Episode 037: Missing A Head

There are so many ways to be “missing a head,” yet all of them are tragic in their own way. Sometimes peoples’ minds are so filled with propaganda that they become headless. And then, there are those who become physically headless as a result of the violent conflicts the U.S. wages abroad. Heit & Cheri kick off this episode of The Axiom Amnesia Theory with a discussion about Shellie Zimmerman’s arrest for perjury.

Other topics discussed include the FLAME computer virus, Obama’s “Kill list” and new kind of war, violence in Chicago, justification for killing innocent civilians during war, Yvette Carnell’s discussion with Boyce Watkins, soldier Walter Taylor charged with negligent homicide, justifications for war, Obama expanding occupation into Africa with 3,000 troops, Obama’s new “we’ve got his back” ad targeting Black people, discussion of the song “Handlebars” by Flobots, Texas man who confronted and killed neighbor and claimed “stand your ground, whether Magic Johnson ever really had HIV, and more.

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Segment 1

• Discussion about Shellie Zimmerman’s arrest and charge for perjury related to lying about the money she and George Zimmerman had available in their account at the time of his April 20th bond hearing. She bonded out the same day.
• Heit called the Internet provider and they gave him a “higher frequency.” He wanted to know why he didn’t have the highest service in the first place. Short answer–capitalism and services for profit.
• Discussion about the FLAME computer virus article that appeared on MSNBC.com. They said that Russia and China was making a big deal about the virus because they want to take “control” of the Internet away from the U.S.
• The article pushes the propagandist idea that nobody should be worrying about what the U.S. is doing with their technology, but should keep focused on Russia and China. They tried to say that if either of these countries had control over the Internet, they’d censor information.
• Discussion about Heit’s article, The Obama Kill List: A Different Kind Of War. In it, he discusses how Obama is waging different types of drone-based wars, while touting that he is ending wars elsewhere–Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Mention of how the “kill list” sanctions killing American citizens and anyone else who they see as a “combatant” or “terrorist.”
• Recently, the CIA wanted to justify killing of innocent and/or unidentified people in drone attacks.
• One of the biggest responses to the article is that Obama supporters try to turn it into a partisan issue–left vs. right. Of course this is not.
• Many Obama supporters justify the killing of innocent people abroad by suggesting that they are casualties of war. These “casualties” had names, faces, and people who loved them.
• Chicago had another crazy weekend of killing, with eight people dead and some forty others wounded.
• The issue at hand is Obama’s policies in continuing the wars Bush started. Obama has made some specific decisions that show he is continuing war, but they are a different sort.
• This new war has expanded into different countries. Bush didn’t have as many drone strikes as Obama has had.
• Discussion about Yvette Carnell’s discussion with Boyce Watkins, where she mentioned that people are considered insurgents and combatants now just based on association, and they are being killed as a result. She also made the important point that Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize AND he manages a kill list.

Segment 2

• Discussion about how hip-hop songs have so many more words per album than other genres.
• Discussion about Walter Taylor, the soldier who is facing negligent homicide charges after killing an Afghan doctor in the midst of combat. He says that he thought she was going to set off a bomb. It turns out that she was a doctor and mother of four–a totally innocent woman.
• It is an unfortunate position that the soldier finds himself in, because he is the fall guy.
• Heit recounts his decision to serve in Iraq, and how he didn’t want to find himself in a similar situation.
• Explanation of how the military gets around the “conscientious objector” excuse for not wanting to kill people during war.
• Should this soldier face murder charges for his actions? Heit & Cheri agree that he should not bear the burden of this punishment because he is being played as the fall guy.
• The military always tries to make it seem like these cases are exceptions–just as they did in the Robert Bales case where he shot a bunch of Afghan civilians. Perhaps Obama should face prosecution for this travesty.
• Another argument foolish people make is that war has been going on forever. Does this mean we should accept this if we know it’s wrong. We should be fighting to make the world how we think it should be.
• Many people want a solution that allows them to continue to kill people, yet feel okay about these killings that are the direct result of the foreign policies of the United States.
• Discussion of Obama’s new ad targeting Black people. It tells Black people that they must show Obama that “we’ve got his back.” What?!?
• Discussion about Obama expanding occupation into Africa with his plan to send 3,000 troops to Africa next year. How ironic is it that the first Black U.S. president will be the one to bring occupation to that area of the world.
• The wars are not ending. They are just changing directions. We told you about this back in October in an article about Gaddafi, and that his killing paved the way for African occupation.
• Americans seem to be bloodthirsty. They justify killing of people based on their likes and dislikes.
• Relating the blood thirst of Americans to the case where a man walked in on another man sexually assaulting his young daughter and beat him to death.
• People take their cues from the government. They go into areas of the world and kill innocent people, and so do American citizens.
• People seem to care more about babies and children being molested than when they are actually killed.

Segment 3

• Discussion of the song “Handlebars” by Flobots.
• Cheri says her favorite line is “I can lead a nation with a microphone.”
• Heit’s favorite line is “I can guide a missile by satellite, and I can hit a target through a telescope.”
• Guiding a missile with a satellite is a great accomplishment, if it weren’t for the fact that it is being used to kill people.
• The overall moral of the story is how power feels to the powerful.
• A discussion about a new AIDS drug (Truvada) ensues while discussing the lyrics, “I can hand out a million vaccinations, or let’em all die in exasperation.”
• Heit explains that the new medication wasn’t tested under actual conditions of exposure to the disease. Ethics concerns would prohibit this, but at the same time, the drug shouldn’t tout preventing transmission of the virus. It’s all about making a profit, and the drug companies don’t care if the drugs actually work.
• Discussion about whether or not Magic Johnson ever really had HIV.
• Discussion about the fact that gay men are prohibited from donating blood. The questionnaire asks about whether the man has had sex with another man.
• Discussion about the man who claims to have been cured of HIV by being injected with stem cells from a person who is immune from contracting the virus.
• A bunch of people are killing folks and claiming the “stand your ground” law.
• A man in Texas shoots and kills his neighbor after confronting people having a party a few doors over. During the call to 911 he made specific statements about being “in fear for his life” and that he was “standing his ground.” Why didn’t he go back to his house if he was fearing for his life?
• People think they can force someone to do what they want or they will kill them–just like the U.S. government rolls into other countries and does the same thing. “Do what we want or die!”

Audio Credits:

“Distractions” – Talib Kweli
“Obama Campaign Ad Targeting Blacks” – Barack Obama via YouTube
“Handlebars” – Flobots

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