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The War Goes On
Dear Friend and Reader:
I caught the rerun of Pres. Obama's Wednesday night speech on MSNBC at about 3 am Thursday. By then it was already the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 incident, and I was watching the announcement of a new phase of a war -- the perfect commemoration.
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Pres. Obama announces a new phase of war on Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014. This was on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks -- timing that seems well planned for emotional impact.
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Part of my consciousness was still in the dreamtime as I watched. I observed as Pres. Obama began as he usually does, calm and measured, and I followed his logic thinking he was being pretty convincing, at least for the first couple of minutes.
Even when I am observing something I think I might not like, I try to keep my mind open and suspend judgment. So I gave him a chance to persuade me.
Then as his speech proceeded, I noticed that something seemed to unravel. Though he spoke for only 13 minutes, he seemed to go on without end. Imagine the feeling of crossing a bridge, but as you cross, the bridge stretches out farther and farther ahead -- that is how it felt.
I listened as he offered endless rationalizations for why he was leading the United States into another war with an amorphous terrorist threat allegedly developing more than 10,000 kilometers away. He did not mention that only two Americans have so far been killed by this new enemy.
The topic was outlining his strategy about something called ISIL, ISIS or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, described as a morph of a terrorist organization and a vast bureaucracy (stretching across the Iraq-Syria border, and potentially as far south as Greece depending on who you believe). The Islamic State, sometimes called a caliphate, allegedly spans from a 'national' level down to various local authorities.
"Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy," Pres. Obama said. He compared them to cancer cells and vowed to get every last person involved.
ISIL terrorists/bureaucrats are reputed for their professionally videotaped beheadings, crucifixions and various attacks on local populations. We keep being told they are outfitted with large amounts of American equipment that was left behind after troops were withdrawn from Iraq, giving them something in common with the Ferguson, Missouri, police department -- lots of Army surplus gear.
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Images of alleged ISIL or ISIS warriors are frightening to children and other Americans, especially if we're told they will soon be here. Most Americans seem to support fighting them. Photo via Iran View website.
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Obama went on. "Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are. That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven."
Gradually the scene started to feel, and appear, surreal. I kept looking into Obama's face on my television and the presidential facade become transparent. His voice became thin and unconvincing. He seemed meeker and smaller than an ordinary man. He looked like someone, not really the president but vaguely resembling him, put in front of the audience as a spokesman for something or someone else. Then suddenly I could barely recognize him.
When he ended with, "God bless our troops, and God bless America," I felt like I flashed back to seeing George W. Bush and they morphed into the same person.
That he announced this new military effort on the eve of the anniversary makes it difficult to miss the irony, or the synchronicity, or the reminder, or the careful planning, associated with the 9/11 anniversary -- the same incident that in 2003 was falsely used to start another phase of the endless war with or in Iraq. Only now the United States will also be fighting in Syria, which has been a bloody mess since Arab Spring.
New York Times writer Peter Baker put it eloquently when he said Thursday, "After years of trying to avoid entangling the United States in another 'dumb war', as he called the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Mr. Obama is now plunging the United States into the middle of one of the world's bloodiest, most vicious and fratricidal conflicts," by which he means Syria.
In the morning, I flipped on the TV again to check out coverage of the 9/11 anniversary and early on was greeted by pomp and pageantry. MSNBC has a tradition of rerunning its original coverage from that day, which always surprises me when they do that. It surprises me because that old footage reveals so much.
Last year I watched astonished as NBC news reporter Pat Dawson described explosions in the World Trade Center right before the towers collapsed. Albert Turi, chief safety officer for the New York City Fire Department, heard these explosions and proposed that morning that there were explosives planted in the towers.
Today on the original footage replay I heard NBC's chief Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski describe an explosion, not an airplane crash, into the building where his office was located. He described the acrid, pungent smell that soaked the air, which he compared to the strange smell you get when a flourescent light ballast burns out. Others had described a smell similar to the explosive cordite.
The reason these contemperaneous reports are signficiant is that they contain forgotten information that is today considered the stuff of conspiracy theories. It is accepted dogma that there was a plane crash at the Pentagon despite the obvious lack of wreckage or any damage reminiscent of such a crash.
In late 2002, NPR reporter Steve Inskeep personally told me he was called to the scene of an explosion at the Pentagon and saw no evidence of an airplane crash when he arrived about 10 minutes after it happened, with the Pentagon facade still standing intact.
It's considered absurd by most people that explosives were used to bring down the towers, or that the plane crash at the Pentagon was staged -- or not an airplane but a missile. Yet for clues, all you have to do is go back and listen to what was being reported before the spin machine took control and the name Osama bin Laden was floated as the perpetrator.
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NBC News reporter Pat Dawson speaking a few blocks north of the World Trade Center site on the morning of Sept. 11. Watch the video here.
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I have covered the problems with the official version of the 9/11 attacks many times. You can read about this in Were It So, The Gingerbread House, History, Turning on a Phrase, and Not Just a River in Belgium.
Between these four articles you will get a sense of the problems with the official version of events. If you have not consciously gone there before, it's not easy to wrap your head around. In the article Not Just a River in Belgium I transcribe interviews with several psychologists who particpated in an excellent documentary prepared by Architects and Engineeers for 9/11 Truth, produced by people who design and build skyscrapers. You can watch a shortened version of their documentary Explosive Evidence here.
Do a little research and you can see Larry Silverstein, the owner of World Trade 7, admit on a PBS special that the building was intentionally demolished. I have saved two DVD copies of this documentary purchased directly from PBS.
You can hear New York City firefighters who were there at the time describe molten steel in the wreckage of the Twin Towers. In an ordinary jet crash there is nothing hot enough to melt steel, much less make it flow like lava.
It's easy to find a plan prepared by a bunch of future Bush administration people who predict "some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor" early in the 21st century, which will lead to a multi-front war. But as one friend who prefers the official version of events wrote to me, "I am not sure of the relevance unless you are insinuating the possibility of either inside info or complicity, both of which are so preposterous as to be beyond laughable."
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For about half an hour on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, the Pentagon showed only fire damage, and a hole through several layers of the building's ring structure. You can see no evidence of an airplane crash, and no wreckage from a jet liner. Then the facade collapsed.
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I have listened to what plenty of 9/11 truth advocates have to say. Perhaps the most interesting thing any of them have done is to interview psychologists to help us understand why people have this kind of reaction.
In the documentary Explosive Evidence, you get to see a lot of scientific evidence as to why steel-framed skyscrapers don't just fall down at near-freefall speed even if they are badly damaged.
Then they let us hear from people who can help explain why people are so resistant to these ideas. I will quote from my transcript of the film, previously quoted in Not Just a River in Belgium. You can hear the audio from this section of the film in this edition of Planet Waves FM.
Robert Hopper, another clinical psychologist, added: "Many people respond to these truths in a very deep way. Some have a visceral reaction like they've been punched in the stomach. To begin to accept the possibility that the government was involved, it's like opening Pandora's box. If you open the lid and peek in a little bit, it's going to challenge some of your fundamental beliefs about the world."
Dorothy Lorig, a counseling psychologist, put it this way. "If we can think of our world view as being sort of our mental and emotional home, I think all of us will do just about anything to defend our homes, to defend our families. So I see that with people, and I saw that with myself when my brother tried to talk with me about it. Don't mess with me, don't mess with my home, don't mess with my comfort with how things are.
"About a week later, I read a lengthy article by Prof. [David Ray] Griffin about why he believes the official account of 9/11 cannot be true. It was a very well-researched article. It was in my office at the time, I sat there and I felt my stomach churning. I thought maybe I was going to be sick. And I leaped out of my chair and ran out the door and took a long walk around the block, around several blocks, and just broke down."
Lorig continued, "I understand now that what was happening was my world view about my government being in some way my protector, almost like a parent, had been dashed, and it was like being cast out into the wilderness. I think it's the closest way to describe that feeling. And I sobbed and I sobbed, felt the ground had completely disappeared beneath my feet, and I knew at some point during the walk that I knew that I was going to have to become active in educating other people about this. That for me to retain any sense of integrity I was going to have to take some action. I couldn't just let something like this go."
She gets both sides of the problem -- accepting any of these ideas changes your world view and compels you to take action. You cannot just let it go. You cannot see the world the same way after you start to consider the evidence of what may have happened. This is the whole point.
There's also something about whether you trust your intelligence or trust authority, even if what you're told makes no sense. You don't need to be an expert to see the problems with the official story, you just need to look. As I have written before, this is not about accepting a conspiracy theory. It's about debunking one.
If you are curious about what the astrology says about this, here is a clear, short and simple article I wrote some years ago that explains the chart for the 9/11 incident.
You may wonder why it's necessary to consider any of this. I think it's as simple as making a sincere effort at understanding the truth, and not being obedient to what we are ordered by authority to believe, especially at the point of a gun. Remember that the 9/11 attacks have been used to justify vast rollbacks of our precious American freedom, including implementing the surveillance state that for years has been tracking our every thought.
I don't think it was a coincidence that news of the Next War was dropped on us on the eve of the 9/11 anniversary. From a public relations standpoint, it was perfect timing, and it fit the same pattern of using the pain of this blight on our lives and on American history to falsely justify yet more murder and death, conducted in your name, supposedly to protect you from something that has never actually threatened you. And something that was created by the last war commenced under the same pretext.
We may not have the power to do anything about this, though we certainly have the power to choose what to accept into our minds. Spiritual growth involves the cultivation of discernment, mature thinking and developing a tropism for the truth. If the concept 'freedom' has any meaning at all, I would say that it begins here.
Lovingly,
Planet Waves (ISSN 1933-9135) is published each Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon in Kingston, New York by Planet Waves, Inc. Annual basic subscription rate: $99/year. Core community membership: $199/year. Editor and Publisher: Eric Francis Coppolino. Business Manager: Chelsea Bottinelli. Web Developer: Anatoly Ryzhenko. Copy Editor: Jessica Keet. Research, Writing and Editing: Planet Waves is produced by a team consisting of Fe Bongolan, Brendan Merritt, Amy Elliott, Judith Gayle, Kelly Janes, Elizabeth Michaud, Amanda Moreno, Amanda Painter, Casey Smith, Carol van Strum, Len Wallick, Lizanne Webb and Chad Woodward.
Fire on Fire: Mars ingresses Sagittarius
Mars enters Sagittarius Saturday at 5:57 pm EDT, after about a month and a half in Scorpio. Sagittarius is a fire sign -- and Mars is a fiery energy. If Mars in Scorpio was the slow burn, or the sense of dropping deep into the erotic magma at your core, Mars in Sagittarius is about fanning that heat out into the world.
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Smoke tornadoes as 'the man' burns at Burning Man 2012. Where will your adventure lead you? Photo by Amanda Painter.
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It's about letting something ignite within you that can translate your more idealistic desires and sense of soul-purpose into some tangible adventure. You're being invited to go beyond your known borders in a bold and adventurous way -- whatever that boils down to for you.
But the realization of a sense of purpose in life can feel terrifying. Because once you own that, you begin to run out of excuses for not getting down to business living it. What if the sky's message is that the current adventure ahead of you has a clear purpose and as much assurance of success as is possible? Will you choose your direction, go forward, and keep going forward? Do you trust what you want?
Note that as soon as Mars enters Sagittarius it will be closing in on a square to Neptune in Pisces.
Mars square Neptune is partly a caution to be honest with yourself and wary of self-delusion in your motives -- that is, to be wary of 'wants' that are really just distractions. It's also a reminder to keep careful tabs on your alcohol and drug use. On a more metaphysical level, Mars-Neptune is a good reason to keep your energetic/psychic boundaries strong and to stay in clear psychic integrity.
But Mars square Neptune has incredible creative potential, too. And in a sense, creativity is delusional. That's the whole idea. It's not supposed to make perfect sense or be practical. Any relationship into which you channel your creative fire, regardless of its label (work, love, play, etc.), is about to get a real lift.
As it does, you may very well find your voice in a way that is close to your heart. Not in the pages of your journal or the confines of your imagination, but out there -- in your community.
Amanda Painter with Eric Francis
Don't be fooled by the derelict remnants of the house in the background; wholeness, not the apocalypse, is at hand -- if you're willing to see it. Image: video still from "Why I Think This World Should End."
The Path Towards a New Beginning
By Amanda Painter
As Mars enters Sagittarius this weekend, prodding us toward adventure in the wider world and perhaps the more lofty philosophical or spiritual pursuits that sign can represent, check out the work of Missouri rapper Prince Ea.
Ea came to my attention this week by way of his video of what no one wants to say about Ferguson, which has gone viral on Facebook. From there, I found his spoken-word piece "Why I Think This World Should End." Don't get hung up on the unlikely title; Ea's message is love of the universal variety -- the kind we only recognize when we shift our gaze away from external differences and look deep within ourselves.
As he says in his video:
Robert Kennedy once said that
Few will have the greatness to bend history
But each of us can work to change a small portion of events
And in the total of all those acts
Will be written the history of a generation
So yes, the world is coming to an end
And the path towards a new beginning starts within you
Live, Call-In Pisces Full Moon Edition of Planet Waves FM
This week's edition is a replay of Monday night's live call-in edition, which took place during the Pisces Full Moon. There are no musical breaks, just a lot of dialog between me and PW FM listeners. We touch on many subjects, from astrology, to relationship choices (including a long discussion of what polyamory is and is not), a personal injury lawsuit, how to use Chiron and the coming lunar eclipse in Aries.
Your Monthly Horoscopes -- and our Publishing Schedule Notes
Your extended monthly horoscopes for September published Friday, Aug. 28. We published your extended monthly horoscopes for August Thursday, July 24. We also published your Inner Space horoscope for September Tuesday, Sept. 2. Moonshine horoscopes for the Pisces Full Moonpublished Sunday, Sept. 7.
Please note, we normally publish the extended monthly horoscope on the first Friday after the Sun has entered a new sign.
Weekly Horoscope for Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014, #1015 | By Eric Francis
Aries (March 20-April 19) -- You're being invited to go beyond your known borders in a bold and adventurous way. You seem to have had more than enough with being confined in a partnership or contractual situation, and you're figuring out that you have much broader horizons than you've acknowledged any time recently. You are under no obligation to live the way you lived in the past, following rules that you followed in the past. Yet rather than throw anything (or everything) to the four winds, I suggest you at least state your position clearly to whom it may concern. You do not need permission from anyone else, though you will benefit from the integrity that comes from speaking your truth and not leaving anyone guessing, blaming themselves or blaming you. Of course you cannot control that entirely, but you can have a positive influence and keep your karma positive.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) -- What matters is not the form of a relationship but rather the creative fire that it contains. You may have lost sight of that recently, though you are now being reminded of what is so often neglected. This takes more devotion than most mortals are willing to invest into their journeys with others, and consistency that is rare to find. Yet I suggest you remember that ultimately this is not about a relationship; it's about you, your integrity and your commitment to life. Unusual, unexpected things happen when you take the chance of asserting your soul, though it's best not to expect them but rather allow your clarity of purpose to be its own reward. Keep your focus and remember to stay true to yourself first, and to what you want, second. From this space, when passion takes hold, it does so in a much more reliable way.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) -- Next to self-esteem, I think that trust is the most pressing issue facing Western society. Indeed, this may be a global issue, though I think of it more as a problem of those who have the option not to trust and still make it through the day, which is our story here in the lavishly wealthy part of the world. One thing people tend not to trust is when someone desires them, or makes a direct approach of some kind. If that happens over the next few days, will you meet the person face to face, or will you bob and weave, and avoid the encounter? Remember, you are required neither to make nor accept any promises. You only need to trust enough to learn more. I suggest you go through a few layers of experience rather than allowing yourself to be turned off at the first meager question or appearance that does not fit your idea of who someone is supposed to be. Stay around long enough to find out.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) -- Now is the time to get serious about a health issue, or your overall state of fitness. Move gently through any resistance, which may come in the form of inertia -- or fear. You may experience some confusion early in the process, but that will give way to recognizing the integrity of what you are doing. Remember that there is no physical situation that is not connected to some underlying spiritual and/or emotional state, so know what your real goal is. A similar scenario will hold true for work-related matters. This is the time to motivate yourself to do your very best work. The challenges you meet will be more than compensated by a boost to your self-esteem every time you get a job done well. So don't waste any time doubting. Be confident in your talents and trust your motivation. Meet any doubt with a positive attitude and sense of adventure, and be eager to see what is around every corner.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) -- Creativity is delusional. That's the whole idea. It's not supposed to make perfect sense or be practical. It's a kind of impassioned fantasy, or journey begun with an unknown destination. One vital element of creative exploration is that you allow it to be pointless, seemingly for its own sake, or for a diversion. Then refinement comes later; that requires a different kind of discipline, a shift in viewpoint and ongoing review. Yet that is not the heart of the matter, the thing with no substitute. The core is allowing yourself that space of freedom from some worldly intention other than to allow your ideas to flow. It's true that some artists and musicians get lost in this aspect of the work, and never get to the refinement stage. For now, don't worry about that. Other aspects suggest you will focus that level of activity, and that you will be able to connect this to your vocational or business plan.
Virgo Birthday Reading Just Published: Free Audio Preview
Dear Virgo Sun or rising:
Summer may be winding down, but your solar year is only just beginning. Eric has just published your Virgo birthday reading -- and a free audio preview. Actually this is a bit more than a preview -- it's a 15-minute mini-reading that gives you many details of what you get in the full product. Eric's birthday readings work beautifully for your rising sign as well, so if you're Virgo rising, you're invited to take advantage of some helpful, eloquent and spot-on astrology.
Your reading includes a live question-and-response session with Eric (date TBA), archived in case you cannot make the live event. These conference calls have been a productive and fun way to learn about astrology and how it affects us. You also get access to last year's reading to check Eric's accuracy, and to review the past few seasons. In addition, your reading includes an extended written sign description.
The current price is now $49.95 and gives you instant access to your reading. If you're not a Virgo, this will make a beautiful, lasting and valued gift for any Virgo in your life.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) -- Don't get too caught up in plans and strategizing -- plenty more useful information is about to emerge, timed approximately with the Sun's arrival in your sign in just over one week, followed by a magnificent New Moon. You may, however, be obsessed with one particular plan that seems like exactly the right thing to do, and it may be. I suggest, in that case, that you make a generous list of everything you don't know and keep all of that in mind. As long as you know you don't know, you will be on solid ground. Remember that idea: the key to knowing is to know when you don't know, and to the best extent you can, to know what information you are missing. Then be patient, and pay attention to what comes your way. Once you structure your learning process, you magnify its power, and make more efficient use of the information that comes to you.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) -- I'm here today to remind you of something the magnificent Lois Rodden, one of the great astrologers of our lifetime, once said to me. Mercury, she said, is often considered the money planet (mainly since it's associated with merchants and commerce), but for money, the planet you really want on your side is Mars. The reason for that is because making money requires motivation and focused intention. Mars is about to ingress Sagittarius, your house of available resources (the 2nd house), and that will provide just those elements. Yet there is one caveat -- that your mode of creating resources be connected to your soul-level mission, or what most people would think of as your true values. I'll say this another way. You're about to get a serious boost in your money-creating power and for it to work well for you and for everyone else, focus that energy on doing the right thing. You know what it is.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) -- Mars ingressing your sign on Saturday will, at least, demonstrate that your worst fears were not true. At best, you will focus your goals with new commitment and determination. While Sagittarius is associated with many things, remember that its deeper meaning is the one-pointed determination to follow your highest calling and to get the job done. Sagittarius at its best brooks no distraction, no competition, no compromises. Mars, which itself carries the symbol of focused determination -- the same arrow that appears in the Sagittarius glyph -- emboldens that whole program of getting the job done. On the physical plane and especially on our planet, you need this kind of strength and focus to cut through the nearly limitless bullshit that is flying around, and to avoid the many diversions that prevent most progress. You certainly have an adventure ahead -- though one with a clear purpose and as much assurance of success as is possible. Choose your direction. Go forward, and keep going forward.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) -- People respect you in a way that you may not fully understand. Yet you may be receiving the message that you must set an example for others. Remember that such an example does not imply that you must be pure, or practice chastity, or deny that you have feelings and attachments. I suggest you focus the experience of your full humanity into what you offer the world, and draw strength from having no fear of controversy whatsoever. It is true that at this time in your life, you are creating an ever-greater impact on the world around you, and part of how you're doing that is through focusing your sincerity. This is not an option. It's not a frill. It's an evolutionary imperative, and at its core is your ability to be real with yourself at all times. So accept no excuses, and grant yourself no casual exceptions. Progress is at stake –- of a rare kind, available in this moment.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) -- You seem to be finding your voice, in a way that is close to your heart -- in your community. There are many ways to define community these days; this would seem to be the one that you consider your spiritual home, or your primary tribe. You have been unusually reserved, cautious or conservative in recent times of your life, and you are now being invited to step into a far more visible role, standing up for some cause, commitment or mission that you may have been reluctant to speak about in the past. You may feel vulnerable doing this, though I assure you that you are standing on a deep foundation, and that unlike most people, your leadership is grounded on the strength of your moral authority. I don't say this lightly and I suggest you not take it lightly -- and not let that stop you from going past your previous limits and taking a genuine risk for what is truly a worthwhile cause.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) -- I have never seen the word "achievement" in any textbook description of Pisces, which demonstrates why we need better sources than those books. Yet this quality -- of aspiration, motivation, determination -- is written all over the charts of Pisces because you have Sagittarius in your 10th house of reputation, profession and authority. Mars is about to cross the cusp of that house, and that is putting you in the mood to accomplish great things. This you will do, if you remember your highest goals and put integrity above appearance. Take no shortcuts to success, and make sure that you're available and accountable for your decisions. There's an element of this that may conflict with your image as a sensitive, empathic person. In truth there is no conflict between these elements of who you are, but just in case, the solution is to focus on the quality of your work, never compromising, and making sure you push the opportunity to have that work seen by as many people as possible.
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