No. 95 – July 2, 2011

THE GENOCIDE OF TRUTH

“I always tell the truth; that way I don’t have to remember what I said.”

-Mark Twain-

When I was young, I was taught the story of George Washington cutting down the cherry tree, and then admitting to this indiscretion.

Whether he actually committed this act is up for debate.  What is not up for discussion was the intent of the actual tale – to tell the truth.

I am not talking about simply telling the truth.  What I am referring to is having the courage to tell the truth.

And therein lies the rub.

Americans have lost the courage to tell the truth – and then stand by their principles without flinching.

So, let me give some examples of telling the truth – in print format – and see if any other people have the courage and conviction to state their own concepts of truth in a written manner, via The American Telegraph Blog.

The reason I am doing this is because I have recently received a lot of “private” e-mails that have the implied sense of saying, “This is just between you and me.  If you let on that I said this, I will deny it to the hilt.”

The basic concept of truth – and the courage that it takes to state it – has been systematically put to death in America.

I say, let’s start to tell the truth – and see where it takes us.

So here I go, saying things that are not – Politically Correct – but in fact, the Simple Truth:

I will take our prison system as an example.

Prisoners, in America, get better treatment than regular American citizens – who uphold the law and live by the rules.  Prisoners – murders, rapists, and the like receive:

Free room and board (bed and place to sleep).

Free medical and dental care.

Free TV, education, computers, physical protection and are treated in a fashion not unlike royalty.

But it is not free.  WE THE PEOPLE pay the total cost.

One way to reduce the prison population is to IMMEDIATELY release all first-time (marijuana) drug offenders – and keep all murderers, rapists and child molesters in jail – PERMANENTLY.

All current prisoners now on DEATH ROW should be given the choice:

Live the rest of their lives in prison

or

Take their choice of immediate execution by firing squad (very cheap), hanging (more expensive) or by lethal injection (most expensive).

And, as a side note, doesn’t it seem ludicrously ironic that just before a lethal injection is administered, they swab the area with alcohol, so there is no chance of infection? Is this not the apex of hypocrisy in, and of, itself?

Let the prisoner choose how he will live – or die.  I totally support freedom of choice.

WHITE-COLLAR V. BLUE COLLAR CRIME

This is the biggest travesty of so-called justice in the American system of jurisprudence.  It should be abolished immediately.

There are “resort prisons” all over the country.  Bernie Madoff was miffed because the government did not send him to the prison that he wanted to go to.  Instead, they sent him to one that lacked some of the amenities he had grown accustomed to, like a full tennis court, a full gym, an olympic size swimming pool and a bowling alley.

What the fuck is going on here?

And please don’t cringe when you read that word FUCK.  In the most current issue of The Economist, that word is used not once, but twice, in an article talking about the death of  Brian Haw – a British man who devoted his life to telling the truth – and paid dearly as a consequence.  He was a staunch protestor of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Seems he was right on both counts – as to the lies that were employed during these foolish endeavors.  But that is another story.

It is my opinion that all prisoners be treated exactly the same.  In that sense, people like Bernie Madoff and Rod Blagojevich are put into the same cell as Big Bubba. Word would get out, soon enough, that crime DOES NOT pay.

Speaking of Blagojevich, did anyone care to count the other liars and cheats that have come from his illustrious state of Illinois?

Here are just a few:

George Ryan – Governor from 1999 -2003 – convicted of racketeering for actions as governor and secretary of state – 6 1/2 years in federal prison.

Dan Walker – Governor from 1973-1977 – pleaded guilty to bank fraud – just over a year and a half in federal prison.

Otto Kerner – Governor from 1961-1986 – convicted of bribery – three years in prison.

William G. Straton – Governor from 1953-1961 – income tax evasion – aquitted.

Lennington Small – Governor from 1921-1929 – indicted while in office on embezzlement charges – acquitted.

Orville Hodge  – Auditor – pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the state while in office in the 1950s.  He had two planes, four automobiles and homes in Illinois and Florida.

William Scott – Attorney General from 1969-1980 – convicted of tax fraud – one year in prison.

Dan Rostenkowski – US Representative from 1959-1995 – pleaded guilty to corruption charges – served 17 months in prison – pardoned by Bill Clinton.

Mel Reynolds – US Representative – resigned in 1995 – convicted of misconduct with a 16-yer-old campaign volunteer – served more than two years in prison.  Later convicted on federal wire and bank-fraud charges and sentenced to more than six years in prison. President Clinton commuted the sentence.

SOURCES:  Associated Press; Charles Wheeler, University of Illinois-Springfield; Mike Lawrence and the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute – as published in the WSJ, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, page A3.

Please notice, with reference to the above-mentioned “public servants,” I did not state political party.  Lying is endemic to BOTH parties.

Now, tell me again, what state is President Barack Obama from?  And does he not lie every time he opens his mouth?

But yet, when he was called out – on the floor of the United States Congress for lying to WE THE PEOPLE – by Representative Joe Wilson – the Representative was FORCED to offer an apology by saying it was “spontaneous.”

Lying is lying – and we had better start getting ready to call it EVERY TIME we witness it.  Call it on the spot.  Don’t let it slide.  Challenge the bastards at every turn.  Have courage.  Never back down.

THOU THALT NOT LIE

Ladies and gentlemen, I hate to tell you this, but the above “commandant” is NOT one of the TEN COMMANDMENTS.

The 9th Commandment states that, “Thou shalt not BEAR FALSE WITNESS against thy neighbor.”

Some have tried to interpret this as saying, “Thou shalt not lie,” but that is NOT what the original 9th Commandment said.  It was actually talking about lying against someone else.

So there I was, a young kind in Vacation Bible School, being lied to about lying. Talk about a mind-twister for a 10 year old kid.  And I labored under that misconception for years – until I finally understood what “bearing false witness” really meant.

BUT, the concept of telling a lie was firmly embedded in me – and I have tried like hell to tell the truth ever since.

Does this mean I am a saint?  Absolutely not.  I have lied on numerous occasions – and have gotten into a lot of trouble as a result.

But I finally learned that if you lie, you just paint yourself into a smaller and smaller corner.

Lying doesn’t have as much to do with any “religious concept” as it does to simple survival.

I guarantee that if you lie – sooner or later – you will have to pay a very heavy penatly.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT?

Precisely this.  If your representative is lying to you, call him on it – either personally, in print or at a Town Hall meeting.

Elections are coming in 2012, and, as of yet, WE THE PEOPLE are letting politicians from BOTH sides continue to lie to us.

Didn’t we get sick of OJ Simpson?  What about Casey Anthony?

“The Terminator?”

Larry Craig?

John Edwards?

Governor Stanford?

The list is endless.

Now, please don’t get me wrong.

If Donald Trump steps out on his wife – that is OK with me.

If Bill Gates pulls a quick one on the road, no sweat off OUR backs.

What I am against is PUBLIC OFFICALS pulling this kind of shenanigans – and getting away with it.  WE THE PEOPLE pay their salaries.

However, if they lie and get caught in the act, they go to some “resort compound,” spend a few years, get pardoned and then go on the speaking circuit, write a best-seller, or end up teaching at one of our “esteemed” universities around the country. No wonder kids nowadays think it is “cool” to lie.

Yet, some dumbass white-trash kid, or black guy who didn’t graduate from high school gets caught with a few joints in his possession – and he is locked up for years at a stretch.

Where is the justice in our justice system?

The concept of legalizing marijuana is coming around again.  Give this some thought.

Take all the “prisoners” that are now serving hard-time for drug (marijuana) violations and set them out on immediate parole.

Free up much needed prison space for the REAL criminals – both White and Blue Collar – and throw the proverbial book at THEM.

Lock these sons-of-bitches up for years – not months.

NO PLEA BARGAINING.

And NO PARDONS.

The first place to start with prison reform is to make sure the right criminals are put in jail – and kept there for a very, very long time.

Only then will we start to get real, HONEST public servants back into the system.

Not until then.

JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN

I doubt that many people have ever heard of this man.

And that is a shame.  He was one of the most highly decorated soldiers, and LEADERS, in the history of America.  In 1893 he was awarded the CMH for his feats during his military career.  Few leaders are awarded this highest of honors. Harry Truman once commented that he would gladly trade the American Presidency for the Congressional Medal of Honor.

I often wonder why certain people get all the glory – while those much more deserving – are relegated to the back of the room.

Yet, after reading about this unsung General, it occurred to me why this happens with such frequency.  It seems that Joshua Chamberlain was one who not only was committed to telling the truth – but he was rock-solid in leading his men into combat – FROM THE FRONT.  He is reported to have been wounded six times during his military career.

No wonder, more people don’t know about him.  If a standard like this was set for all LEADERS, there would be very few who could measure up to that level.

The bar or excellence in leadership in America has been lowered to such a point that it is nothing but a joke nowadays.

The Crooks, Connivers, and Charlatans that pose as National Leaders are not only an embarrassment to the Nation – but to the whole World.

I venture to say that if our representatives of today were called upon to lead the country in another American Revolution – we would simply be out of luck.

Many of our “representatives” today have some sort of criminal record.  Does that not astound anyone?

Congressmen and Senators, DUIs, hit-and-runs, shady murders, lying and cheating as a way of life, adultery run amok, spineless leaders sending young men and women into daily combat – with no real plan for VICTORY.

Appeasement, coddling of the enemy, Political Correctness – yes.

But firm, honest leadership with our Country’s best interests at stake?

Not on your life.

And now we have a “president” who has sequestered ALL his personal and “university” records – at the cost of millions of dollars – as our “leader” in the 21st Century.

It is amazing to actually consider what is taking place in America today.

The lies, hypocrisy and sheer COLLUSION of the government and big business is astounding.  We are trading with our ENEMIES – yet pretend to have the best interests of America at heart.

It is all lies.  And it is up to WE THE PEOPLE to call not only our own “president” a liar – but all those, both Democrat and Republican – that are playing the same game as liars, too.

Is it too late?  I don’t think so.  But we are getting precariously close to a tipping point – both here and abroad.

CHINA REVISITED

In my last American Telegraph I wrote about China – and how it was, in no way, to be trusted, with relation to the Communist Chinese Government.

A very good friend of mine, and noted computer expert in the field of international cyber-hacking, sent me an article that he wrote – but was explicitly warned NOT to publish in China – for fear of harsh “official” reprisal.

He asked me if I would print it here for the readers of The American Telegraph.

So, in the spirit of freedom and truth, I have included his article for all to read.  It is a little long, and written in his own personal style.  I had no input whatsoever on this.  All credit, and courage, go to him for taking the time and effort to send this to me – out of China.  It took some doing, but he got it done.

The Article

CYBER-WARFARE: CHINAS’S SECRET WEAPONS

Cyber-warfare is very topical these days with attacks on companies and government organizations featuring heavily in the news. Some may remember that before the arrival of the hacktivists there was, and still is, the problem of state sponsored cyber attacks. Google was brave enough to highlight this when it outed the Chinese government’s activities in attacking its servers.

The current outcry about the hacktivists and the calls for “heads to roll” and “lock them up and throw away the key” rhetoric has obscured the fact, that NOTHING the hacktivists can do can even begin to compare with the scope and scale of state run cyber attacks.

This article is an attempt to get some sense of perspective as to where the real danger lies and, unsurprisingly, it is not from the hacktivists –  for they seek only publicity. The scope of hacktivist attacks is clear and is made public by the hacktivists themselves. There is no secret about what or how they do what they do. In fact, many cyber security firms are delighted that they are forcing companies to finally address major security flaws that they have negligently ignored in the past.

State run cyber-warfare is not so open and its secrets are well hidden. There is little public outcry because the public is unaware of the scope and scale of these attacks. So let’s just take the example of China’s state run cyber-warfare units to illustrate how much is hidden from the public.

China proudly boasts that more than 50,000 people are employed in the maintenance of the “Great Firewall of China” (GFC). Does anyone really think that there are only that many hacktivists? Does anyone believe that they are as tightly coordinated in their activities? And remember this is just the GFC, a public arm of the “Public Security Bureau” (PSB), it is not the military.

The main, but not the only, military unit for cyber-warfare is located in the city of Jinan, in Shandong province. It is the one most often touted as the source of China’s attacks but it’s only a small part of the total. If 50, 000 people can be employed publicly by the PSB, how many do you think are employed secretly by the “People’s Liberation Army” (PLA)? Keep in mind that the Chinese military numbers 2,285,000 active duty, 800,000 reserve and 1,500,000 paramilitary personnel for a total of over 4,500,000 people.

If this is not enough, also keep in mind that western technology companies, such as CISCO, provide the equipment to power the GFC.

In the rush to capitalise on the Chinese market, Western companies have played straight into the hands of the PLA.

Take Microsoft for example.

How many of you know that as a condition of allowing Microsoft to sell its software in China, that Microsoft must give the source code of its operating systems and software to the PLA? People worry about the dangers of “zero day exploits” and hackers stealing source code, yet no-one worries about the PLA using its access to Microsoft’s code to hack our systems!?

It is also worth remembering that Microsoft has to provide the code for patches as well, not just the base code. They MUST keep the PLA fully updated if they want to sell products in China.

But the problem runs deeper.

The PLA and the PSB monitor all Chinese citizens by the use of a very popular piece of social networking software called ‘QQ’ (pronounced Choo Choo). It contains backdoor Viruses, Trojans and Worms which can only be detected using Western antivirus software because, of course, Chinese antivirus software reports that ‘QQ’ is “squeaky clean.”

Right now you may be tempted to say:

“SO WHAT!?”

“Who cares if the Chinese want to spy on the Chinese?”

“No skin off my nose!”

The reason it should concern you, it that it is the overlooked secret weapon of the Chinese government.

Have you ever heard the term Botnet used when the news mentions the activities of cyber-criminals? A Botnet is millions of PCs tied together through the use of the same malware included in QQ.  It gives the controller the equivalent of thousands of supercomputers to use at one time.

Grids such as SETI and Einstein do this legally, with the users consent, to create supercomputing grids that enable them to process huge amounts of data in physics (Einstein) or to scan the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

The power of these distribution systems, when used legitimately, is enormous. But if they are used illegitimately (a Botnet) they are extremely difficult to block for the very reason that they are DISTRIBUTED. There is not just one target to block, but millions of them, and all of them are physically separated.

The Chinese have a NATIONAL BOTNET. It is directly controlled and administered by the PLA for cyber-warfare, and used domestically by the PSB for internal security.

This weapon of the Chinese is not given enough weight, as most people think of it as simply “Chinese spying on Chinese” – but it is much more than that. If the hacktivist kids playing with their toys worry you, then you should panic when you think of the cyber-warfare capabilities of the Chinese.

And all of this is safely hidden behind the “Great Firewall of China”, courtesy of CISCO, while Microsoft has kindly given them the key to most of the world’s computers.

They can attack from behind the safety of their GFC, while freedom loving societies are left wide open through the short-sighted, profit driven, nearsightedness of our own companies.

And you thought selling iron to the Japanese prior to the Second World War was stupid.

Food for thought, isn’t it?

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

From July 1st to July 3rd, 1863, the Battle of Gettysburg was fought in Pennsylvania, and is considered to be the turning point of the American Civil War.

The actual amount of dead and wounded are in discrepancy to this very day, however it is agreed that this three day battle, killed and wound more soldiers on BOTH sides, than any other battle in American history.

And this is the site upon which President Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address, ending with, “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

When we consider the tremendous sacrifices laid down – on both sides of this horrific war – it serves as a reminder to us all, how much blood and treasure has been given in the “making” of this great nation we call the United States of America.

Let me close by saying, we have the best years AHEAD of us.

We are a nation without equal.  This, however, does not mean we are better – just uniquely more prepared than most, to give a dream of freedom – THE AMERICAN DREAM – to every  man, woman and child on the face of this Earth – no matter what their race, religion, creed or color happens to be.

Having lived abroad for over a quarter century, I often witnessed people who spoke of America in nothing but glowing terms.  Their eyes would seem to sparkle when they said they wanted to go to America to be “free.”

In no other country did I feel this expressed desire more than from my terrific students in the “People’s” Republic of China.

Americans who were born and raised in this country have no idea how lucky they really are.

The American Dream lives on – but it is up to WE THE PEOPLE to make sure that dream is never extinguished.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY.

Keep thinking positive.

Only 497 days until November 6, 2012.  Hope FOR Change!

Lawrence Klepinger
Editor/Publisher
THE AMERICAN TELEGRAPH