The Deep State: Conflicting Meanings in Powerful Language

As a writer I understand the power of language, the power of words. So when I see words and phrases thrown around in general conversation as a means to discount another's perspective, I tend to to do the research to see where a term originated and what is its intended purpose. 

Today's phrase is 'Deep State'. Every time I see this phrase used, I get a sense of confusion. Does anyone really know what this means? Turns out there are several interpretations of this phrase. Many books have been written, but they represent varying and opposing perspectives, so let's take a look. 

My first experience with this phrase goes way back to anti war activists using the term to describe a military industrial complex gone rogue, working outside the confinements of Government. Several authors have written books about this particular use of the phrase. 

The first noted use of the term was describing a secretive Turkish Network known as Derin Devlet. Founded in 1923 by former President of Turkey Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the group's purpose was to use nefarious acts such as coups and private assassinations of individuals seen as a threat to the establishment to preserve the Government structure, particularly the press, communists and other dissenters. At the time, the term was applied to what was happening in Turkey and Russia. 

Later, the term was used to describe the secretive activities of the military industrial complex as expressed in President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 farewell address: "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist." At the time, there was great potential for misuse and they did misuse the military often without the consent of Congress, however, in today's information society, nothing the military does is secret. When something happens with the US military, someone records it and the information is made available to global societies. The People involved in 1961 were able to hide their activities without the technology available to make the information available to everyone with internet access. 

In The Concealment of the State, Professor Jason Royce Lindsey takes this idea further to include what he describes as a fourth branch of the US Government established after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center to use the national security and intelligence communities to work autonomously from the Executive Branch of Government for private interests. Again, this definition is still entrenched in the military industrial complex. 

Moving forward to 2014, a new definition appears from Mike Lofgren, a former Republican US congressional aide as  "a hybrid association of elements of government and parts of top-level finance and industry that is effectively able to govern the United States without reference to the consent of the governed as expressed through the formal political process." This refers to Corporate and private interests using blackmail and payoffs as a way to influence policy through elected representatives serving these entities only and not the working for the will of the people, though they maintain the facade of being dedicated public servants. Moving out of the military industrial complex this definition focuses on the establishment or career politicians who sit in powerful positions influencing policy as Presidents come and go. This includes career military officers, but is not limited to military operations. Intellectuals remain at odds with this definition arguing there is not one entity involved in these nefarious activities, but several groups who often find themselves at odds with each other. 

The Trump Administration uses the term to describe leaks and entrenched bureaucracy being used to interfere with the President's agenda. Steve Bannon through Breitbart News pushes this theory in many ways, one such example is the belief Barack Obama is creating a deep state resistance to Trump. This has been proven to have no basis in reality as have other such conspiracy theories coming from the alt-right media. Alex Jones uses this term to describe anything from alien invasions to weather modification to resistance to Trump's political agenda. 

Given the confusion surrounding the meaning of this term, polls were conducted in 2017 where as 48% of people polled believed there is a deep state entity in the US Government with the purpose of secretly manipulation and policy influence. In 2018 a similar poll was conducted with 63% of the individuals polled showing unfamiliarity with the term, but believing it was possible for something to like it to exist in modern geopolitical situations. 

As one can see, this is a term which has many interpretations and issues surrounding the term are quite convoluted, but at the same time offer a space for constructive ideas to form a potential consensus on the use of the words. What does Deep State mean to You? 

Why I Believe Sex Workers

Since the beginning of Human Politics, Men have been sending sex workers over to their opponents chambers to get secrets out of them for the purpose of winning wars and gaining power. Servant girls were used to get secrets from Kings, the local brothel was a hot bed of espionage. Cambridge Analyica's CEO Alexander Nix was caught on tape selling this as a service to undercover investigators just recently. Honey Traps (AKA Honey Pots) have been the preferred method for spies to gain secrets forever, it seems. So much so, You would think people in power were keep their DNA to themselves just so they wouldn't be caught in the trap, but sadly, they don't. 

Trump has been officially been spreading his seed since He hit puberty. EWWWW.... 

Stormy Daniels is a very successful sex worker. She is not shy about it. She isn't just in front of the camera. She produces, writes and stars in porn videos. Her continuously expanding network is quite large. I consider her an extremely savvy business woman in her trade. In her 60 minutes interview she reiterates, she is not a victim, the sex was consensual. Hey, much respect. The bigger issue with Stormy Daniels is intimidation, illegal use of campaign funds and thuggish behavior by people in power. This is why we will see more of Stormy Daniels and why Trump hasn't tweeted her name with a cute little insult about looks or intelligence. It's also why Trump spent Saturday night with his attorney Michael Cohen at Mar-A- Largo discussing strategy. 

I have way more respect for Stormy than Karen McDougal who was stupid enough to think Trump loved her just because he said so. He offered her money, she turned it down and feels SO guilty for having the affair because Trump was married at the time. She called Trump a 'sweet man'. Whatever. 

The more important story to Me is Russian Sex Worker Anastasia Vashukevich who claims to have 16 hours of video and audio proving collusion with Russia. In 2016, Anastasia or Nastya Rybka, spent time on a yacht with Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska and Deputy Prime Minister Sergy Prikhodko. Deripaska is known for creating a back channel to the Trump campaign through Paul Manafort. 

So, Anastasia leaves Russia and ends up in Thailand working with a group of sex workers running sex training sessions without a work visa. She ends up in a Bankok prison awaiting trial and extradition back to Russia where she will most likely be tortured, poisoned or whatever they do in Russia to people who know too much. 

She reaches out to CNN to try to exchange the 16 hours of evidence for asylum. Now, let's be clear. I do not think she will get assistance from the US Government. I'm not sure Mueller can or will save her. It appears Mueller's case is pretty rock solid with 5 American Guilty Pleas, 1 Russian and counting. 

My point in all of this is sex workers have been used since the beginning of time as weapons of espionage, so Yes... I believe the sex workers. I believe Stormy Daniels. I believe Anastasia Vashukevich. I could care less about doey eyed Karen McDougal or her stupid guilt... Stop wasting our time. 

Live Tweeting the Stormy interview last night was spectacular! So many funny tweets. My favorite? This gem from @wmbienes: 

'Who among us hasn't had unprotected intercourse with a porn star & playmate while wife #3 (the one you had intercourse with while still married to wife #2, the woman you slept with while still married to wife #1) was home nursing child number five? #StormyDanielsDay"

This is our President. This is the man all of the evangelicals follow as if he were the next messiah coming to lead them all to redemption in the promised land. It seems to me all of these powerful men need to keep their DNA to themselves as a matter of national security.. before someone gets impeached or poisoned. 

Does anyone else miss the days when The President of the United States didn't have any sex scandals? OBAMA....

So. What did We learn here today? Sex Workers are spies, Politicians need to keep their DNA to themselves and if a sociopath tells you he loves you, he doesn't. None of this has ANY place in American Politics. That's how I really feel. 

Modern Day Morocco prepares to Regulate Cannabis Production for Foreign Investors

Cannabis fields in the Rif Mountains
Source: the-misadventures-of-luciengrey.blogspot.nl

The People of Morrocco have always known the medicinal and economic value of the Cannabis Plant. For centuries. Farmers have been growing and processing Cannabis to be exported to markets throughout Europe. Although it is illegal to smoke hashish in Morocco, most of the men in the country smoke openly in cafes out of water pipes while drinking mint tea enthralled in card games and conversation with friends and family. The word ‘kif’ stems from the Arabic word for pleasure. Most of the Cannabis is grown and processed in the RIF Mountains in the North Eastern portion of Morocco. The region covers more than 11,000 square miles and supplies 70% of the European Hash Markets.

A bowl containing beaten kif.

Cannabis has been growing here since the 15th century. In the 60's and 70's people considered Morocco part of the Hippie Revolution, making the Country a popular travel spot. Back then, "kif" was produced for domestic use and fields of Cannabis were believed to cover only 5,000 hectres. Morocco obtained Pop Culture fame when legendary hashish producer  Akmed (Hole in the Head) smoked white hashish with Timothy Leary at the base of Mt Tidiquin in the highest part of the Rif Mountains. There is the inexpensive commercial product and then the good stuff, which the locals call Oro Negro, or Black Gold.  The quality hash from this region goes by many names including Ketama, Sputnik, Zero Zero, and King Hassan. Ketema Gold is the leading seller in Europe. Today, Moroccon Cannabis plants are estimated to cover more than 200,000 hectres.

The growing season here begins in March. Fields of sprouts are easily visible from the road.  Farmers use rudimentary, labor intensive processes to create hash in stone houses built into the mountainsides. The plants are harvested from the fields anywhere from July to August and bunched together. The cannabis bunches are placed in drying rooms to cure before being made into hash using several different extraction techniques for a variety of end user products. The Hashish created ranges in color and texture, some sandy in consistency, some moist like clay. Many of the hashish produced ends up the same rusty color as the clay dirt found in the land here.

It's too dry in this region to grow regular vegetables. If this region of the World did not have Cannabis, they would be forced to work in cities for salaries, only a small portion of what they receive now. For many of these families, Cannabis is the only source of sustainable income available for food, shelter and other meager living expenses.

Recently, the European Union offered Farmers other options for livelihood strategies in an attempt to curb production. They realized quickly the farmers here are not willing to do anything but grow Cannabis for the purpose of  Hashish.

An estimated one million people are thought to benefit annually on the cultivation of cannabis on more than 200,000 farms. For these poverty stricken families, Cannabis is their only option as a livelihood strategy and Hashish production techniques have been passed down from generation to generation for hundreds of years.

Morocco exports more than 3,000 tons of processed Hashish with estimated values of more than $10 billion. making Cannabis 10% of the Country’s economy.

Local officials have traditionally protected Cannabis Farmers from becoming a part of the larger War on Drugs with only a few scattered stories of corruption, bribery and failed attempts by the European Union to offer subsidies to farmers willing to grow other agricultural commodities. For the most part Cannabis is accepted in society as a way of life and it’s not changing any time soon.

It comes as no surprise as more countries relax Cannabis prohibition laws, Morrocco’s Parliament is considering draft legislation allowing farmers a legal system of regulation and distribution of Cannabis products. Leaders in the country see Cannabis as a way to draw foreign investment as pharmaceutical companies show more interest in distributing Cannabis medicines in global markets. Over the next three years, Governor Mohamed Boudra of Huciema-Taounate, the Country’s Northern region will be working with Parliament to enact a program designed to build confidence and strengthen ties between farmers and Morrocco’s ruling Monarchy under King Mohammad VI.

“We have to ensure that any legalization is done in an optimal fashion,”Abdelhalim Allaoui, a lawmaker with the ruling Justice and Development Party, told Business Week.“We need to establish what the medicinal virtues of the plant are and then think of exports, pharmaceutical industry developments, and how to draw foreign investment. This is a promising sector for the economy.” Business Week Article

For the families using Cannabis as a livelihood strategy and for the end user in the European Markets, this is all very good news highlighting the economic benefits of a plant known to sustain life in this region for centuries.

WikiLeaks: A Lesson in Diplomacy

We all have strong opinions about the recent WikiLeaks situation. For me, it has created a desire to understand the origins and definition of the word diplomacy. After all, people pay a lot of money to attend Ivy League Schools so they can guarantee themselves a fast paced, cut throat career in diplomatic relations. People use the term in business and to describe certain character traits of individuals. Certainly we each, at one point in our lives, must think about what diplomacy means as a character trait. We say things like “She showed great diplomacy when she talked her way out of the speeding ticket.” Or “It took a lot of diplomacy for him to negotiate that cut throat corporate deal.” What does being diplomatic really mean? Who made the rules and more importantly, is it a good thing or a bad thing? 

The word itself is from the Greek word Diploma, which started out as we know it today. Greek scholars gave Diplomas to certify a student’s completion of an educational course of study. The Romans used the word diploma to describe travel documents, creating another path of interpretation of the word. They later extended the meaning to include foreign documents ie: treaties between tribes. 

Diplomatic relations go as far back as aborigines who believed in protecting messengers when carrying important information to be delivered to tribal leaders. Romans, Italians and French all created variations of the word itself as well as established systems of protection for diplomats and protocol for interaction and negotiation with other political leaders of their day. This evolves in many ways throughout history right up to modern history. 

Modern history brings a few changes in diplomatic relations. Until World War 1, diplomatic relations were conducted between individual representatives of each Nation. In 1961 the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was written, paving the way for a new era and meaning of diplomacy; one that would lead to the establishment of a League of Nations, later to become the United Nations.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations was adopted in 1964. You can read the 2005 updated version here: http://untreaty.un.org/ilc/texts/instruments/english/conventions/9_1_1961.pdf  This document doesn’t really touch on the meaning of the actual word diplomacy, but rather outlines all of the rules, regulations and immunities for diplomatic representatives to deliver and receive messages. After reading the document, I think about all of the heinous acts covered up and let go by individuals claiming diplomatic immunity. It seems you can get out of a lot more than a few speeding tickets as a diplomat. The authors have created a legally binding system in which to conduct business in secret, prosecuting anyone who disagrees with them along the way. 

So, from the word origins, we have come from  educational documents, to travel documents, to a system of negotiation allowing for immunity and secret dealings, protected by a legal system made up for capitalistic purposes. Let’s get back to the word itself for a moment. Today, Webster defines Diplomacy in two ways: The art or practice of conducting international relations, as in negotiating alliances, treaties, and agreements and Tact and skill in dealing with people.

WikiLeaks consisted in part of many diplomatic cables outlining foreign relations. A lot of it was mere chatter, though it all sheds a very bright light on how representatives of the United States interact with each other regarding foreign leaders and their peers. The cables say German Chancellor Angela Merkel “avoids risk and is rarely creative”. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has thoughts that are “short of substance”. Afghanistan President Karzai is driven by paranoia and Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is "feckless, vain and ineffective as a modern European leader.” After being called a Mafia State, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is compared to Batman and President Medvedev is named as his sidekick Robin. To me, it sounds as if we are stuck in a bad 80’s B-grade movie set in a dingy high school in no- name small Midwestern town. Did these diplomats simply misunderstand the definition of diplomacy? Do they have a different way of describing tact and skill in dealing with people? Is this how we want our representatives to act when using their keen negotiation skills in the name of the United States People? 

The whole story brings me back to my own reality as I ponder what I want diplomacy to mean to me. I decided to look to another word for inspiration. Manners. Official definition: The socially correct way of acting and the prevailing customs, social conduct, and norms of a specific society, period or group. Now, I am not one to be obsessed with good manners or bad manners, but reading the definition makes me wonder if maybe diplomacy wouldn’t be better defined if it somehow incorporated aspects of good manners. Is making petty negative comments about diplomats and foreign leaders good manners? I have an old issue of Highlights from my childhood with Goofis and Gallant saying not so much.

 This is what I believe we should think about as we follow the WikiLeaks stories. I am most certainly going to change the way I think about being diplomatic in my daily life. Maybe I will just try to have good manners and leave diplomacy to the professionals just like I left petty games back in high school. I can only hope those representing my Nation do so as well. The World just might be a safer place.