On October 11, 2002, the New York Times published a report at once illuminating and disturbing:  in a session with interrogators last December in Kabul, John Walker Lindh, the so-called "American Taliban," said that a "close associate" of Mr. bin Laden named Hakeen At-Taizzi told him that "there should have been five planes used" on Sept. 11 (not just the four that were actually used), "the fifth targeting the White House."

Perhaps even more shockingly, Mr. Lindh said he had heard that 50 people, Al Qaeda operatives, were sent to the United States to commit 20 suicide operations, and that "15 more operations were pending."

Here are links to several sites which specialize in news and commentary on military and security affairs, including terrorism, generally, and Al Qaeda, specifically.  Remember--it's you and me they're trying to kill!  Stay informed!

Through his unauthorized disclosure of massive amounts of United States classified security information, this traitor did incalculable damage not only to the security of the United States, his home country, but as the November 14, 2015 attacks on Paris demonstrate, the larger world. Loose lips sink ships.

If Edward Snowden was upset about the privacy posture of the United States as he has asserted as the reason for his large-scale public disclosures, he could have registered this concern in some other, more productive way, that would not be devastating to our national security, and the life and limb of our espionage personnel. He states that he tried this or that it was impossible.

Alright, not to disappoint those who are as angry and outraged as I am over this man's grossly misguided deeds, but I don't actually advocate hanging him, although I acknowledge that the law of the land does call for it, as I understand.

But this man should be punished, that punishment to comprise or include a period of restriction of movement, perhaps ten years no-parole prison time, followed by three years house arrest.

...before he and it continue to destroy us. The latest revelations, today, March 07, 2017, that Assange released highly classified CIA files and documents is just the latest serious assault upon the integrity and security of the United States. And a weak America means a weak West.

This idiot must be stopped at all costs.

This is not to say that every objective or perspective of Assange is wrong. I haven't studied them all. But his methodology is absolutely unacceptable. U.S. allies must assist us, and assist themselves, in arresting and extraditing this political criminal and ne'er-do-well.

This writer voted for Donald J. Trump. However, since his entry into office, this man has and continues to display such ignorance, ego, and downright peculiar behavior, in combination with continuing allegations of ties to Vladimir Putin and Russia, that he appears discernibly unfit for this unique, powerful, and categorically influential office.

Or consider, for example, Mr. Trump's utterly incredible and indeed patently unbelievable exhortation, publicly stated during at least one of his televised campaign debates, to Russia that it spy on Hillary Clinton to see what could be revealed. He was explictly and publicly asking a foreign power, a historical enemy, in fact, to infiltrate not just a United States citizen, but an American having held a series of high-level governmental positions, including First Lady and Secretary of State. This invitation, alone, could have easily been interpreted as what it is:  treason.

And then there's the small matter of Mr. Trump's continuing insult and de facto repudiation of our various American intelligence agencies and personnel--his own (and our) employees.

Or consider the news reported just today, March 22, 2017, that Paul Manafort, closely linked to Donald Trump, had a contract with Russian oligarch Vladimir Putin to advance the interests of he and Russia, over those of democratic elements in Europe and the United States. And the associated news that the plank in the Republican party platform as presented at its national convention, that supported Ukraine over its invader Russia, was removed. Why?

Or consider, again, Donald Trump's recent incredible declaration about health care: "Who knew that health care could be so complicated?" Well, Mr. Trump, since during your campaign you so categorically trumpeted that you'd be replacing the Affordable Care Act wholesale, one would have thought that YOU would have had a thorough grasp of the complex character of this issue. Donald Trump obviously knows literally nothing about U.S. or world history, politics, political theory, or government. Nor do I see a proper integrity to his loyalty to this country, as he also appears loyal to various other loci of global economic and political power, especially Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Which, by the way, is consistent with the traditional Marxist view that there are just two classes in global capitalist society, the 1.) ruling class (of which Donald Trump is a member), which is persons who own capital like manufacturing and service corporations, and 2.) the working class, which includes everyone else (no matter how highly paid), which is all persons owning no capital and thus forced to seek employment from the ruling class. Most of the people on this planet are in this latter, "working," class. This is a more precise, and thus powerful and helpful, formulation than the prevailing 1%/99%. This Marxist view further observes, as Brother Donald's apparent allegiance to Vladimir Putin suggests, that persons in the ruling class across nations cohere better, are more loyal to, and have more in common with each other, than they do with persons in the working class, though persons in this latter group may come from the same country as the member of the ruling class in question. Using the power of this kind of Marxist analysis, Trump's allegiance to Putin over the United States becomes comprehensible.

And it should be noted that this perspective, though its adherents are generally not aware of its origin, is now characteristic of many segments of the United States and global populations, whether Marxist or not, radical or not, or left-leaning or not. Listeners of Coast-to-Coast AM, for example, an immensely popular overnight radio program whose politics, though somewhat eclectic, have a generally discernible right-ward and libertarian cast, are thoroughly familiar and, indeed, in agreement with the claim that there is an "illuminati," a partially hidden global ruling class pulling the strings of the global order. I would amend their view somewhat by noting that the ruling class is really not that hidden; the owners of capital are relatively easy to identify (nor do I believe, as a few conspiracy theorists assert, that this ultimate ruling group is extra-terrestrial).

In sum, before Donald Trump starts World War III, or blindly assists planet Earth in slipping completely into the wrenching and irreversible dislocations and fractures caused by climate change, climaxing in the utter devastation of this planet, we must impeach and remove this man from the Presidency of the United States of America. I declare and assert this as a Trump voter and largely a social conservative.

Please read my complete 12-point impeachment essay and polemic here.

Please contact Senator John McCain, whom I recently heard referred to as our last cold warrior, to apprise him that you support his critique and associated efforts to counter Donald Trump.

And let us remember that yes, Donald Trump is our brother in our one human family, and we love him. But this does not mean that he should be the President of the United States.

If you read articles like this, you realize and learn that, in good measure, what created the Islamic State in the first place was the incompetence in Iraq of the United States, as well as the Iraqi government. Also critical to read to understand the formation and rise of ISIS is this piece. Learn the major American role.

One learns, for example, that in de-Baathifying the Iraqi army, with one pen stroke the United States left 400,000 army personnel with no jobs and no income. Where did they go? Many joined ISIS. In fact, as I understand it, essentially the entire top military stratum of ISIS is comprised of former top Iraqi officers and strategists--which is why ISIS captured large swaths of land in Iraq and Syria with such relative speed and facility.

Thanks, George W. Bush. And even more to the point: thanks, my fellow Americans for electing as President of the United States, twice, an individual whose intellectual incompatibility with that job was so evident.

Unfortunately, the stupidity and incompetence that I experience every day in many areas of American life applies to our military and political decisions, as well.

About this Site

I am Vincent Frank De Benedetto, writer, philosopher, musician, Agape Master, silence activist, health educator, and the creator and author of this site, 110Again.org. The heinous and dastardly actions taken on September 11, 2001 by those 18 sad and grossly-misguided individuals depressed and outraged me. So affected was I, that I commissioned the creation of a six-foot lawn sign which I placed on my front lawn and kept there for a long time. The sign read:  "Terrorists - Shame on You." You may think my admonition tepid; certainly there was overtly harsher language I could have chosen. However, though less fashionable now, the concept of "shame" is a powerful one. If one feels shame, or does something shameful, the implication is that the action violated a boundary of behavior relevant to the welfare of another human being, usually resulting in the experiencing of hurt, pain, or suffering by that person. Shame, therefore, points to, and reminds us of, what the relationship between people is supposed to be. It reminds us of how we are supposed to orient ourselves to other human beings, and how we're supposed to treat them. Insofar as this is true, this concept goes generally to the heart of why the crimes committed on September 11 were so wrong:  because they obliterated one or more legitimate moral and social boundaries, they caused untold suffering to other human beings. Their actions grossly and crudely ignored the principle I term:  "the gravity of human suffering."

Secondarily, I selected the above-described wording for my lawn sign because there are children in my neighborhood, and I didn't want them exposed to a vicious and hateful kind of expression, no matter how strongly such language might seem justified. Ultimately, we must exercise great caution and forbearance in thinking any thought, speaking any word, or committing any deed which unwittingly nudges us toward the kind of blackness of heart, mind, and soul that motivated the actions taken by the 18 terrorists. We're supposed to be the good guys, but remaining so can become an exercise in futility unless we continually examine the content and character of our own heart, mind and soul. We must prevent hatred, whether blind or deliberate, from creeping in. The content of my lawn sign, this web site, and my own anger notwithstanding, I believe the continuing effort to adhere to the revered and historic principle of love, the love ethic, is essential, in allowing us to prevent the human heart from ever reaching the depth of corruption manifest and exemplified on September 11, 2001. Of course, these sentiments do not obviate apprehension and punishment for the participants.

At almost 57 years of age I am a social conservative, save one issue:  our basic mode of social organization as human beings. I've been opposed to capitalism since about 1987, and after almost 57 years of life on planet Earth, all of which as a United States citizen living in the United States, I am more opposed to capitalism than ever before. As my father, who was very politically savvy, used to say of the system (well before Bernie Sanders): "It's all rigged." However, it is important to understand that neither do I advocate autocratic, often dictatorial systems such as China, Cuba, the former USSR, etc., that did and do clothe their social, economic, and ideological insanity in the garb of "socialism" and "communism." I think most of us on some level understand that their so-called "socialism" and "communism" has and had almost nothing to do with these alternative kinds of systems as properly and accurately understood. You will find no sympathy or endorsement whatever in any of my work for such figures as Lenin, Mao, or Guevara. In fact, I openly and deliberately repudiate and castigate such characters.

And by the way, I have never heard Barack Obama (whom I did not vote for) advocate anything other than capitalism; thus, by definition he is not a "socialist" (as he is not advocating actual socialism) as some of my fellow conservatives continue to inaccurately assert. The former President is a pro-capitalist Democrat with some liberal and some moderate tendencies. Let's get our political theory right, shall we? How do we properly manage our democracy if we don't?

I created this site, 110Again.org, because I believe that all of us on this planet are brothers and sisters in one human family. And like you, I simply cannot brook one group of human beings doing to another group of human beings what those eighteen terrorist idiots did to this country, to the individuals in the towers, some of whom were Muslim by the way, and to the world through their heinous, illogical, immoral, and frankly absurd actions on September 11, 2001. My anti-terrorist effort is meant to try to stem this tide, which in the year 2015 with the advent of ISIL, perhaps the most vicious and ultimately misguided group of brothers and sisters in the history of our human family, is growing worse than ever.

This site, congruent with my belief in the love ethic, which embodies the age-old ideal of brotherly love, also seeks to show that such problems can be resolved through use of the power of love, properly understood. This is not to say that aggression and violence are unnecessary. Sometimes they are. If someone swings at you, swinging back, or at least blocking their punch is not only right, proper, and moral, it is an act of self-love. And without love of self, our greater effort to love everyone else will be incomplete. It is, in fact, this failure to understood the true power of love that is responsible for the reputation of love as a weak, passive, wishy-washy philosophy when in fact it is anything but. In my opinion, Brotherly Love is the most powerful social force available to humankind. Though baptized a Christian, I am now an Agapist, a believer in Agape [ugg AH pay], which is "Brotherly Love" in the language of Greek philosophy. Indeed, if you are a Christian this commitment to love is supposed to be a large part of your point of view, as well, as the Second Great Commandment of Christ categorically is: love your neighbor.

This is also one of the principal reasons that I oppose capitalism: I don't think it can ever permit a full flowering of love between people. Its laws and rules of operation are simply too rigid and defined in favor of producing profit, as opposed to unequivocally addressing people's needs. Those of you closely acquainted with how capitalism actually works already know this, whether you advocate it or not. I don't think that Jesus Christ would have been a big advocate of free enterprise, especially in its present, 21st century, hypercapitalism variety. I believe that the other factor responsible for the lion's share of the problems of the world and the individuals within it is human ego, in its negative manifestation.

These are all interesting, relevant, and powerful notions and concepts that, of course, invite and indeed require discussion and debate. Once my guestbook or bulletin board is emplaced here we can do this.

In any case, I encourage your use of my resources at this site, regardless of your view of capitalism. But if you wish to take one step further, to know and understand the creator and author of this site, you're going to have to click your mind fully to the "ON" position, as I am something of a complex individual, or at least someone with a hybrid belief system.

Thanks for reading, and for trying from the standpoint of our better selves to negotiate these many issues that we in the year 2017 are called upon to thoughtfully address.

Contact me at onehumanfamily @ fastmail.net. In addressing your email, omit both spaces.