BartBlog

Exactly which country is the top dog in this world when it comes to producing black gold? The answer to this question may surprise you. No, it’s not Saudi Arabia, a despotic tyranny mostly owned and/or in league with American oil companies. You would think that Saudi Arabia would be number one — considering all the publicity the House of Saud receives from its many luxury purchases in Paris and New York (and in Washington DC too if you count purchasing the Bushes and the Clintons). But no. http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/09/10/us-sue-saudis-for-911-law-would-be-a-geopolitical-tectonic-shift-because/

And, no, it is not Iraq, a country that was brutally invaded by American oil interests solely for its mega-supply of fossil fuel.

And no, it’s not Libya either — even though that country would still be happily ruled by Gaddafi right now instead of being just another grim terrorist hideout if it wasn’t for Libya’s oil. http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/08/the-NeoCon-in-the-oval-office/

No, it’s not Venezuela either even though that is yet another country that American oil interests have been trying to stage a coup in for years so they can get their hands on Venezuela’s fabulous crude. No luck so far — but the oil barons keep trying.

Canada? Guess again. Plus Big Oil already owns most of Canada’s production so there’s really no need to invade and overthrow it now. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40162.htm

And then there’s Russia, who really does produce a lot of oil — even more than Saudi Arabia. And, boy, would American oil companies love to get their hands on Russia’s oil. Hell, American oil companies have already started planning their next big “Shock and Awe” invasion scenario — so that they can finally do to Russia what they’ve already done to Libya, Syria and Iraq. http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2016/09/57862/

Oil is the real reason why Russia has been getting all this huge NATO and US military activity on its borders recently — in preparation for giving Russia the Full (Libya-Iraq) Monty too. And here we silly Americans all thought that these various attacks on Russia were simply because of hating communism or something. Foolish us. It’s always all about oil. We should know that by now. https://www.rt.com/business/345957-russia-oil-major-exporter/

“Okay, I give up,” you might say at this point. “Which country does produce most of the world’s oil?” Surprise! It’s the USA. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-10/u-s-ousts-russia-as-world-s-top-oil-gas-producer-in-bp-report

“Wow!” you might be thinking at this point. “All that oil belongs to us!” But you would be wrong. None of that oil belongs to us. All that oil belongs to the oil companies. Not only that, but the oil companies here are even subsidized by American taxpayers so that billions of $$$$ will keep on rolling in to Exxon, Chevron and friends — not to us. Plus we taxpayers are already paying for Big Oil’s many wars to steal even more Black Gold. Sweet deal! For them. http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/29/bad-theater-at-the-united-nations-starring-kerry-power-and-obama/

PS: Has anyone watched the Charlie Rose show lately? Once again last night I was so shocked to the pit of my soul with the lies coming out of his mouth and the mouths of his guests regarding America’s illegal war crimes in Syria. No wonder so many of us who actually know what is going on in Syria don’t believe the 9-11 “official story” either — when the government and the media can’t even stop their compulsive lying about Aleppo.

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Stop Wall Street and War Street from destroying our world. And while you’re at it, please buy my books! http://straitwellbooks.blogspot.com/2016/04/our-top-best-seller-right-now-is-bring.html

I just finished reading War Porn, Roy Scranton’s excellent, violent and scary new book that vividly describes what it was like to be in the US Army while actually fighting in the 2003-2011 “war” on Iraq. https://sohopress.com/read-an-excerpt-war-porn/ But times have changed since then. America’s “volunteer” army has now been replaced with a new kind of G.I. grunt altogether: ISIS. http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/09/todenh%C3%B6fer-interview-with-al-nusra-commander-the-americans-stand-on-our-side.html

“Jane, that is crazy talk,” you might say at this point.

Maybe. Maybe not. But as Sherlock Holmes always told us, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” So let’s take a look at the history of America’s armed forces within the last 100 years to see what is impossible — and what is not. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-02/isis-enemy-us-created-armed-funded

From the first world war back in 1917 to Vietnam in 1961-73, America’s soldiers were mostly recruited through the draft. Americans hated Vietnam — and what they hated most about that horrible “war” was being drafted into it, into the blood and horror and death signifying nothing. Vietnam was fought by draftees and nobody here liked that — so eventually public opinion forced that stupid “war” to end (that and the fact that America also lost). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7-ngmO_p8

And then along came the invasion of Iraq in 2003 — and America’s new “volunteer” army fought in that one. The “war” on Iraq was fought by salaried American “volunteers” — but still nobody here liked it when these so-called volunteers started coming home in coffins or without limbs or with the sick and twisted minds described in Scranton’s book. So the pressure of public opinion forced the end of that “war” too (that and the fact that America lost that war as well).

Now, however, all the current “Endless Wars” in the Middle East may never come to an end. Why? Because America’s neo-con war hawks have learned from their past mistakes and now have whole huge battalions of new soldiers who will fight these wars for them — soldiers who nobody in America minds if they get blown up or killed or get PTSD.

Now America’s neo-con war hawks are paying ISIS thugs to fight their (not our) “wars” for them — and nobody here cares if ISIS thugs get blown up or have a bad day. Clever, yes? The possibilities here are indeed “Endless”. http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/08/the-NeoCon-in-the-oval-office/

Sadly, most Americans don’t object to all these current evil blood-thirsty unjust “Endless Wars” for profit going on in the Middle East — unless Americans themselves are affected personally. If Americans don’t have to look at all those veterans’ cemeteries, grieving widows and returning soldiers without limbs, then apparently they’re totally cool with all kinds of slaughter in the Middle East. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-arab-spring-made-in-the-usa/5484950

PS: Here’s an interesting video that clearly demonstrates that American recruiting offices in the Middle East are open for business and going strong: “White Helmets: Al Qaeda with a facelift” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aAaReVn2I4

Funny how the so-called White Helmets only help wounded al Qaeda terrorists. You never see them give a helping hand to ordinary Syrians — unless of course there’s a photo opportunity for Facebook, Netflix, Fox News or CNN. http://www.globalresearch.ca/canada-ndp-supporting-terrorist-linked-white-helmets-for-nobel-prize-is-a-serious-mistake/5547854

“We ain’t no second-line club!” one of the drummers in a New Orleans marching band on Canal Street shouted at me in disgust. I was obviously a tourist who was too ignorant to be able to tell the difference. Oops.

In a voodoo shop a few blocks away in the French Quarter, I saw an incense-laden alter covered with offerings to some long-ago African god. https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/voodoo-authentica-new-orleans

Over by St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 on Basin Street, you could see where the famous Iberville red brick housing projects were being converted into what appeared to be high-end condos. http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/bill-quigley/4301/the-public-housing-struggle-in-new-orleans-a-tale-of-two-sisters

That’s just like what is happening now in my home town, Berkeley — only our mayor doesn’t need no stinking Katrina for an excuse. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2016-03-25/article/44301?headline=How-the-Bates-Development-Plan-Would-Destroy-Flatlands-Berkeley–Steven-Finacom

At night in the Vieux Carré, hordes of drunken ex-college boys try to relive their cherished memories of past spring breaks as they stumble from bar to bar, holding plastic cups filled with beer and booze, barely aware of the hard-rock music that blasted their ears.

On the corner of Chartres and St. Louis, there was a bronze plaque on a building that read, “Within this historic structure slaves were sold…”

By day the French Quarter is a charming place — happy people strolling past boutiques, beignet cafes and the Napoleon House (built to shelter the Emperor himself after his exile http://www.napoleonhouse.com/history/), and always with the mighty Mississippi River rolling along in the background.

But by night the entire French Quarter turns into one gigantic and raucous block party, the Big Easy For Dummies.

I love the French Quarter. What’s not to love! But there was one thing there that did horrify me — the magnificent St. Louis Cathedral, an awesome and moving homage and tribute to a powerful and benevolent God, father of the Prince of Peace.

And as I sat in a front pew, surrounded by stained glass windows, arches and candles, I could just imagine the smug plantation owners and their families worshiping there back in 1794 — while right down the street from them human beings were being branded, whipped and sold off like cattle.

Apparently Black lives didn’t matter back then — either.

PS: Even today, righteous pseudo-Christians still sit in their church pews and smugly proclaim themselves to be keepers of the faith — while America bleeds from the heart from all its extra-judicial and war-crime slaughter of their fellow human beings both here and abroad.

Millions have been butchered in Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, the Americas and the Middle East by these so-called Christians who have the audacity to sit in their church pews on Sundays and proclaim themselves to be more than just plain serial killers. http://www.globalresearch.ca/u-s-coalition-intelligence-operations-room-inside-syria-destroyed-by-russian-missile-attack-thirty-israeli-american-british-turkish-saudi-qatari-intelligence-officials-killed-report/5547099

“Let the good times roll.” And the heads.

Boy did I have fun in New Orleans this week — at a convention for murder-mystery readers and writers being held in the French Quarter. http://www.bouchercon.com/ I ate muffuletta sandwiches, muffuletta salads and muffuletta-flavored mac-cheese (an idea whose time has definitely come).

Then I ate beignets, danced my way into two Mardi Gras parades and got my fortune told by a gypsy in front of the St. Louis cathedral. “You will come into riches soon and you are popular and happy.” Yeah right.

Then I lost ten dollars in the slot machines at Harrah’s, went to a fabulous book-signing after-party hosted by publisher Soho Crime and chatted with Soho authors Lisa Brackmann, Cara Black, Henry Chang, Stewart Neville, Ed Lin and Kwei Quartey — while reading a Peter Lovesy murder mystery at the same time. Any mystery novel published by Soho Crime will keep your pages turning for sure. https://sohopress.com/soho-crime/

But then I did something really spooky — went to the French Quarter’s infamous Museum of Death. It basically offered viewers a running record of all America’s serial killers, weird death practices, morbid fascinations with dead bodies and love affairs with War — definitely not for the faint of heart. http://www.museumofdeath.net/nola

Which instantly reminded me of America’s current endless war on people who happen to live in the Middle East (and almost everywhere else in the world too) — America’s very own Museum of Death. And this special all-American museum’s admission price is only five (5) trillion dollars! What a steal. https://theintercept.com/2016/09/14/latest-estimate-pegs-cost-of-wars-at-nearly-5-trillion/

And after looking over the real-life American museum of death’s future expansion plans that involve nuclear bombs, police militarization, fracking, wars on minorities, climate change and anti-Russian false propaganda, it appears that America also plans to put you and me in its Museum of Death too — just as soon as it possibly can. http://www.globalresearch.ca/we-are-the-new-nazis/5546623

And here’s even more good news for America’s military-industrial serial killers. Gaza is no longer the world’s largest open-air prison — or even the world’s largest open-air death row either. Now Yemen owns that dubious distinction. And here’s even better news for American fan-boys of blood and gore: Somehow American taxpayers have been conned into paying for this endless supply of electric chairs, gas chambers and jails to both Gaza and Yemen. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45485.htm

According to a friend of mine who has family members still trapped in Yemen, “My mother’s city is the only one in Yemen that has only been bombed twice by Saudi F16s. For this reason, refugees from all over Yemen have come there for sanctuary and are living in the streets, schools and anywhere else they can find. The refugees’ conditions are horrible there — but at least they are still alive.” So far.

And all that American/ISIS serial-killing going on in Syria is also sick too. According to Gerry Condon, vice-president of Veterans For Peace, “Almost everything we read about Syria in the US media is wrong. The reality is that the U.S. government is supporting armed extremist groups who are terrorizing the Syrian people and trying to destroy Syria’s secular state. In order to hide that ugly reality and push violent regime change, the U.S. is conducting a psychological warfare campaign to demonize Syria’s president, Bashar al Assad. This is a classic tactic that veterans have seen over and over. It is shocking, however, to realize how willingly the media repeats this propaganda, and how many people believe it to be true.” http://mltoday.com/article/2514-us-peace-delegation-to-syria-reports-back/91

And to quote Oliver Stone, “Americans are not under threat. Americans are the threat.” http://www.globalresearch.ca/oliver-stones-american-history-were-not-under-threat-we-are-the-threat/5546363

But other than that, New Orleans was to die for!

PS:  Here is a link to journalist Vanessa Beeley’s extensive report on what is really going on in Aleppo and Syria these days.  After reading this, we Americans ought to be so ashamed to be Americans that every single one of us will sit down during the national anthem.  First we fought the Nazis — and then we became them.  http://www.mintpressnews.com/journey-to-aleppo-exposing-the-truth-buried-under-nato-propaganda/220563/

It’s really hard to explain the concept of US-supported “moderate rebels” in Syria when trying to describe them to your average American. Trust me, I know from experience, having tried and failed to convince friends that the ‘moderate rebels’ in Syria are simply al Qaeda goons paid for by American taxpayers, and that Syria’s president Assad is not an evil dictator who should be overthrown but rather is merely someone whose country happens to be sitting on a shite-load of oil.

“Big oil companies just want to take over Syria’s natural resources — and they are using their ‘moderate rebel’ goon squads to do it,” I keep telling people. But no one ever believes me. So I try to think up an example. Here’s one.

“It would be as if suddenly oil was discovered on land that you yourself own here in America and then suddenly Big Oil starts noticing your land — but in a bad way. And then the next thing you know, Big Oil’s ‘moderate rebel’ goon squads are attacking your children and seizing your land.”

“Can’t happen here, not here in America,” you might reply. Oops, it already has — in a place in North Dakota called Standing Rock.

PS: And speaking of getting attacked, I too just got arrested the other day — but only as an actor in a music video. Acting is fun. Being invaded by ‘moderate rebel’ goon squads is not.

The House of Saud has made it really clear that anyone who disagrees with them is pretty much toast — even if you are on Hajj. Here’s my video tribute to past Hajj disasters. Let’s hope that this year’s Hajj is not as screwed up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKuuCBBytCQ&feature=youtu.be

Hajj 2016 — September 9 through 14.

PS: You can sing it to the tune of “This is What Happens when you Call the Cops”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlY9C6pzxKc

When I was a kid, I was totally fascinated by the Donner Party. How could they possibly do that? Eat their own kin? And if I had been in their shoes, would I have eaten my fellow Americans too?

“But Jane,” you might ask, “What does cannibalism have to do with GMOs?” Isn’t it obvious? You are what you eat.

Right now, more and more of my fellow Americans are starting to eat gluten-free. Me too. No more croissants, birthday cake or apple pie for us. Rats. However, if I was stuck in the High Sierras in the middle of winter with only chocolate-chip cookies and cheese danishes to eat, would I have been tempted to eat them too? Perhaps? Maybe? Yes! But my stomach would have grumbled and my gut would have complained.

We all know why the Donner Party switched to cannibalism. But does anyone know why suddenly so many Americans are now switching to gluten-free diets? Here is my theory, based on solid research. My son Joe never eats wheat. Never. Not even in soy sauce or beer. But when he went to Paris this summer, he discovered, to his amazed delight, that he could safely eat wheat again while over there. Wow. How’s that for research!

So. What’s the big difference between French wheat and American wheat? GMOs! France has banned GMOs. There’s the true smoking gun. The cards are all stacked against us by Monsanto and friends. I rest my case. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-gmo-idUSKCN0RH1BV20150917

Guess we really are what we eat.

PS: And speaking of smoking guns, that reminds me of America’s current lousy choice between guns and butter. If the American military stopped their farting around in the Middle East and making a big muck of things over there in order to keep the oil companies happy, then we’d all have enough money back home here to even build Donald Trump’s precious Wall — or else to even buy things that really matter to us personally instead of the usual tanks, guns and bombs. https://consortiumnews.com/2016/08/24/the-bogus-humanitarian-war-on-serbia/

We could even clean up all the flood horrors in Louisiana with that huge amount of cold hard cash. https://richardfalk.wordpress.com/2016/09/03/clinton-versus-trump-how-it-might-matter-for-the-middle-east/

Moral of the story? You can’t eat bombs — not even GMO bombs! https://www.sott.net/article/325238-Western-corporate-media-disappears-over-1-5-million-Syrians-and-4000-doctors#

PPS: And speaking of Louisiana, I’m leaving for New Orleans on September 14, to attend the annual BoucherCon convention for murder-mystery writers and readers, “Blood on the Bayou”. Perhaps I’ll see you there too, trying to resist the GMO-enhanced muffalettas and beignets. http://www.bouchercon2016.com/