tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80777417570567518902024-03-21T03:00:39.275-07:00The Burnzo PapersTrue journalism is dead...except at this blog.Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-13216540320567942542020-03-09T10:50:00.001-07:002020-03-09T12:48:46.368-07:00Is Being "Woke" a Joke?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx-TdEZr7t2EM5mw3DVVV_ZOUtGpPCOqlJjYgvHMqBKfdow02AwGSZdR8bWYCI6DrGYAdtHEjRfNz09HzXQCHWwco7mdcy9Tc-CaeSDi-eZITBPOFj34Zvjpg-lom5K8DPE_erbKr7cU/s1600/elizabeth+warren.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="840" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyx-TdEZr7t2EM5mw3DVVV_ZOUtGpPCOqlJjYgvHMqBKfdow02AwGSZdR8bWYCI6DrGYAdtHEjRfNz09HzXQCHWwco7mdcy9Tc-CaeSDi-eZITBPOFj34Zvjpg-lom5K8DPE_erbKr7cU/s320/elizabeth+warren.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“If you say, ‘Yeah, there was sexism
in this race,’ everyone says, ‘Whiner.’ And if you say, ‘No, there was no
sexism,’ about a bazillion women think, ‘What planet do you live on?'”</span></i><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">--
Elizabeth Warren after dropping out of the 2020 presidential race<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Elizabeth
Warren blames sexism for the reason why she didn’t do well as a presidential
candidate, but is this true? I would argue (as would many others) that the real
reason she didn’t do well in the 2020 presidential primaries is because she was
a poor candidate who ran a weak campaign. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Warren
started out strong enough, but then her campaign quickly spiraled into a
desperate display of identity politics, starting with when she, out of the blue,
accused political opponent Bernie Sanders of saying (in 2018, during a private
conversation) that a woman could never be president. When Sanders denied all of
this during one of the primary debates, Warren approached him with a hot mic
and said, “Did you call me a liar on national TV?” The whole confrontation
seemed contrived and hardly anybody believed her. They could smell the desperate
cheap shot a mile away. It was obvious Warren wanted to make herself out to be
a victim of sexism in order to give a little more gas to her campaign, which
was basically puttering out like a dying engine at that point. It didn’t work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Warren didn’t
learn her lesson, though. Her identity politics reached a level of absurd desperation
when, later in January, she promised to allow a nine-year-old transgender child choose her secretary of education. This proposal was such an egregious
display of pandering to “woke” culture that you may have thought you were
watching a political satire. But you weren’t. She was serious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In short,
Warren didn’t fail as a presidential candidate because of sexism; she failed
because she didn’t run on much except an unhealthy dose of identity politics
that ultimately reached the level of absurdity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sexism
undoubtedly exists—there’s no question about it—but Warren’s cry of sexism as
the reason why her campaign failed is unhealthy and dangerous. It makes women
out to be victims in a situation where they’re not. Recklessly fueling a
culture of victimization like Warren does (and many others do in this day and
age) ultimately leads to the <i>disempowerment</i> of those “victims”. When you’re
convincing people they’re a victim, you’re doing them no favors, and when you’re
doing this for the sole purpose of political gain, it’s devious and
destructive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Such a weaponization
of victimhood is a microcosm of what’s wrong with woke culture in general. On
the surface of wokeness, there is a veneer of well-intentioned social justice activism.
But go beyond that surface and you find, in many cases, an encouragement—even a
<i>celebration</i>—of victimhood, which, in turn, disempowers the individual. In
other words, wokeness is like an energetic vampire that feeds off the life-force
of people, sucks them dry until they’re disempowered victims. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Does this
mean that social justice activism is bad? No, there is definitely such a thing
as a healthy dose of social justice activism. It’s questionable, however,
whether being “woke” is always healthy. As seductive as wokeness is for people
who want to be good or for people who want to at least <i>appear</i> to be
good, there is a dark side to woke culture. Energetic vampires like the many
politicians we see rising into the public eye today view social justice
activism as an opportunity to exploit a culture of good intentions and use it to
empower themselves while disempowering others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">What’s left
in the wake of wokeness is a culture of victims dependent on those who desire to
rule over them. Indeed, that’s the intention: create powerless victims who look
to you to be saved. You become their father or, even better, you become their
God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>MATT BURNS
is the author of several books, including such novels as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06ZY35QX5">THE WOMAN AND THE DRAGON</a>, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N4BLNNN/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i4">JOHNNY
CRUISE</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MPFYRS5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1">WEIRD
MONSTER</a>, and such memoirs as <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076YHYGS3/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2">GARAGE
MOVIE: MY ADVENTURES MAKING WEIRD FILMS</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LOZ279G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i7">JUNGLE
F’NG FEVER: MY 30-YEAR LOVE AFFAIR W/ GUNS N’ ROSES</a>. In addition, he has
published a book of political/social essays <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MV08P9V/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i0">THE
BURNZO PAPERS</a> and a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CX46GJ8/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p2_i1">book
of poetry</a>. Check out all his books at his Amazon author page <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Burns/e/B01LZJYTPV?fbclid=IwAR2jo6BWbqOK5MovNzBsXtBtt750BJNDl-BdG1GQCitc5UzRI7tXGKyhCMM">HERE</a>.</i></span></div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-25124478257669750672019-08-07T13:18:00.000-07:002020-03-08T13:21:24.178-07:00The Rise of the Moral Supremacists<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps one of the
greatest existential threats to America right now (and perhaps the world) is a phenomenon
that is rarely discussed. I don’t speak of white supremacy, which has been a hot
topic in the media recently; rather, I speak of <i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">moral</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>supremacy. Moral supremacists
are people—in many cases, politicians—who talk down to, guilt and shame those
who possess thoughts and opinions that they do not agree with. They label these
thoughts and opinions as “immoral”. Moral supremacists believe they are or at
least pose as somebody who has somehow achieved 100-percent moral clarity. They
do this because a 100-percent morally conscious person can never be questioned or
proven to be wrong. The problem, however, is that no human being can ever reach
a point where they are 100-percent certain of what is and isn’t morally correct.
They can only <i style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">think</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span>they are morally correct, not actually know for sure.
In fact, the only being who is 100-percent morally conscious is, well…God. So
the ultimate goal of the moral supremacist is, essentially, to fool others into thinking they
are God. If they get you to believe they're God, then they can convince you that your morality depends on voting them into office. You must vote for them
to save your soul.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">...</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>One of the most prominent moral supremacists out there right now is Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Cory Booker. He uses the word "moral" incessantly -- in Tweets, speeches and interviews. One recent example is a comment he made after the recent El Paso mass shooting:</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "pensum" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"I think, at the end of the day, especially because this was a white supremacist manifesto, that I want to say with more <b>moral clarity</b> that Donald Trump is responsible for this. He is responsible because he is stoking fears and hatred and bigotry." -- <i>Cory Booker speaking on CNN's </i>State of the Union</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Also, this was a Tweet he posted from just three hours ago (as I write this). Notice how he also says "we must do better". This is his way of establishing his moral supremacy over us:</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3flyhEP3Rp2n4yA2W2YnwvrsfVl7b-dT0F_FpEteD1miksRDMqqWNaWqvQEm4eDohynX56jhFK1dNo3nGcaErBsSFjB1ZBTsoVgo12WeTP4Zqi9i93IzdweeBQ5aHoHecfN_Pqo9tQbeG/s1600/Cory+Booker+Tweet3.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="597" height="151" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3flyhEP3Rp2n4yA2W2YnwvrsfVl7b-dT0F_FpEteD1miksRDMqqWNaWqvQEm4eDohynX56jhFK1dNo3nGcaErBsSFjB1ZBTsoVgo12WeTP4Zqi9i93IzdweeBQ5aHoHecfN_Pqo9tQbeG/s400/Cory+Booker+Tweet3.PNG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-74850124403477600502017-02-08T12:13:00.000-08:002017-02-08T20:46:34.924-08:00THE BURNZO PAPERS now available on AMAZON!<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>
THE BURNZO PAPERS</b> book is now available on Amazon! Watch a teaser trailer and read the book's introduction below. Purchase the full eBook for only 99 cents <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Burnzo-Papers-Selected-Articles-Essays-ebook/dp/B01MV08P9V/ref=la_B01LZJYTPV_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486578689&sr=1-6">HERE</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j8xglVqG-SE" width="400"></iframe>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNd3bj63f8puN2kg7wE1duREpK-jdNrAjnFKnIqqnsrEFOSZDLRJAxl-n65EZVaCobav3nY5Sf7Q8nVycEesSS9t5Angymbqw2CEJHa905GOgIwu-wW4rSngO9FC6MRLQ42iIO7lEw24/s1600/Burnzo+Papers+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNd3bj63f8puN2kg7wE1duREpK-jdNrAjnFKnIqqnsrEFOSZDLRJAxl-n65EZVaCobav3nY5Sf7Q8nVycEesSS9t5Angymbqw2CEJHa905GOgIwu-wW4rSngO9FC6MRLQ42iIO7lEw24/s1600/Burnzo+Papers+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNd3bj63f8puN2kg7wE1duREpK-jdNrAjnFKnIqqnsrEFOSZDLRJAxl-n65EZVaCobav3nY5Sf7Q8nVycEesSS9t5Angymbqw2CEJHa905GOgIwu-wW4rSngO9FC6MRLQ42iIO7lEw24/s200/Burnzo+Papers+small.jpg" width="125" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiNd3bj63f8puN2kg7wE1duREpK-jdNrAjnFKnIqqnsrEFOSZDLRJAxl-n65EZVaCobav3nY5Sf7Q8nVycEesSS9t5Angymbqw2CEJHa905GOgIwu-wW4rSngO9FC6MRLQ42iIO7lEw24/s1600/Burnzo+Papers+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>INTRODUCTION</u></b></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It was more than ten years ago, back in the 2005 area, when
I discovered this wonderful new “social media” website called Myspace. This was
a website that helped friends connect with friends in the virtual world. What
appealed to me the most about Myspace was its “blog” feature where you could
journal your thoughts. At the time, I did not have a website to call my own and
I had no idea how to build one. I realized Myspace could act as a kind of
website for me, a means of expressing my thoughts and ideas via blogs and sharing
said blogs with Myspace friends. Unbeknownst to me, these initial Myspace blogs
would become the first of “The Burnzo Papers”, though I did not refer to them by
that name at the time. They were just blogs.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I wrote Myspace blogs for a few years but then Myspace went
obsolete and I was forced to make the transition to Facebook. Aside from its
“notes” feature, Facebook didn’t have blogging, though it enabled you to easily
post and proliferate links to an outside blog and these links would appear on
the “news feed” of your Facebook friends’ pages. I figured it was probably
about time I should start a more official blog anyway. I could write my
articles and essays on a blogging website like Blogger, and then post the links
on Facebook. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, as an homage to one of my favorite writers Hunter S.
Thompson, I named my new official blog “The Natty Ice Diaries” (a play on
Thompson’s </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Rum Diaries</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">). I wrote
dozens of articles on this blog for a number of years and then I thought the
blog needed a better (and perhaps more mature) name so it later became “The
Burnzo Papers”, which, of course, was another homage to a Thompson work </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The Gonzo Papers</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">“The Burnzo Papers” is still an active blog as I write this
in 2017 (click </span></span><a href="http://theburnzopapers.blogspot.com/"><span style="margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">HERE</span></b></span></a><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> to visit the
blog) but I decided to compile my articles into a book like Thompson did with </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Gonzo Papers</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and this book is what
you’re reading right now.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Indeed, “The Burnzo Papers” book is a collection of
current-events-related articles and essays that I’ve written over the past ten
years, basically ever since I graduated from college in 2004 and started
blogging away on that wonderful extinct dinosaur that we remember being called
Myspace.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My articles range in topics but most of them can be linked
to each other through one underlying concern and that concern is
with—what-I-would-refer-to-as—the “Media Industrial Complex”. This term is
basically an offspring of its parent term </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Military</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">
Industrial Complex, which President Eisenhower famously warned us about in his 1961
farewell address.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The latter phrase—military industrial complex—is basically
a term reminding us that war is big business for the corporate defense industry
as well as the banks who fund the wars and make big money off the loan interests.
No matter which way you look at it, the corporate and banker elite profit from
a perpetual state of war, which is concerning, because this means peace is
undesirable to these money-making entities. When there isn’t war, the military
industrial complex will encourage, if not instigate, war and it accomplishes
this through influencing politicians via campaign contributions, lobbying etc.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The military industrial complex also spreads its
warmongering via the powerful mind-control instrument that is the media. The
corporate-owned </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">media</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> industrial
complex manipulates public opinion into the supporting of perpetual war through
its proliferation of military-loving propaganda, fear of enemies (real or
imagined) and loathing of enemies etc. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The media industrial complex, however, is an industrial
entity in and of itself—not just a means of manipulating public opinion—and it
reaps massive profits from the BIG NEWS stories that come out of a warring
world. In fact, the current “war on terror” is a godsend for both the military
and media complexes because this is a war that pretty much never ends and has
therefore been a perpetual profit-making machine since 9/11. There’s literally
no end to the war in sight. It could potentially be a constant source of
profits for the industrial complexes.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Now, when I say the media industrial complex profits from ‘war’,
I would broaden the term to include anything that isn’t peace. ‘Chaos’ is
probably the best word to use and, for that reason, the media industry is a Luciferian-like
entity that thrives off negativity. Pretty much any negative news is profitable
for the media industry and “The Burnzo Papers” discusses several of these
negative news events that the media exploits or even creates—events like Donald
Trump dossiers, Orlando nightclub shootings, race riots, Measles outbreaks, Bill
Cosby rape allegations, Sony cyber-hacks, AirAsia plane disappearances, Boston
marathon bombings, Charlie Sheen meltdowns, Michael Jackson deaths,
you-name-it. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Working as a kind of team, the media reports on negative
news, makes money off this news, and then creates a need for the military
industrial complex to make us more “safe” from all the negativity in the world.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Incidentally, the negative news also makes us so depressed
that there is suddenly a huge demand for anti-depressant drugs and yet another
offspring of the military industrial complex—the pharmaceutical industry—ends
up profiting as well (it’s no coincidence that you’re bombarded by drug ads
when you watch the news). Defense, surveillance, pharmaceutical—all kinds of
corporate entities feed off the media-induced negativity. It is truly one,
giant corporate beast with an insatiable appetite for chaos. A demonic-like
666.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So, yes, where Eisenhower warned us about the corporate-run
military industrial complex that profits from world chaos, the articles in “The
Burnzo Papers” collectively warn us of its monstrous offspring, the
corporate-run media industrial complex. Even if some articles don’t address the
media explicitly, they usually at least deal with the corporate world that owns
the media and how this corporate world tries to control our life and mind in a
way that serves their profit-making agendas. As you’ll see in my most recent
article, I compare this corporate world to a scientologist-like cult of which
we are all unknowing members.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Reading through the Papers, you will notice that my
politics seemingly shifted from left to right over the years, from 2005-2017. This
is all superficial, though, because at the core I’ve always been a true liberal,
not to be mistaken with ‘leftist’, which has successfully hijacked the former
term. In other words, I’ve never called myself either a right-winger or
left-winger, Republican or Democrat. The human spirit should transcend those labels
and I have always tried to be a nonpartisan pragmatist throughout both the Bush
and Obama eras. In fact, you will see that I was equally critical of both
administrations. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As for the new Trump administration? Right now, I’m neither
anti-Trump nor am I pro-Trump. I’m more like a let’s-see-what-he-does guy and
also a this-could-go-very-well-or-very-wrong guy. I’m also a
he’s-not-as-bad-as-the-media-makes-him-look guy. Trump’s been president for
about a week now (as I write this introduction) and one thing that did really
impress me was his killing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (aka TPP) trade
deal, which he did almost immediately. I discuss the TPP in greater detail a
few articles into this book (click </span></span><a href="file:///C:/Users/m2burns/Documents/Kindle%20Book%20Files/BurnzoPapers_kindle2.docx"><span style="margin: 0px;"><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">HERE</span></b></span></a><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">), but, to make
a long story short, Trump’s killing of the trade deal was a big blow to the
aforementioned corporate/banker elite. Well, not a big blow. A HUGE blow. The
fact that he killed the TPP deal right away may have showed us where he was
coming from and who he was working for (i.e. the people and not the elite). I
talk more about Trump in the very first article of this book, but, for now,
I’ll wrap up this introduction with just a few more things I’d like to mention:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some of my earlier writing was written in a more informal
blog form so don’t be surprised if you see a little humor and even some cuss
words sprinkled into the mix. I also included a small handful of excerpts from
letters or emails I’ve written to friends, mainly because there are interesting
ideas being voiced regarding current events and they almost act like essays
and/or articles in and of themselves.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I arranged the Papers in an order starting with the most current,
which I thought made sense since this is a book dealing with “current” events.
Before each article, I provide a brief summary in bold so you can get a quick
idea of what the article will be about and determine whether it’s something
you’ll be interested in. Feel free to read out of order and also feel free to
peruse the table of contents so you can find articles that sound the most
intriguing to you. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Oh, and not to sound crass, but the Papers are great
bathroom-reading material. In fact, most of the articles are probably short
enough to be read in one (toilet) sitting. I’m serious here. These make for
good, quick reads.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Enjoy!</span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Matt
Burns</span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Boston,
MA.</span></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">January
31, 2017</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><b>Purchase THE BURNZO PAPERS for only 99 cents on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Burnzo-Papers-Selected-Articles-Essays-ebook/dp/B01MV08P9V/ref=la_B01LZJYTPV_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1486578689&sr=1-6">AMAZON</a></b><b>.</b></span><br />
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-73096984016376758782017-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:002017-01-31T10:35:30.304-08:00Starbucks Exploits Muslim Restrictions Controversy in Blatant PR move<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Today, Starbucks pledged to hire 10,000 refugees in response to Trump's "Muslim Ban" (really it's temporary restrictions) and (temporary) ban on refugees until better vetting procedures are developed. Immediately after this announcement, the trending hashtag popped up on Facebook #BoycottStarbucks. Apparently "Trump supporters" said they would boycott Starbucks because they think veterans should be given the jobs, or blacks, minorities, poor people etc. Of course, the insinuation I've seen with the trending hashtag is that Trump supporters want to boycott Starbucks because they don't like or support refugees.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As for me? Well, let me first just say that I wouldn't call myself a Trump supporter or an anti-Trumper; I would say I'm a not-yet-sure-what-to-think-about Trump as president guy. I'm a let's-give-him-a-chance guy, a this-could-go-very-well-or-horribly-wrong guy. I'm also a Trump's-not-as-bad-as-the-media's-making-him-out-to-be guy. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">And, as far as Starbucks goes, I certainly don't want to boycott Starbucks (I love their coffee) but I am offended by their move. </span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">What offends me is that they clearly exploited the trending "Muslim Ban" controversy to appeal to its large demographic of liberals and leftists. This is similar to their "let's talk about race" campaign during the time of Ferguson riots. They seem to latch onto every fashionable trend in the liberal culture and turn it into a PR campaign. They don't care about refugees. They care about good PR.</span></span></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-56253145508532885762017-01-30T20:34:00.001-08:002017-01-31T10:37:42.774-08:00The Corporate Elite Retaliates After Trump kills the TPP<div data-contents="true">
<div data-block="true" data-editor="81v1c" data-offset-key="c6ekk-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="c6ekk-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="c6ekk-0-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">NOTE: The official "Burnzo Papers" book comes out on Amazon later this week. Now that the book is basically out, the format of this blog may become more journal-like with shorter "blogs", not long articles. Here is the first one:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><b>The Corporate Elite Retaliates After Trump kills the TPP</b></span><br />
<span data-offset-key="c6ekk-0-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span data-offset-key="c6ekk-0-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Just a humble two cents and humble theory/perspective here that hopefully doesn't get me stoned. I'm not saying Trump is Jesus Christ by any means, but I've noticed that the frenzy of misleading news coming from the mainstream press has really amplified big-time this past week, literally almost like it's freaking out, bombarding us with negative Trump story after negative Trump story, riling us up into a frenzy of complete hysteria. I feel like this media frenzy stems from Trump's killing of the TPP deal (one of the first things he did), which really pissed off the corporate elite and their anger is coming through the mainstream media which they own and control. I mean, Trump's killing of the TPP was a big deal...a HUGE deal, but, with the exception of one-day's-worth of tepid coverage, it completely got glossed over. The TPP would have been devastating for all American workers/all American human rights/human rights in general. It benefited a small minority corporate elite -- I would call it a corporate cartel -- and basically nobody else. It can't be stressed how big this thing was and how horrible it was for America. Read more about the TPP and its disastrous implications in an article I wrote about a year and a half ago entitled<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">: <a href="http://theburnzopapers.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-gay-marriage-wild-card-and-other.html">"The Gay-Marriage Wild Card (And Other Ways Our Government is Smoke Screening the TPP)."</a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div data-block="true" data-editor="81v1c" data-offset-key="2g5a-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2g5a-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="2g5a-0-0"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div data-block="true" data-editor="81v1c" data-offset-key="2gs2l-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="2gs2l-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="2gs2l-0-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But the corporate elite loved the TPP deal, and now the corporate world is pissed and as retaliation they're just slamming us with misleading news and getting us into an anti-Trump frenzy. Right now on Facebook the top two hashtags are </span></span><span class="_5u8n" data-offset-key="2gs2l-1-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="2gs2l-1-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">#MuslimBan</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="2gs2l-2-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> and </span></span><span class="_5u8n" data-offset-key="2gs2l-3-0" spellcheck="false"><span data-offset-key="2gs2l-3-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">#NoMuslimBan</span></span></span><span data-offset-key="2gs2l-4-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">. What's happening is not really a Muslim "ban" at all; from what I understand after reading the full executive order text, it's temporary travel restrictions for certain countries in attempt to get terrorism under control and improve vetting procedures. Don't get me wrong: it sucks big-time and it's pretty sad watching interviews of those affected and I'm personally skeptical whether it's going to get anything under control anyway...but it's not an all-out, permanent Muslim Ban. Again, I'm not saying it's necessarily going to make a positive difference but the media should be more fair in their coverage of it. Let's get the story right.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div data-block="true" data-editor="81v1c" data-offset-key="5v0t3-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="5v0t3-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="5v0t3-0-0"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span><span style="font-size: large;"></span><br data-text="true" /></span></div>
</div>
<div data-block="true" data-editor="81v1c" data-offset-key="4vkg2-0-0">
<div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="4vkg2-0-0">
<span data-offset-key="4vkg2-0-0"><span data-text="true" style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So that is just one example of misleading, fearmongering/hatemongering/frenzy-inducing media that stems from the mainstream press which the corporate elite owns, an elite that is more than likely infuriated at Trump for killing its beloved TPP. My humble two cents is take a deep breath, unplug yourself from the frenzy, follow the money and follow the power and, in the words of my beloved PUBLIC ENEMY, don't believe (all) the hype.</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="183" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LK8sxngSWaU" width="325"></iframe>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-13638491511706106432017-01-13T10:48:00.001-08:002017-02-22T12:45:38.309-08:00Is Trump an 'SP'? Parallels Between Scientology and the Corporate Cult We All Live in<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I've been watching Leah Remini's
fascinating A&E series on the Church of Scientology and I can't help but
draw parallels between scientologist practices and the current, over-the-top
narrative to discredit President-Elect Trump, a narrative that seems just
as contrived as L. Ron Hubbard's religion. We're talking Russian hacking,
blackmail, perverted sex tapes, British MI6 spies, all sorts of fantastical
stuff that sounds like it was born from the wild imagination of a fiction
writer like Hubbard. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">To use scientologist terminology,
Trump has been declared a "suppressive person" (aka SP) by the
corporate/banker/global elite, an elite that wanted Hillary Clinton as
their next representative in the oval office and backed her campaign with
millions of dollars of contributions and Super PACS. Since Trump won the
election and Trump was so rich he couldn’t be “bought” (i.e. funded) by
corporate money, he is now considered "fair game" by the
corporate elite, meaning he must be discredited at all costs and by whatever
means possible. Hiring a British MI6 spy to bring him down is the equivalent of
the scientologists hiring private investigators to bring an ‘SP’ down, which is
common practice within the Church. It’s also common practice to launch a smear
campaign against the SP, which is usually fueled by half-truths or blatant
lies. In fact, the Church of Scientology goes so far as to create actual
websites devoted to making the SP look like a terrible, sick and perverted
person. Parishioners within the Church are exposed to nothing but this
propaganda and it’s considered a transgression, or—to use the correct
scientologist term—an “overt act” to be exposed to any other alternative form
of media. This is all eerily similar to the current climate in the American
culture where we are pressured to show allegiance to nothing but propagandized
mainstream media while all alternative news is considered “fake news”.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">What I’m getting at is that we're
all unknowingly living in a scientologist-like cult created by the corporate
elite who own all mainstream media and therefore can control and program our
minds via control of information.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">SUPPRESSIVE PERSON</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">: often abbreviated SP,
is a term used in Scientology to describe the "antisocial
personalities" who, according to Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard,
make up about 2.5% of the population. A statement on a Church of Scientology
website describes this group as including notorious historic figures such as
Adolf Hitler.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">FAIR GAME</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">: a term used to describe policies
and practices carried out by the Church of Scientology towards people and
groups it perceives as its enemies.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
</span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">OVERT ACT: </span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a
harmful act or a transgression against the moral code of a group. An overt act
is not just injuring someone or something, it is an act of </span><em><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">omission</span></span></em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
or </span><em><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">commission</span></span></em><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
which does the least good for the least number of people or areas of life, or
the most harm to the greatest number of people or areas of life.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-- Wikipedia </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Meanwhile...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Obama surprises his own Vice
President Joe Biden with the medal of freedom, an unprecedented move that
comes just a couple days after Obama's emotional (some are calling it
emotionally-manipulative) farewell address to the nation. The award
ceremony was obviously heavily covered by the media and I can't help but draw a
parallel between the event and the Academy Awards…or, to be more timely, the
Golden Globes…where Hollywood awards itself—in company picnic-style—for making
"works of art", aka commercial, money-making movies. Or, to draw a
more relevant parallel, the Scientologist Church itself does a similar version
of this self-awarding at their grand “annual tribute”, which is a huge,
Academy-Awards-like ceremony where they celebrate L. Ron Hubbard’s birthday and
award/pat each other on the back for how great they are as scientologists. My
point is that Obama's awarding Biden the medal of freedom is really an indirect
way of giving praise/pats on the back to his own administration and, in turn,
himself.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">So, while there is a concerted
effort to discredit Trump, there is, on the flipside, a concerted effort to make
Obama look like the greatest president who ever lived. The mainstream media—a
propagandized instrument of the aforementioned corporate cult we all live
in—is programming our minds to hate Trump and love Obama. What this is all
leading to, I do not know. Perhaps a huge, unprecedented protest at the
inauguration to block Trump from presidency or perhaps, ultimately, it's meant
to get our minds prepared to accept and support a Trump impeachment down the
not-too-distant road (if he even makes it into the oval office in the first
place).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The bottom line is that Trump is
not doing the bidding of the corporate cult and they are doing anything they
can to make him look like the next Adolph Hitler. Trump is no Jesus
Christ*, that's for sure, but is he really as bad as we're being programmed to
believe? If everything that's being said about Trump comes out to be
one-hundred-percent truth, I will gladly punch myself in the face; and, trust
me, I WANT to believe it's true because, otherwise, we're all being put
under a spell of complete unreality and that thought frightens the hell out of
me. Either way, I think people need to take a step back, unplug themselves from
the media-induced frenzy, transcend the mass hysteria and question everything
they're being told to believe.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Of course, I also realize that
voicing all these—let's call them anti-anti-Trump—thoughts puts me at risk of
becoming an SP myself, not that I'd be attacked by the corporate elite because,
heck, I'm small potatoes, but it has the potential to cost me friends,
family etc. This is a time when voicing anything that can even be </span><i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">remotely</span></i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> construed
as "pro-Trump" will put you at risk of becoming an SP among peers,
family, Facebook friends, Twitter followers etc. To use another Scientology
term, anti-Trumpers are "disconnecting" from pro-Trump family
and friends at alarming rates. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">DISCONNECTION: the severance of all ties between a
Scientologist and a friend, colleague, or family member deemed to be
antagonistic towards Scientology. The practice of disconnection is a form of
shunning. Among Scientologists, disconnection is viewed as an important method
of removing obstacles to one's spiritual growth.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-- Wikipedia</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">But they don’t just disconnect. They
also guilt and shame anybody who voted for Trump or even thought about voting
for Trump. Let me be clear, though: I’m not saying everybody who doesn’t support
Trump is like this—that wouldn’t be fair. I’m talking about the hardcore
anti-Trumpers, the ones who “disconnect”. In their eyes, any semblance of Trump
support is indicative of hate, racism, misogyny and bigotry being harbored in that
person’s heart. This kind of shaming is a classic form of psychological
manipulation and has been seen all over mainstream media and social media. I
would liken it to the shaming scientologists use when their parishioners have
anti-scientologist thoughts. If at any point a parishioner possesses any
thought or feeling that falls outside of the scientologist status quo, it is
supposedly indicative of an individual harboring “crimes” in their heart and
they must get “audited” to “clear” those crimes so that their thinking is back
in line with Scientology. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In other words, the Trump shaming
is a way of getting a person to stop having truly liberal thoughts and go back
to conforming to the faux liberal—aka leftist—mentality. Popular slogans like
“love trumps hate” (that were born out of the Clinton campaign, which itself
was born out of the corporate elite) cleverly make the name ‘Trump’ synonymous
with ‘hate’. This means that, even if a person supports Trump a liiittle bit,
it reveals that person is harboring hate in their heart and chooses this hate
over love. Or, to put it another way, a person must be one-hundred-percent
anti-Trump—otherwise, they apparently lose their capacity to love others and
should be ashamed. Or, to put it yet another way, true hate (towards Trump and
Trump supporters) is taking on the guise of love while love is twisted into
something resembling hate. Yeesh, is your head spinning? Of course it is,
because this is insanity. It’s sinister psychological manipulation, the kind
you see in a…yes, you guessed it: a cult.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In fact, this complex mental
manipulation creates what-is-referred-to-in-psychology as “cognitive
dissonance” where an individual, on one hand, may have pro-Trump thoughts but
is, on the other hand, guilted and shamed into thinking these thoughts are very
bad to possess. According to Remini’s show on scientology, cognitive dissonance
is very characteristic of cult-like conditioning.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<i><span style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">AUDITING:
</span></span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">a practice wherein an auditor asks a question of another
individual, known as a "preclear", and then acknowledges their answer
in a non-judgmental form. Auditing began as an integral part of the
pseudoscientific movement Dianetics and has since, with the addition of the
E-Meter, become a core practice in Scientology.</span></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: in psychology, cognitive dissonance
is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously
holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values, when performing an
action that contradicts those beliefs, ideas, and values; or when confronted
with new information that contradicts existing beliefs, ideas and values.</span></span></i><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
<br />
<div align="right" style="margin: 0px; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">-- Wikipedia</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In summary, the extreme anti-Trump
movement born out of the corporate elite, an elite that, yes, Hillary
Clinton was *supposed* to represent as the next POTUS, truly can be perceived as
a gigantic, cult-like phenomenon. This corporate cult is very much like
Scientology but on a much greater scale because, well, pretty much everybody is
a part of it and they aren't even aware. But, then again, nobody is ever aware
that they're part of a cult...so nothing is really new there.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;">
<div style="margin: 0px; text-indent: 0.25in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="margin: 0px;">*Trump is, at the very least,
an immature man and has certainly said some scumbaggy things. He was perhaps at
his most scumbaggy when he bragged over a hot mic about being able to grab a
woman’s “pussy” without invitation because “he’s a star” and can “get away with
it”. This could have been “locker room banter” as he claimed or it may, indeed,
indicate that he is misogynistic and takes great pleasure in assaulting women. During
the campaign, several women came forward to say he assaulted them. Nothing ever
really came of those stories. I’m not saying they never happened but I guess,
at the end of the day, they are still nothing more than allegations. For now,
all we can really say is that Trump is immature and has, in the past, said some
extremely scumbaggy things. As far as what is really in this man’s heart? Nobody
really knows for sure; they certainly think they know, but nobody really knows.
We can judge all we want. But nobody really knows.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif; margin: 0px;">Trump also seemed to have mocked
a reporter who has a physical disability. This was a <u>NY TIMES</u> reporter
named Serge Kovaleski who used to write for <u>The Washington Post</u> at the
time of 9/11. <u>The Washington Post</u> denied writing a story that described
Muslims partying and cheering in the streets of New Jersey when the twin towers
went down. However, the Trump team dug up a story written by Kovaleski where he
did, indeed, write a story about Muslims celebrating 9/11 in the Jersey streets.
Kovaleski denied ever seeing what he in fact wrote about, which is kind of
strange. At one of his campaign rallies, Trump called Kovaleski out on his
backpedaling and seemed to mock the reporter who had a deformed right hand. The
leftists took notice and spun the apparent mocking as Trump making fun
of/hating handicapped people. This was a bit of an exaggeration since it was
questionable whether Trump was actually mocking the reporter to begin with.
Trump used similar hand movements in the past so it could possibly be argued
that such gestures coincidentally appeared to be mocking the reporter’s
physical deformity. Either way, the hand movements and gestures were immature,
no doubt about it, but I don’t think it’s evidence of Trump making fun of
handicapped people. The story was exploited by the left and blown way out of
proportion, to the extent that actress Meryl Streep preached about Trump’s
bullying of handicapped people during her recent Golden Globe lifetime achievement
speech. Her point was that such “bullying” was evidence that Trump was a
terrible person and unfit to be president. In my opinion, her speech was blow-hardy
and unnecessary. It made a big deal out of something that wasn’t as big of a
deal as it really was. The fact that it became such a big thing is baffling to
me. Again, Trump is undoubtedly immature and lacks class and may have been trying
to offend a reporter that he didn’t like. However, I don’t think that—generally
speaking—he enjoys bullying handicapped people. There’s no evidence to support
that claim.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 11px;">
</div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-65447886490575671072016-06-13T22:03:00.000-07:002016-06-14T13:19:42.757-07:00THE MEDIA'S THE TRUE BEAST (A Response to the Orlando Night Club Shooting)<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Today was a pretty rough day. There was a huge mass shooting in Orlando two nights ago - the worst in U.S. history, they say - and, of course, the news is masturbating to it and everybody’s pissed at Isis or at people who love guns/hate guns etc. Or, if they're not pissed, they're afraid of more attacks. Or they just have a general sense of hopelessness and despair. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You could feel all this negative energy in the air today. People were driving like bigger A-holes than usual, almost like the end of the world was imminent and they just didn't give a f*** anymore. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">People were also just plain acting rude in general. This was most apparent to me when I went out of my way to hold a door open for a lady at the library and when I say "out of my way" I mean that she was still more than ten feet away so I was going beyond the gentleman's call of duty if you know what I mean. But the lady just grabbed the door and didn't say 'thank you'. Then I held another door open for her inside the vestibule, expecting she was saving her 'thank you' for door-number-two. Nope. Still no thank you. I took a quick glance at her and she was like a zombie who hardly even seemed to acknowledge my existence. I got so pissed, the rage just surged into me. I walked off in a huff and then I realized, shit, this negative energy is contagious, man! I honestly just wanted to get away from it all, fly off to Mars or at least to some faraway island. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Don't get me wrong here: of course a mass shooting where 50 people die is a horrible, heartbreaking event, but usually what’s worse about these big negative news events is that they breed a disproportionate amount of negative energy in the world, meaning that the world's collective negative reaction in response to the event far outweighs the negative event itself. It’s just one, big negative cycle of, well, negativity. Negative event happens. News covers it to death. Fear, loathing, despair, hopelessness spreads to millions and millions of people. The world’s collective energetic frequency lowers itself and just gets further and further away from anything resembling “God” or "Allah" or, if you don’t believe in God, let's say positive energy or, shit, let's call it the L-word: LOVE! </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But the news outlets (and the corporations that own the news) make a lot of money off these events so - deep down - they want more of them. Inevitably another negative event occurs. They cover it to death. More fear. More loathing etc. And, over time, the negativity is growing and swelling. Negative energy breeds more negative energy on an </span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">exponential level</span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: large;">. So there’s a snowballing effect. “The devil” - whether you want to see ‘him’ as a literal entity or a figurative name for negative energy - feeds off this energy and, the larger the snowball of negative energy grows, the more power ‘he’ accrues and the greater hold he gains over the entire human race.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">I usually try to detach myself and transcend all the negativity but it was pretty difficult yesterday and today because it was so fregging intense. I know I have no choice but to ride it out and wait for this energy to subside. But, of course, the problem is that, once it does subside, the news quickly latches on to another negative news story, whether it’s Zika virus or an unjust rape verdict (i.e. the Brock Turner rape case) or something offensive Donald Trump just said or some other story that triggers either fear or loathing or both. Negative stories press our most primal buttons, get us all riled up and therefore get more views and clicks and make more ad revenue. So even if the story isn’t that big of a deal or not that huge of an immediate threat (like maybe with Zika, at least here in the U.S.?) they will still make it a big deal to make their money.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The media is what will destroy us more than anything else. Not a crazed lone gunman. A gunman will destroy a finite amount of people - in the Orlando case, it was 50 people, an insane amount of people but finite nevertheless. The media, however - with its incessant coverage and dwelling on negative events - will drown each and every one of us in negativity and destroy the energy and soul of an entire human race.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The true beast here is the media.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Matt Burns</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Boston, MA.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">June 13, 2016</span></div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-88761718793464662582015-12-06T18:51:00.001-08:002015-12-06T19:08:15.637-08:00What the NY TIMES OP-ED Should've Said<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Instead of making America feel guilty and ashamed of ourselves and scolding us like we're a bunch of children, not to mention saying a whole lot of nothing, the "historical" <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/05/opinion/end-the-gun-epidemic-in-america.html?_r=0">New York Times op-ed piece</a> re: gun control yesterday should have maybe said, oh I don't know, maybe something a little less one-sided/naive and more realistic/intelligent. Something along these lines:</span></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">"It's very possible that some gun control regulations may be in order. Possibly. Don't know. Hard to tell. Maybe some regulations when it comes to semi-automatic weapons are necessary right now. Yes, perhaps, maybe we need some restrictions in that department. Whether this will prevent San Bernardino-type shootings is completely unknown and I'd be a self-righteous blowhard for even speculating whether this would be the case because I don't even know all the details behind this incident yet. Nobody does. Nobody knows jack-shit, hardly. It's all very mysterious, still.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">That all being said, it's important to be very, VERY careful when it comes to gun control, even the type of gun control that regulates semi-automatic-type-guns that are used for mass shootings. The main reason for this is because disarmament of the masses is the first lesson the bad people teach in the Dictatorship 101 class. This is not to say that the Obama administration is a dictatorship, although - by nature - this administration does have dictatorial tendencies due to its executive orders and threats of executive orders and what-have-you. Let's give Obama and his administration the benefit of the doubt and just say that our main concern here is creating a ripe, vulnerable environment for a dictatorship to rise down the road (could be Hillary, could be Donald, could be somebody further down the line). Maybe this sounds overly paranoid but history has shown that most dictatorships begin with initial steps to disarm, very much like what we're seeing now (though we're being guilted into thinking this is the "moral" and "right" thing to do). Don't believe me? Here are some relevant quotes from history's most notorious dictators:</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that the supply of arms to the underdogs is a sine qua non for the overthrow of any sovereignty. So let’s not have any native militia or native police. German troops alone will bear the sole responsibility for the maintenance of law and order throughout the occupied Russian territories, and a system of military strong-points must be evolved to cover the entire occupied country.</i></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">– Adolf Hitler, dinner talk on April 11, 1942</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(The Nazi's implemented gun control in 1938. From 1939 to 1945, 13 million defenseless Jews were exterminated.)</span> </blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">If the opposition disarms, well and good. If it refuses to disarm, we shall disarm it ourselves.</span> </i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">– Joseph Stalin</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(The Soviet Union implements gun control in 1929. From 1929 to 1953, about 20 million defenseless dissidents are exterminated.)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">The measures adopted to restore public order are: First of all, the elimination of the so-called subversive elements. … They were elements of disorder and subversion. On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind. This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy, has given satisfactory results.</span> </i></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">– Benito Mussolini, address to the Italian Senate, 1931</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i>All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The communist party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">– Mao Tze Tung, Nov 6 1938</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">(China implements gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952 10,076,000 defenseless political dissidents are exterminated.)</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"></span></blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So let's not polarize and be pressured to pick a side here. Let's just admit and face the fact that the gun control debate is a very complicated and delicate issue. I would be a self-righteous blowhard if I were to shame America for being a "disgrace" because we haven't yet done anything about our mass shootings. Let's be very careful. Indeed, some regulations may be in order. But gun control in general - across the board - is very, very delicate territory. Even with semi-automatic weapon regulations we must tread carefully. After all, if you were a dictator, wouldn't the semi-automatics be the first and main weapons you'd want out of your way?"</span></blockquote>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-4460340006283881722015-07-14T17:37:00.000-07:002015-07-14T17:37:46.117-07:00THE MEANINGS CHANGE WHILE THE COLORS REMAIN<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuY1IdKYhs2tMyb8i3RxEVU2pB7WlcT9cxtjyqEG_afZP3z-odifmTs8qfmeIbqTfQwa_1MJ4KK6w8rRAxqw4OO4ADgpj1mbUe1FoHVZODT-jt0Pr1AXTtxs1i9zSan1aIBmx-7ed4Djd/s1600/confederate-flag_663655.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuY1IdKYhs2tMyb8i3RxEVU2pB7WlcT9cxtjyqEG_afZP3z-odifmTs8qfmeIbqTfQwa_1MJ4KK6w8rRAxqw4OO4ADgpj1mbUe1FoHVZODT-jt0Pr1AXTtxs1i9zSan1aIBmx-7ed4Djd/s200/confederate-flag_663655.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>NOTE:</b> This is a "poem" inspired by the recent Confederate flag controversy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b>
<b></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;">THE MEANINGS CHANGE WHILE THE COLORS REMAIN</b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">by matt burns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
The colors remain. But the meanings change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
The Confederate flag was once a symbol of freedom. So wasn't the Union flag. But Confederate States denied freedom to blacks so it really symbolized freedom...with exceptions. While the Union flag symbolized freedom with absolutely no exceptions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Today, the Confederate flag has been demonized. There's a witch hunt for anybody who flies this flag. The South Carolina State House has been forced to take their flag down. Walmart has stopped selling these flags. TV stations are shelving their reruns of the "Dukes of Hazard" show. As absurd as it may sound, people have even suggested that we lock the classic film <i>Gone with the Wind</i> inside a vault, never to be shown again. Same with Griffith's <i>Birth of a Nation</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
People who like the flag and still want to fly it have been persecuted. Pressured. Even forced to take it down. Regardless of any 1st amendment rights. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
And therein lies the irony.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Today's American flag (formerly the Union flag) and the Confederate flag have traded symbolic meanings. The Confederate flag has become a symbol of pure, unadulterated freedom, a true champion for the 1st amendment. While the "Union flag" has become a symbol of freedom...with exceptions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Over time, a flag can come to symbolize many different things. After all, it's just cloth with colors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br />
The colors remain. But the meanings change.</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-18635067231451457542015-06-28T23:51:00.002-07:002015-06-29T11:39:44.955-07:00The Gay-Marriage Wild Card (And Other Ways Our Government is Smoke Screening the TPP)<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In what has been referred to as a "landmark" decision, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday morning that gay marriage is now legal in all 50 United States of America. Facebook erupted with celebration upon hearing the news. Both the gay community and most of the liberal community have been ecstatic. Facebook even quickly came up with an App that tinted people's profile pictures with rainbow gay-pride colors.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was a "big win" for President Obama. In fact, it was the second big win to happen in just two days. On Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld a key provision in the controversial </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Affordable Care Act and also cleared up any ambiguity in the law that would allow future Republican administrations to twist interpretations in a way that would justify changes to the law. This means Obamacare has successfully secured itself as the "law of the land" for the unforeseeable future.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Obama has, indeed, been looking good in the news lately. Aside from the Supreme Court rulings, he just recently attended the funeral for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims in the recent South Carolina church shootings carried out by 21-year-old Dylan Roof. Obama gave a moving eulogy and concluded it with what World News Tonight David Muir called a "powerful moment" where Obama started singing "Amazing Grace". His singing was a tad out of tune, but the rest of the predominantly black crowd eventually started singing along with him and applauded at the end.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, yes, Obama seems to have a Midas touch lately - at least, that's how it appears in the mainstream media. I, however, would argue that Obama's recent amazing, near-saintly actions are possibly nothing but shallow political theatrics providing a smoke screen for other objectives. Sounds kind of harsh, right? I know it may, but keep in mind that, as of 2008, Obama was against gay marriage:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i>"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage."</i></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: right;">
<i>- Obama in an interview with MTV circa 2008 </i></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At some point, Obama flip-flopped his stance on gay marriage, and I don't think it was because of a change of heart; it was because of a change in political strategy. 'Phony' might be an extreme word here, but let's just say Obama's a typical politician willing to compromise his own personal beliefs for the sake of politics. Okay, maybe that is phony.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Before I proceed, I don't want to come off as insensitive when it comes to the nationwide legalization of gay marriage. In fact, when it comes to this issue, I can't believe it took so long for the Supreme Court to make such a ruling. It was an issue that - in my opinion - got needlessly debated to death, basically to the point of turning into an unhealthy public distraction. People are going to love who they love so let them marry whoever they love! It's a no-brainer that never should have been debated for as long as it was.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The same goes for the recent Confederate flag controversy. I mean no disrespect to the victims of the horrific South Carolina church shootings, but even blacks are starting to call the Confederate flag debate a needless distraction (read about this <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/27/us-usa-shooting-south-carolina-race-insi-idUSKBN0P70FA20150627">HERE</a>). On one hand, yes, the flag offends certain people, but - on the other hand - we need to acknowledge that there ARE people out there who want to fly the flag around and first amendment rights really prohibit us from doing anything about it. If people want to fly the flag and don't care about alienating and/or making black people feel uncomfortable, what can you do about it in America, land of free expression? This is a debate that could go on forever and there's no way for either side to win it entirely (unless we violate 1st amendment rights, which sets a bad precedent). In the end, the perpetual debating becomes a time-consuming diversion, a diversion that - I would argue - is being used by the Obama administration to wag the dog, so to speak, divert our attention away from more important issues it doesn't want us to focus on.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And there are MUCH bigger issues going on right now, lurking right under our nose. But they're hardly making any kind of appearance in the top stories of the mainstream press. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Case in point: the TPP.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hadn't even heard of the TPP (</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">short for Trans-Pacific Partnership)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> until fairly recently and I would bet that most of the people reading this article haven't even yet heard of it. This is basically because it's too complicated to be covered easily by the mainstream press and therefore too complicated to 'sell' to the public easily. I've honestly read maybe a dozen articles about the TPP and I still hardly understand what it even means. It's not an easy news story to break down and digest. Complicated news stories like these don't get clicks and hits on Internet news blogs, so that means they don't accumulate good advertisement revenue either. Polarizing whose-side-are-you-on s</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">tories about Confederate flag controversy, as well as mass shooting stories and "landmark" Supreme Court ruling stories are simpler and sell much better. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The problem, however, is that the more complicated news stories are often the much more important stories. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The TPP is one of these complicated but important stories. In fact, I would argue that it is the most important thing going on right now that you probably haven't heard of. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The TPP should be top news.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In layman's terms, the TPP is a "free trade" agreement that will supposedly lift trade barriers (i.e. import quotas and tariffs) so that it's easier for countries in North America and the Asia Pacific region to trade with each other. "Free trade" has always had a good sound to it, but there are hidden ramifications of a treaty like the TPP that could be disastrous for 99% of...well, basically all humankind.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As I mentioned before, I've read article after article about the TPP and it was mostly a bunch of jargon to me. I eventually came across Vermont Senator (and 2016 Presidential candidate) Bernie Sanders' </span><a href="http://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/the-trans-pacific-trade-tpp-agreement-must-be-defeated?inline=file" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">website</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> and found that his explanation of the TPP, along with its aforementioned hidden ramifications, was the easiest to understand:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">"The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a disastrous trade agreement designed to protect the interests of the largest
multi-national corporations at the expense of workers, consumers, the environment and the foundations of
American democracy. It will also negatively impact some of the poorest people in the world. </span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">The TPP is a treaty that has been written behind closed doors by the corporate world. Incredibly, while Wall
Street, the pharmaceutical industry and major media companies have full knowledge as to what is in this treaty,
the American people and members of Congress do not. They have been locked out of the process. </span></i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: large;">Further, all Americans, regardless of political ideology, should be opposed to the “fast track” process which
would deny Congress the right to amend the treaty and represent their constituents’ interests."</span></i></blockquote>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">On his website, Sanders goes on to explain that the TPP will outsource more American jobs resulting in increased unemployment. American wages will also decrease in attempt to compete with the low wages of labor in places like Vietnam, where the minimum wage is 56 cents an hour. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Sovereignty in both the U.S. and other countries will be compromised because the TPP will give corporations the ability to challenge any already-existing domestic laws that could get in the way of "expected future profits". In other words, the corporate bottom line becomes the end good for all and any law, restriction or regulation getting in the way of the bottom line is seen to be not only bad but possibly illegal. These lawsuits will be taken to UN and World Bank tribunals (not domestic courts). These international tribunals transcend any domestic (democratically-created) laws and basically make up new laws on their own without any proper democratic process. Say goodbye to any semblance of sovereign democracy. Hello corporate-created global government.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The TPP also gives corporations the right to challenge any environmental laws that may threaten their "future profits". For example, laws regulating logging, pollution, fishing etc. could be deemed illegal because they may get in the way of a corporation's bottom line. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Also, food safety laws/restrictions could be deemed illegal as well. On his website, Sanders points out that contaminated imports would increase, like fish from Vietnam that has been known to be contaminated with salmonella, E. coli, mercury etc. Tight food inspection only gets in the way of the bottom line. Corporations can sue to lift those restrictions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pharmaceutical companies stand to benefit from the TPP as well. The patent-trolling pharma monsters could potentially sue to stop the availability of generic brands of drugs that are cheaper and therefore more accessible to poorer people in poorer nations. With generic drugs out of the way, big pharma companies strengthen their monopolies and can keep their medicine prices high, making them more inaccessible to the poor. This is almost like a sinister form of manufactured Darwinism, weeding out the poor and - in the elite's eyes - less worthy people of the earth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Even more sickening is the fact that the TPP is unpatriotic and perhaps even treasonous. There are currently laws that require our government to buy goods and services that are made in America or mostly made in America. With the TPP in action, foreign companies will have an equal opportunity to compete for government contracts. This means our government doesn't have to 'buy American' anymore. They can go with the cheaper bidder. This is what free trade is and, while equal opportunity sounds good to the ears, it can also mean throwing all-American, patriotic companies under the bus for the sake of taking a cheaper avenue.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">There are way more negative ramifications and probably way more than anybody really knows about, seeing that much of the TPP treaty still hasn't been made public. For blatantly suspicious reasons, the corporate architects of the TPP are keeping most of the treaty confidential. How is it that a treaty kept hidden from the public is being "fast-tracked"? This latter term means that Congress surrenders its power to make amendments to and/or filibuster the 'treaty'</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">. Obama is left alone to oversee the corporations as they write up the treaty on their own terms, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">which is </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">un-democratic and even </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">dictatorial in nature</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">. All this is going on and nobody's even talking about this in the mainstream news? It's pretty baffling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The bottom line here (pun intended) is that the corporate bottom line is becoming God, even more than it already is. The majority of human beings on the planet are essentially being conquered by an inhuman entity: the corporation. We could all potentially become serfs like people were in a medieval feudal society but at least in past feudal societies a serf's lord was a human being. In this new feudal society, we will be enslaved to the inhuman corporate bottom line and everything we do must be in line with the best interests of corporate "future profits". Even our freedom of expression, Internet expression, free sharing of information etc. is being threatened by this TPP treaty. Any user-generated content or media-sharing for educational, non-profit purposes could be viewed as a potential threat to "future profits" and be grounds for being sued.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Again, the recent gay marriage ruling is great. But the timing of it, in my opinion, is suspicious. I feel that the Obama administration has been waiting to use the legalization of gay marriage as a wild card for when it needed to smoke screen something unfavorable to the public like the TPP deal. On the surface (and according to mainstream press), Obama is on a roll doing all these great things for the American public. But it's shallow and phony. As I mentioned before, Obama was on record in 2008 literally saying that he was anti-gay marriage:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><i>"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But now Obama's literally lighting up the White House with rainbow colors? What??? It's all political theatrics that help "fast track" a crooked TPP deal that Obama's been trying to get rolling for about five years now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The gay marriage ruling is, indeed, a good thing and it is progressive but I'm afraid it happened at the time it did to make Obama look great and lead us to believe that everything Obama does is great. So if Obama wants to pass this TPP thing, whatever it is, hell, let him do it! He legalized gay marriage so this TPP deal must be good, too! Right?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Wrong. It's all trickery. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">With the revolutionary gay marriage ruling, people are fooled into thinking that the country is finally going in a much better direction than it has been, but the reality is that it's potentially going in a much worse direction. And it's not going in a worse direction because of the gay marriage ruling. The gay marriage ruling is great. It's a good thing, don't get me wrong (sorry if I'm repeating myself but I must make this super-clear lest I get persecuted by the super-left liberals). However, the one step forward our country takes with the nationwide legalization of gay marriage pales in comparison to the hundreds of steps backwards it will take if the TPP gets successfully implemented. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">So don't be fooled. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">The gay marriage ruling, combined with other distractions like the Confederate Flag debate - not to mention sensational prison break stories in Upper State New York and Bruce Jenner sex transformations etc. - are simply diverting the public's attention away from issues that are way more dangerous than any flag flying high at a State House.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But don't take my word for it. Look into the TPP for yourself. Try to understand it. And please let me know if you understand it better than I do because I'm still confused about many aspects of this convoluted treaty. I'm no genius, but I at least want to TRY and better understand this extremely shady-sounding, snake-in-the-grass TPP thing. In the words of Shakespeare, something is rotten in Denmark.</span></div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-72567953978583829732015-02-16T13:42:00.001-08:002015-02-18T19:31:44.193-08:00The Bruce Jenner "Meltdown"<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yA71TFCR8dw4K717wSunK8JL3wbe0nH-x-rM1-P_LBRzXc9T_GkMFVJViRd9A3aQLGeqrRzyAaTAHWTdvQnDeNoH0Xn9zX4UmcVEX8ccdekZ_bN9xTz-V9Iv5EUob8tGit21a2MnvIg/s1600/Bruce+Jenner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0yA71TFCR8dw4K717wSunK8JL3wbe0nH-x-rM1-P_LBRzXc9T_GkMFVJViRd9A3aQLGeqrRzyAaTAHWTdvQnDeNoH0Xn9zX4UmcVEX8ccdekZ_bN9xTz-V9Iv5EUob8tGit21a2MnvIg/s1600/Bruce+Jenner.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ex-Olympic-gold-medalist-turned-Reality-TV-star Bruce Jenner has been all over the news lately because of rumors that he's undergoing a sex change. This comes as extremely strange news to most of America because Bruce is an America hero and has always been seen as the embodiment of great American Olympian athleticism.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Even more recently, Jenner made headlines because of his involvement with a multi-car crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, CA. A black Prius stopped short in the middle of the highway, causing another white Lexus to stop just as abruptly behind it. Jenner's SUV then rear-ended the Lexus, sending it into the opposite lane and oncoming traffic. A Hummer then crashed into the white Lexus, killing the driver.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Jenner passed a field sobriety test and also allowed his blood to be screened for other drug substances. Initially, there was speculation that paparazzi were to blame because about five cars of photographers were supposedly following Jenner before the car wreck occurred. However, Malibu police quickly exonerated paparazzi from any blame, determining that they were not a factor in the accident.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Although it doesn't appear that he's guilty of any wrongdoing, Bruce Jenner will still have to live with the fact that he's (at least indirectly) responsible for a woman's death. Add this stress on top of the stress he must feel from constant media/paparazzi attention due to his (alleged) sex change, and it looks like Jenner's current "meltdown" will only get worse before it gets better.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The question is why in the world is Bruce Jenner "melting down"? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I have to admit that I have seen several episodes of K<i>eeping up with the Kardashians</i> over the years (it was for research, I swear). Although the high-pitched sound of the Kardashian sisters' voices - along with their incessant use of the word 'like' - put my soul in a constant state of misery, Jenner always seemed to come off as more 'normal'. In fact, Bruce didn't really seem to belong in neither the Kardashian family nor their Reality TV show. He always appeared much more low-key than the others, the typical alpha-male that liked simple guy things - cars, golf, sports, things like that. And this All-American masculinity never really appeared to be a front. He always seemed like a pretty genuine guy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">However, as more and more years passed and more seasons of the Kardashians came and went, Bruce started acting and, of course, looking more and more bizarre. He underwent several plastic surgeries that were supposed to make him look younger and more hip. Although one could argue he did look a bit "hip" at first,</span><span style="font-size: large;"> the more time that went by, the more Bruce started looking like, well, a drag-queen or something.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So what's happening with Bruce? Why the sudden change in personality? How did he go from so normal to so bizarre? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's consider the possibility of MKultra and government mind control. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wait, what?! Back up the truck. Record scratch. You must be joking! That's ridiculous! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, I'm totally serious here, but keep in mind I'm not making any definitive claims - I'm merely speaking theoretically. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mind control certainly seems like a fictitious conspiracy theory (I still have a tough enough time believing it myself) but it's actually real when you look into it. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The CIA has officially acknowledged that it has researched and experimented with mind control methods as part of the aformentioned program MKUltra (also known as Project Monarch), though it also officially claims that the program was terminated in the late 1970s after being deemed unethical. However, many conspiracy theorists believe that the public announcement of MKultra's official termination was all a front so that the CIA could continue developing mind control methods in secrecy without the public crying about how immoral it was.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In late 2012, I wrote <a href="http://mattburnsproductions.com/subpage116.html">an article</a> about how I thought Charlie Sheen may have been a victim of a government mind-control operation. Previous to his very-public meltdown, Sheen had been very outspoken about 9/11 truth, publicly rallying for a more thorough investigation of the terrorist events. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my article, I proposed the possibility that Sheen's public meltdown was essentially engineered by the government via mind control practices, all for the purpose of discrediting him and his views regarding 9/11. R</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ead more details about Sheen and MKUltra <a href="http://mattburnsproductions.com/subpage116.html">HERE</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">
So let's consider the possibility (however unlikely it might be) that Bruce Jenner has fallen victim to a similar type of CIA mind control program as Charlie Sheen may have. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Where the motive behind Sheen's engineered meltdown was to simply discredit him and his quest for 9/11 truth, the motive behind Bruce Jenner's public meltdown may be something quite different. Jenner, after all, doesn't have any incendiary views regarding 9/11 or anything else controversial. He would not be considered a threat to the government or some secret society or what-have-you. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then why would our government want to engineer a Bruce Jenner meltdown via mind control? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I would suggest that it's simply for psychological warfare against the American people. Bruce Jenner is an American Icon. He is a symbol and the epitome of an American dream come true. If you make a mockery out of a guy like Bruce Jenner, you make a mockery out of - or, in a sense, even <i>discredit</i> - the American dream, and this has a profound effect on the American psyche. W</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">e basically become disillusioned and we enter a state of despair while we witness the bizarre meltdown of one of our most iconic American dreamers. A failing government desperate for control (e.g. our current government) likes people in this state of hopelessness and despair because it breeds complacency. With complacency, people are much easier to control. We basically remain submissive cogs in the corporate machine that the government wants to preserve and perpetuate. We don't strive for anything better than this 'cog'-status because - if Jenner is any indication - it's just not worth it. This is psychological warfare 101.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Jenner, however, is only one component of a larger family that has been engaging psychological warfare on the American psyche for years now, ever since the start of <i>Keeping up with the Kardashians</i>. I would boldly argue that the overall </span><span style="font-size: large;">purpose of the entire Kardashian family has been to destroy our souls, little by little. They are the family more people hate than like, yet we all keep watching them because we're conditioned by the media into thinking that they're relevant. Their fame was basically born out of a sex tape that Kim Kardashian made with the rapper Ray J. This sex tape was the seed from which an entire Kardashian brand grew. The whole family became outrageously successful without having any real skill or talent. They basically coined the term "famous for being famous". </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we see an annoying, untalented Kim Kardashian become the new icon of the American Dream (what Jenner used to be back in the 70s), our hearts and souls get filled with loathing and despair and we basically give up on the 'The Dream'. 'The Dream' is dead to us, or at least redefined into something ugly and hollow. The new American Dream is to become famous and successful at all costs, via a sex tape or whatever it takes. In fact, Kim Kardashian is the exact antithesis of what Bruce Jenner was back in the 1970s: a person who reached American icon status for nothing...well, maybe not nothing, but for something pretty base (i.e. the sex tape). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Therefore, when we witness Bruce Jenner's humiliating public meltdown, the overall message we absorb - either consciously or subconsciously - is that the American dream Bruce Jenner once embodied (one earned by hard work, skill, talent) is dead but the American dream that Kim Kardashian now embodies (fame for fame's sake) has risen from the ashes of the dead dream like a phoenix. Follow this new ugly and hollow dream, or have no dream to follow at all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Where he once embodied the American dream, Bruce Jenner is now, essentially, a walking American nightmare. Whether he's actually a victim of government mind control is up for debate, but, either way, the irony of the situation - going from the personification of the American dream to American nightmare - is rather poetic, indeed. </span></span></div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-61399653029578640702015-02-05T19:29:00.001-08:002015-02-08T12:15:40.713-08:00The Measles Vaccine Debate<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A measles epidemic has started spreading its way through much of the U.S. after a small outbreak in Disneyland. The recent outbreak has sparked a nation-wide debate (especially in the political word) about whether measles vaccines should be mandatory for children or something that is "up to the parents to decide".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both Kentucky senator Rand Paul and New Jersey governor Chris Christie have made controversial public statements regarding their views on the vaccine. They have both said that there needs to be a careful respect for an individual's liberty and that a person - not the government - should have the right to choose what they want put into their body. Paul, in particular, referenced several (alleged) tragic cases where children have wound up with "profound mental disorders" (i.e. autism) after being vaccinated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Several media personalities have slammed Paul and Christie for being dangerously 'libertarian' with their views regarding the vaccine and have even said that the foolish views indicate that the two potential 2016 presidential candidates are not fit to run for president. Some of the more extreme media personalities have suggested that parents who don't vaccinate their children should be put in jail or don't even deserve to have children to begin with.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In previous articles, I have talked about how there seems to be a gradual ongoing attack on the U.S. Constitution by our government, especially ever since 9/11 with the Patriot Act (see my <a href="http://theburnzopapers.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-sony-hacking.html">"Sony Hack" article</a> for more on this). The measles debate may potentially be another extension of this broader attack on the Constitution and our personal freedoms. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A mandatory measles vaccine has the power to set an entirely new precedent where the government - not the individual - will have the power to decide what goes into a person's body. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Supporters of the measles vaccine point out that there is no scientifically-proven link between vaccines and the mental disorders (like autism) Rand Paul has been referencing. Though these supporters are respectful of personal freedoms, they believe that government should override this freedom when the health of other people is at stake. Measles is supposedly a highly contagious disease that has the power to infect 90% of the people exposed to an infected individual. If a person (or the parents of a child) decide not to vaccinate, it could potentially put a whole lot of people in danger.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assuming that the measles virus is as threatening as pro-vaccine people are saying it is (though I would argue there has been fear-mongering and exaggeration), maybe it is a good idea to make vaccines mandatory. Maybe there are definite cases where government should override personal freedom and this is, indeed, one of those cases. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Valid or not, there is certainly logic in this pro-vaccine perspective. Then again, there is also much logic in the anti-vaccine perspective...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which brings me to my next point:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The measles debate may just be another media-contrived debate where no one side (pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine) wins. In other words, the agenda here may be something bigger than having the pro-vaccine people be victorious over the anti-vaccine people. The more general goal may simply be to debate and divide the American population. I've written <a href="http://theburnzopapers.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-bill-cosby-rape-allegations.html">several articles</a> discussing how our own government (via the media) is trying to polarize the people and the measles debate may be yet another extension of this. Are you pro-measles vaccine or anti-measles vaccine? Pick a side and fight with each other about it!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Distract and divide. That is the overall goal of a government trying to preserve its power and hide the fact that it has become dysfunctional, inept and borderline-corrupt (when I say 'borderline corrupt' I'm likely making an understatement).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, yes, the measles debate could be indicative of another way our government is trying to take away our personal freedoms. It could also be indicative of our government's attempt (via the media) to distract and divide us with an un-winnable - though successfully-polarizing - debate. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But maybe there's one other possible agenda at play here and it may be the most important agenda above all else. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The measles debate may simply be another media-manufactured BIG NEWS event that...well...makes them a whole lot of money. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We live in a strange time now with the Internet being the predominant means of people getting their news. The news industry has become a money-making business that shows reverence to nothing but blog hits ('blog' being a general term including any kind of online news article, both professional and amateur). The more hits a story gets, the more ad revenue that comes in because the ad revenue is all determined by the number of blog hits. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And what gets the media the blog hits? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Big news events...like ebola and Ferguson race riots and Bill Cosby rape allegations and Sony hacks and AirAsia plane crashes and sensational Isis be-headings and NFL scandals like 'deflate-gate' and - now that the deflate-gate story has...um...deflated a bit - a measles outbreak. The ebola threat proved to be a profitable big news story for several weeks. Why not make a sequel to the ebola story by blowing a rather small and not-too-threatening measles outbreak way out of proportion? It's a perfect big news event to serve the media's interests. New blog hits. New ad revenue. Big money!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And so the media monster feeds on its newest big meal. The measles vaccine debate will distract us and polarize us this week - maybe it will even rape our personal freedom a little bit. More importantly, it will surely make a ton of money for the news outlets thriving off blog hits and ad revenue. Maybe the story will live on into the next week like what happened with the ebola scare. But, then, after a couple weeks or so, the story will inevitably fizzle out like the other big news stories and then another big news event will come out of the woodwork. This has been the pattern for the past several months now - Isis, ebola, Ferguson, Bill Cosby, Sony hack, CIA torture report, AirAsia crash, Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, Deflate-gate, measles...what will be next? The machine will keep cranking the big news stories out as long as the stories keep proving themselves to be extremely profitable.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The question is how long will we be suckers and feed into all of this? When will we wake up and realize we're eating right out of the media's hands when we keep shifting our attention from one big news story to the other? When will we realize that there are more important things to focus our attention on? When will we come to the understanding that buying into these big news stories is buying into a complete unreality?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That's right: our reality has essentially become one that is manufactured by an ad-revenue-hungry media. This reality is a construction of big news events that have been carefully chosen and then built up (if not outright manufactured) by media outlets wanting to maximize blog hits. Yes, this is what our reality has become: polarizing debates with no clear victor, distractions that keep our focus off of an inept and borderline-corrupt government, and the media recklessly perpetuates the cycle of distractions because the only god they answer to is a god named ad revenue. Little do they care that they are polarizing, distracting and immersing all of us in an unreality of irrelevant and unimportant "big" news.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">True reality does not consist of big news stories. True reality consists of s<i>mall</i>, unexaggerated (and certainly non-manufactured) news stories that don't accumulate many blog hits or ad revenue. However, as long as ad revenue is god, exaggerated and even outright contrived big news will replace small (i.e. real) news. And when this big news reigns, so doesn't unreality.</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-69731352838559933942015-01-22T14:14:00.001-08:002015-01-22T18:20:45.212-08:00The Death of True Journalism<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">According to the newest trending update on Facebook, actor Johnny Depp "finds it 'sickening' for movie stars to use fame to get into the music industry". Such a bold statement has the power to piss off such stars as Russell Crowe and Jared Leto, Jamie Fox, Miley Cyrus and many other actors-turned musicians or vice versa. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But Facebook's trending alert - or whatever it's called - was just a paraphrase, and a rather misleading one at that. Here's what Depp really said:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“That whole idea for me is a sickening thing, it’s always just made me sick. I’ve been very lucky to play on friends’ records and it’s still going. Music is still part of my life. But you won’t be hearing The Johnny Depp Band. That won’t ever exist. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The luxury now is, anybody with a certain amount of of success, if you have a musical being, you can go out and start a band and capitalize on your work in other areas. But I hate the idea, 'Come see me play the guitar because you've seen me in 12 movies.' It shouldn't be [that way]. You want the people who are listening to the music to only be interested in the music."</span></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So, no, Depp doesn't find actors who want to be musicians sickening. He simply finds the idea of him exploiting his celebrity status to try and launch a music career sickening. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I think he means he doesn't want his music to be a novelty-act, kind of like, 'Hey, come see Jack Sparrow play guitar'. If a person is going to be successful as a musician, it should be because of the music, not because he has 12 popular movies under his belt. That's what he would find sickening and ridiculous.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But this isn't what the media and news blogs would have you believe. To use one example, the <i>Rolling Stone</i> blog headline said "Johnny Depp: actors who start bands 'make me sick'". Billboard's blog was even worse, reading, "Johnny Depp: Actors making music is 'sickening'". These reckless blogs are basically trying to make it look like Depp's offending and insulting and being snobby towards anybody who wants to be both an actor and a musician. I'm pretty sure this isn't where he was coming from.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The media absolutely loves to fish for anything and everything that could become a celebrity 'slip-up', anything and everything that could be twisted around into controversy, maybe offend certain actor/musicians out there, whatever could become a trending topic on Facebook and Twitter and hopefully elicit hostile responses from both ordinary people and celebrities. Maybe Jared Leto will 'slam' Depp for his 'snobby' comments - something like that is what the media's looking for because it will trigger a new round of blogs that will get even more hits and more revenue.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">So what's really sickening? </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Not actors turned musicians. </span><span style="font-size: large;">What's really sickening is the fact that the media recklessly twists words around and reassembles statements that a person has made. What's also sickening is the presentation of half-truth as truth. What's further sickening is the media's complete abandonment of accurate journalism and how even the most 'trustworthy' news outfits have degraded themselves to the color of yellow and this filthy yellow journalism has somehow managed to take on the guise of and fool everybody into thinking it's true journalism.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">But maybe what's most sickening is that half-truths and outright lies have become an army and this army has raped and pillaged the village of truth (sorry, maybe I'm trying to be a little too poetic here, but you get the idea). A</span><span style="font-size: large;">d revenue, which is maximized by maximizing blog hits, has become a journalist's god while truth has essentially become the devil. </span><span style="font-size: large;">I want to say that truth has consequently become an endangered species, but that may be too generous of a statement. Truth may very well be extinct in this media-saturated culture of unreality!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The reason why this is such a big problem is because celebrities are going to be so tired of having their words twisted - not to mention being completely misquoted - that they're just going to stop talking to the media altogether. I wouldn't blame Depp if he never wanted to open his mouth again because it's like he can never do no right. The media is just going to betray him, twist things around and put words in his mouth that are going to elicit some sort of controversial or hostile reaction that will essentially get more blog clicks and accumulate more ad revenue.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Celebrities NEED to talk. We look up to them. They are people we emulate and follow. They need to speak their mind, because if they do, so do we. But celebrities aren't going to talk if whatever they say is just going to be manipulated into a package of half-truths that is only meant to serve the media's interests and their need for blog hits. Or even if celebrities don't shut up completely, they're still going to play it safe and keep it so PC that they might as well not be saying anything at all.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The bottom line here is that - if celebrities keep quiet - so don't we. If celebrities keep it PC, so don't we. The voice box of free expression must not be silenced. Once it is, we all die.</span></span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-50205122725583977332015-01-22T14:04:00.001-08:002015-01-25T21:15:08.581-08:00"IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, LEAVE!": The American Sniper Controversy<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Both director Michael Moore and actor Seth Rogen have been publicly slammed and criticized for their recent comments regarding the new Clint Eastwood movie <i>American Sniper.</i> In a recent Tweet, Moore called snipers "cowards" and also later Tweeted "when we invade and kill 100,000 based on lies, we are not heroes". Moore, of course, was referring to the war in Iraq and how we invaded Iraq based on the lie that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Rogen's remarks - also made within the limited characters of a Tweet - were less incendiary but still elicited a harsh reaction from the general public. Rogen's Tweet compared <i>American Sniper</i> to a scene in Quentin Tarantino's <i>Inglorious Basterds</i>. In the scene, there is a movie playing in a theater that features a German sniper "heroically" killing 200 Allied soldiers. People did not appreciate Rogen's insinuation that Chris Kyle, the soldier <i>American Sniper</i> was based on, was no more heroic than a Nazi sniper.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In reaction to Rogen's Tweet, country music singer and military veteran Craig Morgan publicly 'slammed' Rogen, saying...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"You are fortunate to enjoy the privilege and freedom of working in and living in the United States, and saying whatever you want (regardless of how ignorant the statement) thanks to people like Chris Kyle who serve in the United States military. Your statement is inaccurate and insensitive to Chris and his family. I'm sick and tired of people like you running your mouth when you have no idea what it takes for this country to maintain our freedoms. If you and anyone like you don't like it, leave."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>"If you don't like it here, leave."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The above statement has always sent an ominous shiver down my spine, but it seems to be the common response to anybody expressing any kind of criticism or dissent regarding the United States of America (I've even seen a bumper sticker with this slogan). Coming from a veteran who's preaching about his love of liberty, "If you don't like it, leave" is paradoxically one of the most fascist statements that one could ever make. This kind of a statement is not born out of a lover of freedom, but an enemy of freedom.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Instead of slamming Rogen, people like Craig Morgan should be praising Rogen for utilizing the very freedom that Morgan fought for during his time serving in the military. In fact, Morgan should love the fact that Rogen is saying something that he so vehemently disagrees with. Even if he sees the comments as dumb and ignorant, at least they are products of a mind practicing unfiltered free speech and it was for this kind of free expression that he fought as a member of the United States military. </span><span style="font-size: large;">How can a person preach about fighting for liberty and at the same time turn around and shout at somebody practicing that liberty, "If you don't like it, leave!"? It's completely hypocritical.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But this type of hypocrisy is standard in our culture today.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Movies like <i>American Sniper</i> that celebrate "liberty" are merely propaganda disguised as art. Their main agenda is to condition Americans into loving the military and loving war and creating an environment where anybody who opposes war/military is publicly persecuted by people like Morgan for being 'enemies of freedom' who are so 'ignorant' and 'dumb' and 'unappreciative of their free country'. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Figures like Moore and Rogen are essentially made examples of in order to create a culture of fear, fear to go against the grain and question anything war-related or military-related. Chris Kyle may or may not have been an American hero - that is all up for debate because some people say he was and other people say he wasn't. But his name and his story as featured in <i>American Sniper</i> (however embellished or outright fabricated it may be) are essentially being manipulated in a way so that anybody questioning the propaganda or drawing attention to it is somehow also offending and insulting true American heroism. In other words, those who question wars, express dissent, speak their mind, blow the whistle on pro-war propaganda...they are twisted into being perceived as assholes who hate true American heroes. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">And nobody wants to be THAT asshole.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just because you're critical of war or you blow the whistle on bogus propaganda "American Hero" stories like what may (emphasis on 'may' because I don't know nor do many other people) be portrayed in <i>American Sniper, </i>it doesn't mean you're disrespecting the military or true American heroes. It simply means you're a person who questions things and seeks for truth. Once we manage to shut up all the truth-seekers out there - shouting at them, "if you don't like it here, leave!" - then truth eventually goes completely extinct and our culture fully transforms into a world of lies and unreality.</span></span><br />
<br />Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-56155792818203925972015-01-08T18:26:00.000-08:002015-01-22T18:21:00.635-08:00The Bill Cosby Rape Allegations<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bill Cosby - America's favorite TV dad - has been accused by over a dozen women (many of which are prominent) of drugging and raping them. Most of the alleged rapes took place decades ago. America has been shocked by the news.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
This story has lost its fizzle over the past few weeks, but just a day or two ago, Keshia Knight Pulliam - the actress who played Rudy on <i>The Cosby Show - </i>came onto the Wendy Williams Show and spoke in defense of her TV dad, saying "there are two sides to the story." The way Cosby has been depicted in the media is "not the man she knows."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
And, just yesterday, Phylicia Rashad - the actress who played Mrs. Huxtable on <i>The Cosby Show</i> - made her first public comments regarding the Cosby allegations. Rashad has always seen Cosby as a "kind genius" and she believes the allegations are all a part of an orchestrated attack to destroy Cosby's legacy. Who orchestrated it? She does not know...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
<b>GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
It's extremely possible, I suppose, that Bill Cosby did, indeed, rape over a dozen women. The very fact that so many different women (over a dozen!) have come forward seems to negate the possibility of the allegations being false. Could they all have been paid off as part of an orchestrated attack? That scenario definitely seems far-fetched. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
As for Cosby, the comedian has remained more or less silent regarding the allegations, which also seems to indicate guilt on his part, though he may have just been advised by lawyers to remain silent. So, yes, it's hard to believe that this may just be an "orchestrated" smear campaign against Cosby. Guilt seems likely. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
But despite the fact that Cosby definitely <i>appears</i> to be guilty, it's important to remember that Cosby has not yet been convicted in a court of law, and I suppose he never will be because of the statute of limitations (the alleged rapes took place too long ago for him to ever be charged). Nevertheless, America - with the near-blatant persuasion of the media - has seemed to deliver the verdict all on its own: GUILTY. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">It is indeed troubling to see that a lynch-mob-like mentality has played the role of judge and essentially convicted Cosby without him having been proven guilty in an actual court of law. We see this "court of public opinion" (Keshia Knight Pulliam's words) more and more these days and it's gradually setting a new un-American precedent in our American society that has always viewed a man as being innocent until <i>proven</i> guilty in the court of law.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />America has always prided itself to be a place where a man can always "get his day in court" before being considered guilty of a crime he allegedly committed. But today it seems like a man (or woman) is presumed guilty once the media has decided that they want the person to be guilty. It's almost like the media has hijacked the American judicial system - they are the court and they are the judge and they deliver whatever verdict will get them more viewers and readers.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Now, it's bad enough when the media recklessly ruins a man's legacy by making him look guilty, but it's even worse when there are actual tangible punishments that result from the media's verdicts. Feeling the pressure from the media, television networks like NBC and other production companies like Netflix have consequently punished Cosby, killing the projects they were developing with the comedian. The University of Massachusetts has also decided to cut ties with Cosby, asking him to step down from his position as honorary co-chairman of a fundraising campaign. Granted, he's an old guy, but I'm sure he will continue to lose opportunities as more time goes by, which isn't really fair. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Ruining a legacy is one thing, but when there are tangible punishments for allegations that have never even been proven to be true in a court of law, a very bad precedent has been set for America as a whole. Basically, more and more people will continue to be tried and punished in the court of 'media opinion' and whatever happens in a regular court will gradually become irrelevant. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
While it's true that - in the case of Cosby - he's basically unable to be tried in actual court because of the statute of limitations, his punishments still help fuel this 'guilty until proven innocent' precedent that has recently been working itself deeper and deeper into the American mentality. Over time, this new precedent will completely undermine everything America has always stood for: a place where a man is <i>innocent</i> until he is proven guilty in a fair trial by an unbiased jury.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<b>DIVIDE AND CONQUER</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
One thing I find very interesting - if not outright suspicious - about the Bill Cosby allegations is the timing of it all. Most of the allegations came out shortly before the Michael Brown/Eric Garner riots.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
There have been hushed whispers for years regarding Bill Cosby and his alleged rapes, but the rumors have always been silenced and swept under the carpet...that is, until now. Ex-supermodel Janice Dickinson, one of Cosby's alleged victims, supposedly tried to write about her rape in a memoir she published years ago - however, lawyers supposedly jumped in and made her omit the Bill Cosby chapter before final publication. Her allegations were swept under the rug...that is, until now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What I'm getting at is that I don't think the timing of these overly-hyped rape allegations is at all coincidental. </span><span style="font-size: large;">Timing is always important when it comes to unveiling BIG NEWS events. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Let's put the Cosby allegations aside for a moment and take a look at the timing involved with the Michael Brown riots in Ferguson. Why do you think the grand jury waited until 9:30 at night to announce that Officer Darren Wilson - the cop responsible for killing Brown - would NOT be indicted for the killing? Because 'somebody' out there wanted to maximize the potential for rioting. If they didn't want rioting, they would've wisely waited until the morning to make the announcement since riots rarely take place in broad daylight.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />But who was the 'somebody' behind this perfect timing for the riots? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Perhaps Ferguson was a contrived media event. Maybe the media wanted to capture all the rioting on tape, exploit it to the fullest and transform it into a spectator sport for their audiences. But maybe pointing the finger at the media isn't pointing it far enough. Maybe it was actually our government that wanted the rioting and they were basically puppeteering the media to serve its agenda. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Why would the government want the rioting? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Maybe to just simply perpetuate the racial polarization in America. Maybe they knew the rioting/looting (which was arguable instigated by the media) would make the blacks - already angry at whites - look like fools so that whites would look at them with loathing and say "what fools!" and the racial divide would consequently get wider and wider. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
But why would the government want a wider racial divide? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
For more control. As the old saying goes, before you can conquer, you must divide. A divided America is a powerless America. There is only power in the people when they unite. A powerless populace won't be able to rise up and initiate any radical change that will get in the way of whatever the government would rather be doing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
So, yes, timing is everything and I don't think it's any coincidence that the Bill Cosby allegations became BIG NEWS right around the same time of the racial rioting taking place all across America. Bill Cosby - America's favorite black man, loved by whites, blacks, everybody - has turned out to be a sexual monster?! What kind of psychological effect does that have on America? Well, when a model citizen in the black community turns out to be a sex monster, it makes the black community as a whole look...well, monstrous. The loathing amongst races consequently gets fueled and the racial divide widens to an even greater extent. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
So take Bill Cosby, throw in Ferguson and then the Eric Garner killing in New York...oh, and then add in a black man named Ismaaiyl Brinsley executing two police officers in Brooklyn...and, before you know it, the racial divide is bigger than it's been since the Jim Crow days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
<br />
<b>DIVIDE THE RACES? CHECK. DIVIDE THE SEXES?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The Bill Cosby allegations as a media event was unique from other racially-divisive events like Ferguson because it actually killed - not one - but TWO birds with one stone. Not only did the allegations ultimately assist in further dividing the races, but they also served to divide the sexes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Along with all the current racial tension in America, there has undoubtedly been much tension amongst males and females of late. It was only a month or two ago that a feminist-fueled video went viral on YouTube. The video followed a young woman around with a hidden camera and documented all the cat-calls she received from NY men while she meandered her way through the streets of Manhattan. The video was seen as an eye-opening outrage even though it was edited in a way so that it seemed like every single man in the world was a misogynistic horn-dog.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Around the same time that the cat-calling video went viral, a <i>Rolling Stone</i> article came out about a college gang-rape that took place at a University of Virginia frat house. The victim was a girl named Jackie and she claimed to have been gang-raped by seven different college males. UVA apparently tried to sweep the allegations under the rug when Jackie first came forward about the rape, which made the whole story much more of an outrage. However, weeks after <i>Rolling Stone</i> published the story, more and more evidence started emerging that seemed to question the veracity of Jackie's story. It appeared that her gang-rape allegations may have been fabricated, or at least embellished. <i>Rolling Stone</i> consequently tried to distance itself from the story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Even more recently, Kaley Cuoco - from the show "Big Bang Theory" - was publicly persecuted for supposedly making anti-feminist comments in a recent <i>Redbook Magazine</i> article. Cuoco simply said something about how she enjoyed coming home from a long day at work and "serving her husband" in the form of making dinner for him. She said the process of "serving him" helped relax her and wind her down. This whole idea of "serving the husband" was seen as offensive to America's feminists. Even though she insisted that many of her comments were taken out of context, Cuoco still made a public apology, insisting it was never her intention to offend any women out there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Don't get me wrong: it's DEFINITELY true that women are not treated equally or very fairly in our society. And I don't want to make it look like I'm belittling the rape stories either. Rape definitely happens all the time and male misogyny is a very big problem in America - I witness it all the time, just in my everyday life. But all these stories about rapes and cat-calling and celebrity anti-feminists have all seemed to be unveiled in conjunction with the racially-divisive news stories and I do feel that pitting the sexes against each other is another way our government (via the media) is trying to divide the American people.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
If you really think about it, if somebody really wanted to divide a population, the most effective way to do it would be a) through race, especially when it comes to blacks and whites, and then b) through gender. These are the easiest ways to divide because they are the most visually and physically-apparent and also because they establish a clear-cut, fifty-fifty polarization, meaning it essentially splits the human population into two equal halves. Blacks on one side, whites on the other. Males on one side, females on the other. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Of course, an absolute fifty-fifty polarization of the human population based on race and gender will never happen, and the government knows this will never happen even though they would see this as ideal. However, as far as the government is concerned, the more division there is, the better. The wider the racial divide becomes and the wider the gender divide becomes, the easier it will be for the established government to remain in power, prevent unification of the masses and prevent any kind of revolt/revolution. As the government has clearly become more and more dysfunctional over the years, it's all the more important to keep people divided, basically so that they can't unite to the point of being able to do anything about it. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
Division is really the ultimate goal for any government that wants to solidify and perpetuate its power, especially a desperate government that knows how dysfunctional, inept and corrupt it has become. Big news events like the Cosby allegations that seem purposely built up to be BIG NEWS (if not outright orchestrated to be BIG NEWS) help assist with this division agenda. Not only do the Cosby allegations help divide the races, but they also help divide the genders - it is a perfect news event for maximizing polarization in the human population.</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-42003639310953238092014-12-30T18:46:00.001-08:002015-01-22T18:21:10.202-08:00AirAsia: The Distraction of the Week<span style="font-size: large;">Another commercial airliner has mysteriously disappeared without much of a trace. This time, it's AirAsia flight 8501 and it mysteriously vanished somewhere over (or under) the Java Sea while en route to Singapore </span><span style="font-size: large;">after a departure from Surabaya, Indonesia</span><span style="font-size: large;">. The disappearance of the plane is eerily reminiscent of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that mysteriously disappeared in the Indian ocean en route to Beijing last March.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just as the Sony hack story has basically fizzled out (read my article on the Sony hack <a href="http://theburnzopapers.blogspot.com/2014/12/the-sony-hacking.html">HERE</a>), here we are with another BIG NEWS story to keep our minds occupied for maybe another week or two. This missing airline story is merely an extension of a continuing trend of BIG NEWS: f</span><span style="font-size: large;">irst it was the Malaysia flight 370 in March, then Isis started taking over the news, then ebola, then the Bill Cosby allegations, next was Michael Brown and the Ferguson riots, then a CIA torture report, the Sony hack...and, now, just as the whole Sony story has fizzled out, another airliner has gone missing, a story that kind of acts as a sequel to the Malaysian flight disappearance last March. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The missing Malaysian flight successfully distracted the public for a good month, if not more. Maybe the AirAsia story will do the same.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">We are living in an era of BIG news, much of which seems to be purposely built up into big news, if not outright manufactured. It's like there's a news machine out there grinding out the big news stories to keep us glued to the Hi-Def televisions and the Internet blogs. It seems like as soon as one big news story fizzles out and the public loses interest, another big news story is waiting on deck, ready to step up to the plate. I do not believe this is a coincidence. I believe much of this news is being manufactured in a calculated way.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Is this a media conspiracy? Are media corporations building up/feeding into (if not outright manufacturing) these big news events for the purpose of engaging viewers and readers? After all, the bigger the news story, the more clicks blogs will get and the more viewers will be glued to CNN/FOX/CNBC/ABC News etc. Maybe it's simply all about the ad revenue.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Or is this a government conspiracy? Perhaps the government is distracting us from more important issues...like how dysfunctional Congress is and how broken our current political system is. Maybe the more we hold a magnifying glass up to mysterious plane disappearances, celebrity scandals and racial riots, the less we hold a magnifying glass up to a dysfunctional government. Maybe they want to divert our attention away from shady government creations like the NSA or scandals like in Benghazi or maybe government failures like Detroit's bankruptcy, who knows? Or perhaps they're just trying to prevent us from revolting. Politicians want to hold on to their cushy paychecks and positions of power, not to mention their (empty) prestige. The last thing they want is for people to organize and start a revolution. Therefore, it's best to keep the people's eyes focused on something else - anything but them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But maybe it's not even about distracting us from the government's ineptitude and shadiness. Maybe 'somebody out there' - a malevolent alien race? the devil himself? - simply wants to distract us from ourselves, our lives and what's really important in our lives. Maybe the more time we spend outside ourselves - worrying about certain big news events or being outraged by them or simply just analyzing them to death - the less time we spend inside of ourselves, nourishing and cultivating our inner souls wherein may lie something spiritual that is most important of all.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Maybe this is all a part of a great war against God, or if you're not a believer in God, <i>spirituality...</i>or, to use an even more non-religious term, <i>positive energy</i>. The more time we fear and loathe as a reaction to BIG NEWS, the less time we spend tuned into higher energetic frequencies, like joy and love and creativity, the very vibrations that bring us closer to and harmonious with "God".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">So next time there is a big news event that almost seems scripted, kind of like it's right out of a movie. Ask yourself:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What do they not want me to see? Maybe they're simply trying to get ad revenue or wagging the dog away from our inept and corrupt government. Or maybe it's something much more simple. Maybe there is a dark force out there simply trying to drown ourselves in the low energetic frequencies of negativity - fear and loathing - keep us distracted and outside ourselves, keep us extrospective (this may be a word I just made up) - constantly focused on the outside world - when we should really be introspectively concentrating on our inner selves, souls, the direct plug-in to the higher energetic frequencies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The higher frequencies are most important. We must not be distracted by the lower frequencies. The lower frequencies are like computer malware on our souls. They slow us down and eventually paralyze us. They keep us from living up to our most excellent potential.</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-6558931723083148642014-12-26T22:16:00.000-08:002015-01-02T19:55:30.778-08:00THE NEWS DOES SEEM TO SLEEP<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><b>THE NEWS DOES SEEM TO SLEEP</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by matt burns</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />I've been trying to keep up with it all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every day is something big and huge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's all coming at me so fast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I finally catch up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And stay on top of it all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I'm really proud of myself for it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Then Christmas comes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I scour the news sites</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I scour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And I scour</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there's hardly anything</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's not only a slow news day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there's hardly any news to speak of</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel a void</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was apparently addicted to being on top of the news</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's nothing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Curious it is</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That there only seems to be big news in the world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the news people are on the clock</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And they're around to report it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And make it into BIG NEWS</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />When the news people are on a holiday</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So isn't the news, it seems</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thus, maybe the news only exists</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When the news people are around to fuel it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Build it up</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or maybe even manufacture it</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />If there's nobody around to report on that tree falling in the forest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Does it actually still make a noise?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Why don't we just take the news people away</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That way the news can sleep every day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will be no more crashing of trees in the world's forest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The world will have less noise</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Quiet down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And peace will be restored</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />World peace can be realized</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Simply by ridding the world of the news people</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-91488717626824261802014-12-21T17:27:00.000-08:002015-01-22T18:21:29.694-08:00The Sony Hack: An Attack Against the 1st Amendment<span style="font-size: large;">Sony Pictures has decided not to release their film "The Interview" in any shape or form after receiving threats from a computer hacking group known as the "Guardians of Peace". The FBI has supposedly traced the group back to North Korea.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Much of Hollywood is outraged by Sony's move. Even President Obama wasn't supportive of the decision, saying that we can't allow ourselves to submit to the threats of foreign dictators. Shelving the film will set a new precedent, he says.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sony, on the other hand, stands by their decision for now. They felt like they were between a rock and a hard place. They didn't want to be a company responsible for releasing a film that initiated a 9/11-style terrorist attack. This wouldn't be good for the company image and its overall business.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">While most people are outraged at N. Korea, I've tried to remain objective, mainly because the whole story sounds a little fishy to me, perhaps maybe even contrived. In fact, it kind of sounds like a plot to a movie, which is ironic since this all started with...well, a movie, "The Interview".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My first issue is with the FBI. I no longer believe anything the FBI says. All you have to do is read about Whitey Bulger and you will at least find the FBI extremely shady, if not completely corrupt. They are a mafia. They cannot always be trusted. So if the FBI says that N. Korea is behind this, I am skeptical. They simply don't have a good history of telling the truth.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the FBI wouldn't lie unless they had a hidden agenda, right? Right, and there very well could be a hidden agenda that seems to be successfully eluding the mainstream press, not to mention George Clooney, Ben Stiller and other Hollywood figures who have expressed outrage at Sony's decision. </span><span style="font-size: large;">What I'm getting at here is that I think the Sony hacking could possibly be a manufactured event, possibly by our own government, or at least a shady faction of our government under the guise of GOP, 'Guardians of Peace'. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">As Obama stated, Sony's decision to shelve their film will set a new precedent, but this precedent has little to do with us being more submissive to foreign dictators - it has more to do with the 1st amendment and the subsequent destruction of that amendment. Sony's decision to shelve "The Interview" will potentially initiate a continuing trend of censorship. Everybody in Hollywood is going to start thinking twice before they express themselves freely, especially on a political level.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Think about it: if you're a powerful Hollywood studio like Sony spending millions and millions of dollars on a movie, are you going to keep making politically edgy films that may initiate a terrorist threat/attack only to have to shelve it before exhibition? Or are you going to play it a little safer? Make a very non-political 'popcorn movie' that doesn't get too edgy? Yes, you're probably going to play it safe and make the watered-down, passive popcorn movie. It's too big of a business risk if you go the other route.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"Playing it safe" is what (I believe) 'somebody' out there wants us to do more of and the Sony hack/threats will likely initiate this trend. I do believe this 'somebody' could possibly be our government or, like I said before, some faction within our own government. Maybe the GOP (the acronym for 'Guardians of Peace') really is the GOP, meaning the Republican party, or at least a more extremist faction of the Republican party. Maybe the identity of this shadowy terror group is in plain sight. Who knows? And I'm not trying to knock Republicans. Most Republicans are good people. Same with Democrats. However, certain factions within both parties are extreme and wacko. They are hungry for power and control.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">Of course, there's definitely no proof that our own 'government' (or any faction within) is behind any of this, but that's not what's important. </span><span style="font-size: large;">What IS important is that we acknowledge that this Sony hack could very well be an extension of a more general ongoing attack against our Constitution. This attack started after 9/11 with the Patriot Act. Then, over the recent years, the second amendment has been under attack - the right to bear arms has been blamed for school shootings while the real culprit seems to be mental illness (assuming that the shootings aren't, themselves, manufactured events). </span><span style="font-size: large;">After the Boston Marathon bombing, there was an attack on the fourth amendment. The whole town of Watertown, MA. was in lock-down and people allowed each and every one of their homes to be searched without probable cause. People were complacent because an external threat had been created (Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was on the loose). Then, the NSA conveniently came out of the woodwork within a month of the Boston bombings. The NSA said it was reading everybody's emails and listening to phone calls. They were saying that they had the power to prevent future attacks like what happened in Boston. The fear of more marathon bombings seemed to justify the need for what they were doing and the American freedoms they were infringing upon.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now the attack on the Constitution has been taken to the next level and has implanted a new precedent that may ultimately snowball and eat away at the 1st amendment ever-so-gradually. Slowly, but surely.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Just today, another hacking group called "Anonymous" has supposedly threatened the popular singer Iggy Azalea because she Tweeted some unpopular comments regarding the Michael Brown and Eric Garner protests. 'Anonymous' threatened that - unless the singer made a public apology - they would release a sex tape that Iggy allegedly made a while back. They would also release unsavory pictures of her. They claimed to have "so much on her" that they could ruin her career worse than Bill Cosby's recent demise.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Who is 'Anonymous'? Nobody really knows. But it's very possible they're another faction of our own government, or maybe the same faction, just under another guise...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">With these kinds of threats happening, every celebrity out there will be afraid to speak their mind. </span><span style="font-size: large;">They'll be too afraid because it may initiate some sort of retaliation from these anonymous cyber hackers, whoever they are. They may have their emails hacked (like in the case of Sony people), personal photos hacked, videos and other information. There may even be outright terrorist threats either against them or people they care about.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">If celebrities stop speaking their minds, ordinary Americans will start doing the same. Since we all look up to celebrities and emulate them whether on a conscious or subconscious level, sooner or later we're going to do what the celebrities do and keep our mouths shut. There will be no more political opinion. No more dissent. No more questioning of anything. No more free thought or expression whatsoever...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">A world where movie producers, celebrities and ordinary Americans are always playing it safe is not a good world to be living in.</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-31832375458794868032014-12-08T21:00:00.000-08:002014-12-21T17:21:02.784-08:00Bill Cosby and the CIA Torture Report<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A poem I wrote in reaction to the Bill Cosby rape allegations, the CIA torture report, Ferguson riots, ebola, Eric Garner etc.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>THE SERGEANT BARKING IN MY FACE</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by matt burns</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Isis</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ebola</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bill Cosby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ferguson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">CIA torture report</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's after that?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back to Isis again?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isis is pissed and retaliates?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every day something new</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can’t keep track of it all</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hard to follow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hard to educate myself</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As soon as I get a grip on one current event</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another one happens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And when I barely get a grip on that</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There’s another one</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And another</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like working the conveyor belt in an assembly line</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you’re not quick enough</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You’ll fall behind</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And everything will just</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whizz</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The “news” today is a Drill Sergeant</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shouting in my face</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One trending topic after another</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Assaulting my senses</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I feel disorientation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My head’s spinning</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So much that</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm paralyzed with overstimulation</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And sensory overload </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To the point where I’m confused</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stunned</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Numb</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And more easily malleable</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Easier to control</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like with a Marine in bootcamp</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The point is to break me down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So that I easily take my orders</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because I've lost my grip on what the hell's going on in reality</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I look for the government via the media to dictate it to me</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't understand anything that's going on</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm confused</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just tell me what I need to do</span></span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-30609162221929010462014-12-03T15:54:00.000-08:002014-12-21T17:21:02.782-08:00FERGUSON, EBOLA, ISIS, OH MY<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A poem I wrote in reaction to such current events as Ferguson, Isis and ebola...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PSYCHOKINESIS</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by matt burns</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boiling fears</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And loathings</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fester in our subconscious</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And fester</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And fester</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some people say</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These repressed energies manifest themselves</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Physically</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the outer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Three-dimensional world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And cause actual physical events</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So when you watch the Reality TV with all the </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jersey bro-dudes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the Hollywood Hillbillies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the Honey Boobies</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Honey Boobies’ mom was dating a sex offender?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cancel the show!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And you read the blogs about the “celebutards”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And see Kim Kardashian’s big, greasy ass on a magazine cover</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then come all the scandals</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bill Cosby</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">America’s favorite dad</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A rapist?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Disillusioned we are</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And enraged we all get!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we watch the news</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And there’s</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isis</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ebola</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then comes Fergusonola</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">White cops shooting blacks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Black criminals looting </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Burning down stores</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beating down whites!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then comes Staten Island</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another black strangled by a cop</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No indictment</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Civil war imminent?!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The media makes us take a side</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Are you with the cops?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or with the blacks?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fear the cops!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fear the blacks!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They pit us against each other</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Go and protest!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Polarized we become</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And divided we rot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can’t unite and get anything done</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Frustration</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rage!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And collectively…</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The negative energy</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In each and every one of us</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Psychokinetically</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Manifests itself</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As more negative energy in the world</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And more bad events happen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bad weather – superstorms, quakes, tornados, floods!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bad disease</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">More bad Kardashian photos</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(Kourtney just posed preggo and naked)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Disgusting</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So gross!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the media reports on these events</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And we get even more loathing </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And more fear</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the negative collective consciousness</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Psychokinetically</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Manifests more negative events in the world</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s a perpetual cycle of negativity</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A snowball effect</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A guarantee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That there will be constant fear</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And loathing</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Absolute hell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For all eternity</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a great, epic war out there</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not good vs. evil</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But positivity vs. negativity</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Negative energy wants to win</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But will we let it?</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-36953730090916001292014-11-25T17:00:00.000-08:002014-12-21T17:21:02.787-08:00Ferguson Riots<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">CNN news anchor to one of the Ferguson small business owners whose store burnt down last night:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Anchor: Aren't you angry?!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Owner: Just glad I'm safe and my family's safe. Materials are small stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Anchor: If I was you I would be enraged!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Owner: It's sad, but life will go on. Just glad my family's safe. The Lord is good. I pray all is peaceful tonight.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">The anchor is clearly trying to rile him up and stir the pot, polarize and instigate more drama than there needs to be. She's basically trying to breed more loathing and feed the endless cycle of hatred while the owner is taking the high road and opting instead for peace and forgiveness.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Anchor: Well, again, so sorry for the loss of your business. (Turns to camera). We have to go to a break right now but stay with us...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What she's really saying?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Anchor: That's enough from you, Sir. I hope you don't mind us taking a break so we can profit off of your misfortune.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While I was watching the coverage (last night especially) I couldn't believe how often both CNN and FOX News cut to commercials as they drooled over the images of fires. These networks should be donating their profits to the small business owners in Ferguson if they're truly 'sorry for the loss'. Insurance will only do so much and these entrepreneurs won't be earning anything from their businesses in the meantime. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Part of the reason why there was so much destruction last night was because there were so many news cameras around and the rioters/looters felt obligated to give the cameras what they were drooling for. The news people and camera people were, in a way, the real instigators and agitators.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Rioters: Well, by the looks of all these drama-thirsty camera people running around, I guess they're expecting us to do SOMETHING. I guess we're supposed to burn down stores or something...break windows and stuff. Guess we better get drunk first, though. Let's get at it...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Camera People: Come on now. Remember Florence/Normandie during the LA Riots?! Ya got big shoes to fill here. Give it to us!</span>Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8077741757056751890.post-30438733109052832842014-09-15T15:45:00.000-07:002014-12-21T17:21:02.779-08:00ISIS<div class="p1">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQPPAB_7xPBox6UjVj4MhU710qqv32E1Spqt8ux5trO1rK4G2a944fDPaQZEWuQvgrFGfwMsmhNsqM1VPKflMe9pyFp1DH35bi5sXnwJss9VsXl9h-M8kERUo07T5s1Xdl1FV962jPSBo/s1600/the-beast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQPPAB_7xPBox6UjVj4MhU710qqv32E1Spqt8ux5trO1rK4G2a944fDPaQZEWuQvgrFGfwMsmhNsqM1VPKflMe9pyFp1DH35bi5sXnwJss9VsXl9h-M8kERUo07T5s1Xdl1FV962jPSBo/s1600/the-beast.jpg" height="158" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's a poem I wrote in reaction to the ISIS situation...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br />
<i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">“Everyone thinks of changing the world,</span></i></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>but no one thinks of changing himself.”</i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> --Leo Tolstoy</i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ISIS ISIL </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">EEEZEL </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BEEELZE BUB</span></span></b></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">by matt burns</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday it was Al Qaeda</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today it’s Isis</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will always be that threat</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That’s out there somewhere</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The vague beastie lurking somewhere on the island</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Putting fear inside all of us</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And somebody will always exploit that fear</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Lord of the flies</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the Lord will use it to rule us</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Manipulate us</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Control us</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just like those boys on that island</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will always be an external threat</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There always has been</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Always will be</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will never be NO threat</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So what can you do?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Worry all the time?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Or just mind your own business</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Focus on yourself</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And forget about the world</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Lord of the flies is cunning</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He wants us to focus on the world</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pull us out of ourselves</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For a perpetual amount of time</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Focus on the Russians!</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cold war over, now focus on Al Qaeda!</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Al Qaeda’s weakened</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now focus on Isis!</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Isil</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eeeeezel</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beeelze</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bub</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What will the next beastie on the island be after Isis?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will inevitably be one</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One distraction follows the other</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you watch the news</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There seems to be a beastie of the week</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To terrorize us</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everybody thinks about changing the world</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But the world can’t be fully changed</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There will never be total peace out there</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not on our planet</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not within our species</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But there can always be total peace inside you</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Change you</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don’t change the world</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everything on the outside</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Somewhere</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Out there</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All those beasties</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That you hear about</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But never really see…</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s all an illusion</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Created by the Lord of the flies</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To build up fear</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That destroys your insides</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And destroys your soul</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But if you retreat into yourself</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And tune out what’s outside</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fear weakens</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And the Lord loses his power</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And he withers away</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And dies</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Comes</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The world peace</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If there is ever a possibility for world peace</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It’s going to start on the inside</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not on the outside</span></div>
Matt Burnshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12222852431408866952noreply@blogger.com0