THE BURNZO PAPERS now available on AMAZON!

THE BURNZO PAPERS 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 HERE.

INTRODUCTION

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.

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.

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 The Rum Diaries). 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 The Gonzo Papers.

“The Burnzo Papers” is still an active blog as I write this in 2017 (click HERE to visit the blog) but I decided to compile my articles into a book like Thompson did with Gonzo Papers and this book is what you’re reading right now.

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.

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 Military Industrial Complex, which President Eisenhower famously warned us about in his 1961 farewell address.

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.

The military industrial complex also spreads its warmongering via the powerful mind-control instrument that is the media. The corporate-owned media 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 HERE), 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:

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.

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.

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.

Enjoy!

Matt Burns
Boston, MA.
January 31, 2017

Purchase THE BURNZO PAPERS for only 99 cents on AMAZON.

The Bill Cosby Rape Allegations

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.

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 The Cosby Show - 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."

And, just yesterday, Phylicia Rashad - the actress who played Mrs. Huxtable on The Cosby Show - 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...


GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT

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. 

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. 

But despite the fact that Cosby definitely appears 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. 

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 proven guilty in the court of law.

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.

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. 

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. 

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 innocent until he is proven guilty in a fair trial by an unbiased jury.



DIVIDE AND CONQUER

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.

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. 

What I'm getting at is that I don't think the timing of these overly-hyped rape allegations is at all coincidental. Timing is always important when it comes to unveiling BIG NEWS events. 

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.

But who was the 'somebody' behind this perfect timing for the riots? 

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. 

Why would the government want the rioting? 

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. 

But why would the government want a wider racial divide? 

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.

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. 

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.


DIVIDE THE RACES? CHECK. DIVIDE THE SEXES?

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.

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.

Around the same time that the cat-calling video went viral, a Rolling Stone 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 Rolling Stone 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. Rolling Stone consequently tried to distance itself from the story.

Even more recently, Kaley Cuoco - from the show "Big Bang Theory" - was publicly persecuted for supposedly making anti-feminist comments in a recent Redbook Magazine 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.

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.

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. 

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. 

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.