Health Care, in Today's News 12.26.09

Health Care. The leadership of Catholicism in the United States should be held responsible for the passage of the catastrophic health care legislation. They could have stopped it and they didn't.

The Bishops and the leaders of Catholic organizations did not recognize that the legislation intended to replace compassionate health care, the great Catholic legacy, with a government-controlled, cost-cutting, rationing approach. The Catholic leaders had the power (support of the faithful) to stop the legislation. They failed to do anything to effectively preserve the overall health interests of the faithful and the rest of the population. The passage of the legislation was all the more easily assured with the Catholic voice thus neutralized. 

The selling point of the health care legislation is that it expands health coverage. But, this was only a selling point. The reality of the legislation is that it institutes a de-humanized, bureaucratic method of providing health care. 

The leaders of Catholicism primarily took the stance of insisting that the legislation not provide funding for abortion. This was noble and correct, but the problem is they gave the impression, intended or not, that if the abortion provisions were acceptable, then the legislation as a whole would be okay. But the legislation as a whole is retrograde and an assault on the basic health rights achieved by centuries of struggle, led primarily by the Catholic Church.

There are many, many things wrong with the legislation. Here are a few:

The Senate bill establishes an Independent Medicare Advisory Board, composed of permanent, unelected and, therefore, unaccountable members. This body is explicitly empowered (sections 3403 and 2021) to deny medical treatment based on cost considerations. This Board will greatly expand the rationing practices that already have been introduced into medical treatment.

Section 6301 of the Senate bill creates new comparative effectiveness research programs. Such programs have been used in other countries (United Kingdom) as rationing commissions. Medicare's ability to refuse medical claims will be strongly enhanced by this provision.

In short, the legislation sets up a system where the government will be a permanent participant in doctor-patient relations. And as the participant with the money, it will have the decisive voice and vote. It's vote will be directed by cost-cutting above all else.

The legislation lays the basis for developing profiles for every medical treatment method or procedure. Such profiles will introduce a whole new world of health care. For example, if one does not meet the profile (because of age, weight, or another factor) the treatment can be denied. If the person still wants the treatment, he or she will have to pay for it. Similarly, if a doctor provides or recommends a treatment outside the profile, he or she will be subject to penalties, including reduced medicare payments.

This legislation is truly diabolic. The legislation represents the cryptocracy's dream to drastically cut societal medical costs by minimally providing medical treatment and to provide treatment in a completely mechanical (and therefore cost-predictive) manner. The great achievement of the Church in beginning and developing compassionate health care for all will finally be displaced, to the great joy of the Christ-hating cryptocracy.

Many, many statements by Church leaders on the health care legislation passed over this desk in the past few months. Not one of them addressed the fundamental issue of compassionate versus cost-control approaches to health care. The Church leaders appear to have been totally and naively taken in by the hype that the legislation would expand coverage. They then limited their intervention to the abortion issue (and a few others, such as conscience provisions). 

The Church leaders failure to recognize what was occurring will have lasting and permanent negative effects on the faithful. 

The great crime is that the Church leaders have the power to stop the legislation if they would only use it. There are 67 million Catholics in the United States. This is an organized grouping that is larger than any other in the country. Moreover, the great majority of Catholics would follow their leaders in action if asked to do it.

The Church leaders should have simply said "NO!" to the legislation. They then should have backed up their resolution by mobilizing the faithful in campaigns of lobbying, prayer, and even direct action. Especially prayer to God for help in stopping something that must be an abomination to our compassionate God, would have been effective. Sixty-seven million people could stop anything if they are properly educated and led. Yet this great force for the betterment of humanity was left dormant by the Catholic leaders.

There have been many dark days in the Catholic Church in the last few decades. Time and experience will show that the failure of the Church leaders to defend a great legacy of Catholicism, compassionate health care, will be among the very darkest days.

Blog Update, 12.24.09

Blog Update. Strother Burrell's elbow is still broken. More frequent blog publication should resume in a couple of weeks, or early January. Thank you for your patience.

Bank of America, in Today's News 12.03.09

Bank of America. The Bank of America was one of the central targets of the cryptocracy when they precipitated the economic crisis. From the beginning, enormous pressure was put on the BoA to change their ways and, in particular, to get rid of Kenneth Lewis, the chief executive officer.

One can only speculate on why the BoA was put in this position. It may have something to do with the fact that the BoA, a central and mammoth financial entity, is not one of the big stock-holders in the privately-owned Federal Reserve. And thus, the Rothschilds had a somewhat reduced ability to control the BoA through their machinations in the Federal Reserve.

Whatever the motivation, the cryptocracy succeeded in forcing Lewis to resign. 

The task then became to find a CEO to run the BoA, who would be an exclusive Rothschild man. And here the cryptocracy was hoisted on its own petard. They had gone to great lengths to limit and reduce the salaries of some financial companies, particularly BoA, in an effort to pressure the companies to better toe the line. But now, the salary-limitation rules got in the way of hiring the new BoA CEO. There simply was not enough money to attract the candidates they wanted.

What to do, what to do? Again, it was simple for cryptocracy. Just change the rules. Today, it was announced that the BoA was the first financial institution to reach agreement with the government to repay the bailout money and escape the pay restrictions imposed by the government.

Amazing, isn't it? The cynicism of these people defies definition. 

General Motors, in Today's News 12.02.09

General Motors. When the central planners decided to take over General Motors, Frederick "Fritz" Henderson, a veteran GM executive, played a key role. He turned on his boss, Chief Executive Officer Rich Wagoner, a man who had been central to Henderson's advancement in GM, and joined the cryptocracy attack brigade. 

Henderson stepped forward and took the job of CEO, repudiating Wagoner, the GM policies of past times, and, in effect, his own history. He worked hard to play the game and do what his masters wanted, all with a smirk on his face.

And so, what was his reward for such craven loyalty to the cryptocracy? Yesterday, the government-appointed GM Board of Directors forced Henderson to resign!

Moral of the story: If you are going to play along with the cryptocracy you better know what you are doing. Appreciation for loyalty and work done is not the cryptocracy's strong suit. Their mode of operation is to cynically use people until they are used-up, and then just dump them.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 12.02.09

Afghanistan. "Obama Bets Big on Troop Surge," Wall Street Journal lead headline on page one today.

Well, he tried everything. He tried to get rid of Afghanistan President Karzai. He tried elections in Afghanistan. He tried to snooker the Taliban. He tried to ignore the problem. He threw the issue to his advisors. He tried to get the "allies" to take more of the burden. He hoped for a miracle. He procrastinated and procrastinated. 

In the end, nothing worked. And Obama is right back where he started, except the situation has worsened. He faces an Afghanistan government that is at best less-than-friendly. The Afghan government has little-to-no support in the Afghan public. The Taliban has gained strength to a surprising extent to the point where they are actually challenging the government in significant military battles. He has a split in his own political party, with the left, who were critical to his election, alienated. The 'allies' are none too fond of the predicament Obama puts them in when he requests more aid and troops. And the American public is war-weary.

And so, Obama is forced after all to follow the advice of the military, toning it down a bit and setting an impossible deadline. He says he will send in 30,000 more troops and begin withdrawing them in 18 months.

Obama knows full-well that 30,000 troops will do nothing to change things. Today's news' coverage says little about the military strategy to be followed. But, a week or so ago, the reportage was that the reinforcements will come with a new strategy: to isolate Kandahar and to secure the roads. This is not a strategy to pursue the war and try to win. It is a strategy to hopefully keep Afghanistan from blowing up in Obama's face.

And why 18 months from now to begin withdrawing? Eighteen months is getting close to the next election. If Obama thinks that withdrawing a few troops before the election will help his re-election prospects, he is seriously deluded.

Afghanistan will not go away. It will continue to haunt the Obama administration. This is so because the war is a proxy war, not in the interests of America foreign policy. The war is fought because Israel wants it fought. Israel's interest is for the US to keep Israel's enemies bottled up. American forces being bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq suits Israel just fine. 

Israel's ultimate plan for Afghanistan lies through Iran. The idea is that Afghanistan will take care of itself when Iran is chopped off at the knees. In other words Israel is looking to a major mideast war to establish Israel as the predominant power that all other countries in the area will be beholden to.

Obama and his zionist advisors and backers are not necessarily opposed to this strategy. It's just that the timing is off. A war with Iran right now would get in the way of all the other Obama plans, not the least of which is to make Obama the world's most influential politician, which then would make the war on Iran easier to pull off.

Obama is caught in a dilemma in Afghanistan. He is stuck where he is until some bigger pieces of the world strategy fall into place. It is not likely that those pieces will occur soon. And so, Obama tries to hang on in Afghanistan hoping that Afghanistan won't fall apart.

Needless to say Afghanistan is at the center of world politics. It goes right to the heart of all the current issues, because Israel's need to dominate is so well demonstrated. 

The Church leaders, however, seem sublimely oblivious to the whole thing. They say very little about it, and show no indication that they have any understanding of what is involved. There was a time when the Church leaders were on top of what is happening in the world and endeavored to keep the faithful informed. Now, it seems that the Church leaders are too interested in being accepted by the media and others to have any desire to learn about the objectives of the world powers.

Blog Update, 11.20.09

Apologies. Unable to blog for a while because of a broken elbow.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 59, in Today's News 11.13.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. Apparently the number of deaths from swine flu is not enough to please the Center for Disease Control. The CDC felt that the 1,200 reported deaths was insufficient. So back to the drawing boards and ...wallah, all of a sudden 3,900 have died!!! It announced the new numbers with great fanfare today.

How do they do it? Easy. The CDC is the world's preeminent manipulator of data. In this case, they decided to include cases where the patient's death appeared to be brought on by the flu (not swine flu, just the flu)(and 'appeared' to be brought on, as opposed to being directly caused)!! And just like that the count increases 300%.

And by the way, these numbers are not an actual count. No, the CDC is estimating how many are ill. They have a nifty computer program and all they do is throw in some numbers and out comes the estimate they want. Amazing.

Also of interest: the CDC says 22 million people have been sickened by swine flu. This number has about the same credibility as the above number. But if you accept their number of deaths, it comes to less than one-half of one per cent of those who have been ill. Some pandemic!

Also of interest: the November 9th edition of the American Free Press reports that CBS news claims that the number of swine flu cases has been grossly exaggerated. "Only one percent to three percent of suspected cases have actually turned out to be the H1N1 virus. When samples of patients were actually tested, it turned out that the overwhelming majority -- nearly 86 percent in some states -- did not even have a more common strain of the flu. Instead they had a cold." (!!!)

Does anyone remember the days when the Soviet Union political bureau set a goal of manufacturing so many widgets under the five year plan? And before long, the numbers would be produced to prove the leaders right, even to be geniuses. 

Does this practice sound at all familiar to this country's experience with swine flu?

The CDC said there was going to be a pandemic, and, by golly, here are the numbers to prove it!

Health Care, in Today's News 11.10.09

Health Care. Headline in today's Wall Street Journal (page A4): "Catholic Church Emerges as Key Player in Legislative Battle." The 'news' article is a puff piece on the Church leaders attempting to flatter them into becoming shills for the complete health care legislative package.

Unfortunately the stance the Church leaders have put themselves in lends itself to precisely this political maneuver. Spokesmen for Catholicism have in essence become a one-issue lobbying group on the abortion issue in the health care debate. They have neglected to even try to comprehend the overall picture of what the health care legislation means, and instead have tried to bring their weight to bear on the abortion and a couple of other issues. And in so doing, they leave in silence the noble history and teaching of Jesus and the Church on compassion towards all.

No one doubts that the Church leaders influence on abortion has been a commendable undertaking, but by concentrating on the issue without regard to the context of what the cryptocracy is trying to do with this legislation, the Church leaders let themselves be positioned to support the legislation in return for an amendment on no abortion spending.

The key quote in the WSJ article is, "They [the Catholic leaders] actually wanted to pass the bill. That's why they had status. Other groups that had similar views on abortion weren't interested in passing the bill," Representative Mike Doyle (D, Pa).

In other words, 'you support our bill and we will give you a little on abortion and complement you.'

But to repeat for the umpteenth time: this legislation is designed to kill the idea of compassionate health care and replace it with government-control under cost-cutting guidelines. 

The Church brought Jesus' teaching to the world on compassion toward those who are ill. The Church founded the first hospitals. These hospitals treated all regardless of circumstance and 'cost-effectiveness'. These great institutions lived in a world where insurance protocols and medicare guidelines would have seemed barbaric, which they are.

The legislative leaders and the media are hyping their 'reform' as 'health-care for all.' But all their blather is just misdirection for what is really happening: a fundamental change in the way medical care is performed.

One wants to cry out when it is realized that the Church leaders actually take the legislative leaders at their word. Believing these thieves-called-legislators is always a mistake, but in the case of something as central as health care, believing what they say is a colossal mistake bordering on criminality. It certainly is a betrayal of the centuries of compassionate charity toward the ill by the Church.

Will the Church leaders take the cryptocracy bait and actually formally endorse the legislation? Time will tell. But, be prepared. They have certainly given the impression that that is precisely what they plan to do.

****

The Church leaders try to chalk up their support for health care for immigrants as continuing the Church teaching on compassion. Of course, such support is in keeping with the Church, but it falls so short of what is needed in this situation where the compassionate health care of all is jeopardized. 

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 58, in Today's News 11.09.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. What is there to say about swine flu?

The directors of the swine-flu scare campaign set out to have a massive inoculation and public training event. But, they so mis-managed their ambitious plan that they actually managed to increase the suspicions of the American people regarding the safety of vaccines. The directors are now reduced to squabbling among themselves over whom is to blame for the mess-up and over whom is going to receive the vaccine. Even a congressional hearing has been scheduled. And these are the people who think they should rule the world.

As for the 'pandemic' itself: What we are seeing is the result of swine flu, but also seasonal flu (whose effects are the same as swine flu), media determination to have a public panic, some hysteria, and psychological suggestion.

Health Care, in Today's News 11.09.09

Health Care. The deed is not quite done yet. The health-care legislation still has to clear the Senate and a reconciliation with the approved House version. But, we are very close to the death of compassionate health care in the interests of government control and cost-cutting policies.

Thus, one of the great accomplishments of humanity stemming from the teaching of Jesus and the practice of the Church for centuries, is about to pass away.

Most astonishing in this development is the fact that those who ought to be defending the legacy of the Church do not have the faintest clue about the issues and the disastrous effects the legislation will have for the faithful and the rest of humanity.

Hillary Clinton, in Today's News 11.09.09

Hillary Clinton. The repercussions from Clinton's foray into the middle east politics continue to pile up.

First, shortly after Clinton positioned the United States as giving some support to the Israeli settlement policy, the various political forces in the middle east went into uproar. Clinton, the State Department, and the White House had to go on a special footing to spin her remarks into 'no change in the American position of non-support to the settlements.'

Next, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would not seek re-election in protest over the US bias in favor of Israel. 

And now Obama has to scramble to assure Israel of the United States' real position. A meeting between the two has been scheduled.

Clinton is so used to having her big-mouth remarks explained away by the media and her team, that she can't quite seem to adjust to the world of diplomacy where every word counts.

Clinton is now finished as a politician. Her frequent mis-steps as Secretary of State, starting with her "reset" fiasco in Moscow, will haunt any future attempts by her to achieve the presidency, or any other office.

"V", in Today's News 11.09.09

"V". Is it accidental that the leader of the lizard-aliens in "V", the new TV series, bears a striking resemblance to Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, probably the most influential of the Hindu 'Gurus' operating in the western world?

Afghanistan, in Today's News 11.09.09

Afghanistan. President Obama resolutely refuses to commit to a course of action in Afghanistan. He has adopted this stance because he has no viable alternative that doesn't result in defeat.

But the longer he waits to make a decision, the worse the consequences will be.

******

The Obama people lost in their attempt to get rid of Afghan President Karzai in the recent elections. But that doesn't stop them from continuing to try. Articles in the media have steadily appeared 'reporting' on the corruption under Karzai. Even the Brits got into the act with a major denunciation of the corruption and a threat to withdraw support.

Fort Hood, in Today's News 11.09.09

Fort Hood. Why is it that Major Nidal Malik Hasan reminds one of the Jeff Bridges' character in the 1999 movie, Arlington Road?

For more on the Fort Hood situation, see Michael Hoffman's blog, On the Contrary.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 11.02.09

Afghanistan. Obama's gambit to solve his problem in Afghanistan has resulted in zip. Now he is right back to the alternatives he has been trying to avoid for months.

Obama thought he could convince the Taliban to forsake al Qaeda and join in some form of a reconcilliation government. He also thought he could move Afghan president Karzai out of the way to facilitate a settlement.

What happened? The Taliban said, "no thanks." And it would be silly to expect anything else from them when the tide is moving toward their objectives.

Second, Karzai proved to be much more difficult to get rid of than the Obama people thought. The US forced a run off election in the hope that his opponent could defeat him. That little maneuver came up empty today when the opponent dropped out of the election. 

And so, Obama is left with nothing. Trying to make the situation look good, he telephoned Karzai and promised to work for a better Afghanistan.

Obama is back to his three alternatives: declare victory and get out, stand and fight, or send in lots of troops. He desperately wants to avoid sending in more troops, but the other options mean defeat relatively soon.

What Obama does next will be extremely interesting.

Hillary Clinton, in Today's News 11.02.09

Hillary Clinton. She's done it again. Another disastrous trip as Secretary of State to foreign lands. Clinton is proving to be one of the worst Secretaries of State in the nation's history.

1). Clinton made her first official trip to Pakistan to, as the Wall Street Journal put it, "to smooth relations strained by terms of an American aid package for the key South Asian ally."  WSJ: "Clinton said she will seek to clarify issues related to the aid during her meetings with Pakistani officials...while also working to forge closer economic, diplomatic and cultural ties."

And so, what happened?  "A stream of people grilled Mrs. Clinton on the merits of a new multibillion-dollar US aid bill for Pakistan that they claimed was tailored to constrain Islamabad's military and nuclear programs. Lahore university students argued that the Pentagon's drone strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda militants in Pakistan's tribal regions were increasingly causing violence to spill out into their country's major cities and urban areas."

Of course, Clinton took the bait, lost her cool, and insulted her hosts. "In a particularly blunt exchange, Mrs. Clinton told a gathering of newspaper editors that the US didn't believe Pakistan's government had done all it could to hunt al Qaeda leaders...whom Washington believes are still hiding in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan."

In other words, Clinton succeeded in doing just the opposite of her stated goal of smoothing relations.

In her defense, it is possible that Clinton was set up by the Obama team. Obama's people were surely aware of the Pakistan discontent with the new aid package. They could have reasoned, 'send Clinton and let her take the heat.' It's a lose-lose situation for her, and a winner for the Obama people.

2). After the Pakistan debacle, Clinton travelled to mid-east for two days "aimed at getting the Palestinians and the Israelis to return to peace talks..." (WSJ). To which one can only comment, 'you got to be kidding!!'

Clinton thinks that she can swoop in for a couple of days and the forces who have been battling for decades will suddenly recognize her superior wisdom and return to negotiations.

Even so, she managed to screw things up a bit further. She positioned herself closer to the Israeli policy of settlements, and as a result the Palestinians strengthened their resolve to stay away from negotiations.

In other words, Clinton achieved just the opposite of what she set out to do.

The media, of course, gives her every break. But, the Obama team knows all the better why it is crucial to keep her away from the administration's key foreign policy discussions and actions.

One other comment: in reading Clinton's various statements on these trips, it becomes clear that her knowledge of the situations is no greater than what one would get from reading the New York Times and the Washington Post. 

Government-Controlled Economy, in Today's News 10.28.09

Government-Controlled Economy. The great Rothschild power grab, otherwise known as the economic crisis of 2008-09, continues its audacious program of theft. 

Now they are on the verge of Congress giving power to the Federal Reserve System to police the country's largest financial companies, including the ability to seize and break up failing companies, and to order large firms to shrink.

Rothschild agents and front men were instrumental in the formation of the Fed early in the last century. The Rothschilds attained predominant control of the Fed decision-making then and they have not relinquished it since.

The Fed is a private organization that is owned by the largest banks which are in turn owned by the Rothschilds and others of their ilk. The Fed tries to present itself as a government agency because the Fed director is appointed by the President and approved by Congress. But the government has no shares in the stock of the Fed. The Fed's decision are strictly in the interests of the families which own it.

The economic crisis was precipitated by the bank owners with the aim of transforming the American economy into a government-controlled economy with the Fed as the principle instrument of the government. Soon after the crisis began the Fed sought to reform the entire financial regulatory arrangement in the economy to give the Fed the central and pivotal role. When this effort became stalled in Congress, the Fed just reread their own rules and decided they already had the power to oversee the banking sector.

Now the Fed is striving to attain even greater powers. The legislation under review would give the Fed the power to direct any large financial holding company to sell or transfer assets or stop certain activities if the central bank determined there could be a 'threat to the safety and soundness of such company or to the financial stability of the United States.' The proposal would also require financial firms to pay for the unwinding of a collapsed competitor.

The Obama administration has taken significant steps toward consolidating a government-controlled economy. The Obama people have done their best to meet the Fed demands. They have made unprecedented forays into major corporate entities, such as General Motors. They have established various 'czars' to oversee aspects of the drive to a planned economy, including a pay czar who decreed unilaterally and without appeal that bank salaries were to be cut drastically.

The Rothschilds and the other families and forces at the pinnacle of world power are intent on changing the American economy into a centrally-controlled economy under their iron fists. They show no signs of relenting until they get their way. And everyday the American economy looks more and more like a soviet economy in formation.

The Rothschilds already control the central economic units in the United States through their agents on the boards of directors. Now they are looking to have the ability to step in and rearrange the corporate world at their whim.

The ultimate aim is to create a world-wide fortune-creating machine under the control of the Rothschilds with the world's population serving as the wage slaves under tight control. They are well on their way to achieving their goals.

The Rothschilds' constant effort to rule the world is the most important development in the world today and for the foreseeable future. Anyone who is seriously trying to preserve and promote what is good and righteous in the world, must start their considerations with the reality of the Rothschild drive to control the world. One's appreciation of any event in world politics must start from the context of what the Rothschilds are trying to do.

And so we come back to the Church. The teachings of Jesus are the only antidote to the world of mammon promoted by the Rothschilds. But those teachings only have a minimal effect if the Church leaders and hierarchy do not comprehend what is happening to the world, and how the Rothschilds plan is an extreme danger to the Church and the faithful.

The Pope is about to have his third synagogue spectacular when he visits the synagogue in Rome. Such actions play right into the hands of the Rothschilds. The actions enable the Rothschilds to proceed with their grand plan with minimal opposition, and especially without the opposition of the one power in the world that can stop them -- the power of the Savior.

Were the Church leaders and hierarchy to orient the Catholic world toward establishing the world rule of the teachings of Jesus, the world would look very different, and the Rothschilds would have met their potential nemesis. There was a time not too long ago when the Church leaders attempted to bring the world to an understanding of the way of Jesus as the only means of saving the world and the world's population. 

There is no higher priority than bringing the Church leaders back to this orientation.

Israel, in Today's News 10.28.09

Israel. Prosecutors have begun the trial of Radovan Karadzic, Bosnian Serb wartime leader, in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The case against him revolves around his alleged plan to build a mono-ethnic Serbian state through terror and murder.

A significant charge against Karadzic. One wonders if there are any other nations that have sought to build a mono-ethnic state through terror and murder.

And, by golly, there is!! There is a country that not only had such a plan, they actually carried it out, and continues to do so!

One wonders when the leaders of this country will be brought to trial and when the media will denounce the obvious racism.

Don't hold your breath.

Health Care, in Today's News 10.26.09

Health Care. Be prepared for a media deluge justifying the change in the medical world brought about by the upcoming legislation.

Today's Chicago Tribune carried two articles that indicate the drum beat has begun.

The first article was a major, major spread discussing how cancer and other screenings for seniors are costly and unnecessary. The argument goes that the screenings are for early detection of a cancer, but the elderly are already past the age where early detection is useful.

The second article reports that some ambulance services are raising fees for obese patients. The argument goes that it costs more to handle an overweight person, so why not charge for the extra cost.

Basic changes such as these are the intent of the proposed health care legislation. The idea is to transform medical care from a compassionate basis to one controlled by the government under cost-control guidelines. And so in these cases, for instance, who decides if a person is too old or too heavy? Why the government, of course, who will quickly establish 'best practices' guidelines to ensure compliance with their judgement.

It is simply astounding that the Church leaders and hierarchy don't have a clue about what the coming legislation proposes to do. The leaders are focused in on what the legislators say the legislation is: reform medical care, make medical care available to all, etc. But that is all misdirection, even if some worthy changes are made. The real aim of those behind this legislation is establish once and for all that cost-control and cost-reduction govern health care.

If they are successful health care will dramatically change for the faithful and everyone else. The elderly and the critically ill will feel the effect most quickly and most tragically. 

Pray for the dawn of insight in those who lead the Catholic world that they may see what is actually happening and do something about it. 

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 57, in Today's News 10.26.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. President Obama has declared that the swine-flu outbreak is a national emergency.  Obama was only just following the script for the scare campaign which undoubtedly said something like: mid-October President declares emergency.

The stumbling nature of scare campaign means that this particular declaration on health emergency is pro-forma and will have little impact. It didn't even make page one of the Wall Street Journal.

One shudders to contemplate, however, what such a declaration would have meant if the scare campaign directors had been able to fully implement their plans. A presidential determination of a health emergency triggers federal, state, and local regulations that include mandatory vaccination and mandatory quarantining among other outrageous and unconstitutional stipulations.

What the scare campaign directors had in mind months ago will probably never be known. But it was their incompetence and the intelligence of the public that saved the country from their more drastic plans.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 56, in Today's News 10.24.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. Opps. The directors of the swine-flu scare campaign have screwed up again. It's becoming more and more difficult to take these people seriously, even as adversaries.

First they projected a campaign that came just short of mandatory vaccination. Then they failed to allow enough time to adequately test the new vaccine. Then they announced that the vaccine would not be available until well into the anticipated flu season. That announcement was followed by another saying that the amount of vaccine to be received would be 25% less than planned. Finally, today the directors have revealed that less than half of the expected vaccine has been delivered.

The cryptocracy has to be viewing all this with disbelief. The idea was to launch a big effort to accustom the public to receiving vaccine shots. An ideal bug was found; ideal because it didn't essentially differ from an existing bug that was sure to hit in the flu season. They planned out a mammoth campaign, lined up local and state government agencies, health organizations and associations, political and health leaders, and the media. A new director was brought into the Center for Disease Control to lead the charge. Then they set their plan in motion. That's when the incompetence appeared.

Instead of an intimidated public, there now exists even greater skepticism about government announcements, and especially about the health dangers from these vaccines.

The key to the failure of the campaign so far is the intelligence of the public, who refused in great numbers to go along with what they were being told about swine flu and the necessity of vaccination. This is an important lesson. The cryptocracy tends to think of the public as peasants that can be easily led around and manipulated. Perhaps events such as this will lead the cryptocracy to be a little more respectful of the average Joe and Mary. It's doubtful, but one can always hope.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 10.23.09

Afghanistan. The United States now has two weeks to undermine Afghan President Karzai before the second round of national voting. The goal is to so discredit Karzai that he loses the election. Baring that, the hope is to weaken him so much that he is forced to share power with someone who is more devoted to American war aims. 

The United States effort is off to a flying start. The Afghan Independent Election Commission [the 'independent' presumably means independent of Karzai] announced that "2,000 to 25,000 [voting] stations won't open, most of them in restive eastern and southern Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai's main base of support." [!!!!!] The Wall Street Journal (today, page A14) reports, "U.N. representatives have been pushing for more stations to remain closed..."

Well, that's one way to vote Karzai out of office. Don't let his supporters vote!!

******

The Obama strategy for Afghanistan is becoming clear. The 'strategic review' for Afghanistan was simply a means of gaining time so that the elements of the new United States policy could fall into place. Obama is shooting for a settlement in Afghanistan that will allow US troops to be reduced, even withdrawn. Thus Obama is choosing the 'declare victory and get out' option.

Obama needs to accomplish two things to make it work. First, he needs a deal with the Taliban that they will leave al Qaeda behind and join a reconciliation government. Backdoor diplomatic efforts are now occurring to see if it is possible. The current Pakistan offensive against the Taliban helps put pressure on the Taliban to reach a settlement.

Second, Obama needs to get Karzai out of the way. He must either go, or agree to join a power-sharing government that ideally would include a tamed Taliban. The next two weeks will tell the tale of this adventure.

This strategy is a gamble for Obama, especially because it puts the Taliban in the driver's seat. The more the Taliban holds out, the more likely will they be able to call the shots on a new government, within limits of course.

Government-Controlled Economy, in Today's News 10.23.09

Government-Controlled Economy. The deed is definitively done!! The Obama administration has just taken the decisive steps that transforms the American economy into a government-controlled economy.

First, yesterday the Obama pay czar, who by the way has no constitutional authority, cut bank executives salaries by 50%. 

Today, the Federal Reserve exercised its newly found enforcement powers to aggressively regulate compensation at thousands of lenders.

The Wall Street Journal observes (page one, today): "...[the] separate announcements by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department represent unprecedented federal intervention in pay decisions traditionally left to boards and shareholders." [!!!!!]

Thus, a central aim of the cryptocracy is achieved. The economic crisis was precipitated in part to centralize, economize and control the corporate entities that are siphoning off way too much money for salaries, etc. That income is supposed to go to the cryptocracy.

And so, the United States now has an economy that in formation looks like that of the Soviet Union. 

Most Americans are unaware how much life in the country has actually changed. Unlike a generation or two ago, Americans are now hemmed in by regulations, controls and bureaucracies that govern every aspect of life. Employment compensation is now under the thumb of the Fed and the czar. The medical profession is bound by insurance rules that affect every person. 'News' of the world is strictly governed by a few media giants that tell anything but the truth. Acknowledgement of the ten commandments and other religious symbols as foundations of civilization are forbidden. The government even aspires to tell people what constitutes a marriage.

Along with the soviet-ization of the country, Stalin-like behavior and tactics in politics are becoming prevalent. Kimberley Strassel has an excellent column today on this growing phenomenon, although she doesn't call it Stalin-ization. Titled "The Chicago Way," it is a must read. The best quote is the lead sentence: "When Barack Obama promised to deliver 'a new kind of politics' to Washington, most folk didn't picture Rahm Emanuel with a baseball bat"  [!!!!!]

Afghanistan, in Today's News 10.22.09

Afghanistan. To develop a better understanding of what is really going on behind the scenes between the United States and Pakistan President Karzai, read the following from a paragraph in Karl Rove's column today.

"...Mr. Obama refused to take a call from Afghan President Karzai after his recent disputed election, a confidante to Mr. Karzai told me. That same confidante also said that the Afghan president was dismayed when political strategist James Carville, who has close ties to both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and [White House chief of staff] Mr. Emmanuel, became an advisor to Ashraf Ghani, who ran against Mr. Karzai. Mr. Karzai took that as a sign that Mr. Obama was encouraging opposition to him. And, finally, administration figures have raised doubts about the White House's confidence in Afghanistan's government. In his interview on CNN on Sunday, for example, Mr. Emmanuel questioned 'whether, in fact, there's an Afghan partner."

Catholic Church, in Today's News 10.22.09

Catholic Church. The reason behind the Society of Saint Paul X's agreement to closed discussions with no time limit with the Vatican now becomes a little clearer. Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, gave an interview to a Chilean newspaper in which he stated that "there is a lot of truth" to speculation that the Vatican is moving to convert the SSPX into a personal prelature, similar to Opus Dei.

In other words, an agreement could be in the making that the meeting with the Vatican will recommend. We will see.

Certainly, this move would make sense after the recent overture to the Anglicans. If a special accommodation can be made for the Anglicans, why not for the SSPX which after all is only defending the Church legacy.

*****

Bishop Fellay also commented on the Bishop Williamson controversy, saying the attack on Bishop Williamson "was a well-planned attack, not against the Society [SSPX], but directed against the person of Pope Benedict XVI, in order to tarnish his gesture."

Bishop Fellay seems to be playing up to the Pope here, but the statement does have some truth to it. And yet, Bishop Fellay seems to miss that those behind the attack on Williamson have an over-riding interest in establishing the holocaust as central event in world history. Their attack on Bishop Williamson served this aim as well.

Afghanistan, in Today's News 10.21.09

Afghanistan. The United States effort to force Afghan President Karzai into a run-off election has succeeded. How did they do it? Therein lies a tale.

First some background. The Afghan regime has become more and more isolated as regional leaders form blocs with the Taliban to overthrow the government. The US recently decided that Karzai could no longer govern effectively in carrying out the US interests. He had to go, so that a new regime could try to turn the situation around. The problem, of course, is nowadays the US can't just go in and dump someone they don't like. Now they have to go through the motions of replacing Karzai 'democratically.' All this has added importance now that the Obama regime is looking to settle the war and still protect Obama's reputation. To this end, all manner of backdoor negotiations are occurring between the Taliban and the US. The US hope is that a new Afghan regime can work out a compromise with the Taliban to the exclusion of al Qaeda.

The US decided that the best way of disposing of Karzai was through manipulating the results of the recent elections. The media began beating the drums about corruption in the Afghan elections. Based on the media's claims the US brought in the UN-led Electoral Complaints Commission to examine the alleged fraud.

Election results showed Karzai with a 54.6% victory, enough to claim the presidency. When the commission finished its 'work' Karzai's total was 48.3%, only enough for a run-off election, which just happened to be what the US wanted.

When Karzai recognized the job being done on him, he and his supporters refused to support the commission results. Enter Senator John Kerry, he of nimble tongue.

Kerry, at Obama's request, flew to Afghanistan and went on a five-day marathon 'discussion' with Karzai. Karzai began to bend but said if the new commission results were accepted, his authority would be undermined.

What to do, what to do? Simple, the results of the election were simply changed! An agreement was reached that Karzai would lose a majority by three tenths of one percent. No one even bothers to try to justify the new result as based on some kind of count. And thus Karzai is moderately happy about his authority, and the US obtains the run-off election.

And so another outrageous manipulation of a nation's internal affairs is performed by the US. And most amazing of all, it is all done in the name of freedom and democracy.

The election will occur in a couple of weeks. The US will now go into high gear to undercut Karzai.

Health Care, in Today's News 10.19.09

Health Care. As the health care legislation moves toward adoption, "expert panels" remain a part of the package intended for vote.

"Expert panels" will provide 'guidelines' for doctors on what procedures to perform on a patient. The recommendations of these panels will inevitably be seen as 'best practices,' and would therefore be adopted as blueprints for which procedures health insurance should cover. A doctor who does not follow the guidelines could face reductions in their insurance and medicare payments. The goal of all this, of course, is to reduce costs. 

If adopted, expert panels will become a third party in every doctor-patient consultation. The third party will be the expert-panel guidelines, from which there can be no deviation without penalty. Thus, this third party is not an equal participant. The third party is the one with veto power, and moreover there is no appeal from the third party determinations.

More than anything else in the proposed legislation, expert panels signify a fundamental turning point in health care. Compassionate health care, the contribution of the Church to humanity, will be replaced with government control operating on a cost-cutting basis.

The proposed system is only good for the cryptocracy who will see a greater share of societal wealth go from health care to their pockets. Everyone else will suffer. Patients will be saddled with a blueprint plan for health recovery, and it will be extremely difficult to obtain alternate care. Doctors will be hamstrung by best practices which may or may not fit a particular problem. Doctors actually become like robots; all they have to do is identify a problem and the regulations take over. Any attempt to do something different would be punished. Society as a whole will find itself weighted down by yet another impersonal, inhuman massive bureaucracy attempting to control citizens' lives.

The change is not in the interest of anyone. Yet, there is no outcry against the expert-panel outrage. Every now and then someone will speak out, as in the Wall Street Journal today on the commentary page, "'Expert Panels' Won't Improve Health Care."  But where are the associations and organizations that represent professionals and patients? Their presence is noticeable by their absence.

And most outrageous of all is the silence of the leaders of the Church and Catholic organizations. Nothing has crossed the desk here presenting Catholic commentary on expert panels. We now face the likely possibility that one of the great legacies of the Church is set to slip into oblivion because no leader saw fit to oppose it. 

The Church leaders have the capability to stop the expert panels. The faithful are a large percentage of the public. If the faithful were motivated to take action against the expert panels, the cryptocracy and legislators would sit up and take notice. Even just a nation-wide campaign of prayer would shake the rafters.

Yet, the Church leaders don't even seem to recognize the problem. The change to expert panels is the central issue of the health care legislation. The Bishops, however, are concentrating on a number of other issues, all important. They seem to miss entirely that the compassionate care of the needy that Jesus' teaching brought about is under unprecedented challenge.

Moreover, the Bishops seem to be positioning themselves to approve the legislation if they receive a few crumbs from the legislators. If they do approve legislation that contains expert panels, it will be one of the greater disgraces in the history of the Church.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 55, in Today's News 10.17.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. Oops, another screw-up by the directors of the swine flu scare campaign. Not only did they fail to arrange to have their vaccine ready at the same time that the campaign was to be in full swing. Now, it turns out that they will receive 25% less vaccine than reported.

The cryptocracy's goal of using this scare campaign to condition the public to accept vaccination (even mandatory vaccination) without protest is failing through sheer incompetence by the campaign directors. Instead of herding the public into a mass vaccination, they have succeeded in promoting the growth of public cynicism.

The latest Pew poll shows that 47% of adults were not planning to get the swine flu shot. Of them, 35% believed the vaccine was too risky or that it hasn't been tested thoroughly.

It must be very frustrating for those who would control the public to see so much intelligence among their subjects-to-be.

*******

They said they were going to do it, and now they are doing it. The swine flu directors said a few weeks ago that they would publicize the deaths of children to try to convince the public of the danger of swine flu and the necessity of mass vaccination. And so, today the Center for Disease Control announced that 47 children have died from swine flu since the end of August. The CDC made the announcement with emotionally charged words and scare-mongering. 

These people have no shame!

Past experience demonstrates that if the CDC is reporting data, be extremely suspect. The CDC is a highly political entity and not above twisting data to serve their political ends. In this case, they just report the number without any other data. Lacking is whether the victims had underlying chronic illnesses or how these numbers compare with seasonal flu or even how they know it was swine flu and not seasonal flu.

A similar distortion is the statement found in today's Wall Street Journal, "...the new H1N1 flu has become widespread in 41 states." The impression is given that the flu bug is sweeping the nation. But, actually all the sentence says is that the flu bug is in 41 states, making it widespread. Again no data is provided. If a state has one case of swine flu, it makes the list of states. And the more states that can be reported with swine flu cases, the better for promoting hysteria.

 

Catholic Church, in Today's News 10.16.09

Catholic Church. The Vatican announced today that the dialogue with Society of Saint Pius X will take place on October 26. The Vatican said the initial talks would focus on unresolved doctrinal issues. The Vatican also stipulated that the content of the meeting(s) would remain 'strictly private.'

Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the SSPX, said the talks with the Vatican could take a long time.

So lets hope the SSPX knows what it is doing. The SSPX has agreed to a long series of talks with the Vatican that are private. In other words, the discussion in the Church over Vatican II that the SSPX has long wanted will now be confined to a few SSPX leaders and senior staff members of the Vatican.

The Vatican officials are schooled in double-talk and double-think. It will be quite easy for them to tie these talks up for a long, long time, perhaps endlessly. A skilled negotiator knows how to string out a discussion to the point of meaninglessness.

The situation almost looks like a trap. The SSPX is stuck in an arrangement that potentially has no end-point and that is unlikely to solve the issues. The only way out of the straight-jacket is to walk out of the talks.

Perhaps this the aim of the Vatican: to keep talking until they are able to force or to provoke the SSPX to split. The cards are certainly laid out to facilitate such a maneuver.

Bishop Fellay has proved himself in the past to be ingenious about parrying the Vatican's attempts to isolate him and the SSPX. We will now see what he will do in this latest set-up.

*****

The SSPX should expect that the Vatican will push, push, push on the issue of relations with the Jewish religion. The SSPX's failure to defend Bishop Williamson when he was under world-wide attack has left the SSPX vulnerable on this issue. The Vatican will not fail to exploit this opening in an attempt to put the SSPX on the defensive.

 

Afghanistan, in Today's News 10.16.09

Afghanistan. Afghan President Karzai better scramble if he wants to avoid the Ken-Lewis-treatment, or worse, from the United States. The weeks' long investigation of corruption in the Afghan presidential election is nothing more than an effort by the United States to undermine and get rid of Karzai.

After working the fraud-in-the-elections gambit for weeks, the US finally is close to establishing the need for a run-off election between Karzai and the former foreign minister Abdullah. The US polling apparatus shows that Karzai would probably win, but never underestimate the effort of the war chiefs. When they get their runoff, they will then turn their energy to character-assassination of Karzai.

Karzai had better move fast if he doesn't want to join the long list of politicians who displeased the cryptocracy and were removed in one manner or another.

******

"Sen. Levin Crafts Afghan Compromise." This is a headline in today's Wall Street Journal (page A6). This article purports to convince us that Senator Levin, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has entered the great discussion of Afghan policy by proposing to solve the dilemma of more troops versus a 'counter-terror' push with fewer troops. Levin's compromise: train the Afghan army faster!!

Now there is a new idea!!!! This stratagem was a complete disaster in Vietnam, where the South Vietnamese army, built up fast by the US, was incapable of defending the regime, and ultimately led to the collapse of the war effort. In Iraq, the new idea was implemented and resulted in no decrease in US troops. This army too will probably collapse when the Americans reduce their armed influence.

It seems this 'new' approach is what the war mongers come up with when they realize that they cannot win a war. Just train the indigenous army quickly and hope for the best. In the long run this strategy provides cover for the war mongers when the war is lost. 'We didn't lose, it was the Afghan-Iraq-South Vietnamese army who lost the war.'

Czars, in Today's News 10.16.09

Czars. Just a thought. Many have commented that it is ironic that the extremely-left Obama administration would use the word 'czar' to define the 32 people hired to control various matters from the automotive industry to compensation decisions. The Czar after all was the main European bulwark for many decades against the same outlook as Obama's.

But maybe, just maybe, Obama's czar is a shortening (and deliberate misspelling) of the word 'commissar'. The Russian revolution brought the concept of commissars to the political world, and they seem to have played the same role then that Obama's 'czars' play today.

Just a thought.

Bank of America, in Today's News 10.16.09

Bank of America. Wow, does the cryptocracy ever have a thing against Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth D. Lewis. After months of harassment, they finally forced him to retire. Now yesterday the "pay czar" decided that Lewis must give back $1 million dollars in salary, plus forego the rest of his salary for 2009.

As the Wall Street Journal remarks today, "The move makes Mr. Lewis the biggest target so far of Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury's 'special master' for compensation."

The public will probably never know the inside story behind this unprecedented effort to drive out and victimize the head of a prominent bank. But, it certainly would be a juicy story.

Incidentally, Lewis is probably regretting his decision to retire before the pay czar made his decision. Lewis now has no base that he could use to fight back.

Health Care, in Today's News 10.15.09

Health Care. The Church Bishops have released another statement on the proposed Obama health care legislation. The Bishops commendably expressed their disappointment that the Senate Finance Committee passed its version of health reform legislation without resolving problems related to abortion funding, conscience rights, affordability and legal immigrants. The Bishops say they will oppose the law if it stands as written now.

One can only applaud the Bishops if they oppose the legislation, no matter what the reason. Let us hope they have the backbone to carry through. 

Catholic Church, in Today's News 10.14.09

Catholic Church. The Judaization of the Church continues apace. The Vatican has announced that Benedict XVI will visit the Rome synagogue and meet with the city's Jewish community in January.

The Pope did not wake up one morning and decide to make this visit. For someone of the stature of the Pope, a meeting such as this one, requires months of discussion, planning and arrangement-setting between the respective staffs. That all this occurred is indicated by the date chosen, which is a Jewish commemoration.

One would think the Church situation was just fine, and therefore important staff time can be spent on a visit to the Rome synagogue. But as any school child knows, the seminaries are still shutting down, religious have almost disappeared, pews are empty, etc. All these issues deserve the overriding attention of the central Church figures, and this doesn't even mention world events such as the economic crisis, threats of war, etc.

No, Benedict doesn't seem to prioritize what would seem to be the central Church problems. He has set a course to make nice to the those who follow the Talmud. Benedict has set an example through his actions for the whole Church that 'reconciliation' with the Rabbis is task number one. As a result the insidious influence of the Talmud creeps into the Church.

The Church has 2,000 years of experience on the questions of Judaization. Yet, Benedict, who presumably knows something about history, conveniently throws out all the Church experience without even a reference to it.

The humorous part of all this is: no matter how much Benedict does to please the Rabbis, it is still not enough. In his recent trip to Israel several influential figures among the Rabbis simply tore apart Benedict and especially his remarks on the holocaust.

Here's a list of what Benedict has done during his Papacy to show his support for Judaization: (the list mostly comes from an article by John Thavis at Catholic News Service)

** Visited the main New York synagogue.

** Visited the main Cologne, Germany synagogue.

** Visited Auschwitz.

** Traveled to Israel.

** Went to the wailing wall.

** Met holocaust survivors at the holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

Also, there seems to be a steady stream of Judaic leaders to the Vatican to speak with Benedict.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 54, in Today's News 10.14.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. The swine-flu scare campaign directors keep trying to convince the public that the swine flu threat is really, really serious. Any little item that can somehow be blown up into something dramatic is good enough for them.

The Wall Street Journal today (page A6) reports that almost half of those afflicted with swine flu who went to the hospital had no chronic underlying condition. Sounds scary, right?  Well, so far a total of 644 people out of the entire American population fit this category. The WSJ also fails to compare this number with the numbers for seasonal flu. One can be sure that seasonal flu is probably worse.

The media and their employers want so much for there to be a swine flu pandemic, that they are willing stretch any little truth into a big, big deal.

Today's Agence French Press has an article that claims that seasonal flu is more deadly than swine flu. So far, so good. But the article goes on to say that a second wave of swine flu should be expected any time now. Try, try again. The first wave was a complete dud. So now, the scare campaign directors are going to try to conjure up the real deal for a second wave.

H1N1 (Swine) Flu Update No 53, in Today's News 10.13.09

H1N1 (Swine) Flu. The expected propaganda barrage to stampede the public into accepting swine-flu vaccinations is now proceeding. As a result it has become almost impossible to keep up with the distortions, half-truths, exaggerations, misleading data, lies, fear-mongering and hysteria. Apparently the directors of the swine-flu scare campaign will stop at nothing.

Here are few things to watch out for:

** Deaths. The directors are intent on publicizing any death related to swine flu. Especially important to them are deaths of young people. The directors figure that this emphasis is the surest way of scaring everyone into believing that an essentially harmless virus is in fact very dangerous. The media, of course, will jump on anything to please the directors. Case in point: a 14-year old girl was reported to have died suddenly in northern Illinois from swine flu. This gave the media an opportunity for big headlines, etc. Only problem: one day later it turned out she had a heart condition. Nota bene: almost every death from swine flu is with people who have an underlying serious health problem.

** Hysteria. The media does all it can to promote hysteria, to make people do irrational things. In a small town paper received here, the high school football game was cancelled because three players had 'swine flu'. It probably was only seasonal flu because it takes some time to prove it was swine flu. And yet on very little evidence the big event in town gets cancelled.

** Misleading data. Hardly a day goes by without a newspaper reporting an increase in swine flu. But check the data carefully. First it is probably not swine flu, but a seasonal flu or even a cold. Second, the data is usually insignificant but the media presents it in the most dramatic fashion. 

** Fear-mongering. Today the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article warning that swine flu could overwhelm hospital intensive care units. They cite three studies to back up their conclusions. The idea here is that if people can be convinced that the hospitals will not be able to handle the cases, then this virus has to be really serious. But if the article is read carefully the authors are talking about a highly hypothetical situation.

** Panic. Headlines began appearing today that there is not enough vaccine to go around, so therefore everyone should get their shot now before the supply runs out. But, it has been known for months that the vaccine would be available late. Plus there is no sign that swine flu is taking hold. So doesn't it seem strange that these headlines would appear now? Well, no, if you have no conscience and want to institutionalize mandatory vaccinations.

Other examples will appear as the directors become more and more desperate for their campaign to succeed.