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Take the kindest, gentlest, pet dog, stamp on its foot with all your might, and it’ll turn round and try to bite you. It’s a reaction. The animal doesn’t think – it reacts. It’s what animals do when they’re subjected to pain, or fear. A dog that develops a sudden belly ache may well try to bite at its own stomach.

The instinctive urge to turn on those we believe don’t act in our best interests is still prevalent among human beings. Yet Homo sapiens is able to overcome this instinctive reaction; it has an ability not given to lower animals – the power of cognitive response.

Response is vastly superior to reaction. It involves the use of conscious thought processes. Reaction is entirely instinctive, any brain involvement being on a purely autonomic level. Unlike a dog, when Homo sapiens reacts to a situation that causes it pain, or fear, it usually manifests in the emotional form known as ‘revenge’.

It was to this superior power of cognitive response that Jesus of Nazareth eluded when he staggered his disciples by telling them, “Love thine enemies.” To the Jews of that time, living under the sword of Rome, sworn to banish the invaders from the Holy Land, he must have seemed crazy. But Jesus preached love. He realized there was no future for mankind while one nation was constantly trying to annihilate another out of some vague sense of self-righteous revenge.

At no time was this demonstrated more starkly than immediately following the events of 9/11/2001, when the vengeful blood-lust of American citizenry completely blocked out the love and compassion emanating from all corners of the globe. Instead, a mass wave of negative vengeful emotion sanctioned the US government’s razing of an innocent Middle East nation; one that had nothing whatever to do with the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon

Genuine diplomacy, an ability to care about and comprehend the other’s viewpoint and by so doing reach an amicable arrangement, was what Jesus of Nazareth meant when he commanded his followers to, “Turn the other cheek.”

Wikileaks website owner, Julian Assange, appears the latest victim of vengeful reaction, but whether or not the accusations of rape have any basis in truth, or, more likely, are an undercover attempt to silence Assange, the apparent reactions of certain high-profile, right-wing, politicians to the latest Wikileaks revelations are not what they seem. They are, in fact, carefully considered, cognitive, responses designed to appear reactive.

Newt Gingrich, (himself hardly ‘without sin’), has called for the hunting down and execution of Assange, as has Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum, and “Christian” Pastor Mike Huckabee.^{[1] [2]}

While initially this may appear reaction rather than response, it must be remembered that all four are politicians with an eye to the presidency in 2012. Their aim is to secure support from voters. Projecting such, apparently, reactive opinions into the public arena is no more than a deliberate attempt to stir up the same nationalistic, combative, fervor that prevailed after 9/11.

Strangely, all these high-profile individuals publicize themselves as ardent followers of that same Jesus of Nazareth whose teachings advocated ‘turning the other cheek’. However, that is merely another result of their own cognitive responses. In a nation that salves its conscience by the advocacy of a decidedly warped form of Christianity, no politician will make career progress by declaring himself, or herself, other than a fervent member of that faith.

The aim of all four politicals is to head a national blood-lust against Assange that will create for them mythical leadership qualities capable of propelling one of them into the White House. Personal gain is the ultimate reward, rather than any concern for national security.

Meanwhile, Mr & Mrs John Doe have yet to prove whether their Christianity is as warped as that of their leaders, or indeed, if their brains are more evolved than that of a domestic pet dog.

^{[1] “Gingrich: Assange an ‘enemy combatant’ but fault is Obama’s” RawStory, December 5th 2010}

^{[2] “Palin: Assange should be hunted like a terrorist” The First Post, December 1st 2010}

Filed under: Manipulating the masses

“The fact is governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us and not because they think we can keep secrets.” ~ US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, November 29th 2010.

If the publication of ‘secret’ cables by Wikileaks this week proves anything at all, it’s that our leaders are a bunch of immature children with no better view of the real world than the five years olds they seem determined to emulate.

But, then, most of us knew that already.

It doesn’t take a certificate from Mensa to work out that the cossetted upbringing and lack of parental control so typical of the overly-privileged American family, coupled with places at universities bought rather than earned, hardly endows an average diplomat with the ability to know anything other than the narrow field of indoctrination bestowed on him by his inadequate education.

Is it any wonder they spend their time sending silly messages, labeling the president of Iran, “Hitler”, and suggesting Gadafi is ‘having it off’ with his nurse?

More concerning, is a US government that will hand out seventy year jail sentences for those who dare to hack into its computer systems^[1] while merrily hacking into everyone else’s, and stealing private data from all and sundry, including such an august official as the UN Secretary-General, himself, Ban Ki-moon.

In an attempt to close Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, Slovenia is offered ‘a chance to meet with President Obama’ if they are willing to take one of the prisoners. It sounds uncannily like a TV quiz show prize.

The South Pacific island nation of Kiribati is offered ‘millions of dollars’ if it will take Guantanamo prisoners, while Brussels is told it could be “a low-cost way for Belgium to attain prominence in Europe”.

When CIA agents snatched a German citizen in Macedonia in 2004, wrongly assuming him to be an al Qaeda member, US diplomats went to great lengths dissuading Germany from issuing international arrest warrants against the agents. Not that it was blackmail. The US diplomats merely “pointed out that our intention was not to threaten Germany, but rather to urge that the German government weigh carefully at every step of the way the implications for relations with the US”.

When faced with the consequences of this behavior, politicians, old admirals and other brass-dangling military men lumber out of the political woodwork muttering on the irresponsibility of those publishing these facts, and how ‘it could well cost American lives’.

From White House spokesman, Robert Gibb:

“To be clear — such disclosures put at risk our diplomats, intelligence professionals, and people around the world who come to the United States for assistance in promoting democracy and open government.

By releasing stolen and classified documents, WikiLeaks has put at risk not only the cause of human rights but also the lives and work of these individuals. We condemn in the strongest terms the unauthorized disclosure of classified documents and sensitive national security information.”

Oh, please! And what of all those who came to the White House for assistance in suppressing democracy and open government, and got that assistance?

The leaked cables implicate plenty of those, too.

The scenario portrays an overweight, self-serving, school bully believing he has the power and weight to push everyone else around. Yes, he has the biggest catapult, and a baseball bat inside his jacket, but the area between his ears is devoid of all but a low animal cunning. It’s this that makes him so dangerous.

I could be describing the US political system today.

But, then, most of us knew that already.

^{[1] Wikipedia – Gary McKinnon}

Filed under: Open-ing government

My family doctor’s office now charges $500 an hour. Regular readers may remember a visit I made there in September. I related how it’s now controlled by a Catholic company, the ‘Holy Shit Holy Shit Medical Group’.^[1]

This morning I received a bill for the visit. I now know how the company got its name. After opening the envelope, I exclaimed, “Holy Shit!”

It read, “Office visit – est 15 mins – $124.”

That’s $496 an hour – and that was only to see the practice nurse!

Two weeks ago I had my annual check up with the cardiologist at the local hospital. They demanded twenty dollars as soon as I entered the waiting room. When I queried this absurdity I was told, “All co-pays must be paid upfront now. It’s a rule of the hospital.”

But, what about the poor, I thought? Then I remembered. There are no poor people in America. There’s only the middle class.

That must be why America refuses to negotiate with North Korea. There are no middle class – only the elite and peasants. Despite the entreaties of China and the other three nations that make up the ‘six party talks’, America is refusing to return to the negotiating table until Kim Jong-il gives up his nuclear ambitions.

Not surprisingly, Kim isn’t keen to do as America insists. Every so often he wipes Uncle Sam’s face in the mud by a display of defiance that leaves the US more frustrated than before. Last week it was a grand display of its latest nuclear technology, especially laid on for a party of American scientists. They came home flabbergasted, with tales of an Iranian-like capability.

Today, we hear how US ally, South Korea, had its ears singed when military maneuvers got too close to North Korean territory. Kim Jong-il ordered his military to open fire with real shells.^[2]

It really is time the United States stopped trying to rule the world. They’re hardly Mister Pickwick. Nothing succeeds like talking to people, and that is as true with Kim Jong-il as anyone else. China knows it; Russia knows it; in fact, the whole world knows it, apart from that particular section of the North American continent controlled from the White House.

The real truth is America doesn’t want to talk. It wants to invade. It deliberately takes an aggressive stance against other nations, then provokes a stand-off when the other side refuses to comply. Right now, the US is waiting the opportunity to take on Iran militarily, and it would love to march into North Korea and overturn the ruling elite there.

Sadly for the US warmongers, South Korea stands in the way. Any warlike intent on America’s part would provoke a huge military response from the North against the South, and Kim Jong-il likely has the capability to demolish Seoul before US bombers could even get a sniff of Pyongyang.

It’s also unlikely any US invasion would produce cheers and whoops of approval from North Korean citizens, unlike those Iraqis foolish enough to welcome the invasion of their country, little realizing what horrors it would bring them.

Kim Jong-il’s people are even more heavily brainwashed than their US counterparts. They’d fight to the death in support of their dictator, even if they hated him.

Of course, if America ever manages a successful invasion of North Korea, life would drastically improve for the citizenry. They’d all immediately become middle class.

Though, they still couldn’t afford to visit the doctor’s office.

^{[1] “Getting Healed By Jesus” Sparrow Chat, September 30th 2010}

^{[2] “South Korea warns North of ‘enormous retaliation’ after attack” Guardian, November 23rd 2010}

Filed under: Middle class, medical and military