Terrorstorm: A History of Government Sponsored Terrorism

This documentary by Alex Jones is an absolutely incredible report on the history of government sponsored terror across the globe. It includes shocking facts about "false flag" operations of the past decades, from Nazi Germany to today.

The most intense information centers on the most recent events from the London bombings in 2005 to the events of September 11, 2001. Jones reveals documents and testimonies by former governmental agents in order to educate the public of what our leaders and our media attempt to cover and keep from citizens.

Hearing of the falsified documents and hidden memos was chilling. One especially vivid portion was the revelation that on the dates of the London bombings (in both of the tubes that were bombed) and 9/11 there were mock emergency response missions being run in the exact same locations, which inhibited response teams or intelligence from reacting to it as a real threat. The actual chance that this was a coincidence? 1/100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. A number that exceeds the grains of sand on the earth.

Seeing this documentary makes me weep for the ignorance of the citizens of America. Every day our freedoms are taken away and we are fed with falsified media to portray our government in the best light possible and provide justification for the evils we committ on foreign soil, including killing innocent civilians to gain control of oil and funding "terrorist" attacks at home to create fear as a method of control. The documentary likens what is going on to Orwell's 1984: public mind control and a doublethink ideology.

For more information on Alex Jones' work, check out prisonplanet.com and infowars.com.

Cairo Modern

Cairo Modern is a novel by Naguib Mahfouz, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. In his novel, Mahfouz follows the story of a young student, Mahgub, who is suddenly impoverished due to family crisis. Upon graduating from college, Mahgub is lured into a corrupt political system where through bribery and deceit he makes his way to the top of the social ladder.

The book also follows the young and beautiful Ihsan, whose beauty and devotion to her parents leaves her in a scheming menage a trois. Life seems to be looking up until the masquerade is discovered and the pair are left wondering what is to come next.

The novel takes place in 1930s Egypt, and questions the problems of social and economic inequality that was prevalent in the era. The conversations among the five young men in the beginning of the story highlight the torn views of the youth, struggling between Egyptian culture and values and those of the West. Obvious tensions occur as the reader sees what happens when European cultural values are imposed upon a traditional Egyptian social structure.

What stands out especially to the reader is the example of political controversy and corruption that feeds into the ever rising opportunism and materialism. The text explains how the government was a tool for the wealthy, creating a strict social hierarchy, which our protagonist shows is not easily overcome.

Free Gaza

While browsing through the periodicals at my local library, I came upon an editorial in the June edition of The Nation that was relevant to my study. Surprisingly enough, the article was openly critical of not only the Israeli raid of the Freedom Flotilla, but on U.S. foreign policy regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The issue at hand was the Israel navy’s attack on a flotilla of ships full of human rights activists, diplomats, government officers, and civilians from around the globe on international waters. The ships were intending to deliver humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, who have been suffering under an Israeli blockade for more than four years. This action is a result of a policy enacted under the support of the United States, and the results have devastated Gaza and its people. The article cites UN agencies as stating that the formal economy has collapsed, leaving more than 60 percent of people food insecure, 80 percent dependent on the UN for sustenance, and rising levels of malnutrition. In addition, a weakened infrastructure has left a decrease in energy so great that there is limited access to food production and storage as well as safe drinking water. Because of the blockade, thousands of citizens have been homeless since Israel’s 2008-2009 military assault on the area.

The article goes on to criticize the U.S.’s one-sided policy, as well as the medias dishonest reporting of basic facts about the Israel-Palestine conflict. The writer states that these events would not have been possible without the “active collusion or cowardly silence of the vast majority of the Democratic Party and liberal policy establishment;” however, considers it positive that recent events have focused our attention on Gaza’s blockade, and calls for its end immediately.

It was so refreshing to read such a brave and critical article on this matter. I can only hope that more Americans will take such a brave stance on this matter.

(The Nation vol. 290, 24, June 2010)