For over a year, I have followed, documented, and exposed the government’s fear mongering regarding the swine flu pandemic botch. The results were predictable from the start.

In June of this year, this spectacular article came and went with barely a mention ’round the Internet. Richard Gale and Gary Null wrote a very important piece, “The CDC Votes in Favor of a Flu Vaccination Assault on Americans’ Health.” Early in the article, the authors make the statement that, “Nevertheless, we should still brace ourselves for another year of old yarn, fear-mongering, media spin and more voodoo science.” Indeed, though the WHO just recently declared the swine flu (non)pandemic to be over, the scaremongering is already ramping up regarding the seasonal flu. Note this laughable paragraph from a recent article in the Swine Flu Journal:

Federal health officials are gearing up to persuade more Americans to get vaccinated against the flu this fall, in the aftermath of last year’s pandemic that killed thousands nationwide, sickened millions, and frustrated many before petering out.

First off, “millions” weren’t sickened, and, what is the definition of “frustrated many?” The pandemic that wasn’t a pandemic ….. “frustrated many?” What does that really mean? Definition, please?

Compare the above statement with the fact that the CDC predicted up to 90,000 swine flu deaths in the U.S., with 2 million getting infected; the WHO was warning that 7+ million people could and might die; and the final tally was 12,000 deaths in the U.S. (rounded up), and 500 in the UK after UK propagandists predicted 65,000 deaths. And add to that the fact that the numbers reported in the U.S. were not verified scientifically — the CDC just made up numbers. The CDC and medical establishment that declared the pandemic a worldwide emergency intentionally avoided monitoring and tracking swine flu cases and the spread of the infection. As Gale and Null point out, the CDC also does not distinguish between deaths from flu and pneumonia, another intentional spin of the death numbers.

The article also discusses a “recent unanimous 11-0 vote by the members of the Centers for Disease Control’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) favoring every American over the age of six months receive the flu influenza vaccine.” This is a change from past recommendations, where only people who were deemed to be in “at risk” categories were included in the “must have vaccination” category. Indeed, the “at risk” categories were arbitrary, pseudo-science declarations made on behalf of establishment bureaucrats who were working in the best interests of the powerful government-medical-pharmaceutical complex. However, understand that the reason behind the creeping recommendations is that totalitarianism must take on a gradualist form in order to be inconspicuous to the hoodwinked members of the masses. All-at-once declarations are more transparent and immediately give rise to suspicions, questions, and resistance, whereas piecemeal oppression is less evident and has a “lighter” touch. Stealth socialism promotes gradualism and deception over outright insurgence and power grabs at breakneck speed. In fact, those “at risk” categories for flu vaccinations, as with everything else, gradually grew to include more potential at-risk individuals whose inclusion would serve to generate bigger profits for powerful corporate state interests.

Additionally, Gale and Null write this:

So far the CDC has weathered the WHO controversy in Europe unscathed. A fundamental oversight in the CE’s investigation and hearings has been solely targeting the WHO. It ignores the role of government health agencies’ complicity in promulgating the H1N1 hoax and the flushing away of billions of dollars into the drug industry, especially during an economic downturn and recession. As we witness the WHO’s indifference and denial of wrongdoing crumble, the question remains over whether or not the CDC was complicit in the propagandizing of the astronomically expensive H1N1 hoax.

…In the shadow of this medical charade, the drug makers are laughing their way to the banks. No Big Pharma executive is sitting before investigative committees to give an accounting of corporations’ role in the pandemic debacle. Instead, after scoring over $6 billion (Associated Press, May 19, 2010 ) it is again business as usual and another flu season ahead to further increase revenue.

The pharmaceutical industry places reliance on long-term planning in order to predict the direction and scope of its research and development. Predictability reduces uncertainty, and nothing is more comforting to corporate executives than being able to foresee, ahead of time, a fairly accurate representation of its potential patrons.

Big Pharma, as a whole, follows a systematic progression in its quest for securing a greater number of customers for its products. Essentially, there are three types of “customers” for Big Pharma’s legal dope:

1)   Sick people, most of whom do not need pharmaceuticals — with exceptions, of course — because they can cure what ails them through food choices and lifestyle modification.

2)   Healthy people who must be convinced, through the use of propaganda, that they have some ailment — restless leg syndrome, high cholesterol, a genetic predisposition for breast cancer, etc. — that needs medical intervention and a pharmaceutical silver bullet(s).

3)   Healthy people who are heavily propagandized into believing that every potential ailment or disease is a) a possible/likely event, and b) is preventable through aggressive drug treatment.

Out of the three, the last choice has the greatest potential because:

a) Propaganda is most useful in this instance because people generally place a heavy reliance on their doctors and the medical establishment as a whole to understand exactly what their issues and risks are, and they tend to follow orders accordingly.

b) Preventative drugs, like vaccines, can be and have been mandated via coercive political policy that all but guarantees profits, subsidies, and/or the continuance of similar policies in the future.

c) Due to (b) above, there becomes a better understanding of the potential customer base, and therefore revenue streams and profitability can be predictable, serving to alleviate uncertainty.

In closing, the Medical Establishment Journal (ahem, Wall Street Journal) just published a story that revealed prescription drug use (caveat: based on government stats) that revealed an alarming rate of prescription drug usage. Among the findings:

The type of drugs used most often were asthma meds for kids, central nervous system stimulants (such as those used to treat ADHD) for teens, antidepressants for the middle-aged and cholesterol-lowering drugs for older people.

Depending on whose studies you believe, both pharmaceuticals and the medical system are listed as being among the leading causes of death in the U.S. On that note, how many die annually from the use of marijuana?

(Thanks to Travis Holte)

Over the weekend we were at a theme park getting tickets. It was 8:59am and we were next in line to walk up to the window. 9am hit, and with it, the national anthem. The employees all turned towards the flag and everything stopped. Since when do they play the SSB at places like that? I felt sorry for the tourists there who had to endure such things..

Later the same day, at the start of an animal show, the host asked anyone involved with the US military to stand and be recognized. But wait, there’s more! They also wanted everyone associated with any allies to stand (the UK was specifically mentioned). Again, poor tourists.

So far, 398 people have given a total of $38, 743 to the LRC fund appeal, from most states and seven foreign countries, with an average gift of almost $100. We are approaching our goal of $42,000, and I should note that any donations beyond that will be used to help increase the reach of LRC on social networking sites, through advertising, and in many other ways. I’d also like to set up a mirror site in Iceland, where the legal structure is far more friendly to free speech, were you to make it possible. To the wonderful 398, thank you very much! To those who might consider joining them, please do so.

Writes Ron Paul:

A professed Christian pastor in Gainesville, Florida, Terry Jones, plans to burn copies of the Quran on 9/11. He indicts all Islam for 9/11 and argues that it is a hate-driven religion. He’s convinced he’s on God’s side, even though he is getting little support from other Christians, who believe that Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

General David Petraeus, our military commander in Afghanistan, strongly condemned Mr. Jones’ plan, arguing it would be provocative, make his fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan more difficult, and further jeopardize the lives of American soldiers.

I agree! To blame of all Muslims for the atrocities of 9/11 only makes things worse – especially since it wasn’t the Taliban of Afghanistan that committed the atrocities on 9/11. Under Jones’ warped logic, we should have attacked Saudi Arabia, since 15 of the 19 suicide bombers came from that country.

But while I am pleased to see General Petraeus recognize the danger of one type of incitement, he unfortunately fails to see the whole picture and understand that our policies of torture, targeted assassination, invasion of Muslim countries, and unintended infliction of civilian casualties in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are also provocative. Pictures of victims of torture as well as innocent people killed by drones and stray bombs, are every bit as bad as burning the Quran.

In some ways, what Jones is doing may be minor compared to the resentment toward us as a consequence of what our government has done to thousands of innocent victims.

As I have said time and time again, Osama bin Laden wins by ‘proving’ that America is an enemy of Islam and has an occupation agenda in the Middle East. And we continue to walk into his trap and hand him up his best recruitment tool in his efforts to provoke hatred and terrorism against the United States.

If we don’t want to incite radical Islamists, we need to stop these un-needed wars. It is high time we came to our senses, brought our troops home to defend our country, and pursued a Constitutional, pro-American foreign policy.

For years, government agents have told people that these new pyramids stadiums and sports facilities were supposed to be economic net positives. It turns out that even after the older facilities (that were supposed to create lots and lots of wealth for everyone) have been demolished, they still carry huge debt loads that taxpayers ultimately must continue to finance.

So, from Sea to Shining Sea, we have an ocean of debt. However, we will continue to be inundated with the sophistry from politicians, team owners, and sportswriters that what communities REALLY NEED are new facilities.

A homeowner in Uniondale, NY had the audacity to try to defend his family and home when a group of thugs mobbed his home, threatening him and his family.

“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said. Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house. “He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said. [emphasis mine]

The homeowner, George Grier, was charged with “reckless endangerment.” Why didn’t the police just pay him to fill out a report on the incident? Oh…wait a minute. That’s what would have happened if one of their own braindead-in-blue fellow “peace officers” had fired warning shots. Or taser shots. Or drove drunk after tequila shots. (Okay, maybe not this last one. That they would have just tried to cover-up.)

[Thanks to Travis Holte]

Every few years we get to witness another entertaining Objectivist purge or publicly announced “breaking” (see my previous LRC posts Breaking, Broken, Broke: Silly Objectivist Tendencies; I break for Randians; Re: I Break for Randians; More Randian than Thou).

The apparently declining numbers of the true believers might make one fear these antics will soon fade out. But not yet. The latest is the resignation from the Ayn Rand Institute‘s Board of Directors of John McCaskey, preempting a purge that was being threatened by Peikoff. Despite being on the Board and being an ardent Objectivist and supporter of ARI, McCaskey committed the unforgivable sin of disagreeing (in private) with a book Peikoff liked–David Harriman’s The Logical Leap: Induction in Physics. Pope Peikoff generously acknowledges McCaskey’s previous fundraising for ARI might “raise[] him one rung in Hell,” but it doesn’t stop damnation. Since his resignation, McCaskey has posted a review of Harriman’s book explaining his disagreements.

The Objectisphere is naturally abuzz with these latest hijinks: see Does A Leonard Ever Change Its Spots? and New Developments re Harriman Induction book. Expect to see previous positive references to McCaskey by True Believers go down the Memory Hole soon–such as this one by Peikoffian Diana Hsieh and his inclusion on the faculty of Objectivist Conferences.

Robert G. Anderson writes to tell me the sad news of the death of the great Idaho libertarian, Ralph Smeed, at 88 of pancreatic cancer. Ralph, a livestock dealer and good friend and collaborator of Leonard Read’s, Ron Paul’s, Bob’s, and so many of us, was a charming, untiring champion of freedom. He wrote a newspaper column for many years, where he was billed as a “Curmdgeon,” but a less curmudgeonly man is hard to imagine. Ralph never met a stranger, and never passed up an opportunity to advance the cause of liberty. He was also a generous supporter of the Mises Institute. God rest his great soul.

This afternoon, I heard a brief snippet of an interview with Pastor [sic] Terry Jones of that miserable little church in Florida which is going to mark September 11 this year by burning copies of the Qur’an.

Jones said he understands that “Moslems” (his pronunciation, not mine, though I suppose I should be thankful he did not call them “Mohammedans”) will be offended at what he is doing, but (noting that apparently violent Islam has everyone in thrall, including General David Petreus) that he is offended whenever “Moslems” burn “the Bible or the American flag.”

I suppose it’s possible that Muslims somewhere would have burned a Bible or two (maybe Marxist Arabs, as there are a few), but I’ve not heard of such things. Most Muslims do not venerate the Bible anywhere near as much as the Qur’an, but would respect its contents (to the extent they believe them to be true, which is only partly), being as the Qur’an itself tells (and retells) many Bible stories (especially those from the Tanakh) and venerates many biblical figures — especially Abraham and Moses. No Muslim I have ever met would think burning a Bible was a good or worthwhile thing.

But it’s that second bit that gets me. Jones is placing the Qur’an — which Muslims view as the eternal word of God incarnate in the world — on par with the inanimate piece of cloth that is the American flag. For Jones, and too many other Americans, the flag is clearly an object of worship, even perhaps the presence of God in the midst of the people (especially when the President of the United States is NOT a Republican). I can think of no better example of the death-dealing idolatry of American nationalism than that.

In heavy seas.

Jacob Huebert has written an excellent overview of libertarianism today in his book of the same name.  On everything under the sun he persuasively argues the libertarian position, and incidentally notes differences of opinion among people who describe themselves as libertarians.  He recently discussed this important book with Scott Horton, in an interview well worth the space on your iPod.

For the first time, a mainland Chinese film deals with the victims of one of Mao’s concentration camps, an extremely sensitive topic. So many millions died under socialism, God rest their souls, but capitalist China is booming economically, and making civil-liberties progress too. This great people, so long condemned to grinding Marxist poverty, is finally coming into its own, and all humanity is benefiting.

In this TED presentation, Banksters Puppet Gordon Brown promotes his Masters’ plan for a One World Fascist Government by reciting his broken record slogan “global problems require global solutions” (TRANSLATION: One World Government). Of course, to Gordon Brown-nose, the biggest global “problem” is “man-made” global warming. For me, the only man-made global problem will be One World Government when it finally reaches its full fruition. (I believe it is already here, albeit in its early stage.) It’s fascinating to hear him mix certain positive ideas with his socialist negative ideas, e.g., the end of slavery and Fascism (only the right-wing kind, of course) with the creation of the welfare state and socialist security. At the end, he blatantly states his dream: global institutions for the environment (TRANSLATION: Big Corporation cap-and-trade), finance (TRANSLATION: a One World Bankster-created counterfeit currency), and security (TRANSLATION: a One World Army).

Please watch this brief film entitled “The House in the Middle.”  It was produced in 1954 by the National Clean Up-Paint Up-Fix Up Bureau.  In its twelve minutes it presents the most insidious example of the totalitarian mindset I have witnessed.  Do not mistake this propaganda short for an absurdist skit scripted by Samuel Beckett or Eugene Ionesco and directed by Terry Gilliam of the Monty Python comedy troop.

It is an actual government film which was not to be taken as satire or spoof.  I would place the Fox News broadcast of Secretary of State Colin Powell’s 2003 Iraqi WMD presentation at the UN Security Council in the same category as this film.

One of the symbols of Progressivism, the battleship Olympia of Spanish-American War fame, is in trouble, and if the ship does not have its “skin” refurbished, it is going to sink. (It presently is moored on the Delaware River at Philadelphia and proudly is on display as the place where Commodore George Dewey uttered the famous command: “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley.”

Of course, that “splendid little war” was yet another event pushed by war-mongering “Progressives” who wanted to see the United States become an “imperial power,” so led by Theodore Roosevelt, the “Progressives” basically lied, forged documents and photos, and generally created havoc until Congress declared war on Spain.

So, the Olympia really is a symbol of Progressivism at its worst: endless war. Let it sink.

Here’s Matt Purple in “Corny Capitalism,” posted on American Spectator at the end of August:

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency issued another one of those announcements read exclusively by government bureaucrats and green policy wonks. The EPA decided to delay a decision to increase the concentration of ethanol legal in gasoline from 10% to 15%. So-called E15 fuel would have to wait for approval until November.

It was a little-read regulatory decision that barely made a splash in the media. But it was also a rock thrown at Washington’s hornets’ nest of food and agricultural lobbyists. “We are disappointed,” warned food giant Archer Daniels Midland. “We find this further delay unacceptable” and a “dereliction of duty,” harrumphed ethanol lobbying group Growth Energy.

…The history of ethanol is a sad torrid affair of crony capitalism and green fantasies. By jumping in bed with the agriculture industry and blindly slapping on new regulations, the government artificially propped up an industry and put itself in a bind from which there may be no return.

Most certainly, the EPA decision is only a delay, not a reprieve. The delay occurred because even the central planning bureaucrats at the EPA know that cornahol is extremely inefficient (it leaves a sasquatchian carbon footprint), it reduces fuel economy, and it destroys automobile engines. We already pay for the vast sum of agricultural subsidies to prop up powerful corn interests. Meanwhile, Archer Daniels Midland and the rest of the massively subsidized corn industry will harvest huge profits due to favorable corporate state policymaking.

Mr. Purple has written an extraordinary article, laying out an abbreviated timeline describing how Jimmy Carter and Archer Daniels Midland CEO Dwayne Andreas struck a deal to create the subsidized ethanol boon and slapped a tariff (currently over 50 cents/gallon) on foreign producers of ethanol to eliminate the (more efficient) competition. Then came tax credits for producers and the Clean Air Act that conveniently attempted to exempt ethanol under Bush Sr., along with an attempt at a de facto ethanol mandate under Clinton. Purple remarks,

…nobody was crossing Andreas, whose ethanol empire seemed unstoppable. “There is an agricultural mafia in this town, and Dwayne Andreas is its kingpin,” wrote Frederick Potter, a Washington consultant. A few years later, Potter was singing a different tune. Andreas had become his client. By 1995, ADM was producing about 60% of America’s ethanol.

Along with Carter, Bob Dole and Tip O’Neill were regular policy contributors to the kingdom of Archer Daniels Midland. According to a commentary on the Fraser Institute website from 2009, the list of powerful presidential allies is predictable:

- President Jimmy Carter hailed his “gasohol program” as a way to “spur the investments that we, together, must make for a more secure energy future.”

- President Ronald Reagan boasted about how his first-term policies boosted ethanol production from 75 million gallons to more than 450 million gallons.

- President George H.W. Bush called ethanol “a homegrown energy alternative.”

- President Bill Clinton argued that “Ethanol production increases farm income, decreases deficiency payments, creates jobs in rural America, and reduces America’s reliance on foreign oil.” (See CFDC for Carter to Clinton quotes.)

- President George W. Bush trumpeted his administration’s role in boosting ethanol production to the point that “in 2005, the United States became the world’s leading ethanol producer.”

- And President Barack Obama argues ethanol “ultimately helps our national security, because right now we’re sending billions of dollars to some of the most hostile nations on earth” (Rother).

For more on the ethanol money trail, see Tim Carney’s “Obama EPA’s ‘science’ pleases powerful ethanol lobby.” Also see Jim Bovard’s revealing 1995 paper, “Archer Daniels Midland: A Case Study in Corporate Welfare.”

Col. Sellin, PhD, wrote an op-ed for UPI describing some of the idiocy of the American way of war. It looks like it took them around three days to fire him. The report indicates that Col Sellin was fired (by NATO actually, a US confection) for criticizing MS Powerpoint, and that he isn’t the first, referring to a recent Armed Forces Journal article on the slide-making application calling it “…the antithesis of thinking…[and] actively hostile to thoughtful decision-making.” If only we had a better software application for presenting our amazing lack of military or political objectives, or an improved graphic design for our hallucinogenic strategies, why surely, surely we would be winning Washington’s wars! Of course, Sellin was removed — as so many are that we never hear about — because he noticed that the Emperor is not only unclothed, but addled too.

Writes the amazing Taki Theodoracopulos:

Prince Nikolaos of Greece married the hyperborean beauty Tatiana Blatnik, as good looking a couple as any that were ever described by, say, F. Scott Fitzgerald in his novels about the young and the beautiful. Watching them come down the clusters of white-washed houses lined by cherry and pine trees on a balmy late afternoon my thoughts raced to…Ayn Rand. Ms. Rand had something against ugly people. She thought them evil. (I wonder what she was doing hanging around with Alan Greenspan, the architect of the credit crunch, but I guess it was for the money.) Her heroes, by contrast, were flawless and beautiful. Nikolaos and Tatiana would have been megastars in her books. In an age of cheap celebrity culture, with its Gadarene lust for fame and attention, of gel-haired thugs, foul-mouthed, Concorde-nosed women and tattooed, beer-bellied slobs, the bride and groom stood out like—well, for lack of a more inspired simile—a couple of Orthodox rabbis in a Nuremberg rally.

Read “The Secret of Eternal Youth.”

See 5:00-6:00.

Here is Part Two. The whole thing is worth watching, despite the extremely creepy interviewer. Dame Helen has gone on to become one of the great English actresses, of course, but she is already clearly a star in this TV appearance.

UPDATE from David Kramer:

You might want to consider adding this, Lew. It’s Helen with the same interviewer 35 years later talking about her recent movie The Queen. It’s very interesting to see how they both have aged; she’s so much more mature and he is less creepy. (LOL!)