Julian Assange – champion of Freedom and Transparency


The Assange case exposes the common trumping of justice by power and politics

In the contemporary world very few things make me at all proud of being Australian. However, the fact that Julian Assange is a country man of mine and from the state where I live, is one of those few. For years he and Wikileaks, the organisation he founded, have strived to expose gross wrongdoing and corruption on the part of governments, worldwide. Unfortunately, such wrongdoing and corruption is the norm rather than the exception. Unsurprisingly, the targets of these attacks use any and all methods to strike back.

julian-assange

The very recent UN judgement that Assange’s predicament is a form of detention, unfair, unreasonable and a violation of human rights cannot but be seen as a substantive vindication of the justice of his cause. His fear of being extradited to the USA and receiving a massive judicial punishment for his whistle blowing activities can hardly be viewed as unreasonable or unfounded. One of the Wikileaks informants, Bradley Manning, is currently serving a massively lengthy jail sentence in that country.

The fact that the United Kingdom and Sweden are currently ignoring this UN judgement is also less than surprising. Both countries (as is Australia for that matter) are heavily leveraged by the USA’s power base and situation. They simply dare not challenge the government of the USA on this question as they would have too much to lose. Additionally, I can’t imagine any governments that would enjoy their secrets being exposed by Wikileaks. Corruption and abuse of power is so much the norm that it is probably the major reason that humanity is rather quickly descending into a gloomy and miserable future. The USA may be bad enough but the governments of Russia and China are probably much worse. Undoubtedly, they would be hot on Assange’s trail if he had managed to expose their darkest malfeasances. If that had been the case he may not have even been alive now.

It is becoming obvious that, around the world, ordinary honest people are becoming increasingly marginalised and finding it more difficult to simply survive. Fewer and fewer champions of any semblance of decency are to be found.

Anonymous

Organisations such as Anonymous, appear to be largely noble minded rather than self-serving. All over the world, most politicians are commonly viewed as feeding at the trough at our expense. The few admirable ones seem to support the adage that the exception proves the rule. Of course, part of the human condition involves imperfection and inconsistency. Politicians may sometimes act for the common good and then return to the old habits. Also, the better world leaders are often constrained by the undesirable powers behind them. It may well be the case that personally, Barrack Obama, would like to publicly abandon any pursuit of Assange. However, this is simply not possible. Obama hasn’t thus far safeguarded his improvements to the US health system and has made almost no headway in gun control. Mind you, fear of governments and politicians has probably contributed to the resistance about changes to the Second Amendment.

donald trump

Despite his outrageous and populist statements Donald Trump has done very well so far in the presidential race. In all likelihood this success comes down to two facts. Firstly, he is NOT a politician (so far). Secondly, he is using his own money to fund his campaign.

In a non-politically correct world Julian Assange might be accused of having attractive females representing him as legal counsel.

Assange lawyer

Since this is a politically correct word, except in so far as justice and honesty are concerned, Jennifer Robinson’s looks are entirely irrelevant to the whole Assange question. Likewise, any other female spokespersons who act on his behalf cannot be considered on any other grounds than their integrity and ability.

In all probability the old allegations of sexual misconduct originating from the Swedish Prosecutor’s office are anything but fair and reasonable. Increasingly the entire Assange case looks like a case of a corrupt and powerful Goliath attempting to squash a little ‘David’.

The whole Assange case and its ramifications for World powers exposes the most alarming of situations. Although terrorist organisations such as ISIS, ISIL, Daish, Islamic State or whatever they call themselves are quite apparently grossly barbaric and driven by a lunatic ideology, they have one thing going for them. The blindingly obvious corruption of the majority of governments around the world, and particularly over the Middle East, fuels support for any entity that is standing and fighting these governments. Under current circumstances any organisation challenging the world status quo would receive wide support amongst the impressionable young particularly. Given ISIS’s skilful use of social media as a way of sidestepping the world’s power base their hitherto success in attracting foreign fighters is hardly surprising.

Islamic state

Bombs and warfare alone will not put Syria, Libya, Iraq and much of the world back in order. To regain public support and belief the world powers must reform their own houses first. Chasing Julian Assange and other whistle blowers to the ends of the earth is hardly the way to do this!

Islam, virgins, alcohol, hajibs, bourkas, jihadis and terrorists


Paris, the Koran, fear and violence

In the light of yesterday’s Islamic State terrorist attacks in Paris the vast majority of people are asking, “How can such monsters hide behind a religion?”

Having read the Koran (in English) from cover to cover I can make a number of comments with some knowledge. The Koran, it seems to me, is even more based on the premises of fear and vengeance than the Bible’s Old Testament, and that book is bad enough. Islam, as expressed through the Koran, as a religion that is based on fear (despite the fact that it claims predestination – everything is determined or arranged and nobody can change the outcome willed by God)
is such that I personally would not follow it, on principle, even if I believed that it was absolutely true! I would prefer to be damned into their hell and retain a modicum of self-respect.

The element of and use of fear is the only connection that I can see between the Koran and the present day Jihadi terrorists. The Koran does not advocate Jihad, other than in defence against direct [violent] attacks on the believers. Likewise, there is no mention of bourkas and hajibs. There is even no prohibition on the consumption of alcohol. At one point the prophet makes a remark that those that drink would like the wine available.
Amongst its almost endless repetition of paradise being a garden of flowing streams with all manner of goodness, fruits and other consumption the Koran does mention that the believers will be seated with bright-eyed maidens in paradise. I am not sure what the female believers were supposed to be seated with. The endless repetition of the Islamic holy book also includes endless repetition of the description of hell – endless fire and pain, endless thirst with nothing to drink that will not make the thirst worse. Cynics might say that it is a prophesy about global warming, but one that will only take place after death.

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I will admit that there are other writings followed by Muslims. These recount the words and actions of the prophet and those of his immediate followers. These writings may contain bans on alcohol along with many other things [I haven’t yet read them] but they are only the words of Muhammed and his followers. THEY ARE NOT CLAIMED TO BE THE WORDS OF GOD (Allah) and are thus not eligible to be considered “inspired.”
From my reading of the Koran I can see that a lot of its words are somewhat vague, both in Arabic and in translations. Perhaps this vagueness is what the Jihadi extremists are using to advocate their vicious view of life and death. Nonetheless it is amazing that this all powerful Allah cannot make entirely clear revelations. Likewise it is unbelievable that the Jihadi terrorists think that they need to kill, destroy or do anything! Their all-powerful god surely is quite capable of taking any necessary retribution and acts of violence by himself. The Koran itself, is full of examples of God taking destruction to historical disbelievers.

While the Koran itself does contain a healthy respect for death (we all die) and some decent values – helping the poor, honouring parents etc. etc. to me it seems to be the work of a warlord (possibly schizophrenic) who came up with these “revelations” to cement his power base and frighten adversaries. It is notable that amongst the prophet’s contemporary opponents were some of his own immediate relatives. (Koran)

The question that begs is this: “Would so many impressionable young people join this violent and abhorrent nihilism if the power brokers (and many of the leaders) of both the Middle East and the entire world were not so obviously corrupt, self-serving and short-sighted?

Perhaps some of the appeal of the Islamic State is that is NOT a country or a nation. Impressionable and naïve young folk might imagine that it is devoid of the corruption endemic in the world powers. In reality such corruption seems to part and parcel of the human condition.

Brownout – 666 portreys the doom of humanity


Watch this short and quirky video to learn more.

To see Philippine bar life see the clip below

 

Are the ever-increasing financial complexities of the contemporary world destroying your peace of mind?


Time and money are becoming increasingly intertwined and more difficult to manage.

logo-MISS-19991

If you are over 40 you may well remember the days when most goods and services had a roughly standard price. Technology was comparatively in its infancy and life could be lived within relatively simple human equations. Work may have been arduous enough but retirement was a realistic goal with a comfortable pension or superannuation to see you through your old age.

we gambled you pay

The world has changed in a blink of an eye. People are forced to gamble with their retirement incomes by choosing safe, moderate or aggressive portfolio investments. The ordinary man is forced to make extraordinary and difficult choices. The wrong choice will condemn him or her to miserable twilight years or early extinction.

bagain hunting

Even the simplest of tasks such as shopping now involve considerable intellectual endeavour. Prices for items or services vary wildly from one outlet to the next and sensible purchasing involves extra research and time. As well as traditional stores there are now thousands of online ones. Except for the wealthy few, choices for all purchases from food to big-ticket items are matters of vital importance. The weekly grocery shop involves looking constantly for specials and only buying those. In all probability, the price of a special is what the price of the item should be in any case.
Simple financial survival in the day-to-day world is becoming an increasing headache. The countless advertisements bombarding us further damage our equilibrium. We are continually told that brand X sports drink will save us from dehydration and damage, while in truth simple tap water will do just as well for all but the most extreme of athletes and even then it is a toss-up.
The very vitamins that we used to intake with a healthy balanced diet are now being marketed to us at a high price as a “must have” if we are to avoid ill-health.

Murdoch

The web of lies, disinformation and complexity doesn’t end there. Politicians bend the truth with increasing alacrity and the mass media are ready to support their chosen ones with all sorts of distortions. The unfettered support of the Murdoch Empire for Australia’s Abbott government beggars belief. To see past all this spin that threatens our own and our children’s existence requires a considerable effort and time on our part in doing our own research. It is now no longer sufficient to read a newspaper and believe that we are basically receiving facts and truth. Now it is necessary to search countless sources, including social media, to arrive at reasonable conclusions.

Ha Internet

Life appears to be becoming more complex by the minute. Let’s just hope we are all close to being geniuses and can accomplish all the tasks required of us in record time. If that is not the case something big will have to give. It will either be the excesses of capitalism or own wellbeing if not actual survival. On every front from intellectual, to economic, the world is becoming one categorically divided into winners and losers. Mind you, if the environment goes, everyone and thing will be a bigtime loser.

 

Establishing a colony on Mars: an attempt to save the human race from probable extinction? Do world authorities know something that we don’t?


Mars One colony1Mar15

[http://www.mars-one.com/mission]

The Mars One project is an ambitious endeavour to establish a permanent colony on Mars. It is backed by a truly international but non-government consortium, composed of an eclectic mix of academics, scientists, engineers and others in various capacities.

“In 2011 Bas Lansdorp and Arno Wielders lay the foundation of the Mars One mission plan. Discussion meetings are held with potential suppliers of aerospace components in USA, Canada, Italy and United Kingdom. Mission architecture, budgets and timelines are solidified from feedback of supplier engineers and business developers. A baseline design for a mission of permanent human settlement on Mars achievable with existing technology is the result.”

Between 2013 and 2015 the extensive process of potential astronaut selection was launched. Hundreds of thousands of applications were received from volunteers for this one way journey. Presently the field of applicants has been narrowed down to 100 and will be finally reduced to 24 although there will be a pool of suitable replacements if needed. Funding for this venture ranges from donations to crowd funding and other economic generation borne of the digital age.

“The global search has begun for the first humans to set foot on Mars and make it their home. In an extensive training period, candidates will learn the skills they will need on Mars and on their journey there. The combined skill set of each astronaut team member will cover a very wide range of disciplines. In 1000 years, everyone on Earth will still remember who the first humans on Mars were. More than 200,000 men and women from around the world responded to the first call for astronauts”.

Meet the Mars 100 short video. This video suggest that humankind must expand its horizons and needs more ‘living” room.

The web site of the Mars One project describes this adventurous mission as the next great leap forward in space exploration and likely the biggest one of the century. Nowhere is there the faintest suggestion that the establishment of a colony on Mars might be a backup plan to prevent the extinction of the human race. Yet one wonders, do the academic authorities and other leaders know something that we don’t? We are all aware of the dangers of climate change if we don’t get our act together in a hurry. Likewise, the overpopulation of humanity and the aging of that population pose horrendous problems.

Perhaps the brightest minds, along with our planet’s rulers, have come to a quiet realisation that Earth is doomed and that the human population is an odds-on bet to become extinct, along with many other species. It is perfectly possible that climate change and global warming have already reached the tipping point and that conditions here are rapidly tending from the troublesome to the catastrophic.

The Mars One web site outlines how various cargo and satellite missions will take place over the next decade and how the basic material construction of the colony will be accomplished before the arrival of the first colonists in 2024. Succeeding missions will see further such very small scale human migration until a compact but entirely self-sustaining community is in operation.

It all makes perfect sense and in all probability is a very good idea. However, if a calamity causes the extinction of humanity on earth it is these few colonists on Mars whose procreation will enable the survival of our species. The project’s selection criteria are centred round finding colonists who are able to make the arduous trip and cope with life in such a harsh environment. I hesitate to use a label for these people such as type A or type B personalities but one thing is for sure. They are not going to be representative of a cross section of humanity. They are going to be highly specialised (in the personality sense as well as in regard to abilities) group. Mind you, considering what our species as a whole has done to the earth this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The selection of the strongest and brightest could well be what certain historical figures aimed at in the last century without having to eliminate the rest. Nature may well eliminate all remaining humans on our planet!

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John Richard Spencer, Australia

John has had much multicultural experience due to marriage, teaching, travel and years of living in the Philippines and other parts of Asia, has taught English in Australian high schools and overseas, has driven taxis in Sydney and on the Gold Coast, and has also personally visited and researched the U.S. and U.K. locations featured in the novel. His published work has included article-length pieces of fiction and non-fiction. Much of the non-fiction has been travel and business related (including a considerable amount in David Koch financial publications). His work has been published in Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Zimbabwe and the U.S. John has published a novel, Brownout – 666, as an eBook that is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc. Brownout is a romantic/political/social and crime suspense novel of 131,443 words with strong love/sex themes as well as legal action. It deals with life in the Philippines as well as the dark side of the political and social elite who rule the planet from their bases in the USA and other nations. – See more at: http://www.creativityandpower.com/

Want to be rich for a day or a month?


How to experience the sensation of being wealthy.
Most of us complain from time to time that we are having a tough go of it financially in this life. We may occasionally glance at the trappings of wealth displayed by others with a hint of wistful longing. Almost all of us, at some time or other, have remarked that we would like to be rich for a week or so just to see what the experience is like.

The good news is that wealth is relative. If you were a millionaire living in a village entirely populated, apart from yourself, with billionaires you would undoubtedly feel impoverished. The sensation of feeling abundantly wealthy in a material sense derives from comparisons with others. Therefore it is perfectly possible for an ordinary person to temporarily experience a life of relative wealth.

The way to do this is to take a vacation to another country that has a much lower standard of living and a favourable exchange rate for one’s home currency. Quite apart from areas of natural, social and cultural interest such a destination will instantly offer the traveller a personal situation of newfound riches. Goods and services that hitherto were beyond reach are now easily attainable. The visitor can enjoy upmarket accommodation, gourmet restaurants, stunning entertainment and the purchase of luxury goods at bargain rates.
If a little voice in your head cried, “There must be a catch!” you are right. In this land with a much lower standard of living you may find that standards of personal security and safety are much lower than that which you are used to, but not necessarily so. Perhaps the risk of theft or even personal attack is greater in this destination. In any case this would be a valid portion of the experience of being rich. In most nations the wealthy find it necessary to protect their possessions and even their personal safety with more rigorous security than do the rest of us.

Of course, the lucky, or well researched, traveller who finds a low cost destination with little crime risk is much more likely to have a thoroughly enjoyable holiday. However your vacation pans out you will have had the experience of being rich for a day, a week or a month! No longer will you have to exclaim in conversations at dinner parties, “I’d just like to try being rich!”

Artificial Intelligence – the way forward or precursor to the doom of humanity?


dreamtimemachinesJARRGP06

Photo from dreamtime.com

Don’t think of the brilliant Steven Spielberg movie with all of its predictions and pathos. Scientists and engineers in the field are widely claiming that already the learning capacity of machines is equivalent to that of an insect brain. Furthermore, they are claiming that in accordance with Moore’s law (technological advance roughly doubles every 18 months or so) by 2030 the intelligence and learning capacity of A.I. will exceed humans. While the use of algorithms is already quite advanced within narrow ranges, it is the capacity of artificial “brains” to learn by themselves and acquire values and opinions that is both tremendously exciting and frightening.

A superintelligent machine would be useful for its ability to find plans that its programmers never imagined to identify shortcuts that they never noticed or considered. That capability is a double-edged sword:

a machine that is extraordinarily effective at achieving its goals might have unexpected negative side effects, as in the case of robotic laboratories damaging the biosphere. There is no simple fix: a superintelligent system would need to learn detailed information about what is and isn’t considered valuable, and be motivated by this knowledge, in order to safely solve even simple tasks.

[The Value Learning Problem Nate Soares Machine Intelligence Research Institute, nate@intelligence.org]

AI brain

Photo from dailysciencejournal.com

Soares’ concern doesn’t even mention the possibility that such machines may acquire the value of satisfying their own issues of well-being before considering those of humanity or anything else. After all that is precisely what our species has done and why the planet’s ecosystem is on the verge of collapse. Would such super intelligent examples of artificial intelligence be likely to challenge the human race as in the Terminator movies? Given the advantages and risks to ourselves of continued development in this sphere should we continue with it? That is somewhat of a hypothetical question since, throughout history, humanity has never erred on the side of caution. If something can be done, it surely will. The development of artificial intelligence will continue regardless of cost or risk. This habit of our species is unstoppable regardless of whether new discoveries will prove positive or catastrophically negative.

Adam Conner-Simons describes how results of tests that were run showed that assembly line workers actually preferred a robot boss to a human one. In all likelihood this preference is a result of the machine boss not possessing the emotions, including favouritism and prejudice, so often exhibited by the human variety.

[Adam Conner-Simons | CSAIL August 21, 2014]

AI Human like

Photo from bipb.com

Yet the unstoppable increase in machine intelligence presumably will result in A.I. that experiences something akin to human emotions and value judgements. Will workers be happy to take orders from these more advanced bosses? In short, when the rise of machines reaches a certain but unknown point will they possess the same weaknesses and shortcomings (in terms of emotions – including selfishness and greed) as humans but with a huge technical superiority?

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John Richard Spencer, Australia

John has had much multicultural experience due to marriage, teaching, travel and years of living in the Philippines and other parts of Asia, has taught English in Australian high schools and overseas, has driven taxis in Sydney and on the Gold Coast, and has also personally visited and researched the U.S. and U.K. locations featured in the novel. His published work has included article-length pieces of fiction and non-fiction. Much of the non-fiction has been travel and business related (including a considerable amount in David Koch financial publications). His work has been published in Australia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Zimbabwe and the U.S. John has published a novel, Brownout – 666, as an eBook that is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc. Brownout is a romantic/political/social and crime suspense novel of 131,443 words with strong love/sex themes as well as legal action. It deals with life in the Philippines as well as the dark side of the political and social elite who rule the planet from their bases in the USA and other nations. – See more at: http://www.creativityandpower.com/

Were Nazi Economics the Real Cause of WW II?


 

 

 

alfred rosenberg

In his “Myth of the Twentieth Century” Alfred Rosenberg stated the essence of Nazi economics. He declared that capital was nothing more than the value of stored labor. In short, the Nazis saw capital as the savings, put away for the future, of the fruits of labor, honestly earned. They did not approve of the capitalistic system of the present world, where the rich get richer (without work) and the poor get poorer (with more and more work). Despite the various crimes of the Third Reich their economic policy was second to none. They achieved a balance between capital and labor that, not only made sense but was also fair. Some elements of the Nazi party, including the Strasser brothers, wanted to outright ban any unearned income, whatsoever, apart from pensions.
Despite being reduced to an economic ruin after WW I, the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression, Hitler’s Germany performed an economic miracle in less than five years. It was the first country in the world to fully emerge from the depression. Economically, it was the envy of most of the world. The world’s bankers (both Jewish and non-Jewish) were not as pleased by Germany’s brilliant progress as it threatened their world of usury and huge, easy profits. If other countries followed in the steps of Germany the banking behemoth would lose much of its ill-gotten wealth and power. The halls of gross capitalism may well have been felled forever. Apart from Hitler’s words in Mein Kampf and those of Rosenberg, there are a number of sources that suggest that a formidable banking and economic group did their best not only to keep WW I going and assist the demise of the Kaiser’s Germany but also to bring about WW II. This group of virtual illuminati wanted at all costs to keep the world’s dollar and borrowing systems going and were behind a worldwide Jewish boycott of Germany’s trade goods early on in the Third Reich.
[Adolph Hitler, The Greatest Story Never Told – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=adolf+hitler+the+greatest+story+never+told+part+1%5D Although some parts of this 27 part documentary are not very convincing others make a profound statement and refer to facts that are quite verifiable. This is particularly the case with its assertion that Nazi Germany’s economic miracle may well have been a prime cause of WW II.

In terms of economic fairness and consideration for the environment the defeat of the Nazis has seen no improvement for mankind and the other creatures who inhabit this planet. The GFC of 2008 was a product of the same global economic powers that the National Socialists railed against all those years ago. The greed and shortsightedness of the mega wealthy and powerful has not only caused misery for billions but is also now threatening the very fabric and survival of our world.
If you like my posts consider purchasing my novel, Brownout – 666, available as an eBook for less than $4. Go to http://www.creativityandpower.com and click on books/releases.