Ether's Avenue

[iWriteStuff]

Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm

Could you elaborate a bit more on the Protocols? They are new to me.

[gardener4life]

So try not to get too wrapped in either party. We have the 'parable' of the Gadianton robbers infiltrating all levels of society in 3 Nephi 2-5. We also have the record of Ether. Our days's version of Gadianton robbers is Babylon infesting the world and the country so thick that even when you want to do good, there's nowhere left to go. It's like if you were in the great and spacious building, and it gets so big you are searching for days to find the exit to get out but feel trapped with nowhere to go. You are lost.

That is our country now.

[Hogmeister]

Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm

Could you elaborate a bit more on the Protocols? They are new to me.

Once you read them you will understand Ezra Taft Benson. He was right.

Below are a few samples from the protocols. I am an economist by trade and I find the information regarding the planned finances and economics in the protocols absolutely stunning as it refers to my understanding of such things. Money rules the world (No question about it).

"We shall create an intensified centralization of government in order to grip in our hands all the forces of the community. We shall regulate mechanically all the actions of the political life of our subjects by new laws. These laws will withdraw one by one all the indulgences and liberties which have been permitted"

...

"At the same time we must intensively patronize trade and industry, but, first and foremost, speculation, the part played by which is to provide a counterpoise to industry: the absence of speculative industry will multiply capital in private hands and will serve to restore agriculture by freeing the land from indebtedness to the land banks. What we want is that industry should drain off from the land both labor and capital and by means of speculation transfer into our hands all the money of the world,..."

...

"TO SECURE THIS WE MUST HAVE EVERYBODY VOTE WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF CLASSES AND QUALIFICATIONS, in order to establish an absolute majority, which cannot be got from the educated propertied classes. In this way, by inculcating in all a sense of self-importance, we shall destroy among the ... the importance of the family and its educational value and remove the possibility of individual minds splitting off, for the mob, handled by us, will not let them come to the front nor even give them a hearing; it is accustomed to listen to us only who pay it for obedience and attention. In this way we shall create a blind, mighty force which will never be in a position to move in any direction without the guidance of our agents set at its head by us as leaders of the mob. The people will submit to this regime because it will know that upon these leaders will depend its earnings, gratifications and the receipt of all kinds of benefits."

...

"2. We have taken advantage of the venality of administrators and slackness of rulers to get our moneys twice, thrice and more times over, by lending to the governments moneys which were not at all needed by the States. Could anyone do the like in regard to us? .... Therefore, I shall only deal with the details of internal loans.

3. States announce that such a loan is to be concluded and open subscriptions for their own bills of exchange, that is, for their interest-bearing paper. That they may be within the reach of all the price is determined at from a hundred to a thousand; and a discount is made for the earliest subscribers. Next day by artificial means the price of them goes up, the alleged reason being that everyone is rushing to buy them. In a few days the treasury safes are, as they say, overflowing and there's more money than they can do with (why then take it?) The subscription, it is alleged, covers many times over the issue total of the loan; in this lies the whole stage effect - look you, they say, what confidence is shown in the government's bills of exchange.

4. But when the comedy is played out there emerges the fact that a debit and an exceedingly burdensome debit has been created. For the payment of interest it becomes necessary to have recourse to new loans, which do not swallow up but only add to the capital debt. And when this credit is exhausted it becomes necessary by new taxes to cover, not the loan, BUT ONLY THE INTEREST ON IT. These taxes are a debit employed to cover a debit ....

5. Later comes the time for conversions, but they diminish the payment of interest without covering the debt, and besides they cannot be made without the consent of the lenders; on announcing a conversion a proposal is made to return the money to those who are not willing to convert their paper. If everybody expressed his unwillingness and demanded his money back, the government would be hoist on their own petard and would be found insolvent and unable to pay the proposed sums. By good luck the subjects of the governments, knowing nothing about financial affairs, have always preferred losses on exchange and diminution of interest to the risk of new investments of their moneys, and have thereby many a time enabled these governments to throw off their shoulders a debit of several millions.

6. Nowadays, with external loans, these tricks cannot be played by the for they know that we shall demand all our moneys back.

7. In this way in acknowledged bankruptcy will best prove to the various countries the absence of any means between the interests of the peoples and of those who rule them.

8. I beg you to concentrate your particular attention upon this point and upon the following: nowadays all internal loans are consolidated by so-called flying loans, that is, such as have terms of payment more or less near. These debts consist of moneys paid into the savings banks and reserve funds. If left for long at the disposition of a government these funds evaporate in the payment of interest on foreign loans, and are placed by the deposit of equivalent amount of RENTS.

9. And these last it is which patch up all the leaks in the State treasuries.

10. When we ascend the throne of the world all these financial and similar shifts, as being not in accord with our interests, will be swept away so as not to leave a trace, as also will be destroyed all money markets, since we shall not allow the prestige of our power to be shaken by fluctuations of prices set upon our values, which we shall announce by law at the price which represents their full worth without any possibility of lowering or raising. (Raising gives the pretext for lowering, which indeed was where we made a beginning in relation to the values of the ...).

11. We shall replace the money markets by grandiose government credit institutions, the object of which will be to fix the price of industrial values in accordance with government views. These institutions will be in a position to fling upon the market five hundred millions of industrial paper in one day, or to buy up for the same amount. In this way all industrial undertakings will come into dependence upon us. You may imagine for yourselves what immense power we shall thereby secure for ourselves ...."

...

"THIS HATRED WILL BE STILL FURTHER MAGNIFIED BY THE EFFECTS of an ECONOMIC CRISES, which will stop dealing on the exchanges and bring industry to a standstill. We shall create by all the secret subterranean methods open to us and with the aid of gold, which is all in our hands, A UNIVERSAL ECONOMIC CRISES WHEREBY WE SHALL THROW UPON THE STREETS WHOLE MOBS OF WORKERS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. These mobs will rush delightedly to shed the blood of those whom, in the simplicity of their ignorance, they have envied from their cradles, and whose property they will then be able to loot."

[iWriteStuff]

So try not to get too wrapped in either party. We have the 'parable' of the Gadianton robbers infiltrating all levels of society in 3 Nephi 2-5. We also have the record of Ether. Our days's version of Gadianton robbers is Babylon infesting the world and the country so thick that even when you want to do good, there's nowhere left to go. It's like if you were in the great and spacious building, and it gets so big you are searching for days to find the exit to get out but feel trapped with nowhere to go. You are lost.

That is our country now.

I'd say the first step to avoiding a trap is to realize its existence. The two political parties are the trap. Most individuals seem to think that all one needs to do is "vote for the lesser evil" and their job is done. Others think you can effect a change by getting more involved in these two parties. But they are owned AT THE TOP by the vested interests that pull the strings of BOTH parties. The "struggle" between them is a farce. Just look at how the Republicans have fought for six months now over essentially minor and insignificant changes to a socialized health insurance plan. They're not looking to do anything meaningful; they only want to be able to say they tried to do something meaningful, even if the end result would have mirrored the original law in all key points.

Be wise. Stop feeding the two headed beast of Gadianton. Stand for something.

We shall have the satisfaction of knowing that we have acted conscientiously, and have used our best judgment. And if we have to throw away our votes, we had better do so upon a worthy rather than upon an unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in his hand to destroy us with.
- Joseph Smith

[iWriteStuff]

"Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it."
- Henry David Thoreau,Civil Disobedience

[gardener4life]

10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: (who? The Nephites/Lamanites who the American Indians are decendants of) At that day when the Gentiles (who? Us/we here in America, and/or us LDS) shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them....

Does not that description fit us to the T?

Notice also Christ does not say "IF" but "WHEN" the gentiles (US) sin against the fullness of my gospel. And in my opinion we as lds, generally speaking as a whole have arrived at that point sometime ago.

But then here is an exception or an escape if you will:

13But if the Gentiles will repent and return unto me, saith the Father, behold they shall be numbered among my people, O house of Israel.

14 And I will not suffer my people, who are of the house of Israel, to go through among them, and tread them down, saith the Father.

15 But if they will not turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, I will suffer them, yea, I will suffer my people,(indians) O house of Israel, that they shall go through among them, and shall tread them (us)down, and they (us again)shall be as salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of my people, (indians) O house of Israel.

16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, thus hath the Father commanded me—that I should give unto this people (indians) this land for their inheritance.

As I view it this land of America does not belong to us gentiles, only if, and emphasis on "only if" we, as scripturally recognized gentiles repent and become numbered with the seed of Lehi, ( Indians) as the promises and covenants contained in that most beautiful book of Mormon are directly to the covenant people of Lehi, through Joseph of Egypt, through Jacob, then through Abraham.
Now all of us, (let's be honest with ourselves,)are we living the Fulness of the everlasting Gospel? Is our beloved Church of Christ as a whole living the Fulness of the everlasting Gospel? In my opinion we are not.(but of course that is my personal opinion).
So the next question is to ask ourselves what is the Fulness of the everlasting Gospel? What is it or what actions is it that makes the God of our fathers well pleased? And also what is it, or what laws and or what commandments is it that causes the Lord to say that if THE ELDERS OF ISREAL WILL KEEP, THAT GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF WILL FIGHT OUR BATTLES, :
D&C 104
13 Therefore it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season, for the redemption of Zion.

14 For behold, I do not require at their hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil—I will fight your battles...

And herein is what the gospel or the Fulness of the gospel partially consists of:

17 For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves......

18 Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and impart not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment.

D&C 105
13 Therefore it is expedient in me that mine elders should wait for a little season, for the redemption of Zion.

14 For behold, I do not require at their(elders) hands to fight the battles of Zion; for, as I said in a former commandment, even so will I fulfil—I will fight your battles...

My personal belief is that us as elders should always realistically be willing to lay down our lives for Zion, but that as the elders ( Ephraim) of Isreal are to be "saviors" upon Mount Zion, they cannot shed blood, like unto King David as he could not build the Temple of God as he was a man of blood. And that also brings to mind the Mormon battalion, wherein it was the "elders of Isreal" that volunteered for that war with Mexico but Brigham Young promised them that if they were faithful that they would not have to fire a single shot against the enemy. And strangely enough the worst battle they had was against a herd of wild bulls that stampeded into their camp. And they never did fire a single shot against Mexico or any soldier of Mexico. To me that is a remarkable fulfillment of prophecy by a servant of God.

This below is what I believe encompasses the Fulness of the gospel...
2 Behold, I say unto you, were it not for the transgressions of my people, speaking concerning the church and not individuals, they might have been redeemed even now.

3 But behold, they have not learned to be obedient to the things which I required at their hands, but are full of all manner of evil, and do not impart of their substance, as becometh saints, to the poor and afflicted among them;

4 And are not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom;

5 And Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom; otherwise I cannot receive her unto myself.

6 And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.

Interestingly enough there are a lot of scriptures just like verse 3 Nephi 16:10. Or in other words 2 nephi 1:10. Here are a few more and if you look at them they are all talking about the fulfillment of the time of the Gentiles. After which, it will be time to focus on the House of Israel's descendents, such as the Jewish people, and the other tribes of Israel.

3 Nephi 16:10 And thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you: At that day when the Gentiles shall sin against my gospel, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, and shall be lifted up in the pride of their hearts above all nations, and above all the people of the whole earth, and shall be filled with all manner of lyings, and of deceits, and of mischiefs, and all manner of hypocrisy, and murders, and priestcrafts, and whoredoms, and of secret abominations; and if they shall do all those things, and shall reject the fulness of my gospel, behold, saith the Father, I will bring the fulness of my gospel from among them.

2 Nephi 1:10 But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord—having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise—behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgments of him that is just shall rest upon them.

1 Nephi 14:1-7, (I've only put down verse 3 and 6 below)

3 And that great pit, which hath been digged for them by that great and abominable church, which was founded by the devil and his children, that he might lead away the souls of men down to hell—yea, that great pit which hath been digged for the destruction of men shall be filled by those who digged it, unto their utter destruction, saith the Lamb of God; not the destruction of the soul, save it be the casting of it into that hell which hath no end. 6 Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden their hearts against the Lamb of God.

3 Nephi 21;11-21

D&C 84;115 For if they do reject these things the hour of their judgment is nigh, and their house shall be left unto them desolate. & 117, And verily I say unto you, the rest of my servants, go ye forth as your circumstances shall permit, in your several callings, unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days.

Matthew 24:15 (also see JST-Matthew) 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand) (The verses preceeding this match up exactly the verses that are quoted as the those leading to the fulfillment of the time of the Gentiles. Thus it seems reasonable to note that the fulfillment of the time of the Gentiles occurs shortly before the events described in Daniel as the abomination(s) that maketh desolate...or in other words unspeakable sins so great desolations come (unless we repent but by then it's probably too late.) For this reason I suggest that according to scriptures and conference talks its very likely that the fulfillment of the time of the Gentiles occurs very shortly before the Abomination of Desolation, and that the two events are probably close together.)

However I am not priesthood authority. So even I get a bit confused because in some areas they count events more than once. This can make it hard to see which occurs first. But the gospel being quoted more than once could be because after the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled, missionaries at some point will go out again but after that event has occurred.

[iWriteStuff]

Since I'm already quoting him elsewhere....

"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism."
- George Washington

and....

"The constitution vests the power of declaring war in Congress; therefore no offensive expedition of importance can be undertaken until after they shall have deliberated upon the subject and authorized such a measure."
- George Washington

[iWriteStuff]

I love the echo in here.

Echooooooooooooo!!!!!

[iWriteStuff]

Found this posted in the comments section of a lovely article on the Military Industrial Complex. Worth a read, if for nothing else than the insights it provides:

The Purpose of War According to George Orwell (1984)

The primary aim of modern warfare is to use up the products of the machine without raising the general standard of living. Ever since the end of the nineteenth century, the problem of what to do with the surplus of consumption goods has been latent in industrial society. From the moment when the machine first made its appearance it was clear to all thinking people that the need for human drudgery, and therefore to a great extent for human inequality, had disappeared. If the machine were used deliberately for that end, hunger, overwork, dirt, illiteracy, and disease could be eliminated within a few generations. And in fact, without being used for any such purpose, but by a sort of automatic process — by producing wealth which it was sometimes impossible not to distribute — the machine did raise the living standards of the average humand being very greatly over a period of about fifty years at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries. But it was also clear that an all-round increase in wealth threatened the destruction — indeed, in some sense was the destruction — of a hierarchical society. In a world in which everyone worked short hours, had enough to eat, lived in a house with a bathroom and a refrigerator, and possessed a motor-car or even an aeroplane, the most obvious and perhaps the most important form of inequality would already have disappeared. If it once became general, wealth would confer no distinction. It was possible, no doubt, to imagine a society in which wealth, in the sense of personal possessions and luxuries, should be evenly distributed, while power remained in the hands of a small privileged caste. But in practice such a society could not long remain stable. For if leisure and security were enjoyed by all alike, the great mass of human beings who are normally stupefied by poverty would become literate and would learn to think for themselves; and when once they had done this, they would sooner or later realize that the privileged minority had no function, and they would sweep it away. In the long run, a hierarchical society was only possible on a basis of poverty and ignorance.

[iWriteStuff]

Here's a great one from a former President and General:

"The hope of the world is that wisdom can arrest conflict between brothers. I believe that war is the deadly harvest of arrogant and unreasoning minds."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower, Address, National Education Association, Washington, D.C., 4/4/57

[iWriteStuff]

Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

- William Pitt, speech, Nov. 18, 1783

Not bad for Brad's great great great great grandpappy!

[iWriteStuff]

Men rattle their chains--to manifest their freedom.

- Arthur Helps

[iWriteStuff]

Here's a good one from a favorite poet of mine....

Freedom - by Khalil Gibran

And an orator said, "Speak to us of Freedom."

And he answered:

At the city gate and by your fireside I have seen you prostrate yourself and worship your own freedom,

Even as slaves humble themselves before a tyrant and praise him though he slays them.

Ay, in the grove of the temple and in the shadow of the citadel I have seen the freest among you wear their freedom as a yoke and a handcuff.

And my heart bled within me; for you can only be free when even the desire of seeking freedom becomes a harness to you, and when you cease to speak of freedom as a goal and a fulfillment.

You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief,

But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.

And how shall you rise beyond your days and nights unless you break the chains which you at the dawn of your understanding have fastened around your noon hour?

In truth that which you call freedom is the strongest of these chains, though its links glitter in the sun and dazzle the eyes.

And what is it but fragments of your own self you would discard that you may become free?

If it is an unjust law you would abolish, that law was written with your own hand upon your own forehead.

You cannot erase it by burning your law books nor by washing the foreheads of your judges, though you pour the sea upon them.

And if it is a despot you would dethrone, see first that his throne erected within you is destroyed.

For how can a tyrant rule the free and the proud, but for a tyranny in their own freedom and a shame in their won pride?

And if it is a care you would cast off, that care has been chosen by you rather than imposed upon you.

And if it is a fear you would dispel, the seat of that fear is in your heart and not in the hand of the feared.

Verily all things move within your being in constant half embrace, the desired and the dreaded, the repugnant and the cherished, the pursued and that which you would escape.

These things move within you as lights and shadows in pairs that cling.

And when the shadow fades and is no more, the light that lingers becomes a shadow to another light.

And thus your freedom when it loses its fetters becomes itself the fetter of a greater freedom.

[iWriteStuff]

Given the week we've been having, I thought it appropriate to share the following quote. Hopefully it will add a sense of perspective:

I have fought against the people of the North because I believed they were seeking to wrest from the South its dearest rights. But I have never cherished toward them bitter or vindictive feelings, and I have never seen the day when I did not pray for them.
- Robert E. Lee

[iWriteStuff]

"I once said to my father, when I was a boy, 'Dad we need a third political party.' He said to me, 'I'll settle for a second.'"
- Ralph Nader

Not untrue, although I've never been a Nader supporter.

[iWriteStuff]

this expresses my desire more than about any other quote I've shared thus far:

I'm looking for the best person irregardless of political party, of race or religion, or color of their skin. Those things don't matter to me. I want someone who's qualified, who has a qualification to character and the integrity to do the things that have to be done to save this world.
- Edward Brooke

(just ignore the use of the word "irregardless"...)

[iWriteStuff]

This is a must read:
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/08/3 ... ity-check/

North Korea an Aggressor? A Reality Check
By GPD on August 30, 2017

” … war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.” (Howard Zinn, 1922-2010.)

“All war represents a failure of diplomacy.” (Tony Benn, MP. 1925-2014.)

“No country too poor, too small, too far away, not to be threat, a threat to the American way of life.” (William Blum, “Rogue State.”)

The mention of one tiny country appears to strike at the rationality and sanity of those who should know far better. On Sunday, 6th August, for example, The Guardian headed an editorial: “The Guardian view on sanctions: an essential tool.” Clearly the average of five thousands souls a month, the majority children, dying of “embargo related causes” in Iraq, year after grinding year – genocide in the name of the UN – for over a decade has long been forgotten by the broadsheet of the left.

This time of course, the target is North Korea upon whom the United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to freeze, strangulate and deny essentials, normality, humanity. Diplomacy as ever, not even a consideration. The Guardian, however, incredibly, declared the decimating sanctions: “A rare triumph of diplomacy …” (Guardian 6th August 2017.)

As US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, the US’ top “diplomat” and his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho headed for the annual Ministerial meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Manila on 5thAugust, a State Department spokesperson said of Tillerson: “The Secretary has no plans to meet the North Korean Foreign Minister in Manila, and I don’t expect to see that happen”

Trump’s buried opportunities

Pathetic. In April, approaching his hundredth day in office, Trump said of North Korea: “We’d love to solve things diplomatically but it’s very difficult.” No it is not. Talk, walk in the other’s psychological shoes. Then, there they were at the same venue but the Trump Administration clearly does not alone live in a land of missed opportunities, but of opportunities deliberately buried in landfill miles deep. This in spite of his having said in the same statement: “There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely.”

A bit of perspective: 27th July 2017 marked sixty four years since the armistice agreement that ended the devastating three year Korean war, however there has never been a peace treaty, thus technically the Korean war has never ended. Given that and American’s penchant for wiping out countries with small populations which pose them no threat (think most recently, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya) no wonder North Korea wishes to look as if it has some heavy protective gear behind the front door, so to speak.

Tiny North Korea has a population of just 25.37 million and landmass of 120,540 km² (square kilometres.) The US has a population of 323.1 million and a landmass of 9.834 MILLION km² (square kilometres.) Further, since 1945, the US is believed to have produced some 70,000 nuclear weapons – though now down to a “mere” near 7,000 – but North Korea is a threat?

America has fifteen military bases in South Korea – down from a staggering fifty four – bristling with every kind of weapons of mass destruction. Two bases are right on the North Korean border and another nearly as close. See full details of each, with map at (1.)

North Korea also has the collective memory of the horror wrought by the US in the three year conflict on a country then with a population of just 9.6 million souls. US General Curtis Lemay in the aftermath stated: “After destroying North Korea’s seventy eight cities and thousands of her villages, and killing countless numbers of her civilians … Over a period of three years or so we killed off – what – twenty percent of the population.”

“It is now believed that the population north of the imposed 38th Parallel lost nearly a third its population of 8 – 9 million people during the 37-month long ‘hot’ war, 1950 – 1953, perhaps an unprecedented percentage of mortality suffered by one nation due to the belligerence of another.”

In context: “During The Second World War the United Kingdom lost 0.94% of its population, France lost 1.35%, China lost 1.89% and the US lost 0.32%. During the Korean war, North Korea lost close to 30 % of its population.” (Emphasis added.)

“We went over there and fought the war and eventually burned down every town in North Korea anyway, some way or another …”, boasted Lemay.
Gen. Douglas MacArthur said during a Congressional hearing in 1951 that he had never seen such devastation.

“I shrink with horror that I cannot express in words … at this continuous slaughter of men in Korea,” MacArthur said. “I have seen, I guess, as much blood and disaster as any living man, and it just curdled my stomach, the last time I was there.” (CNN, 28th July 2017.) Horrified as he was, he did not mention the incinerated women, children, infants in the same breath.

Moreover, as Robert M. Neer wrote in “Napalm, an American Biography”:

‘ “Practically every U.S. fighter plane that has flown into Korean air carried at least two napalm bombs,” Chemical Officer Townsend wrote in January 1951. About 21,000 gallons of napalm hit Korea every day in 1950. As combat intensified after China’s intervention, that number more than tripled (…) a total of 32,357 tons of napalm fell on Korea, about double that dropped on Japan in 1945. Not only did the allies drop more bombs on Korea than in the Pacific theater during World War II – 635,000 tons, versus 503,000 tons – more of what fell was napalm … ‘

Two buildings left standing

In the North Korean capitol, Pyongyang, just two buildings were reported as still standing.

In the unending history of US warmongering, North Korea is surely the smallest population they had ever attacked until their assault on tiny Grenada in October 1983, population then just 91,000 (compulsory silly name: “Operation Urgent Fury.)

North Korea has been taunted by the US since it lay in ruins after the armistice sixty five years ago, yet as ever, the US Administration paints the vast, self appointed “leader of the free world” as the victim.

As Fort-Russ pointed out succinctly (7th August 2017): “The Korean Peninsula is in a state of crisis not only due to constant US threats towards North Korea, but also due to various provocative actions, such as Washington conducting joint military exercises with Seoul amid tensions, and which Pyongyang considered a threat to its national security.”

This month “massive land, sea and air exercises” involving “tens of thousands of troops” from the US and South Korea began on 21st of August and continue until 31st. ‘In the past, the practices are believed to have included “decapitation strikes” – trial operations for an attempt to kill Kim Jong-un and his top Generals …’, according to the Guardian (11th August 2017.) The obligatory stupid name chosen for this dangerous, belligerent, money burning, sabre rattling nonsense is Ulchi-Freedom Guardian. It is an annual occurrence since first initiated back in 1976.

US B-1B bombers flying from Guam recently carried out exercises in South Korea and “practiced attack capabilities by releasing inert weapons at the Pilsung Range.” In a further provocative (and illegal) move, US bombers were again reported to overfly North Korea, another of many such bullying, threatening actions, reportedly eleven just since May this year.

Yet in spite of all, North Korea is the “aggressor.”

“The nuclear warheads of United States of America are stored in some twenty one locations, which include thirteen U.S. states and five European countries … some are on board U.S. submarines. There are some “zombie” nuclear warheads as well, and they are kept in reserve, and as many as 3,000 of these are still awaiting their dismantlement. (The US) also extends its “nuclear umbrella” to such other countries as South Korea, Japan, and Australia.” (worldatlas.com)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who also attended the ASEAN meeting in Manila, did of course, do what proper diplomats do and talked with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho. Minister Lavrov’s opinion was summed up by a Fort Russ News observer as:

“The Korean Peninsula is in a state of crisis not only due to constant US threats towards North Korea, but also due to various provocative actions, such as Washington conducting joint military exercises with Seoul amid tensions, and which Pyongyang considered a threat to its national security.”

The “provocative actions” also include the threatening over-flights by US ‘planes flying from Guam. However when North Korea said if this continued they would consider firing missiles in to the ocean near Guam – not as was reported by some hystericals as threatening to bomb Guam – Agent Orange who occasionally pops in to the White House between golf rounds and eating chocolate cake whilst muddling up which country he has dropped fifty nine Tomahawk Cruise missiles on, responded that tiny North Korea will again be: “… met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before.”

It was barely noticed that North Korea qualified the threat of a shot across the bows by stating pretty reasonably:

(The US) “should immediately stop its reckless military provocation against the State of the DPRK so that the latter would not be forced to make an unavoidable military choice.” (3)

As Cheryl Rofer continued, instead of endless threats, US diplomacy could have many routes:

“We could have sent a message to North Korea via the recent Canadian visit to free one of their citizens. We could send a message through the Swedish embassy to North Korea, which often represents US interests. We could arrange some diplomatic action on which China might take the lead. There are many possibilities, any of which might show North Korea that we are willing to back off from practices that scare them if they will consider backing off on some of their actions. That would not include their nuclear program explicitly at this time, but it would leave the way open for later.”

There are in fact, twenty four diplomatic missions in all, in North Korea through which the US could request to communicate – or Trump could even behave like a grown up and pick up the telephone.

Siegfried Hecker is the last known American official to inspect North Korea’s nuclear facilities. He says that treating Kim Jong-un as though he is on the verge of attacking the U.S. is both inaccurate and dangerous.

“Some like to depict Kim as being crazy – a madman – and that makes the public believe that the guy is undeterrable. He’s not crazy and he’s not suicidal. And he’s not even unpredictable. The real threat is we’re going to stumble into a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula.”

Trump made his crass “fire and fury” threat on the eve of the sixty second commemoration of the US nuclear attack on Nagasaki, the nauseating irony seemingly un-noticed by him.

Will some adults pitch up on Capitol Hill before it is too late?

[iWriteStuff]

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[iWriteStuff]

Hey, here's a shocker: Trump and Democrats joined up to punt on the debt ceiling. Team effort, folks!

Republicans Furious As Trump Sides With Democrats On Short-Term Debt Limit Extension

I am told by multiple sources Rs are furious. The Democratic ploy — to keep debt limit short term — worked. It took just a few hours.

TRUMP also agreed to extend government funding until December 15, setting up a wild final month of the year.

TRUMP agrees to 3-month debt limit increase in meeting w hill leaders. All GOP leaders were opposed, per multiple sources.

TO BE CLEAR: Debt limit, govt funding expires 12/15. Ryan, McConnell, McCarthy were all opposed. Trump, Pelosi, Schumer were on same side.

It's always been the same team in control, folks. They're just getting a wee bit more obvious as time goes bye. Please stop putting them in office.

[harakim]

Ezra Taft Benson was close to J. Reuben Clark. J. Reuben Clark apparently had several copies of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in his library. Read them and ponder the last century and our current awful situation.


https://youtu.be/cRuKmxQSPSw

https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/soci ... zion31.htm

Could you elaborate a bit more on the Protocols? They are new to me.

You should read them. It is claimed they were a forgery, but they are as prophetic a document as I have seen.

[iWriteStuff]

Time to read up on the Law of Liberty!

Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States contain statements of general principles along with specific and particular provisions for their implementation. The principles are the really important thing. Both documents specifically render back to God those rights of judgment and execution which men had usurped. That is why both have a strongly negative tone. “Hands off!” is the theme—there are certain rights which all men enjoy which the Creator himself has declared inalienable and with which no man or group of men has any right to interfere. Men may check and admonish each other in their little affairs, but where the great decisions of life are concerned, God alone is the judge. That is the key to the whole thing: “In God we trust.”

The Founding Fathers did trust God. They trusted him enough to give back to him and him alone the right to judge the hearts and minds of men. In the eyes of absolutism, our Constitution is hopelessly soft on sinners. Here, heresy, held for centuries to be the quintessence of subversion and the worst of all crimes, does not fall under human jurisdiction at all; people with wrong ideas are expressly allowed to talk about them and even hold meetings; Congress may never declare one religion more desirable than another (Article VI and Amendment I), or one person more noble than another (Article I, Section 10). God alone knows who is really virtuous and who is not. The king may be right some of the time or even all the time, but that, as Macaulay observes in his “Essay on Civil Disabilities,” is beside the point, which, according to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, is that men must be free individually and collectively to make their own choices, no matter how bad. That, as we have seen, is the ancient law of liberty.

It is more than Fourth of July rhetoric when the Latter-day Saints declare that the Constitution is an inspired document. It actually is the restoration to the earth of that ancient law of liberty which has been preached by the prophets in every age, allowing every man to act in doctrine and principle according to the moral agency which God has given him, to be accountable for his own sins on the day of judgment. Such acts may never be prescribed or judged by any human agency, the Constitution maintains, and we firmly believe that to be the will of God: it was known to the early Christians as the ancient law of liberty.
- Hugh Nibley, The World and the Prophets

[iWriteStuff]

This is the simplest explanation of how it works:

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Consider how freedom is purchased.

[Hezekiah]

Couldn't resist sharing...

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[Silver]

What happened:

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[iWriteStuff]

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