The underlying theme of this blog is to help foster understanding of the world around us, each other and bridging the gap between consciousness (i.e. how we feel, what we think etc) and how we express ourselves.
Life is a struggle for understanding, of ourselves, the world around us and each other.
In this blog you will find news, politics, philosophy, sociology, music, poetry and more.
It is sometimes said that the best music isn't the most popular. After listening to this underrated track, you might understand why some people say that. Emily Barker is an obscure singer/song-writer from Australia whose music has been featured as the theme for BBC's 'Wallander' and 'The Shadow Line' dramas. Her style is mixture of the Americana and Folk categories with a hint of Country-esque texture.
'Disappear' features a unique take on the aforementioned styles, and blends them together marvelously. The sound of it manifests a sense of valor that is almost reminiscent of a pirate sailing the seas, while at the same time promoting the unmistakable feeling of being present at a calm but aging English pub. The rhythm and lyrical delivery demonstrate mastery that I would say is almost unparalleled by any artist I've ever heard. However, the true genius, in my opinion, comes in with the lyricism. Her lyricism is wise and clever, with excellent use of metaphors, symbolism and story-telling.
She tells a story of someone who has had bad experience or bad luck when it comes to love. Someone who, according to Emily, can only manage to mess things up. This is causing internal distress, and is making the person want to run away, or disappear, from the aim of cupid's arrow.
Due to a lack of widespread fan base, there are not a lot of videos up on YouTube. The original track can be heard here. If you follow that link, you'll also be able to read the lyrics if you scroll down a little.
What you are about to read will change the way you see the government. The following information will open your eyes to the power of corruption and greed. You will realize that the last 3 presidents (including Obama) are guilty of treason for being implicit in protecting an 'ally' that has direct ties to the 9/11 attacks on American soil and terrorism. Ex-POTUS Bush Jr. is especially guilty of treason for betraying the American people by bringing this country to war in Iraq where the death toll surpassed a million (including thousands of American soldiers) while protecting an enemy. His administration had knowingly blocked information that would have implicated Saudi Arabia in the 9/11 attacks.
"Real revolution starts at learning. If you are not angry, you are not paying attention." - Tim McIlrath
You are about to learn exactly what that means.
The 29 Pages & It's Contents
A little background before proceeding. Shortly after the attacks on 9/11, Congress launched an investigation into the terrorist attacks. The Joint Inquiry on the 9/11 investigation began to uncover a lot of information about the nature of the attacks, who was involved, and how they accomplished what they did. The FBI, which conducted the actual investigation for the Inquiry, experienced push-back from the Bush administration and was complicit in redacting damning information pertaining to Saudi Arabia's government involvement and connections to the 9/11 attacks in the official public reports. The information that was especially implicating of Saudi involvement was gathered up and classified by the Bush administration, and those classified pages are known as the 28 (really 29) pages. On July 15, 2016, the information was finally released to the public (right in time for Congress to go on their 2 month recess of course.)
Under 'Part Four-Finding, Discussion and Narrative Regarding Certain Sensitive National Security', which is on page 6, the first 3 sentences state that:
While in the United States, some of the September 11 hijackers were in contact with, and received support or assistance from, individuals who may be connected to the Saudi government. There is information, primarily from FBI sources, that at least two of those individuals were alleged by some to be Saudi Intelligence officers. The Joint Inquiry's review confirmed that the Intelligence Community also has information, much of which has yet to be independently verified, indicating that individuals associated with the Saudi government in the United States may have other ties to al-Qa'ida and other terrorist groups.
Those first 3 sentences alone should be of great interest to the general public, because we are currently close allies with the Saudi government.
Next, on page 7 the document begins to discuss information regarding the contacts that some of the 9/11 hijackers had. They provide a list of individuals who either were either hijackers or were terrorists by association. The list of names includes: Omar al-Bayoumi, Osama Bassnam, Shaykh al-Thumairy, Saleh al-Hussayen & Abdullah Bin Ladin.
Omar al-Bayoumi's profile strongly suggests Saudi government involvement on 9/11. According to FBI reports, Omar al-Bayoumi had been receiving financial support from early 2000 to late 2001 from a Saudi company that was affiliated with the Saudi Ministry of Defense. The company also had ties to Osama Bin Laden and al-Qa'ida. Reports further stated that 2 hijackers from 9/11, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi arrived in San Diego in the February of 2000. After their arrival, Omar met with an individual from the Saudi consulate and then proceeded to meet with the Khalid and Nawaf at a public setting. Shortly after the arrival of Khalid and Nawaf, Omar began receiving an augmentation on his 'allowance' from the Saudi company, which he used to provide financial assistance to the hijackers. The reports indicate that during all of this, Omar was having extensive communication with Saudi government establishments in the United States.
Osama Bassnam has a rather incriminating profile as well. Bassnam was a close friend of al-Bayoumi, and they were collaborating in their extremist plot. Bassnam met the hijackers through al-Bayoumi, but told the FBI that he did "more for the hijackers" than al-Bayoumi did. This wouldn't be surprising considering the declassified pages state that Bassnam lived across the street from them. It was reported that Bassnam had numerous ties to the Saudi gov't. One of the past positions he held was in the 'Saudi Arabia Education Mission.' Some people within the Muslim community that talked to the FBI told them they believed Bassnam was also a Saudi intelligence officer. A CIA memo stated that Bassnam received a fake passport and funding by Saudi gov't officials, including the Saudi ambassador to the United States. His wife also became involved here and reportedly received a large amount of money from Princess Haifa of Saudi Arabia, supposedly for "nursing services", even though the FBI found no evidence Bassnam's wife was involved in "nursing services." In 2002, after the 9/11 attacks, Bassnam traveled to Houston and met with an unidentified individual. During this visit, he received a large amount of money from a member of the Saudi Royal Family.
I'm going to skip over most of the document because there is a lot of information to sort through, however I want to go ahead to page 21 to hone in on something of interest. The documents states:
Several individuals on the East Coast whom the hijackers may have met may also had connections to the Saudi Government. After the terrorist attacks, the FBI discovered that, during September 2001, an individual named Saleh al-Hussayen stayed at the same hotel in Herndon, Virginia where al-Hazmi was staying at the time. According to FBI documents al-Hussayen is apparently a "Saudi Interior Ministry employee/official." He claimed not to know the hijackers, but agents in the FBI's Washington Field Office believed he was being deceptive. The interview was terminated when al-Hasseyan either passed out or feigned a seizure requiring medical treatment. He was released from the hospital several days later and managed to depart the United States despite law enforcement efforts to locate and re-interview him.
There is not much an explanation needed there. I believe that to be quite self-explanatory, and anyone should be able to see how a narrative is beginning to play out. We don't want to think we were lied to, but this information acquired by the Joint Inquiry proves that Congress had a lot of reason to be led to the conclusion that Saudi Arabia was our enemy, not Iraq. In fact, in the entire document I don't think I saw Iraq get mentioned once. Saudi Arabia gets mentioned over and over and over again. If you don't feel a deep sense of betrayal and rage rising to the surface yet, then allow me to continue.
What do we know about Saudi Arabia? It turns out that most Americans don't really know a whole lot about the nation. Allow me to shed some light.
A Short Analysis On Our 'Ally'
We here in the United States have the pleasure of living under a secular government, however some rulers in other nations believe the best way to govern a nation is largely through the doctrine of the Quran. The Saudi regime that is currently in place can best be referred to as a 'theo-monarchy.' Specifically, the strain of Islam that is centered in Saudi Arabia is known as 'Wahhabism.' The problem here is that the Wahhabi strain of Islam has long been known to promote Islamic extremism. The Saudi royal family does not seem to outright announce that they are Wahhabi Muslims, but the rule of law via Sharia Law in Saudi Arabia strongly suggests this is the case (see this for background information.) I must add that Sunni Salafism is another strain of Islamic that promotes extremism that is common in Saudi Arabia. Either way, the Saudi government is guilty of violating human rights. Take for example that back in 2014, Saudi Arabia passed a law in which atheists/non-believers and political dissidents are seen as terrorists and "enemies of the state." The Saudi gov't finds many ways to deal with these "terrorists", one of those ways is through state-sponsored beheadings. That's right, if you even dare question the existence of Allah you could land yourself a medieval-style beheading. Because that's how you convince atheists around the world that you're confident in your beliefs and that you're on the moral high ground (you can find more information on Saudi human rights violations here.)
As if that wasn't bad enough, it is a known fact that Saudi Arabia has funded terrorist networks. What this means is that Saudi Arabia is a hotbed of extreme Muslim ideology that promotes violence and death to "infidels." Furthermore, extreme forms of Islam teach anti-Western, but especially anti-American views. The fact that Saudi officials have not properly addressed this issue in their country and instead perpetuate violent Sharia Law, make it obvious that the Saudi government is complicit in global terrorism. They have been caught funding terrorist groups, the foundation of their nation is based on Islamic extremism, they violate human rights, and the 29 pages now reveals to us that they may have had a central role in the 9/11 attacks.
Why?
Why does the United States of America, the richest and most powerful country in the history of the world associate itself with a barbaric and arguably evil ideology? If Washington states that there is a "war on terrorism", then we should all be very, very alarmed. How could U.S. intelligence not realize that a major source of global terrorism is one of our biggest allies?
Maybe this can answer your question:
In other words, who cares if Saudi Arabia was behind 9/11, we need their oil. You can't make this up.
Some intelligent discussion about 9/11 and Saudi Arabia:
Conclusion
The conclusion is simple: we were lied to. The Bush administration single-handedly blocked damning information about the Saudi role in 9/11 because Saudi Arabia was too important for our oil interests. Furthermore, the Bush administration wanted to move forward with the invasion of Iraq, and the information on Saudi Arabia would have severely hampered this agenda.
Keep something in mind though: 2,977 innocent Americans died on 9/11. The government seized information and obstructed justice in the name of oil interests. We went to Iraq instead of confronting Saudi Arabia.
161,927 – 180,812 is the number of Iraqi civilians killed since the invasion of Iraq. 4,497 American soldiers were killed since the beginning of the Iraq war.
Partisan politics is irrelevant. Both sides of the aisle in D.C. are guilty to some extent, so this concerns all Americans. We have allowed the government to hijack justice in the name of money interest, that is unacceptable. So many innocent lives have been lost in this grand scheme. As Major General Smedley Butler would say, war is a racket. And if you're not seriously pissed off right now, then you're still not paying attention.
