AMTV News: Russia Deploys Warships to Syria

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

This is AMTV News, I’m your host Topher Morrison.  Today is Wednesday July 11^th 2012.

If it bleeds it leads…

Russian Warships to Maneuver Near Syria

New York Times

Bashar al-Assad looks like he has a new pitbull.  Protecting its last ally in the Middle East, but most importantly its access to the Mediterranean Russia is sending a flotilla of 11 Russian warships, capable of c arrying hundreds of marines to dock in the ancient port of Tartus.  It is a clear message to the region and the US backing rebel forces in Syria.  Washington is predictably mum, but with poker faces aplenty is it call or check?

Next…

Obama EO Grants Authority to Seize Private Communication Facilities

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Obama has done what the people’s congress could not last year because of public protest.  His order grants new powers to the Department of Homeland Security, most importantly, the power to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications.  Reasoning Washington needs “at all times and under all circumstances to carry out its most critical and time sensitive missions.” Seems like a one-way street.

Here’s something interesting…

Like 3D?  Imagine 6!

Before It’s News

In the latest from the people who found God in a subatomic particle, the Higgs Boson, comes a new experiment called ATLAS.  The megaminds at CERN using their Large Hydron Collider believe they can view three more dimensions beyond what humans can perceive.  Major surpises are yet on the horizon and possibly even more questions.

Next…

Lone Star State Top Pick for Business

CNBC

On the heels of news that every state with a Republican governor saw reductions in unemployment, Texas is lauded as the best state in America to do business in.  Receiving high marks in CNBC’s grading rubric for infrastructure, tech and innovation, the third lowest cost of living, access to capital all while recovering from a severe economic slump last year.  Get er done!

This is getting ridiculous…

Pentagon Considers Awarding Medals to Drone Pilots

Glenn Greenwald

The military’s gamers, sorry… drone pilots might wear flight suits to work, but they don’t need them.  Spying on weddings, sorry… children…err enemy combatants thousands of miles away from harm sipping on Monster is hardly valorous so why is the Pentagon glorifying ridding a joystick?  Want to award our fearless flyers?  How about a new Nintendo Wii and call it a day?

This is going to get weird…

The Islamist Pyramid Scheme

Washington Times

That’s right the Arab Spring may have just been a plan to install a pyramid scheme that is to say – destroy the Great Pyramids of Giza.  Recent islamist electoral victories throughout the region have spurred the less than reasonable to accomplish what Amr bin al-As, Egypt’s Muslim conqueror, could not in 640 AD.  This week alone 16 ancient mausoleums were ransacked in Mali, viral video showed the Taliban stoning women again and who doesn’t remember the 1,500-year-old Buddah they razed in 2001?  Time to guard the wonders of the world.

Catch my latest choice headlines on AMTV News Monday – Friday at AMTV Media and catch our in depth commentary and analysis of stories like these at GreeneWave.com part of the AMTV network.

Banes of Our Existence, a Political Cartoon

Topher Morrison

PurpleSerf.com

Original political cartoon by Michael Ramirez as seen on Real Clear Politics.

"FALSE PARADIGM" is added by Topher Morrison.

You ever wish political cartoons would be a little more balanced?  Wish they would stop browbeating a false paradigm while feigning comedy?  Above is an original cartoon by Michael Ramirez. Below is my enhanced version.

As seen through the patented objectivity lens of Topher Morrison

Newt is Right, Time to Shoot The Moon!

 

            Newt Gingrich’s bold new idea, recently revealed at a stump speech in Florida, of seeding the Moon with American astro-colonists is actually not all that crazy.  What is crazy is asking taxpayers to continue to spearhead space exploration for another 53 years; on this point he is as usual – wrong.

In last night’s Jacksonville debate, former Governor Mitt Romney seemed to agree, I know Ron Paul does.  Romney, however, merely saw a golden opportunity to mock Newt for his outlandish idea and to weigh in on it as a former businessman:

“If I had a business executive come to me and say I want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I’d say: ‘You’re fired!’” Romney boasted.

Only one problem, there are a lot of businessmen whom disagree with the former Bain Capital CEO.  Evidently Romney doesn’t know mitt about interstellar business.

Sir Walter Branson founder of Virgin galactic has kind of a knack for creating value and he sees a lot of it in space.  For example, Branson just completed the world’s first international spaceport in New Mexico and will soon shuttle wealthy space enthusiasts into low earth orbit. 

Virgin Galactic isn’t the only celestial startup, Bigelow Aerospace of North Las Vegas, Nevada aims to create orbiting luxury hotels and SpaceX has developed one of the first operational private space capsules called the Dragon.  For a surprising list of private space companies and their ideas for the future look, here.

            Newt’s reason for bringing up a moon base makes a lot of sense.  Evidently Florida’s Space Coast, a community heavily reliant on high tech spending, is hurting more than the rest of the country, treading water at 12% unemployment.  While I’m not necessarily a fan of some of Planet Newt’s ideas namely his love affair with geoengineering, what he refers to as “cheap” market-based approaches to anthropogenic climate change, he might be getting warm on this one.

            It is time to emancipate the U.S. from the U.N. “Space Treaty” we signed in 1967 in the midst of the Cold War and explore the final frontier!  Why can’t start colonizing the moon under a “northwest ordinance” and reignite the idea of manifest destiny?  Why can’t the moon be our 51^st state?  Are we to extend the same concept to the entire cosmos?  Do we have to become One World before we step off this rock?  If we wait there is a lot to lose.

            Gingrich wrote a pretty straightforward book a few years back: Drill Here, Drill Now.  In that vein Newt is for once consistent, a Moon base would be a colossal job creator.  NASA, however, probably shouldn’t build it even though they’re in talks with Russia for a joint venture to do so.  If Florida’s Space Coast want’s jobs they’ll find it in companies like Shackelton Energy Co. which seeks to extricate fuels like plutonium-238 and helium-3 by transforming the moon into a interstellar gas station.  Gingrich should write another book after he loses the election: Drill There, Drill Soon.

            Barack Obama deserves some kudos too.  Although Obama receives his due ration of ridicule I would like to thank him for ending the space shuttle program as it was because he highlighted for Americans the fact we don’t need government to be inventive, curious, or passionate when it comes to space travel.  When everyone was afraid we’d be hitch hiking on Russian and Chinese ships I said Goodbye NASA, Hello Space Age.  Finally the monkey is off our back.  Private companies might not be in it “For the Benefit of All” as goes the NASA motto, but their work will benefit all.

The Spirit of 1776 in 2011

Topher Morrison
PurpleSerf.com

"Spirit of '76" by Archibald Willard

Image Source: The Post Mail

"Spirit of 2011" by Milt Priggee

Happy 4th of July America!  We have so much to celebrate here in the land of the free and home of the brave don't we?  Then why does this 4th seem to ring a little hollow?  Sure, family and friends are abundant, fireworks large and small are anxiously awaiting a match, BBQs are being meticulously cleaned and loaded with charcoal, the red white and blue adorn every fixture, and libations await to conduct the entire affair. 

America is 235 years old today, but what will the next 200 years bring?  The next 100?  If the last 10 years can provide us with a reasonable trajectory one could arguably predict a rough road ahead.  From a metastasizing national security apparatus and 4 foreign wars to an economy on life support and massive debt we find ourselves in a uniquely precarious situation.  This Independence Day may also ring especially hollow for over a quarter of Americans who can't quite put their finger on who we declared independence from, let alone for what reasons. 

This may seem shocking to you, but it is true!  What is equally true is that most Americans have forgotten that our independence was not just from Great Britain, but from its oppressive government.  We fought a war, you know killing people with armies, in order to free ourselves from its tyrannical systems.  Let me be clear, King George III and his government were by no means herding our forbearers into concentration camps or enslaving colonists for work in hard labor, lack of representation and one too many taxes was all it took for us to start ending the lives of British soldiers.  This is representative of how greatly our forefathers cherished our inalienable rights and liberties and how little they would tolerate others trampling over them.  

In the last 10 years we have seen exponential growth in government under both parties, Republicans and Democrats.  Our systems of governance have verifiably broken down under the "silent artillery of time", through the purposeful dismantling of constitutional safeguards, and the ensconcing of aberrant and unelected agencies (i.e. the National Security Agency (NSA) and the Federal Reserve, two inherently mischievous and unconstitutional bodies) amidst our free society.  This multitude of vulnerable governmental entities is incalculable enabling powerful interests to easily penetrate the halls of democracy and usurp regulatory posts via the hordes of private influence mercenaries known as lobbyists.   

At every turn we pay through taxes to be searched, stopped, fondled, monitored, and categorized by these supposed departments of freedom.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its loyal dog the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the domestic equivalent of our foreign legions.  While our troops are away fighting unending warfare in numerous countries, known and unknown, the Pentagon has grown, here at home, a grossly self serving and powerful private intelligence and R&D community who's ultimate obsession is with the literal manufacture of not only weapons and war technology, but also the bogeymen to fight them with.  

Meanwhile, our economy struggles.  It is laden with regulation, taxes, over 20% unemployment, and operated under the new paradigm of crony capitalism our government has been put in the position of picking the winners and losers instead of the objective and invisible hand of the free market.  Bad firms with their worse ideas and antiquated business models are kept afloat by the largesse of government intervention creating a tempestuous business environment where instead of investing money in growing brands and hiring new workers companies cautiously hoard cash and ship jobs overseas. 

What will it take for today's Americans to rise up and say enough is enough?  According to our Founders they knew the tendency of most nations throughout history is to roll over and submit to tyranny and governmental overreach, but as far as our founders were concerned Americans are duty bound to abolish and reestablish a new and more free government!

"...Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." - Declaration of Independence

Aside from our charge as individuals to be vigilant in our mission of freedom, the Declaration of Independence is nonpareil in one important aspect, it was the first document ever referred to as a declaration of independence.  It is this singular document, this public example (not our armies), which over the last 235 years has recreated the world in our image, that is to say, has turned the world from a static amalgam of empires into a dynamic juxtapositional collage of independent nation states.  While nations have attempted to grow their power and influence by invading and/or attempting to control other countries through various vehicles causing much war and tumult this world of independents is still thankfully the status quo.  It however may not always be so.   

The growing role of the United Nations threatens to throw America and the rest of the world back into the dark ages with regard to decentralized independent control of our nations and their peoples.  Regardless of the intoxicating prospects of perpetual peace envisaged by the UN's proponents it nonetheless is a superstructure with the incredible potential for apocalyptic failure. 

Real peace is achieved through the free market of governments, the right of free humanity to emigrate to wherever they may find the most happiness.  The question this 4th of July is: is America still that destination and if we are not, how do we restore our Republic?