"History is written by the victors" - Winston Churchill
There is much historical revisionism going on today, especially in the USA. I think it is good. Through this revisionism we have learned the truth about a great many things that, through, the historical record have been greatly distorted to make the victors in war look innocent.
Japanese officer Yasuyuki Hashimoto now 95-years old and my
I think the best book ever written on the subject concerning American History is by Thomas Woods and it is entitled, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History." It was in that book that I first learned that the so-called US Civil War was not a war fought to free the slaves at all, it was a war about taxation. Simply put, even some Northern States had slavery even two years after the war had started so, if the war were about slavery, then how come two Northern states still had slaves?
And, when you stop to think about it, when has the USA ever gone to war to protect the rights of dark-skinned people? I'd have to say "Never!"
Over the years, after World War II ended, the Japanese army has definitely been painted as a bunch of savage animals committing atrocities in China. Many of these atrocities are undeniable as war, in and of itself, is an atrocity... But was it as bad as we were lead to believe?
There is another thing that has always confused me and, if you ever go to Taiwan, it will confuse you too. Get this, most all of the older Taiwanese like the Japanese and speak Japanese. The Japanese built the roads, tunnels, bridges, hospitals.... Bear with me for a second here... If the Japanese did that in Taiwan China, then why would policy be so different in Mainland China? Or did we have some sort of blame game going on between the communists of Mao Tse Tung and the Nationalists of Chiang Kai-Shek?
Just questions I'm asking, folks. Just questions. Just something to ponder.
Here is a video that I stumbled upon of pictures and postcards sent from mainland China in the late 1930s and early 1940s. What do you think of this?
Watch the video and decide for yourself.
NOTE: I especially find the shot at about 0:54 of the video where the Japanese soldiers are respectfully putting a Chinese flag over a fallen statue of Sun Yat-sen the former president of China who died about 13 years before this photo was taken to be a complete contrast to the savage and staged destruction of Saddam Hussein's statue by US military forces in Iraq in 2003.
Ron Paul came in second in the exit polls for South Carolina. Some say that projected him into a possible second place upset. Nevertheless, in spite of that, he finished fourth for the state in the Republican primary.
I think this is really damaging to the Ron Paul campaign.
As always, way before the votes are tallied, the results are projected. I wonder how, with only a percent or two counted, they can project winners? The actual projections for these primaries shouldn't be about Ron Paul or who is going to win that state. The actual projections should be for the health of the United States of America for the next 5 years. I project that within five years the US government will be bankrupt and this entire mess will come crumbling down like a house of cards. Within twenty years the entire edifice of the American Dream will have rotted from the vine and there will be tens of millions of Americans who are going to be starving and out of work.
There will be no hope for these people and the government that currently runs that country. The military industrial complex and Wall Street bankers will have sucked the last bits dry. The American worker and the American economy will be wheezing for breath like a heavy cigarette smoker after years of choking, coughing, spitting, spittle, blood marbled phlegm and emphysema.
People who read this blog know I like Ron Paul. I think the readers of this blog do too. But the media and the powers that be will never allow him to win. That today, with South Carolina's black box voting machines that leave no paper trail could still be in use in the United Sates after the fiasco of the 2000 election, shows that the people behind the curtain have no intention of allowing free elections for the American people.
That Ron Paul could be consistently polling at the top or second in all primaries until today, and consistently come in third or forth smells really bad. To think that something fishy isn't going on here is the height of naivety.
With results like this, why even vote? Someday, "they" will even make voting more automated by arranging it so that the people do not even have to vote for the results to be tabulated the way "they" want them to be and the predetermined winner to be chosen. Then they'll call that "progress."
Perhaps Ron Paul will be allowed to use his few delegates at the Republican convention to make a speech or negotiate a point. But it won't matter. It will be merely throwing a bone to the dog... The powers that be are betting that the people will not rise up and fight. Considering the recent past record, they are making a pretty safe bet.
The people after all do not bark. Even if they do, why bark if they've nothing to say?
The powers that be are happy with an Obama or a Romney or Gingrich. They are all the same. The best way to defang Ron Paul is to marginalize him and keep him in the race and pacify him at the Republican convention. After all, what difference does it make to our real masters who is president as long as they follow orders and keep the game going? That's the plan here folks.
Everyone knows that Gingrich is the same as Romney, who is the same as Santorum, who is the same as Obama, who is the same as Bush, who is the same as Clinton (Bill or Hillary). They are all the same.
Anyone who isn't asleep knows that we aren't getting actual news on the TV or from the big networks. We haven't gotten any real news from the networks since who knows when. Fox News, MSNBC, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, all the major newspapers, etc. etc. are all completely biased and they don't even try to hide it anymore.
Why bother hiding it? 90% of America is watching the latest reality TV show.
The major networks are part of the elite who don't care about America or you or me. They only care about profits and their bonuses. And, when they can't get those bonuses anymore from the United States, they will move somewhere else to continue the rape and pillage.
These people do not care about the country. They certainly do not care about you or me or our children.
But even with total control of the government and the economy and the police state, what is going to get better for them or us? The economy? Our lives? Food? Jobs? Hope? No. Nothing, my friends. Nothing is going to get better for them, you or me, our children or our children's children.
The way things are going now, and this includes the USA and Japan, the only thing keeping society from collapsing will be McDonald's, Citibank branches, Playstation 3, chronic food shortages, lack of jobs, alcohol, reality TV and professional sports.
And, it's not just here at home where every which way is bad. No matter what they do or which way they turn, Iran can't win. The west, with the USA in the lead, is heading us headlong into a war with that nation that will bring us into total war with China and Russia. This war has nothing to do with Iranian nuclear weapons but has everything to do with controlling the world's oil supply. We are so close to the shooting starting that it's a miracle that it hasn't started already.
What's stopped the war in Iran? Well, when the shooting starts and oil prices climb to over $250 a barrel, that would get rid of Obama's chances of re-election. It would be, once again, a Ron Paul prophesy coming true. They can't have that! Someday soon this entire facade is going to crumble. The powers that be just don't want that someday to be before election day 2012.
Murdering John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King did nothing to stop their ideas. Arresting Ghandi and putting him in prison didn't prevent his ideas from capturing the hearts of the entire world.
The plan is to cheat Ron Paul. He can win, and would, in a free election. But America doesn't have free elections anymore. Ron Paul won't be allowed to win. We will have to witness and endure the 2012 election being stolen right out from under our noses. The only way that this isn't going to happen is if the American people wake up from their slumber. Sure, many have awakened, but there are still far, far too many Americans who are deep into the depths of dreamworld.
But, never fear, Ron Paul's ideas are immortal as is the immortal spirit of men. The spirit of man will rise. The stolen elections will not put out the fire, but they will only help to make the fire started burn even brighter in the hearts of men. The dark days are coming, but after that, the dawn.
As Charlie Chaplin said in the film "the Great Dictator":
"The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow, into the light of hope, into the future, that glorious future that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up. Look up."
They can steal the election from us. They've done it before... But this cannot, it must not, be a fight between them and sunny day patriots. Like Ron Paul said, "This is the beginning of a long hard slog..."
Are you in it for the long haul? I expect that Ron Paul will keep up the fight in order to attempt to change the Republican platform.
I now hope for one of two things (or both):
1) It may sound like I am contradicting myself, but I am not. I hope Ron Paul keeps fighting for Republican nomination until the last minute then goes third party. If he does, I believe he has a chance to win outright. And why not go third party? The Republican party is dead with a Gingrich or Romney anyway. Like I said, there's no difference between either of them or Obama, so why not take them on?
2) Also, Rand Paul in 2016!
UPDATE: It seems that I am not the only one bringing this subject up. I wrote this last night and now, this morning, I see others thinking the same thing. This is a MUST READ: There’s something very odd about GOP primary pre-polling and vote: http://www.infowars.com/theres-something-very-odd-about-gop-primary-pre-polling-and-vote/
Good News! Centuries of American hegemony and imperialism have just been given a black eye. Japan, following China's and South Korea's announcement, has stated that it will not abide by an oil embargo against Iran. It is the right choice.
I think that Japan would know a thing or two about how oil embargoes lead to war. The USA under Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted an oil embargo against Japan that lead to the moderate Japanese government of the time being ousted for a more hard line militarist government that soon lead Japan into total war.
We have US presidential candidate Ron Paul repeatedly stating that embargoes lead to war and we have history as proof that embargoes lead to war too. Japan was the victim of a US led embargo in July 1941 which lead to the ouster of the then moderate Japanese government of Fumimaro Konoe to the hard core right wing nationalist government of Hideki Tojo that lead Japan to war with the United States and England. The militarists insisted, with good evidence, that the Americans were unreasonable and impossible to be dealt with. They came to power and the rest is, as they say, history.
Here is what Ron Paul says about embargoes:
Embargoes and blockades are acts of war under international law. Americans should know this. That's why, in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, Kennedy did not call the blockade of Cuba a "blockade" but called it a "Quarantine."
Considering embargoes, the following information came out at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials - the defense of Japan by court appointed US lawyers - and meetings with lawyers in Washington. These transcripts and points were covered up by subsequent US governments for decades.
On December 7, 1928, a group of distinguished Senators gathered in the Capital Building at Washington D.C. to discuss ratification of the Briand-Kellogg Peace Pact, an instrument whose purpose was to “abolish aggressive war”.
Among those present was the author of the Pact, Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg.
During the course of the recorded discussions, the following exchange took place:
“Q: Suppose a country is not attacked - suppose there is an economic blockade...?
A: There is no such thing as a blockade [unless] you are in war.
Q: It is an act of war?
A: An act of war absolutely... as I have stated before, nobody on earth, probably, could writean article defining 'self defense' or 'aggressor' that some country could not get around; and I made up my mind that the only safe thing for any country to do was to judge for itself within its sovereign rights whether it was unjustly attacked and had a right to defend itself and it must answer to the opinion of the world.”
The above was quoted during the Tokyo Trial by American defense council to show that Japan's War of the Pacific, according to the very terms of the Brian-Kellogg Pact itself, did not and could not constitute "aggression".
Like I mentioned Japan has seen with her own eyes (China and Korea too) what happens when a nation is backed into a corner with an embargo. That's probably the biggest reason they want no part of it.
Japan’s War of the Pacific was a war of self-defense for the following reasons:
- blockade is an act of war (p. 43,051);
- every nation is the judge of what constitutes self-defense (ibid);
- self-defense is not limited to defense of the national territory (p. 42,239);
- Japan was provoked into a war of self-defense (pp. 43,050-175);
The Americans froze Japanese assets (in violation of a treaty) and began to embargo oil. It was demanded, as a condition to restoring normal relations, that Japan sign an agreement with various other nations who had never before been party to the negotiations, including Thailand and Soviet Russia (pp. 43,678-98).
To obtain agreement with the other nations in accordance with this demand could have taken months or years; and might never have been possible. Japan had enough oil for a few months only. A conference was held at which it was decided that if there was to be war, it must come now; by spring Japan would be too weak to fight. In any case, the attack on Pearl Harbor was an act of utter desperation. The oil embargo meant the destruction of Japan’s independence and perhaps survival as a nation.(emphasis mine)
(Through an oil embargo) Japan faced immediate military defeat in China; total industrial collapse at home; and destruction through coastal shelling of all the major cities by any one of five traditional enemies (America, Britain, China, the Netherlands, and particularly the Soviets).
Oil had been supplied to Japan for two years in the teeth of hostile public opinion. It was believed essential to keep war out of the Far East;
When this did not work, Japan was forced into war, crushed with atomic bombs, and her leaders hanged for “aggression”. (Read more here).
Could anyone in the world be so naive to think that the USA isn't just itching for a war with Iran and is hoping that, with sanctions and illegal embargoes, that they can trick Iran into firing the first shot - like the USA did to Japan - even if it would be legally justified as "self-defense" under international law? Law or no law, you know the USA (a government who has ignored international law for years) would try to claim the moral high ground by saying, "But they fired first!"
One guess which is the US navy? How dare the Iranians
threaten us with their mighty dreadnoughts off the shores of their own country?
This information needs to become common knowledge for people, especially Americans (who will never be taught the truth in school or on American mass media), to realize that these sorts of actions, namely economic war in the form of things like oil embargoes, by the US government are acts of war and we the people must rise up and stop this madness. It seems that the USA is just waiting for an excuse to turn Tehran into a gravel parking lot. This must be stopped.
That China, Japan and Korea have put their collective foot down and said, "No!" is a great sign that the US empire is finally deflating; especially when you realize that, since 1945, Japan and South Korea have been the staunchest of American allies. This rejection of US will is a total embarrassment for the US government.
It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of folks.
Japan's foreign minister said Monday that his country would not stop imports of Iranian oil, striking a rare note of divergence with the United States during a visit to Washington.
After talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (war-mongerer) that focused mostly on North Korea, Japan's Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba highlighted Japan's sanctions imposed on Iranian institutions due to concerns over its nuclear program.
But Gemba said: "I conveyed my view that there is a danger of causing damage to the entire global economy if the imports of Iranian crude oil stop."
Think about it. Of course Japan has to say "No!" Not only do embargoes start wars, Japan just suffered through the nightmare of March 11, 2011. The earthquake, tsunami and then Fukushima nuclear disasters leading to half of all of Japan's electrical needs being stopped due to nuclear power plant's termination of service. Throw on top of that reconstruction costs and you have a Japan that cannot afford to pay higher bills for oil!
Oil is already over $102 dollars a barrel today! What will happen to Japan's economy if oil hits $250 a barrel as some analysts have predicted?
This is the kind of propaganda Americans are fed. What? How dare the Iranians taunt US warships off the coast of Iran! I wonder how Americans would feel if Chinese warships were buzzing the coastline of California?
Thank god that, like I said, Japan finally has the guts to stand up the the USA. Or, as Americans would say, finally Japan has, "Grown some balls!" I wonder if Obama will make ridiculous statements like Bush did with his "Coalition of the Willing" that included about 8 minor countries that were paid off to support the invasion of Iraq?
UPDATE: What timing! Zerohedge confirms my thesis on the USA pushing Iran towards war with this report on Iran this morning in Hyperinflation Comes to Iran:
Hyperinflation has struck again, this time at ground zero of the most sensitive geopolitical conflict in ages: Iran. EA WorldView reports:
An EA source reports that a relative in Tehran ordered a washing machine for 400,000 Toman (about $240) this week. When he went to the shop the next day, he was told that --- amidst the currency crisis and rising import costs --- the price was now 800,000 Toman (about $480). Another EA source says that the price of an item of software for a laptop computer has tripled from 50,000 Toman to 150,000 Toman within days.
, and gave America the green light to enter the war.
And so the opportunity cost for the Ahmedinejad regime to preserve its status quo gradually grinds to zero, as the entire economy implodes (courtesy of a few strategic financially isolating decisions) making further escalation virtually inevitable, in a 100% replica of the US-planned Japanese escalation that led to the Pearl Harbor attack.
...Need I say more? The military industrial complex (and criminal government) of the United States must be stopped from constantly destabilizing regions and causing wars. The true terrorists of our times are easy to identify... And they don't live in caves in Afghanistan... Washington D.C. is their mailing address.
This from Zerohedge is about how many nations, including staunch ally Japan, are quietly concluding business deals and trade that do not involve the US dollar - the world's supposed reserve currency. This needs no comment from me excepting that I'm wondering when gold and silver are going to go ballistic.
For anyone wondering how the abandonment of the dollar reserve status would look like we have a Hollow Men reference: not with a bang, but a whimper... Or in this case a whole series of bilateral agreements that quietly seeks to remove the US currency as an intermediate. Such as these:
and now this: "Iran, Russia Replace Dollar With Rial, Ruble in Trade, Fars Says." And ironically, the proposal to dump the greenback did not come from Iran.Per Bloomberg: "Iran and Russia replaced the U.S. dollar with their national currencies in bilateral trade, Iran’s state-run Fars news agency reported, citing Seyed Reza Sajjadi, the Iranian ambassador in Moscow. The proposal to switch to the ruble and the rialwas raised by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in Astana, Kazakhstan, of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the ambassador said." Is Iran gradually becoming the poster child of an energy rich country that just says no to the dollar: "Iran has replaced the dollar in its oil trade with India, China and Japan, Fars reported."...Read more
It won't be too long until Japan, China and Russia will complete bilateral trade agreements with the Eurozone nations in exchange for purchasing European Bonds or European Financial Stability Facilities (FSF). Oh, but don't worry, Only China, Japan, Russia, India, Brazil and the EU will make these transactions in other currencies besides dollars... Everyone else will still use good old US made paper! Who will that be, you ask? Well, there's the USA, and er... Ummmm...
It's the Year of the Dragon! Specifically speaking, 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon. It is going to be a good year for those with entrepreneurial spirit. Be one!
The year of the dragon has always been traditionally associated with new beginnings and good fortune. It is a lucky year.
Dragons, and those born under compatible signs with the dragon (Rat & Snake), will especially benefit from luck or good fortune during a Dragon year Dragons were born in 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, and 2012.
Those with entrepreneurial spirit are particularly favored to see much success in the coming year. They merely must dedicate themselves and stay focused.
Generally, it's predicted that any new business venture or relationship might benefit from the outstanding luck often associated with the dragon.Therefore, 2012 will be a very good year to get married (if there could be anything like that!), have children, or start a new business... Or to even win the lottery! Of course, I only jest as any time is a good time to win the lottery.
As the world suffers through one of the worst economic calamities in recent memory, supposedly bold new leadership will help ease the circumstances of those suffering most from recent financial setbacks. (So maybe that does mean Ron Paul can win! Oh I hope so!)
Since 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon, the liquid element to this is said to calm the dragon's usually tempestuous nature, and will give a thoughtful perspective to the plight of the less fortunate.
Dragons who can pursue their own passionate ambitions while meeting the needs of others are best suited to navigating the year ahead. Those compatible with the Dragon — the Rat and the Snake in particular — will also find 2012's circumstances inspiring them to greater personal happiness and professional success.
Seven Gods of luck
If you wish for more good luck, you can help yourself by cleaning your home windows (so you can "see clearer" and make a clear path from the North East corner of your abode through to the South West corner. This allows the dragon to glide effortlessly through your abode bringing good luck. Placing clean water outside your abode at the South West corner as a reward for the dragon will also tempt him to pass through your house and bring you good fortune.*
* Seriously, I learned this from a famous professional Feng Shui instructor in Japan!
This is a video that has shaken Chinese society to her roots. It shows what China has become. A two-year old girl is hit by a truck and run over. The truck doesn't bother to stop. A second vehicle also runs over the child. A total of eighteen people walk by the critically injured tyke yet no one stops to help until a cleaning lady happens by.
This is a very shocking video. Parental discretion is advised.
That poor dear child. This tears my heart out.
I have been to China several times and have seen how people will not lift a finger to help someone laying in the road. It is truly shocking. Some westerners who go to China and do help people in the streets are often celebrated on TV as some sort of heroes!
Some people have told me that China today is that way because of years of poverty and the government doing little to help so that people have come to think that they must fend for themselves and that other people do not matter.
In 2010, I was the marketing director for a Macau based airlines and, one day, the government of China revoked the airline's license causing nearly 5,000 Japanese to be stranded. That's just one example, but that sort of thing would be impossible in Japan. The Japanese government might revoke a license, but they'd make damn sure the people were taken care of and could get home first.
The Chinese government? I don't know what to think.
It is for this reason, and the related causes and symptoms, that I do not believe China can ever be number one. The social fabric of that country has come apart and there is no respect for private property and the concept of social responsibility has virtually disappeared.
Mish Shedlock has his own comments about this video. He wrote:
There is quite a difference between failing to act out of
fear for yourself or life vs. complete indifference as to
what happens to a little girl run over by a van.
The video represents the tragic state of everyday affairs in China.
The Yuan will not become the new world reserve currency.
China does not have deep enough capital markets or deep enough bond markets. China does not respect human or property rights, and contrary to popular belief there are so many problems with being the world's reserve currency that Chinese leadership does not even want it.
