operations"; Chemical weapons use by U.S.-supported Syrian rebels
sent 10/18/16 "An Urgently Necessary Briefing on Syria"

love to you and your family,

Larry

sent 10/8/2017 (long, researched) warning: torturing pigs The FBI’s Hunt for Two Missing Piglets Reveals the Federal Cover-Up of Barbaric Factory Farms

I wonder whether you might remember the brilliant little pig that was one of the stars in the old TV show Green Acres.  If you do then you know that pigs are as great as dogs, at least.  I was raised among single family farmers whose business involved animals, and I still have some in my beloved family.  Some have raised a few pigs for meat.  Until it came time for their slaughter, the pigs' lives were ok, involving friendly interaction among themselves and humans. 

This is just too much, unbelievably worse, not only about some of the history of the animal cruelty but also about the history of the ongoing heavy coverup by the federal government.

"The FBI’s Hunt for Two Missing Piglets Reveals the Federal Cover-Up of Barbaric Factory Farms," by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, October 5, 2017.  Thanks again to my Quartz news feed for the link.  This is long and contains serious research on history and other things.  Glenn Greenwald has long been known for his accuracy in reporting.

love to you and your family,

Larry
P.S. You might want to see also sent 10/25/2008 Torture.  I love my country, I really do.  It's all I've got.  But it certainly has some problems.  As I mentioned recently, I get pretty much all of my protein from wild-caught fish and organic cottage cheese.

sent 10/3/2017 Glenn Greenwald: "With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons"

"With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons," by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, July 17, 2017

"......The union of Democrats and neocons is far more than a temporary marriage of convenience designed to bring down a common enemy......"

"......The implications of this reunion are profound and long-term. Neocons have done far more damage to the U.S., and the world, than any other single group — by a good margin. They were the architects of the invasion of Iraq and the lies that accompanied it, the worldwide torture regime instituted after 9/11, and the general political climate that equated dissent with treason....." [links omitted]

The length of the article is justified by the importance of the added details, including but not limited to: who they are; what some of them have been doing lately; the neoconservatives' (aka "neocons'") relationships with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and more; and including the opposition of Senator Bernie Sanders.

For in-depth articles on the neoconservatives ("neocons") from several years ago including many of the same characters see sent 10/1/2017 (excellent--long and interesting history) Who or what are neoconservatives ("neocons") “The machiavelian threefold game of the neoconservatives” PLUS IRA CHERNUS

Hopefully this helps not only me but also you in knowing who some of our opponents are, some of their names.

---------different topics---------------------------
This is to acknowledge the recent horrors of Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, especially Puerto Rico.  At the moment I do not feel called upon to add anything on those topics.  I am helping as I can, and you probably are as well.  We can go back and forth among thinking about and acting upon different things.  I know, there are too many.  We cannot do anything about that, not all at once anyway.
-----------------------------------------------------

Blessings upon us,
Larry

sent 7/18/2008 personal request IMPEACHMENT of President Bush

NB: I am archiving this July 18, 2008 message on January 20, 2017 for historical reference.  See "sent 1/20/17 Welcome to the United States of Emergency; Scahill: Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, the Brother of Betsy DeVos, Is Secretly Advising Trump" when it gets here. 
You can skip down to the line in bold.  Links may or may not still work.  LS

--------------------------

Subject: personal request IMPEACHMENT of President Bush

Date: July 18, 2008

I think it was a year ago now that I put on a push with relatives and friends to get as many phone calls made to Washington as possible in support of holding hearings leading to the impeachment of Vice President Richard Cheney in particular.  Based on a four part Washington Post exposé of VP Cheney's office I felt (and still feel for that matter) that impeaching VP Cheney could have a bit higher priority than impeaching President Bush. 

But: I am pleased finally to have heard the news that the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on impeachable crimes by President Bush.
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&gl=us&ned=us&q=impeachment&btnG=Search+News

It seems to be time again now to "make phone calls asking our representatives today and every day (at 202-224-3121) and demand that they co-sponsor some or all of Rep. Kucinich’s 36 bills of impeachment, and join the call for real impeachment hearings. Send them an email. And sign the petition calling for impeachment hearings."  Details below.  Thanks to Andy Schmookler of nonesoblind.com for bringing this to my attention. 

No I have not suddenly acquired new faith that the government is going to save us from what is coming if we but pray hard enough (or call representatives enough times).  I want us to do this because the United States Constitution is worth standing up for no matter what, even if it's a matter of just keeping on being noisy about it once in awhile.  love, Larry


from http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/17/10422/ --------

Impeachment Hearings: A Win Is a Win– Dave Lindorff on Common Dreams

There are two ways to view the news that the House Judiciary Committee will be holding a hearing on impeachable crimes by President George W. Bush.
One view would be that this is all a charade and that after all, it will not be a real impeachment hearing, but rather, simply a hearing into the impeachable crimes of the Bush administration. As committee Chair Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) put it, “We’re not doing impeachment, but he [Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who introduced 36 articles of impeachment] can talk about it.” Viewed that way, this is not such a big deal. Rep. Kucinich gets to make his case that the president is committing high crimes and misdemeanors and abuses of power and war crimes, but then Congressional Democrats will continue to ignore all the crimes as it has done since taking control of Congress in November 2006.
But a second way to view this is as a significant victory over the quisling Congressional leadership, which has been ducking its responsibility to defend the Constitution and to stand up for the rule of law not just since November 2006, but since the inception of the Bush/Cheney presidency.
I go for the second interpretation of events. It is clear, as was beautifully laid out in an article published by Glenn Greenwald in Salon magazine on July 15, that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership both in Congress and in the party organization, have been blocking any action on impeachment for fear of having their own complicity in Bush’s and Cheney’s crimes revealed. As Greenwald notes, the Washington Post has reported that Pelosi, along with Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) were briefed on the administration’s use of torture and not only didn’t object, but actively encouraged it. Rockefeller and Harman, who at the time were minority leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees at the time, were also briefed about Bush’s order to the National Security Agency to conduct warrantless spying on Americans. They didn’t object or publicly expose this blatant violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and the Fourth Amendment. And of course, many, if not most of the House and Senate Democratic leadership as well as many of the rank-and-file members of the party in both houses backed Bush’s illegal war on Iraq, and his USA PATRIOT Act.
No wonder Pelosi, even before winning control of Congress and being elected Speaker, made it clear that under her “leadership” (if it can be called that), impeachment of either Bush or Cheney would be “off the table.”
Looked at in this light, the fact that the House just voted 251-166 to send Kucinich’s 36 articles of impeachment to the Judiciary Committee for a hearing, that Pelosi has had to buckle, and that Conyers has agreed to hold even an “informational” hearing on impeachment, at which Kucinich, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-FL), and other impeachment advocates in the House will be able to present their case about the president’s crimes and abuses of power, constitutes a major victory of principle over cowardice, of integrity over complicity, of the Constitution over creeping fascism. (24 Republicans joined in voting to send the articles to the committee.)
The fact is that public demands to hold this criminal administration accountable for its crimes against the Constitution, the American people and the global community, have been mounting and have reached a point that the Democratic leadership, as terrified as it is of impeachment and of the accompanying airing of its own complicity in those crimes, has been forced to allow an airing of those crimes.
Now I don’t expect Rep. Kucinich to bite the hand that feeds him. He will not present the impeachment case in a way that criticizes those leaders. Indeed, he has publicly thanked both Pelosi and Conyers for allowing a hearing on impeachment. But it would be surprising if Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee didn’t make those points. And that’s good. Even if real impeachment hearings never actually come to pass, we will be treated, finally, to a public airing of not just the president’s and vice president’s crimes, but of the Democratic Party leadership’s participation in them.
The challenge now will be for the American people and for the wide-spread and decentralized impeachment movement, and all progressive, anti-war and civil liberties organizations, to press Conyers and the Judiciary Committee to take it to the next level. If Kucinich, Wexler and others do their job, and if we all demand that the corporate media report on the hearings, Americans will finally know the extent of this administration’s crimes against the Constitution, and the nature of the threat it poses to democracy and freedom in America. At that point it will be time to demand that the Judiciary Committee move to constitute itself as a formal Impeachment Committee, with full power to subpoena and demand the appearance of witnesses in a real impeachment hearing.
The hour is getting late, but there is still time to bring this criminal administration to justice.
American voters may forgive leaders like Pelosi, Harman, Rockefeller and others for failing to stand up to Bush and Cheney if their names get dragged through the mud of an impeachment hearing, but the American people will never forgive them or the rest of the Congress if it allows these two men to leave office next January without tar and feathers on their backs and a federal grand jury on their cases.
Call your representative today and every day (at 202-224-3121) and demand that he or she co-sponsor some or all of Rep. Kucinich’s 36 bills of impeachment, and join the call for real impeachment hearings. Send them an email. And sign the petition calling for impeachment hearings.
We are witnessing a backdown by the House leadership. It’s time to push harder. Impeachment hearings, and impeachment itself, can happen!
Dave Lindorff is a Philadelphia-based journalist and columnist. His latest book is “The Case for Impeachment” (St. Martin’s Press, 2006 and now available in paperback). His work is available at www.thiscantbehappening.net.

sent 10/22-10/23/16 As Election Day Nears, Military Hawks Circle to Promote New Wave of War: A slew of bipartisan reports are hoping to push the former secretary of state to increased military action in the Middle East, particularly Syria

1. "As Election Day Nears, Military Hawks Circle to Promote New Wave of War: A slew of bipartisan reports are hoping to push the former secretary of state to increased military action in the Middle East, particularly Syria," by Lauren McCauley, staff writer, Common Dreams, October 20, 2016

"D.C. foreign policy elite are giddy that hawkish Barack Obama will be replaced by much more hawkish Hillary Clinton."
—Zaid Jilani, The Intercept

2. Clinton double speak: "What Hillary Clinton Privately Told Goldman Sachs,"  by David Swanson, CounterPunch, October 17, 2016.  She talks about how she really feels about war being a wonderful thing.  She did not say the word wonderful, quite.  Read what she did say.  Among other things she talked about bombing Iran.  She said that even though Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons and could not be occupied we should just bomb them anyway.  Right.

3. There are too many most interesting headlines at RT to pick just one or five or six to mention.  Take a look.  It is a good layout, easy to scan.  https://www.rt.com/  No matter what country is my home, I believe them a lot more than I believe Hillary Clinton.  Hillary Clinton is not my buddy any more than Donald Trump is or any of the Russians are--not that I think the Russians are all bad.*

CORRECTION: The message I sent October 18, 2016 was missing the critical hyperlink under "An Urgently Necessary Briefing on Syria," by Gary Leupp, CounterPunch, October 14, 2016.  The full message that I sent you is at sent 10/18/16 "An Urgently Necessary Briefing on Syria".  I included in that message two quotations from the article.  Here is another that I did not include.  It is at least as big:

"We know from Gen. Wesley Clark’s often-quoted words, after talking with a Pentagon general shortly after 9/11, that there was a plan already in place to 'take out seven countries in 5 years, starting with Iraq, and then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and, finishing off, Iran.'"

For background context for General Wesley Clarke's statement about the existence of a plan shortly after 9/11 to take out seven countries check out the links in this search hit list. general wesley clarke Iraq Syria Lebanon Libya Somalia Sudan Iran - Startpage Web Search.   For more background remember the infamous September 2000 report of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) (Wikipedia link), Rebuilding America's Defenses.  Once again, 25 or so extremely wealthy people whose names you can see on that Wikipedia page organized in 1997 in the interest of doing one or more things to get the American people riled up for war so as to build their own personal and industrial economics to the max.  I have had a pdf copy of that report for years and would be happy to send you a copy for the asking.  Hearing now of General Wesley Clarke's disclosure is no big surprise.  And here we are, with Hillary Clinton coming to the helm apparently whether we like it or not.

* Please remember and never forget the readings in: A) sent 4/14/16 must see (video >15 min): "The Israel Lobby's Growing Assault on Free Speech" AND B) sent 4/16/16 George Monbiot--an important read--Neoliberalism – the ideology at the root of all our problems AND C) sent 3/31/16 updated 10/23/16 2min 51 sec [Affective] empathy is immoral Yale Professor Paul Bloom: [affective] empathy is immoral Re: (16 min) Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings and in the many others that I have sent you.  It all fits together.

love,
Larry
--
 Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
Please remember my purpose with this: sent 2/22/15 my motive [link]
"Lead with your ears, follow with your tongue, let anger trail behind"--Reverend Ryan Henderson September 18, 2016

sent 9/19/16 sick

You may know that President Obama has signed a "deal" with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, for the United States to give Israel $38 billion over the next ten years. [New York Times article link] My understanding is that Benjamin Netanyahu took a much smaller amount than Hillary Clinton had promised that she would give him, because Hillary Clinton might not win the election and now at least he'll have something--a record, actually.

Now we have this: Facebook has just agreed to delete posts that advocate for Palestinians but will not be deleting posts by Israelis that advocate for violence against Palestinians.
"Facebook and Israeli Government Team Up to Censor Posts," by Andrea Germanos, staff writer, Common Dreams, September 12, 2016
"Facebook Is Collaborating With the Israeli Government to Determine What Should Be Censored," by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, September 12, 2016

Great.  Not.  Sick, actually.  I suppose this goes along with Hillary Clinton having promised to end the topic of support for the BDS movement [Wikipedia link] in the United States, the movement to boycott products made in Israel, to cut off links to it and communications about it.  I am not quite sure how she plans to do that, but she promised Prime Minister Netanyahu that she would.

I also noticed that a popular blogger in Bangladesh was assassinated by four masked men this week.  It was said that he had been advocating on behalf of Palestinians.

For significant background information see this archived message with links to previous messages on what is now famously known as The Israel Lobby.  sent 5/28/16 Please take this viral: "must see" movie: "The Occupation of the American Mind"

Oh well.  I think it's a done deal.  Adjust, I guess, unless you want to live angry.

love,
Larry
P.S. I want to correct the impression that the two article titles below give.  "Censorship" by Facebook is technically not "censorship."  Facebook is a private company.  Facebook can allow and disallow things without being subject to lawsuits.  It is only illegal for government agencies to do censorship, and I do not think that that rule applies to the government of Israel, as any rules about free speech that that government might have would probably not apply in the United States--which is convenient for them.  I would say that they have significant monetary power when it comes to influencing Facebook, and so it appears.  So Hillary Clinton might have some different approach in mind for what she promised to do to outlaw boycotting Israeli goods. Larry

sent 8/29/16 "Greenwald: Journalists Should Not Stop Scrutinizing Clinton Just Because Trump is Unfit for Office"

I agree with Glenn Greenwald: "...Journalists Should Not Stop Scrutinizing Clinton Just Because Trump is Unfit for Office," August 29, 2016

We need to know what is going on and to not have voting for the lesser evil--maybe the lesser--made easier by the hiding of some of the evil.  Why?  Because there might be something else that we can do about some of the evil actions besides just voting one way or the other in November and otherwise living in a world of illusion 100 percent of the time.

I am in no position to criticize anyone for engaging in escapism some of the time.

By the way, one thing that is new in that is the allegation that while we've been distracted by Trump and Clinton lately, President Obama has negotiated a deal with Israel to significantly increase the amount of money that Israel gets for 10 years, so no government, no future Congress can even reverse it, to give them many, many billions more than we’re already giving them.

love,

Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; get over fear.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 6/27/16 And Now Glenn Greenwald: "Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western Establishment Institutions"

Glenn Greenwald links a number of other excellent knowledgeable and insightful commentaries on the topic of the exit of Great Britain from the European Union (Brexit).  Put together, they add considerable weight to the one from Vox that I just sent you earlier (link).
"Brexit Is Only the Latest Proof of the Insularity and Failure of Western Establishment Institutions," The Intercept, June 25, 2016.

Glenn Greenwald is a well-known U.S. Constitutional lawyer who for years was a famous columnist for Salon and who in recent years has become even more well known for his backing of our whistle-blower heroes Julian Assange, Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning, and Edward Snowden.  I have noticed over the years that he pretty much always knows his facts.

See here (link) to review Glenn Greenwald's appearances in my messages to you back to March 6, 2014.

Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; get over fear.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 5/24/16 Well the confusion about what was going on in Brazil has ended. I wonder what happens next.

Now we know who the real crooks [are] in Brazil, just in case you've seen any of that argument in the last few months.  The Intercept does it again!

"Call It a 'Coup': Leaked Transcripts Detail How Elite Orchestrated Overthrow in Brazil," by Lauren McCauley, staff writer, Common Dreams, May 23, 2016.*

"Brazil: Minister Resigns After Explosive Transcripts Unveil Plot to Oust Rousseff," Democracy Now, May 24, 2016

That all reminds me somewhat significantly of something you may have seen on January 9, 2016, "[1857 to present with a big hint for the future] How Big Oil Conquered the World [MUST-SEE DOCUMENTARY]" December 30, 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfzsPG7H_pU&feature=youtu.be
(1hr 17min 35sec)

love,
Larry
*Note that Glenn Greenwald of Intercept lives with his partner in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, I believe.

sent 5/17/16 An Insiders' NSA: Latest Documents Aim to 'Broaden Access' to Snowden Archive

An Insiders' NSA: Latest Documents Aim to 'Broaden Access' to Snowden Archive, by Jon Queally, CommonDreams, May 16, 2016

Note the major links in the article, including these links from the bottom of the Common Dreams article to articles at The Intercept, which belongs to Glen Greenwald with support from others:

    NSA Closely Involved in Guantánamo Interrogations, Documents Show

    The Most Intriguing Spy Stories From 166 Internal NSA Reports

    What It’s Like to Read the NSA’s Newspaper for Spies

    How We Prepared the NSA’s Sensitive Internal Reports for Release

For past messages from me about our hero Edward Snowden see:
sent 3/18/16 Redaction error reveals FBI did target Lavabit to spy on Edward Snowden
and the links therein.  I've checked through the links, and almost everything is there.  Missing is one of the videos, the one from livestream.com.
-----------------
Always remember and never forget: Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Chelsea E Manning (RECENT ARTICLE LINK), and Jeffrey Sterling, all of whom are whistleblowers who have been or are being punished or sought for punishment for their good deeds.
-----------------

love,

Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; get over fear.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 4/2/16 afraid of terrorists? "3 False Assumptions About Muslims in the Age of ISIS"; 1966 Texas massacre

I cannot help but be aware that there are many Americans who have been and who continue to be bamboozled into being afraid of terrorists. 

1. "3 False Assumptions About Muslims in the Age of ISIS," by Todd Green, Sojourners, March 28, 2016
"......In terms of mass shootings, 134 people in the U.S. died from these in 2015 alone, compared to 69 people who have been killed by Muslim extremists in the 14 years since 9/11. The years since 9/11 have also witnessed more than 220,000 murders, a number that dwarfs the number of deaths at the hands of Muslim extremists...... [emphasis added LAS]"

There's more.  It is worse than silly to be afraid of Muslims at this point.  Being afraid of Muslims has bad consequences.  Repeating link: "3 False Assumptions About Muslims in the Age of ISIS," by Todd Green, Sojourners, March 28, 2016

2. For context, this is a story about a massacre that was committed by a true and blue American--an Eagle Scout--50 years ago.  He killed 17 innocent Americans and injured 31 others, without even having had a Muslim bone in his body!  "The Reckoning," by Pamela Colloff, Texas Monthly, March 2016.  See also the excellent Charles Whitman Wikipedia page link.

My point is that it makes NO sense, given the facts, to waste a thought on being afraid of "terrorists"!

love,
Larry

Related:
sent 3/31/16 (16 min) Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings

sent 1/2/16 Good news that matters to you for 2016: There is no real terrorist or Muslim threat
referenced March 23, 2016: "Fox News 'Brainwashed' So Many Dads: 'People Are Being Bamboozled on a Massive Scale,'" by Gary M. Kramer, Salon, March 21, 2016.
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; get over fear.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 3/31/16 2min 51 sec [Affective] empathy is immoral Yale Professor Paul Bloom Re: (16 min) Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings

The best 2 minutes 51 seconds, off the direct topic of politics!  Against Empathy, or Empathy is immoral!!!
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/474588/why-empathy-is-a-bad-thing/

I have been having a rather lengthy dialog by email with a friend of mine, about the above video by Cognitive Psychology Professor Paul Bloom.  You might be aware that cognitive psychology is very much included in my fields of formal and extracurricular study.  Sent 2/14/14.  Sent 10/14/14. 
".....Others have posited that taking on the perspectives of others (cognitive empathy) allows these individuals to better empathize with victims without as much discomfort, whereas sharing the emotions of the victims (emotional empathy) can cause emotional distress, helplessness, victim-blaming, and ultimately to avoidance rather than helping......" [emphasis added-LS].  From sent 12/16/2014.

Either way, what I said to that friend just now is totally relevant to what Glenn Greenwald had to say in the Democracy Now! section linked below.

"You might or might not realize, just from reading this [repeating the full message sent earlier repeated again below] without even clicking links necessarily, the relevance to what Professor Paul Bloom said about affective empathy, in this case specifically the crazy emotional contagion of fear of terrorists.  You might want to look, and I think that you will be able to see the relevance, fear being yet another contagious emotion in addition to neediness with helplessness[--that can lead us to turn away], and anger[--that can lead to gang or mob mentality].  Catching any of those emotional contagions, among others, can lead to stupidity.  I think that now may be the right time for me to send out that Paul Bloom video.

---sent earlier this afternoon----------
sent 3/31/16 (16 min) Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings

sent 3/31/16 updated 10/23/16 2min 51 sec [Affective] empathy is immoral Yale Professor Paul Bloom: [affective] empathy is immoral Re: (16 min) Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings

10/23/16 note: I only just noticed that I had previously failed to include here the followup that I sent on 3/31/16 to an earlier message of that same day.  Both are included in this archive post now.  The later of the two is at the top, next. LAS

---sent 3/31/16--------
The best 2 minutes 51 seconds, off the direct topic of politics!  Against Empathy, or Empathy is immoral!!!
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/474588/why-empathy-is-a-bad-thing/

I have been having a rather lengthy dialog by email with a friend of mine, about the above video by Cognitive Psychology Professor Paul Bloom.  You might be aware that cognitive psychology is very much included in my fields of formal and extracurricular study.  Sent 2/14/14.  Sent 10/14/14. 
".....Others have posited that taking on the perspectives of others (cognitive empathy) allows these individuals to better empathize with victims without as much discomfort, whereas sharing the emotions of the victims (emotional empathy) can cause emotional distress, helplessness, victim-blaming, and ultimately to avoidance rather than helping......" [emphasis added-LS].  From sent 12/16/2014.

Either way, what I said to that friend just now is totally relevant to what Glenn Greenwald had to say in the Democracy Now! section linked below.

"You might or might not realize, just from reading this [repeating the full message sent earlier repeated again below] without even clicking links necessarily, the relevance to what Professor Paul Bloom said about affective empathy, in this case specifically the crazy emotional contagion of fear of terrorists.  You might want to look, and I think that you will be able to see the relevance, fear being yet another contagious emotion in addition to neediness with helplessness[--that can lead us to turn away], and anger[--that can lead to gang or mob mentality].  Catching any of those emotional contagions, among others, can lead to stupidity.  I think that now may be the right time for me to send out that Paul Bloom video.

---sent earlier in the afternoon 3/31/16 ---
Glenn Greenwald is amazing and right on as always.  Some American politicians, including Senator Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz, Donald Trump, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are overreacting and doing and proposing things that are and would be severely detrimental to our lives.  It is as if we were to look at the number of automobile accidents and decide that speed limits should be lowered even more.  We risk having some suicide bombings as the price of freedom, our privacy, just as we risk some automobile accidents as the price of automobile travel.  They are calculated risks.

"Glenn Greenwald: Cruz, Trump, Clinton "Playing into the Hands" of ISIL After Brussels Bombings," Democracy Now, March 24, 2016 (16 min)

Related:

sent 3/24/16 The scariest thing about Brussels is [some people's] reaction to it

sent 3/21/16 1min50sec YouTube-Tulsi Gabbard; "War, Peace, and Bernie Sanders," by Robert Koehler

sent 3/20/16 (4 related biggies) BDS; "Sanders Stands Alone as Only Candidate Skipping [the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference]"

sent 3/15/16 "We" did this: "Voices from Syria: 'This camp is a paradise compared to life back home'"

Let us in America not give up either our automobile travel or our freedom to take on as our primary role in life the effort to expand Israel's borders to the size of the Promised Land in Bible times, to include Jordan, Syria, part of Iraq, part of Egypt, and part of Saudi Arabia.  http://www.christianzionism.org/biblesays/sizer04.pdf  Really!  Let's not!  But I believe that that is in the background a lot in the actions of our federal government, including but not limited to the U.S. military, the armaments industries, the National Security Agency, the various agencies within the umbrella referred to as Homeland Security, and the Central Intelligence Agency, because of the powerful role that the Israel Lobby plays, second only to the AARP.  I kid you not.  There is huge--unimaginably huge--money involved.  Perhaps it is possible for us to get in its way, perhaps not.  Perhaps if we can establish some other priorities we might slow it down slightly.  They bamboozle us into thinking that education and health care for Americans cost a lot.  Those two things are actually relatively tiny compared to the spending that is directed by the Israel Lobby.

love to all,
Larry

sent 3/18/16 Redaction error reveals FBI did target Lavabit to spy on Edward Snowden

"Redaction error reveals FBI did target Lavabit to spy on Edward Snowden,"  by Samuel Gibbs, The Guardian, March 18, 2016.

That's quite huge, actually.  Here for your easy reference are a few of the messages I have sent you in the past that contain references to our hero Edward Snowden.  Just looking for them has brought back some things for me.

sent 2/23/15 The Spy Cables--Al Jazeera

sent 9/11/14 P.S. Wired Re: 9/11 -- 2014: 911: Thirteen Years On

sent 9/7/14 YouTube video Glen Greenwald and *Alan Dershowitz* (2014) "State Surveillance"

sent 5/6/14 Greenwald vs NSA's Hayden: Glenn Wins in a Slam Dunk; + P.S

whistleblowers: June 19th Julian Assange exiled in a London Embassy; (video) Glenn Greenwald defends

sent 2/10/14 Please spend a bit of time with this: "journalists pushing back against a climate of fear"

sent 9/6/13 "NSA surveillance: A guide to staying secure"; new Snowden documents today

sent 8/15/13 fascinating story: How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets

love,
Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; get over fear.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 4/7/15 "Why John Oliver Can’t Find Americans Who Know Edward Snowden’s Name (It’s Not About Snowden)"

"Why John Oliver Can’t Find Americans Who Know Edward Snowden’s Name (It’s Not About Snowden)," by Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, April 6, 2015

"......it’s actually not surprising at all that a large number of Americans are unaware of who Snowden is, nor does it say much at all about the surveillance debate. That’s because a large number of Americans, by choice, are remarkably unaware of virtually all political matters....."

That is sad even if I would not quite call the mass of information that Edward Snowden has released to the world "a political matter."  Facts are facts.  I can see how those who tend to disseminate falsehoods might want to call Edward Snowden "a political matter."  I suppose it's about the same as the 45 percent or so denialists calling humankind's role in the continuing wilder and wilder weather "a political matter" or calling the fact of war being almost entirely profit-driven "a political matter."  I do agree, though, none of those things are fun except for cartoonists.  Facts are facts, and ignorance is ignorance.  I was willfully ignorant of news from outside my profession from 1973 to 1999.  Sometimes I long for those days.

Here are previous messages on Edward Snowden.  The third contains other links.

sent 2/23/15 U.K. vs the U.S.: Privacy Critical to Human Freedom

http://www.wired.com/2014/08/edward-snowden/

sent 9/7/14 YouTube video Glen Greenwald and *Alan Dershowitz* (2014) "State Surveillance"

Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; do not be afraid.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 2/23/15 U.K. vs the U.S.: Privacy Critical to Human Freedom

The U.S. and the U.K. seem to be moving in opposite directions on increasing versus decreasing spying under public pressure.

Google warns of US government 'hacking any facility' in the world, Ed Pilkington, The Guardian, February 18, 2015
Google Joins Civil Liberties Groups To Oppose Expansion of FBI Spy Powers: 'Government is seeking a troubling expansion of its power to surreptitiously hack into computers.' [print-friendly], Jon Queally, February 19, 2015

In Latest Vindication of Snowden, Court Rules UK Mass Surveillance Illegal, February 6, 2015

'Privacy Critical to Human Freedom': Snowden, Poitras, and Greenwald Talk NSA, February 13, 2015

Larry
--
Brother Larry/Attorney Scott archives (Larry at Blogspot) "undisclosed recipients" email message archive, no logging in, no public comments
One way or another, raise yourself up I say; do not be afraid.  If you are not doing it you can do it.  Other people are doing it.  We can learn from them, I find.

sent 12/16/14 "please email or phone it's good therapy"; Greenwald Exposes Judge Richard Posner- Privacy is for Dirty, Shameful Acts

"please email or phone it's good therapy"; Greenwald Exposes Judge Richard Posner- Privacy is for Dirty, Shameful Acts, by jbane, Firedoglake, December 16, 2014

I am actually not making a personal request that you email or phone in this case.  That request is from jbane at the bottom of the article.  I might or I might not do one or the other or both myself.  The idea certainly has merit even if there might be any risk that you might get the attention of the the cops and they might show up and arrest you sometime later for no reason.  Whatever you think.  Either way, this article is of critical importance.  Too many people fail to give it enough thought before saying, "I have nothing to hide." 

That statement could well be indicating that in a real sense they accept slavery for themselves, rather than looking for what was once called freedom.  I am not happy with the idea of my presenting that choice as a model to others to follow.

love,
Larry

sent 9/11/14 P.S. Wired Re: 9/11 -- 2014: 911: Thirteen Years On

The lead story in Wired for September 2014 is great and is related.  Besides adding a couple or so more new things we didn't know that affect us, this is a deeper story about Edward Snowden the man and how he got from working for General Michael Hayden*--there's a photo of the two of them standing and smiling together at a party--than I think I've seen before.  It is most interesting just how he got, or mostly just happened to get, into a position to do that for which he is now famous.  Not everyone knows his name even now, but many do.

"The Untold Story: The Most Wanted Man in the World," by James Bamford, Wired, September 2014.  There is some focus in this piece on 9/11/2001 as the beginning of a very negative transformation.

Take a look at James Bamford (Wikipedia link),the author who spent three whole days in Moscow with Mr. Snowden recently.  He's another most interesting man.  James Bamford was involved in the reform of the intelligence abuses of the 1970s under the leadership of the great Senator Frank Church.

Larry
* See General Hayden now retired through http://larryatblogspot.blogspot.com/2014/09/sent-9714-youtube-video-glen-greenwald.html

On 9/11/2014 10:36 PM, Larry Scott wrote:

[ see sent 9/11/14 9/11 -- 2014: 911: Thirteen Years On ]