New edition of Planet Waves by Eric Francis

Note, we’re opening up this issue to public access. In the words of Jere, “It’s a public moment,” and I definitely agree with that assessment.

In today’s edition I do the natal chart of Julian Assange, the founder and editor of WikiLeaks, for the first time. The data was published earlier in the week by INTERPOL, the international police consortium that has launched a dragnet for Assange. While this story is about one man who has been able to spring the truth on nearly every story choked off by the mainstream media, it’s also about 2012 — the ‘paradigm shift’ of which so many speak. This article explains how that works.

To subscribe for six months (for yourself or a loved one), please click here. To read this week’s edition as a single-issue purchase, please click here.

26 thoughts on “New edition of Planet Waves by Eric Francis”

  1. A friend is helping me with a little social research. I guess there is a “don’t rock the boat/do all the work from within” spiritual movement out there.

    This sees itself as the ‘opposite’ of what I typically propose and have since long before it was cool to care – in the words of an old guru-friend of mine, that “action is the fruit of knowledge.”

    In this ‘don’t rock the boat’ perspective, I also detect a hint of the belief or presumption that those who take action are somehow closed to inner experience. This would actually explain a lot.

  2. What is interesting about Assange’s detractors is that nobody among them seems to admit that these documents exist and are our business. Whether Assange publishes them or not, they exist, and they exist by virtue of the government doing the business of the people — which we mysteriously (according to their theory) are not allowed to know about. The fact that someone is attempting to prevent us from finding out about the conduct of our own government only makes that information more our business, not less so — along with understanding the motive for secrecy and what it reveals.

    This discussion is about a fundamental relationship to authority. In many ways, a psychological analysis is more appropriate than a political analysis. Why we believe we have no rights is a question that would carry equal weight in both fields of discourse.

    There are so many fields where the issue of secrecy has been an issue that it’s mind-boggling, and it’s difficult to have a wide scope here. Yet in every specific case, the scenario seems to be the same thing.

    Does everyone know what dioxin is? It’s a ubiquitous contaminant (present nearly everywhere, and in everyone) so toxic it’s measured in body fat in parts per trillion. One part per trillion would be expressed as a fraction: 1/1,000,000,000,000.

    The current body burden in most Westerners is 7 to 11 parts per trillion of dioxin (technically called 2,3,7,8-TCDD, the most toxic form of dioxin) in our fat, and that is a level that — by itself — that even the EPA admits can give a significant portion of the population cancer; some estimates 10% of the population (about 20% the current total cancer rate) just from the dioxin body burden, which comes from the background level (dioxin residue in food, air, water, etc.).

    Documents relating to the TCDD coverup are my specialty, and among those of us who collect and expose them, there is a radical spirit of let the truth be known.

    These memos, and the testimony that accompanies them, reveal a contempt for human health and life, for the law and for any concept of ethics. Here are some facts that you may find interesting, which are fairly typical of how Monsanto, one of the biggest dioxin polluters of all times, does business. Below is a quote from an article called The Kemner Brief, which appeared on Planet Waves more than 10 years ago. Ask yourself whether we have a right to know this. Ask yourself what is in the cleaning products you use without thinking, and what exactly would be affected (as in whose bottom line) if you knew what goes on in these factories.

    Large chemical firms like Monsanto manufacture products that they sell to other manufacturers, which are then put into household products. “Monsanto’s Santophen is the active ingredient in Lysol disinfectant and cleaning products,” the Kemner Brief continues. “Monsanto’s analytical chemist, Fred Hileman, testified that Monsanto knew that Lysol is recommended for cleaning babies’ toys and for various other cleaning activities involving direct contact with the human body. Yet, there is no dioxin warning on the Lysol package. Hileman testified that he knew people who used Lysol were contacting three parts per billion of 2,3,7,8 and that 2,3,7,8 is extremely toxic. [These are historical facts, not statements of the current state of Lysol or numerous other products that may contain chlorinated chemical agents. That would need to be established by new lab testing. – ef] Hileman testified that he knew people were spraying their lawns with products containing Monsanto’s 2,3,7,8 and that these people didn’t even know it because they had not been told the products contained dioxin, let alone 2,3,7,8.”

    I would ask: do you think we have a right to know this, and if so, how are we supposed to find out?

  3. Kelly,

    I disagree that Assange is “hiding.” The Brits know where he is and are watching him. Yet I would not blame him for hiding if he did; the Gnosis (truth one) gets killed too often in history (Christ, Ghandi, MLK, both Kennedys, Malcolm X, and many others). To live another day in order to reveal the truth another day; how is that bad? Is it better to martyr yourself for the cause which would eventually end the revelations altogether? We all know how bastardized “the message” gets when the originator is killed off; today’s Christianity (or Paulianity as it should be called) is the perfect example.

    I grew up in the Assassination Decades and Assange was born right after; he was born in 1971 and though he was born after the assassinations in the US, he undoubtedly grew up in that 70’s conservatism that so many kids of that era seemed to have. The message then was : don’t be too front and center because you get killed off; especially when you are fighting a lion. Stealth is sometimes the only way to reveal the truth, that’s why so many messages of truth are cloaked in poetic allegory; only the enlightened will “get” the message and work for change.

    Ascribing Assange’s actions to a personal dysfunction is like saying Jesus did what he did because he had father issues or some other pathologized dysfunction. It doesn’t take dysfunction for a person to want to reveal the truth; it takes courage and conviction. Besides, no messenger is perfect, all are flawed as are those they direct their messages to; having flaws is part of the human condition.

    Assange is not a hero figure, but that doesn’t mean I can’t cheer him on for his efforts; I can and I will even as I am mindful of his inherent humanity and feet of clay.

  4. Thank you Kelly for your e-mail, which is the most intelligent thing I have read to date regarding this topic.

    Destructive dysfunction will never bring true (r)evolution because it is not a substitute for offering some type of positive content, idea, or vision that offers an alternative way of being, which in turn could cause a crumbling of old structures.

  6. Kelly Grace Smith,

    ‘Glad to read your thoughts, thanks for sharing them here.

    My personal idea is that radical change is needed in the USA. There are many people making a difference of course, when in our history have their not been? Subtle, slow differences are good – I ask you, do we have “time” for that just now? Or do we need a bit of a rude awakening? Eegads, even drowning polar bears and vast oil slicks don’t seem to wake the sleeping masses.

    Assange is opening the eyes – using a different, technology based technique – of the interested few to a world that has been intentionally hidden. He is giving voice and a forum to others who have deep need to expose lies they have been forced to participate, even if only by way of knowledge.

    The people he is exposing are the “hiders” and the “runners” – not Assange who appears to be living an honest lifestyle considering his restraints.

    I don’t see in my little mind’s eye Revolution in the Street if we continue to wake up – but I DO see that* if we continue on the path we are on; allowing the lies to continue; the ones WikiLeaks efforts to expose. (*perhaps even being a political agenda)

    Thanks,
    Linda

  7. Hi Kelly,

    I was definitely looking at Assange through a filter — one of striving to get the truth to the public many times in the past, and honoring this value in the alive, here and now present.

    When, nearly 20 years ago, I was working to get the dioxin-tainted dorms at SUNY New Paltz evacuated and cleaned up, people were constantly trying to figure out my “motive.” I then began to meet others, all much older than me, who had been working on the dioxin issue, and related PCB, herbicide and pesticide issues, for decades. Gradually I went deeper into the endocrine science. I understood that my work was part of a much larger movement.

    Then I began to see how ridiculous these attempts to assess my motives, accuse me of being in conflict with my father, fear mongering, profiteering (the most ridiculous claim of them all), etc., all were.

    Then my articles started getting traction, as in international attention, and scientists who had been doing this work their whole lives began writing me letters that began, “Dear Colleague.”

    Does this matter? I never thought my work on dioxins was about me. It was always about the issue. And I would say the same is true for Assange. It is the media that needs an ego-figure to hang its story on.

    I also did not state who I believe Assange is, in the karmic or multidimensional sense (though I alluded to it in the Sabian of the New Moon in the next article).

    I would question this, though. You state that — paraphrasing — there would be more mature or effective ways to do effect change. I would say, that would be a viable critique if Assange had walked into the Pentagon and lit himself on fire, or hacked its computers and shut them down. Were he making these documents up as a hoax, we might say he could do some growing up. (But the Yes Men, who do precisely that, do excellent and mature work.)

    When an entity functions exclusively by deception, and the US government would qualify (there are a lot of wars that most people have never heard of, for example), the remedy is to reveal the truth.

    As for Snooki, I had to look her up. I have a vivid imagination but I don’t see the comparison.

    To my knowledge, Assange is neither running nor hiding. His attorneys say that both Swedish and British authorities have his address. To those who say, “They must not be arresting him because he’s a spy,” I would reply, they may not be moving on him because the vast majority of world opinion is on his side, and the eyes of the world are watching. Certainly, authorities know whether those sexual assault charges are valid, or a political tool. Even if there is some validity to them it all sure looks suspicious to a reasonable person.

    To use your theme, I would say that he is, every day, being more of what he came here to be; he is being more of who he is.

    ef

  8. Lionizing Julian Assange is misguided and misinterprets who he is and what motivates him. For me, the astrology in the article “The Most Wanted Man in the World” was viewed through a cloudy lens.

    Are there benefits from Assange’s actions? Sure, but at what cost? Are his methods woven right from the fabric of our own dysfunctional society? Sure. Are there more effective and mature methods? Yes.

    So much easier to try to effect change from outside the system, from under the cover of darkness; so much harder to effect positive, powerful and productive change from within. But that wouldn’t satisfy, or should I say provide “the fix,” Assange’s dysfunction requires.

    You say he does what he does from his “heart and soul.” From his soul? Perhaps. Soul is where our unresolved energies reside. But from his “heart?” No, surely not. Heart is the place within man where humanity and divinity meet. Mr. Assange’s actions do not come from that place. They come from none other than his very own incomplete, unbalanced, and dysfunctional emotions and thoughts. In other words, the delusion and illusion within himself he doesn’t want to resolve. That’s so far from the true heart of man, I’m not sure you can even see across that divide.

    If Julian Assange’s actions came from heart, he wouldn’t be in hiding or running. Instead, he would be freely and willingly standing in accountability and responsibility for his actions and facing the charges against him with a clear conscience…and open heart. Justice may not be perfect, but it keeps us from chaos. That’s the point I guess, Assange’s aim is chaos. To people like him, the ends always justifies the means. They flog us with their destructive dysfunction and emotional laziness and immaturity, no matter the cost.

    Lionizing Assange perpetuates an ever growing illusion of “revolution” propagated by those with a whole lot of dysfunction looking to revolt, rather than deal with their own bullshit. Revolution created from this energy has brought us the Tea Party, Julian Assange, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin.

    Evolution, that much more challenging movement toward change that requires persistence, innovation, humility, and emotional maturity, has brought us the likes of Barack Obama, Richard Serra, Philip Glass, Chuck Close, Zaha Hadid, Arianna Huffington, Bill Gates, and Lisa Murkowski, just to name a few.

    Better we stand staunchly on the path with those engaging in authentic evolution, rather than cheer from the sidelines so-called revolutionaries not genuinely worthy of praise. Julian Assange is just Snooki on a different stage.

    Kelly Grace Smith

  11. Hey, Eric, man, not that this will fly but.. what about opening up the friday edition to the public realm.. It is kinda a public moment.. This cat, Julian, is opening up pretty well,.. we could throw him a few bones.

    Love, (and Peace)

    Jere

  14. that’s not breaking news from the onion — we broke it in the comments a day or two ago, remember? 😉 but it sure as hell bears posting again. really, that line about the USB cables cracks me up every time.

  16. “I will never see the back end of a PO box.” :::laughing my butt off:::: Too funny!

    Yep, by their actions, they are revealing their own complicity. They are just too dumb to see that.

  17. Breaking news from The Onion

    Julian Assange Fired From IT Job At Pentagon

    ARLINGTON, VA˜With officials describing his publication of sensitive U.S. State Department documents as “the last straw,” Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was asked to resign from his position as the Pentagon’s IT coordinator Monday. “We gave him his first warning after the whole Iraq and Afghanistan war diaries thing, and strike two was when he forwarded that video montage of Nicolas Cage yelling to the entire staff,” Defense Department human resources director Curtis Shannon said. “But we just can’t overlook this latest offense. Even if he’s the only one who knows where the spare USB cables are.” At press time, Assange had already been invited to interview for an IT position at the Central Intelligence Agency.

  18. Seriously though — this reveals their mentality. There is a critical mass point in any investigation where, no matter what your “adversary” says, you learn more, about what they think, know, believe, etc. They would have to go into total blackout mode to avoid that. They are saying to students, “If you post anything, we’re gonna catch you…we’re gonna Google you up so bad, we’ll find out you read The Guardian and sent it to your mother.”

    Personally, I think this is inspiring a generation of young people to join WL or the Yes Men or some subversive organization.

  20. yeah, i’m still reeling over the command, “you think you may want a job with the government ever? don’t even think about commenting on these cables!”

    and apparently state dept. employees can’t even type their names into the database to see if a cable they’ve authored is there. bizarre.

  21. Interesting???? And….that was the best laugh since watching Ali G videos for an hour last night.

    What dorks. Well, this is the official collision of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, all in your Driod.

  23. the latest from Democracy Now!

    “CIA Engineered Spying on U.N. Diplomats

    More revelations continue to emerge from the U.S. State Department cables released by the online whistleblower group WikiLeaks. The latest cables to be disclosed show the CIA spearheaded the State Department’s program to spy on foreign diplomats. Although the orders were authorized by U.S. Secretary of States Condoleezza Rice and her successor, Hillary Clinton, The Guardian of London reports a CIA official drew up the instructions for who should be monitored and what information should be tracked. The targets of the U.S. spying included U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other top U.N. officials.”

    “State Dept. Bars Staffers from WikiLeaks, Warns Students

    The U.S. State Department has imposed an order barring employees from reading the leaked WikiLeaks cables. State Department staffers have been told not to read cables because they were classified and subject to security clearances. The State Department’s WikiLeaks censorship has even been extended to university students. An email to students at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs says: “The documents released during the past few months through Wikileaks are still considered classified documents. [The State Department] recommends that you DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter. Engaging in these activities would call into question your ability to deal with confidential information, which is part of most positions with the federal government.“”

    (emphasis mine.)

    seriously? telling today’s students not to post/link to these cables in today’s age of social media? interesting.

  24. From the link posted by Fluidity:

    “The more secretive or unjust an organization is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. This must result in minimization of efficient internal communications mechanisms (an increase in cognitive “secrecy tax”) and consequent system-wide cognitive decline resulting in decreased ability to hold onto power as the environment demands adaption. Hence in a world where leaking is easy, secretive or unjust systems are nonlinearly hit relative to open, just systems. Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance.”

    — Julian Assange

    Finally, someone who can apply some holographic thinking to this puzzle of injustice.

  25. PW researcher Carol van Strum just sent me this, by Alexander Cockburn:

    “Interpol, the investigative arm of the International Criminal Court at the Hague, has issued a fugitive notice for Assange. He’s wanted in Sweden for questioning in two alleged sexual assaults, one of which seems to boil down to a charge of unsafe sex and failure to phone his date the following day.

    “This prime accuser, Anna Ardin, has, according to the journalist Israel Shamir, writing on the CounterPunch site, “ties to the US-financed anti-Castro and anti-communist groups. She published her anti-Castro diatribes in the Swedish-language publication Revista de Asignaturas Cubanas put out by Miscelaneas de Cuba … Note that Ardin was deported from Cuba for subversive activities.”

    “It’s certainly not conspiracism to suspect that the CIA has been at work in fomenting these Swedish accusations. As Shamir reports, “The moment Julian sought the protection of Swedish media law, the CIA immediately threatened to discontinue intelligence sharing with SEPO, the Swedish Secret Service.”

Leave a Comment