Thursday, June 29, 2017

Washington comPost...?

"...it was less than three years ago that Amazon began to achieve any profits to speak of...
The first profitable year for Amazon was 2013. Fourth quarter profits were $239 million and $274 million for the year. The year before, Amazon posted a loss for 2012 of $39 million."
(http://mobile.wnd.com/2017/06/jeff-bezos-amazon-washington-post-and-the-cia/)


Friday, June 23, 2017

Nepal's #1 problem?

Foreign Aid typically doesn't support GOOD GOVERNANCE, Nepal's primary need. Does it then abet the chronic, deathly, indefinite dysfunction that plagues aid-ridden Nepal?

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Himalayan Odyssey...

(http://nepaltraveller.com/home/blog/15)
Photo by Alonzo Lyons in Rukum, Nepal

The Last Seduction of Buddha?

Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
But once mastered,
No one can help you as much.
-Siddhartha Gautam (also known as Buddha, The Dhammapada)
The Last Seduction of Buddha (http://realitysandwich.com/321855/the-last-seduction-of-buddha-jungle-rumble/)
Photo by Alonzo Lyons at foot of Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, NM, USA

Planet Low Standards...?

'Fast and Furious 8 Is the Biggest Global Movie Opening, Ever (http://www.thedrive.com/news/9346/f8-of-the-furious-breaks-global-box-office-records)

Have you ever heard of Operation Mockingbird?

The United States Senate investigative committee led by Idaho Senator Frank Church and officially titled “Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities” uncovered disturbing evidence concerning Operation Mockingbird and delivered the following conclusion:

"The CIA currently maintains a network of several hundred foreign individuals around the world who provide intelligence for the CIA and at times attempt to influence opinion through the use of covert propaganda. These individuals provide the CIA with direct access to a large number of newspapers and periodicals, scores of press services and news agencies, radio and television stations, commercial book publishers, and other foreign media outlets…. In examining the CIA’s past and present use of the U.S. media, the Committee finds two reasons for concern. The first is the potential, inherent in covert media operations, for manipulating or incidentally misleading the American public. The second is the damage to the credibility and independence of a free press which may be caused by covert relationships with the U.S. journalists and media organizations.”

This assessment is more than forty years old. Imagine the dangerous advancements in stealth and deception since that time.

Even more alarming are President Truman's damning words about the anti-democratic syndicate that he helped set up-- 


"I think [the creation of the CIA] was a mistake. And if I'd known what was going to happen, I never would have done it.
 
Why, they've got an organization over there in Virginia now that is practically the equal of the Pentagon in many ways. And I think I've told you, one Pentagon is one too many.
Now, as nearly as I can make out, those fellows in the CIA don't just report on wars and the like, they go out and make their own, and there's nobody to keep track of what they're up to. They spend billions of dollars on stirring up trouble...They've become ... it's become a government all of its own and all secret. They don't have to account to anybody.
That's a very dangerous thing in a democratic society, and it's got to be put a stop to. The people have got a right to know what those birds are up to. 
...you can't do any housecleaning because everything that goes on is a damn secret... Secrecy and a free, democratic government don't mix."