Dominance Mythology 101

The Decline And Fall Hasn't Just Begun, It's Well On Its Way
Compiled by The Old Hippie Because To Ignore It Is Arrogant Stupidity

The current major "big picture" stories that are either being ignored, or denied, or even hidden, but mostly "just stupidly being unseen" for what their meanings are by a large majority of Americans.
Not by just the opportunistic corporatists, or just the Evangelical bring-on-the Rapture creationists nut jobs, (currently listed as approximately 46% of the American electorate,) but also by the less criminal, and less nutzo/more rational Americans among us that can't see, or accept, the facts of their own participation in our nation's obvious, and increasing, decline.  But what really pisses me off, is the fact that so many "rational" Americans, for whatever varied reasons, absolutely refuse to see/accept/acknowledge the reality of the facts that are, and have been, in plain site for years, and are therefore allowing it to continue by their silence.  Click the "Below The Fold" link below for these articles...

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[Nothing I'm presenting here is new, and you know it.  But what you have done, are doing, will do about it. . .  Will determine how you view yourself in the future, not to mention how the world will view "our" America in the future.  You should also note that most of what I present below is from the more "mainstream" media - It's finally reached (leaked through the cracks of corporate media control?) this point of exposure already, if you haven't noticed.]

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2020 Vision
A CIA report predicts that American global dominance could end in 15 years.
by Fred Kaplan, Slate.MSN.com, Jan. 26, 2005

"Who will be the first politician brave enough to declare publicly that the United States is a declin-
ing power and that America's leaders must urgently discuss what to do about it?  This prognosis of decline comes not (or not only) from leftist scribes rooting for imperialism's downfall, but from the National Intelligence Council—the "center of strategic thinking" inside the U.S. intelligence community."

"The NIC's conclusions are starkly presented in a new 119-page document, "Mapping the Global Future:  Report of the National Intelligence Council's 2020 Project."  It is unclassified and availa-
ble on the CIA's Web site. The report has received modest press attention the past couple weeks, mainly for its prediction that, in the year 2020, "political Islam" will still be "a potent force."  Only a few stories or columns have taken note of its central conclusion:"

Link To The Full Article Here

"A Google hunt reveals that, among mainstream American papers, only Knight Ridder, USA Today, and Dan Sneider's foreign-affairs column in the San Jose Mercury News caught the main points of the NIC report. In an otherwise excellent story, the Washington Post emphasized what the report said about political Islam and terrorism; it mentioned the rise of China and India only in the final paragraph. The New York Times appears not to have covered the report at all."

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The Power of Nightmares
by Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation, Jan. 25, 2005

"Last week, the BBC re-broadcast a provocative documentary series which challenges the idea that Al Qaeda is the center of a uniquely powerful, unified and well-organized international ter-
rorist conspiracy."

"The attacks on September 11th," according to the film's director Adam Curtis--one of Britain's leading documentary filmmakers--"were not the expression of a confident and growing move-
ment.  'They were acts of desperation by a small group frustrated by their failure which they blamed on the power of America.  'It is also important," Curtis adds, "to realize that many within the Islamist movement were against this strategy."  '(This view accords with those held by ter-
rorism experts--like Peter Bergen--who argue that Al Qaeda is largely a spent force that has changed from a tight-knit organization capable of carrying out 9/11 to more of an ideological threat with loose networks in many nations.)"

[This is the 3rd mention of this important BBC documentary, and it is a new article, that as of yet has not been broadcast in America, but seen by the citizens of all the other nations that broadcast the BBC.  Ask yourself, why would "our" leaders, through corporate media managers, try to keep this hidden from Americans?  The answer's amazingly obvious, if you make the effort to watch it.
Even though it has not yet been broadcast here in America, you CAN see it, IF you are willing, I can, and will, send clean full-screen quality DVDs to anyone that e-mails me a request for them.
No profit involved, just the cost to me ~$4/$5 or less.]

Link To The Full Article Here

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Global Warming
by Varied Authors, Varied Sources, listed with each article

Global Warming Approaching Point of No Return, Warns Leading Climate Expert
by Geoffrey Lean - The Independent on Sunday U.K. - Jan. 23, 2005

"Global warning has already hit the danger point that international attempts to curb it are designed to avoid, according to the world's top climate watchdog.

"Dr. Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the official Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), told an international conference attended by 114 governments in Mauritius this month that he personally believes that the world has "already reached the level of dangerous concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere" and called for immediate and "very deep" cuts in the pollu-
tion if humanity is to "survive"."

Link To The Full Article Here

U.S. 45th in Environmental Sustainability
by Felicity Barringer - The New York Times - Jan. 28, 2005

"Finland, Norway and Uruguay held the top three spots in the ranking, prepared by researchers at Yale and Columbia Universities.  The United States ranked 45th of the 146 countries studied, behind such countries as Japan, Botswana and the tiny Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, and most of Western Europe."  [Emphasis mine, not the author's.]

Link To The Full Article Here

Americans Are Trying to Discredit Me, Claims Chief Scientist
by Steve Connor - The Independent U.K. - Jan. 17, 2005

"The Government's chief scientific adviser is being aggressively targeted by American lobbyists trying to discredit his view that man-made pollution is behind global warming."

"In an interview with The Independent, Sir David King said he was being followed around the world by people in the pay of vested-interest groups that want to cast doubt on the science of climate change."

"Last year, Sir David said the threat from global warming was greater than that posed by inter-
national terrorism and he has criticised the Bush administration for pulling out of the Kyoto treaty to limit greenhouse gas emissions."

Link To The Full Article Here

A Google Link To - "Global Warming" ignored - to help in your own research.

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This Is Your America. . .

The America That We Have Allowed. . .
compiled by The Old Hippie, Because The Reality Is Beyond The Pale

Just a few items to stimulate the sound-bite abused cells of our political minds.  Interviews, videos, Opinions, Articles, and animations that I have been able to discover during my travels inside what

Bush referred to as the "internets."  I've endeavored to avoid the overly intellectualized, and unfairly biased items as best as I could.  That is not to say that some of the items are not obviously biased, but I hope biased toward reality, and not political propaganda. I've also attempted to include items that are interesting, important, and have an unexpected "eye-opening" perspective.  Especially during this historic period of the dismantling of the rational America that was, into the Pax Americana Empire that now is. These are strange times people.  As Garcia said, "What a long strange

trip it's been."  I sincerely hope these items help in your own research of our reality. . .

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Two Steps Closer
by Rachel, AlterNet.org, Jan. 27, 2005

"Although only thirteen Senators had the courage to vote against Dr. Rice's nomination as Secre-
tary of State, the vote on Alberto Gonzales, which now goes to the Senate floor, should be a lot closer.  All eight Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Comittee voted against the nomination, which now moves to the full Republican-controlled Senate.  Still, it won't be close enough and the United States is now two steps closer to confimring an Attorney General who will confirm to the world the U.S.'s willingness to engage in torture."

Link To The Full Article Here

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My New Kentucky Home
by Peter Laufer, Washington Monthly, Jan. 25, 2005

"The alarm is so high that these heartland legislators are willing to go up against their own president on key immigration policy matters, even though his policies are driven at least in part by an effort to win Republicans a permanent, larger share of the Latino vote.  We saw that most recently when the president's intelligence reform was nearly derailed over demands by conservative house members for stronger crackdowns on the border."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Iraqis in Australia Cast First Votes in Election
by Michael Perry, Reuters, Jan. 28, 2005

"Iraqis in Australia were the first of 280,303 expatriates in 14 countries expected to cast votes in the Jan. 30 election."

[My point with this particular entry is "watch for the propaganda" of the hundreds-of-thousands of Iraqis that voted, without mentioning that a very large portion of those hundreds-of-thousands will actaully have been cast by Iraqis that have not been in Iraq for decades, and the large majority of even those are the Christian Iraqis.  When you see it, then do your own research into how many native Iraqis actually voted.]

Link To The Full Article Here

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[Speaking of Democratic elections and vote counting...]

Jim Crow Returns To The Voting Booth
Does America Have Apartheid Vote-Counting Sysytem?
by Rev. Jesse Jackson & Greg Palast, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Jan. 26, 2005

"The inaugural confetti has been swept away and with it, the last quarrel over
who really won the presidential election.

But there is still unfinished business that can't be swept away..."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Third Columnist Caught with Hand in the Bush Till
by Eric Boehlert, Salon.com via Truthout.org, Jan. 27, 2005

"One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged.  Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, 'Ethics & Religion,' appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative.  McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Too Amazing Not To Check Out
by P.O.A.C. concerning a Cato Institue Item, Jan. 28, 2005

"Bush touts fascist dictator's domestic pension program as role model for our own.  Seriously.  That's our boy, looking to Augusto Pinochet's programs to fleece his own country's working class."

Link To The Full Cato Institue Article Here

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Just A Bit Of Humor. . .

Yet It Speaks With Such Serious Reality. . .
by Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World



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For more of my favorite political/editorial cartoons - Click Here -

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One More Bit. . .

Of Reality Finally Beginning To Be Exposed. . .
compiled by The Old Hippie, Because Ignoring It Is Scarier Than The Reality Of It.

Most Americans, especially the in-denial-red-staters, as well as those with invested agendas in the perpetuation of this myth, will dismiss this as tin-hat conspiracy, but it, the reality behind the created mythology, is slowly leaking out through the cracks of the corrupt corporate media, and into the arena of legitimately respected media, like the BBC, The Nation, et al.  My purpose for this posting is to compile what is out there currently of the existing evidence.  So you, dear reader, can make a more rational, and intelligent, decision as to the validity, or non-validity, of this "exposed" reality of a manufactured and purposeful mythology.  Enjoy. . .  I sincerely hope the following items help you in your own search for some truth. . .

And just what is this myth?  That the "huge and well organized" Al-Quadea Terrorist Network - Is in reality - a purposefully, and opportunistically constructed myth.  (No way!  Bullshit! etc. . .)
But facts are facts.  Check them out for yourself. . .

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The Power Of Nightmares
by Adam Curtis, BBC Documentary, 1st 3 weeks of Oct. 2004

There are very real, and scary, reasons for why the BBC's excellent production of the important documentary "The Power of Nightmares" has been broadcast in every country were the BBC exist, except America.  If you have not made a real effort to see this, then you simply don't know.
The online version really sucks.  If you can't find a copy, email me, and I'll send you a decent full screen quality set of DVDs, at a no-profits cost-of-materials only.

Google Search Link To Documentary

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Is Al Qaeda Just a Bush Boogeyman?
by Robert Scheer, The Nation, Jan. 11, 2005

"Is it conceivable that Al Qaeda, as defined by President Bush as the center of a vast and well-organized international terrorist conspiracy, does not exist?"

Link To The Full Article Here

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Who is behind the "Terrorist Network" in
Northern Iraq, Baghdad or Washington?
by Michel Chossudovsky, www.globalresearch.ca, Feb. 15, 2003

"Since September 2001, Ansar al-Islam has grown in size, incorporating Al Qaeda fighters who fled Afghanistan in the wake of the US bombings.  (Christian Science Monitor, 15 March 2002) Revealed by Seymour Hersh, "an unknown number" of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters "were flown to safety" in a US sponsored airlift organised by Pakistan's Military and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of these Mujahideen fighters were evacuated to Kashmir, where they joined Al Qaeda and ISI supported Islamic terrorist groups.  While there is no firm evidence, one suspects that some of the Mujahideen fighters may also have fled from Afghanistan to other countries (eg. Northern Iraq), with the tacit approval of the Pentagon."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Ties with Terror
by Nafeez Ahmed, www.world-crisis.com, Oct. 25, 2004

"If the British and American governments have harboured, financed and provided military assist-
ance to al-Qaeda to pursue covert operations in line with strategic interests, then in reality the ‘War on Terror’ is a myth.  Clearly, the US and UK governments have continued to provide covert support the Osama bin Laden’s international terror network throughout the post-Cold War period.  During this time, numerous terrorist attacks against Western targets orchestrated by bin Laden have occurred.  It is not only bin Laden who is responsible for anti-Western terrorism - the West is also culpable.  Terror, it seems, is a tool of the powerful designed to support secret illegal operations, inculcate fear into mass consciousness, manipulate public opinion, and engineer domestic support for a foreign policy of imperialism."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Yet More Bits. . .

Of The Reality That Prevails In My America Now. . .
compiled by The Old Hippie, Because My America Must Survive These New Robber Barons

How many more ways can my America be slapped with the reality of this administration, before most of my America actually stands up in revolt? There are very real, and scary, reasons for why the BBC production of "The Power of Nightmares" has been broadcast in every country were the BBC exist, except America.  If you have not made a real effort to see this, then you simply don't know.  The online version really sucks.  If you can't find a copy, email me, I'll send you a decent full screen quality set of DVDs, at a no-profits cost-of-materials only.

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The Robber Baron's Party
by Thom Hartmann, CommonDreams.org, Jan. 20, 2005

"They're staging a celebration of their power in Washington, DC, where they help write the majority of legislation and hold captive all but a very few of our nation's legislators.  The tele-
vision networks they own are showing the party in all its pomp and ceremony.  The newspapers and magazines they own are telling us what a fine time is being had by all in Washington, DC.
The radio stations, networks, and talk show hosts they own are reassuring us that they know
what is best, that all will be well, that 'freedom is on the march.'"

Link To The Full Article Here

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Oaf Of Office
by Greg Palast, GregPalast.com, Jan. 20, 2005

"Today we witnessed more than the coronation of some privileged little munchkin of mendacity.
It is the triumphal re-occupation of our nation by nitwits who think Ollie North's a hero not a con-
man, who can't name their congressman, who believe that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden were going steady, who can't tell Afghanistan from Souvlaki-stan.  Bloated with lies and super-size fries, they clomped to the polls 59 million strong to vent their small-minded little hatreds on us all."

Link To The Full Article Here

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No room for progressives on cable news inauguration coverage
by Media Matters Staff, MediaMatters.org, Jan. 20, 2005

"Media Matters for America inventoried all guests who appeared on FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC during the channels' January 20 inauguration coverage.  Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
ET, Republican and conservative guests and commentators outnumbered Democrats and pro-
gressives 19 to 7 on FOX*, 10 to 1 on CNN (not including a Republican-skewed panel featur-
ing Ohio voters), and 13 to 2 on MSNBC.  Moreover, the rare Democrat or progressive guest usually appeared opposite conservatives, whereas most Republican and conservative guests
and commentators appeared solo or alongside fellow conservatives."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Corporate Cash Backs Bush Inaugural Bash
by Lisa Myers & the NBC investigative unit, Jan. 19, 2005

"It's a snapshot of Inauguration 2005 — a celebration of democracy and deep corporate pockets.
Anybody who is against that obviously must be a communist," says Rep. James Gibbons, R-Nev.
That was so last reich. Everyone knows if you are against corporatism you are a terrorist:"
[Last sentence of introductory quote is from the P.O.A.C. website]

Link To The Full Article Here

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Two Looks At The Bush Dynasty
by ABC News, and The P.O.A.C., Jan. 21, 2005

Do the ABC one first, then the P.O.A.C. one second.  Then ask yourself which is the more honest and accurate.  Then Ask yourself - Why?  Also note the lack of references with the
ABC one, and the extensive list at the end of the P.O.A.C. one.

Link To The Full ABC News Article Here

Link To The Full P.O.A.C. Article Here

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Okay - Okay - I Get It Now. . .

Might Does Make Right - When Just Enough Are Fooled, Or Bought. . .
by The Old Hippie, Because I actually Paid Attention In my History & Civics Classes

Especially if the manufactured reality, and consent, last long enough for opportunistic profiteers to successfully clean out the vaults, and to secure their own freedoms.  All the rest of us are just the fodder units, and ignorable losers.

History has once again proven this, as it has every single time this has happened in the recorded history.  There has always been just enough actual fodder units, and real ignorable losers, within every single one of those societies, governments, nations to allow it to happen to them, as it has happened here in America.

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Every single time it has happened, its resultant damage, destruction, and number of deaths has gotten worse, and has effected, and affected, a wider scope of the planet, and its peoples, until finally its reach is global, not just local, as it is now.  Geography use to deter its spread, but with advancing technology, that deterrent has faded to non-existence, as has the force of neighboring populations.

The methods, and mind-set, behind the controllers and creators of the manufactured reality hasn't changed much throughout history, even since the earliest successful opportunistic take overs of any organized population.  But the scope of geographical area, range of environments, and the number of peoples killed and injured, has expanded greatly.

Even with all of my awareness of history, my paying attention to what's happening, my excellent scientific educational background, I was caught completely off guard by the actual speed of this repeat of history within my own nation and time.  I was secure in my notion that there was no way this could happen in my America. . .

What an idiot I was.

My America is now a "might is right" Empire of greed and profit.  My America is now ruled by a single political party with all checks and balances made mute to its power.  My America is now feared, and hated, by the majority of worlds peoples, not respected, nor seen as a light of hope any longer.  My America is now a privatized government of, by, and for the profits of and to huge sociopathic global corporations.  My America is filled, almost to half its voting population, with Evangelicals who truly believe the Bible is the literal word of their God, and that they can cause the "Rapture" to happen, and that all of our nation's Founders were fundamentalist Christians, just like them. Not to mention the fact that they are completely blind to how they are actually being opportunistically used to complete an agenda of profits that is destructive to them, and us.

My America has now allowed two openly fraudulent national presidential elections, and one mid-term election, to actually happen, and to remain intact.

My America, which once prosecuted the patriarch of the very family that now rules my America, for "doing business with the enemy," during WWII for supplying the banking needs for 75% of the Nazi party's steel industry, now calls his grandson President.

In my America a powerful, and zealous, cabal of neo-cons actually are believing their own black propaganda now.  In my America science is now being replaced by a created mythology for the needs of opportunistic corporate profits, and at the same time, by the psychological needs of an ideological mythology of Evangelical fundamentalist Creationism and Intelligent Design.

Okay - Okay - I get it now. . .  My America no longer exist.

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More Bits Of Reality. . .

That Half Of America Fears. . .
compiled by The Old Hippie, Because It Continues To Get Worse.

Is there any American, that is still rational, that still doesn't know that this, complex within its simplicity, cartoon is the reality we all now share in?  A reality where this administration, beyond anyone's rational doubts, and undeniably corporately corrupt, is now arrogantly attempting to defend its less-than-moral, less-than-honest, its war-by-choice in Iraq, because it's -now- a "terrorist breeding ground," a breeding ground that they opportunistically created out of, simple in its complexity, criminal greed, where one did not previously exist. There are very real, and scary, reasons for why the BBC production of "The Power of Nightmares" has been broadcast in every country were the BBC exist, except America.  If you have not made a real effort to see this, then you simply don't know.  The online version really sucks.  If you can't find a copy, email me, I'll send you a decent full screen quality set of DVDs, at a no-profits cost-of-materials only.

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Faith and Fabrications
by Bill Berkowitz, Mediatransparency.org, Jan. 13, 2005

"In the coming year, while secular organizations providing much-needed social services to the poor will likely need the Jaws of Life to pry money from the Bush Administration, faith-based organizations will be taking in money hand over fist.  In 2003 alone, the administration handed
out $1.17 billion in grants to religious organizations, and if the president has his way, individual states will soon be handing over hundreds of millions of dollars to faith-based organizations."

Link To The Full Article Here

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The Antichrist of East Dallas
by By Burkhard Bilger, The New Yorker, Dec. 6, 2004 Issue

"God doesn't need Ole Anthony"

"Televangelists have called him a cultist, a fraud, and the Antichrist.
He says he's just doing what Jesus would want."

Link To The Full Article Here

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The Coming Wars
by Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, Jan. 17, 2005

"George W. Bush’s reëlection was not his only victory last fall.  The President and his national-
security advisers have consolidated control over the military and intelligence communities’ strategic analyses and covert operations to a degree unmatched since the rise of the post-Second World War national-security state.  Bush has an aggressive and ambitious agenda for using that control—against the mullahs in Iran and against targets in the ongoing war on terrorism—during his second term.  The C.I.A. will continue to be downgraded, and the agency will increasingly serve, as one government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon put it, as “facilitators” of policy emanating from President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney.  This process is well under way."

Link To The Full Article Here

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'Drink, Pray, Fight and Fuck'
by Joe Bageant, The Smirking Chimp Blog, Jan. 18, 2005

"How the Scots Irish screwed up America"

"You may not meet them among your circle of friends, but there are millions of Americans who fiercely believe we should nuke North Korea and Iran, seize the Middle East's oil, and replace the U.S. Constitution with the Christian Bible.  They believe the United States will conquer the entire world and convert it to our notions of democracy and fundamentalist Christian religion.  And that will happen says my Christian neo-conservative friend Dave Henderson says, "when win we elect a man with the balls to use our nukes."  You may not believe me, and if you don't I cannot blame you for never having been exposed to such folks.  Only an idiot or a masochistic observer of the American scene would subject himself or herself to these Americans.  I like to think I am the latter, but the jury is still out."

Link To The Full Article Here

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The Seven Percent Deception!
by Bob Somerby/Paul Krugman, The Daily Howler Blog, Jan. 17, 2005

"Bush will be pimping a common deception.  We call on Paul Krugman to limn it:"

"THE SEVEN PERCENT DECEPTION:  Sorry, but it demands repetition:  Last week was The Week That Was when it comes to Bush’s vast dissembling on the subject of Social Security.  On Tuesday, the president kept misstating the simplest facts about the venerable retirement program; repeatedly, he deceived a group of average Americans, including people he’d flown to DC to take part in a ballyhooed forum (see THE DAILY HOWLER, 1/12/05).  And when the press corps swallowed this whole, barely offering a word of complaint, he spoke at a high school the very next day, where a group of unknowing students applauded him for his misstatements!"

Link To The Full Article Here

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Bible vs. Science War Rages On In Classrooms
by Tim Harper, The Toronto Star, Jan. 17, 2005

"...this balding, innocuous-looking computer programmer who arrived in Georgia 12 years ago for work and stayed to marry and raise a family, took on the religious right in one of the nation's most conservative counties.  And he won."

"I guess I just had to draw the line," says the 58-year-old Selman, picking at a muffin in a Marietta coffee shop.  "I felt personally threatened and I have a son and I worry about the country he will grow up in."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Don't Read This!

Especially You Convinced Red Americans, It'll Just Piss You Off...
To Be Shown In Stark Undeniable Undoctored, Unedited, Quotes From Your Patriotic, Honorable, Honest, Non-Greedy, Un-Criminal, Theocratic Corporatists Leaders, Just How Insanely Ignorant, Gullible, Manipulatable, And Truly Stupid They Know You Are... All Of You, Except Of Course The Ones Of You Who Are Convinced You Are Profiting From The, Now Obvious To Everyone, Lies, Distortions, Misdirections, Diversions, And Divisive Issues.  Direct Quotes - Please Don't Believe Me, I Am Your Enemy, I Am A Proud American Liberal That Knows America Has Done Good, And Bad, In All Of Our Names, I Do Hate Your Freedom Of Your Continued Ignorance, In The Face Of Truths, And I Hate You For What You Are Knowingly Doing To My Once Great Nation Through Your Continued Denial Of Your Ongoing Stupidity - I'd Say Look Up The Quotes Yourself, But I already Know, From All Of Your Past History, That You Will Not, You Fear The Truth Way Too Much, You Knowing The Complete Fools You Have Been Made By The People You Trusted The Most.

Here Is The Link To The Quotes - Seriously - Don't Read Them.

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I warned you. . .  Scary shit, huh?

What a tangled web they wove around all of the unnecessary destruction, and deaths.

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Quote Of The Day. . .

By The Most Astute Corporatist Ever Produced By The DLC. . .
by Bill Clinton, On Larry King Show, Jan. 3, 2004

"I voted for the other fellow, but President Bush won this election fair and square.  And he ought to - he ought to be able to have his inaugural.  And his supporters should be able to celebrate it, however they see fit.  And I don't think that it will detract one red cent from the money that we will give privately or publicly to this relief effort."
-- Bill Clinton

Said in response to the report of a billionaire supporter of Bush - Urging Bush to give the $40 million from the Inaugural Funds to Tsunami survivors.

That Original Article Linked Here

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Personally, I have thought of Clinton as the best Republican Corporatist since Eisenhower - At least since he and Gore signed NAFTA, and GATT into law, which was the biggest "set 'em loose on the world unrestrained" global corporatist give away in history.

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Facing The Reality Of. . .

Just Knowing, Has Not, And - Will Not - Stop Them. . .
by The Old Hippie, Because Pro or Con, The Sacrifices Are Coming

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

There is no doubt, even with "our" media completely compromised, and corrupted, by their corrupt corporate owners, that we Americans, all of us, reds and blues, "know" the truth of this current administration's corruption, crimes, and the, so far successful, purposeful dismantling of our very Constitutional Democracy, for nothing more than simple "profits." (i.e. profits of wealth, power, position, freedom, security.)  We all, or at least a large majority of us Americans, "know," and yet - They are still there, still profiting, still smirking all the way to the bank - They are still there, still causing unconscionable pain, death and destruction, worldwide - In "our" names, with "our" money, and since no one is really out there in the streets in revolt, much less peaceful protests - There is just no other way of saying this. . .  They are still there with "our" permission.  Right?

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"We aren't teaching anything new, we are just exposing what is being forgotten."
-- Unknown Professor

Let's look at what we know... not the conspiracy theories, not the might be's, or the maybe's, or biased political "informed" opinions, but what we do know.

A fraction of the Republican party, the radical ideological fraction, controls all 3 branches of the American government, and the media of the nation - A full blown successful one-party rule.  One of the biggest dangers that our Founders fully understood, and feared, to the point that they had, within that knowing, designed our Constitutional Democracy to thwart that dangerous possibility.
But yet, we Americans are - today - living the reality of a completed one party rule - And as it turns out, what the Founders feared of this possibility has, and is continuing to be, proven true.

This party of rule has "legalized," and encouraged, for the first time ever within the history of this nation, the use of torture - As a policy of our nation - And now, inside "our" Senate, "we" debate whether we will allow the very lawyer that redefined "our" nation's policy against torture, to be allowed to be this nation's top law officer - The Attorney General of the United States.

"Their" own government's General Accounting Office, (GAO) has just recently said, in two (2!) separate instances, that they had used, (GAO's words, not mine,) "covert propaganda" illegally, to lie to us, the American people.  (What of the ones we don't know about?)

We all know that they purposely used blatantly wrong "intelligence" to support their invasion of a country that had not attacked us, nor was of any threat to us, nor was in any way connected to the terrorists that flew the planes on, nor even was involved in the planning of, nor had given any funds to, the September 11 crimes.  We Americans all undeniably know "why" this one party of rule purposely lied, distorted, misdirected, and coerced us into the war with Iraq - Simple profits - Not for or to we the people, but to and for themselves, in the most despicable ways imaginable.
Enough of the truth of this has leaked out over the last couple of years, that there is no doubt that almost all of us Americans know this is true.

The effects, and affects, of the above facts?  Outside of the obvious theft of our treasury, the massive number of deaths and injuries - all done in "our" once good name...?

Known, and in the past heavily fined and punished, polluting corporations have been allowed to
put their own corrupt corporate officers and lobbyists, into positions of management, and control, of all of "our" federal regulatory agencies.  The very agencies that were created to "control and regulate" these corporation's abuses of the ethical treatment of their workers, the environments, and "our" federal treasury, that they "use" for obtaining profits.

Destruction of the rational Separation of Church and State.  The Founders, in the "wisdom" of experience, feared a "State supported religion," or "Faith Based Initiative," as much as they had feared the danger of a one party rule.

Americans, intelligence officers, military offices, and soldiers, are right now, torturing other humans. . .  In "our" names. . .  For what?  Tell me - For what?

Free-Speech-Zones.  There is not a single rational American, red or blue, that doesn't know how insanely wrong, not to mention just flat dangerous, this blatantly totalitarian safeguard is.  There is not a single rational American that doesn't know the real purpose for this being forced down all of our collective throats.  The destruction of any kind of dissent - Another concept that our Founders attempted to heavily protect, within our Constitution, a basic concept of a free nation, that this one party of rule has openly, blatantly, smirkingly, and successfully crushed - Not for "our" protection, but - and we all know this - for their own protection only.

Nothing I have listed here is new, or conjecture, or opinion, or theory. . .  It is a list of facts that all of us Americans already "know" is proven true.  There are so many more "knowns" that I could add to the list. . .  But you already "know" them - Don't you?

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On My Joy Of. . .

Why I Took The Red Pill, Not The Blue-Pill. . .
by The Old Hippie, Because Reality Is Not Always A Truism

One of the trivial ironies of the movie "The Matrix," and current American political reality, is the representative meanings of the colors - Red and Blue.  In the movie, the Red-Pill puts one into

the real world, and the Blue-Pill puts one back into the blissful, and manufactured, "dreamworld" of the ignorance of reality.  While its creators successfully create a "belief" that one is living within "the" reality, these creators of the manufactured dreams, are parasitically using the blissful Blue-Pill swallowers.  But in our current American political reality, the colors are reversed.  The majority of our "Red" Americans believe they are living a safer existence within the "evils" of the planetary political - and social - forces that are out to destroy their "freedoms" and way of life.  When the tragic reality is that the parasites that have manufactured the illusions, have been massively

profiting from those illusions, profiting in personal wealth, power, position, freedom, security, and "justification," to the very destruction of the dreamer's wealth, power, position, freedom, security, and hopes. . .  To better understand my "joy," just click the "Below The Fold" link below. . .

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All the peoples of the planet, including most of our "Blue" Americans, that live the reality-based life, outside of the manufactured consent of the Red-American-Matrix, are just now beginning to unite in their reactions to the abuses of the parasitic controllers, and to their blissfully ignorant, and manipulated, dreamers. . .  And that, dear readers, is only part of my realized joy at having taken, many years ago - The Red-Pill. . .

Other reasons for my joy of a Red-Pill reality-based life, is that even though they can take away my liberties with laws, can take away my wealth, power, position, freedom, security, hopes, and even my life - The one thing they can not take from me, is my knowledge.  The "old truism" of "knowledge is power" is not a cliché, and it has never had more meaning, at least in the American political reality, than now.

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So Much Is Said...

In Jest, Sometimes A Great Deal Of Truth.
by Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World, Jan. 4, 2005



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Whole purpose of this post was the above editorial cartoon.

But if you are into this kind of humor, you might enjoy visiting. . .

"OLD HIPPIE'S PICKS"

My Personal Favorites - Updated As Often As Possible - (1/2/05)

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Just Because...

I thought You Should Know...
compiled by The Old Hippie, Because This Shit Scares Me

Some recent articles, reports, opinions, and thoughts, that anyone living a reality-based life would

(Doonesbury)

find just a bit more than beyond frightening within their revealed realizations and implications.  With half of this nation's citizens having taken the "Blue Pill" already, and more and more of our citizens actually wanting to swallow the pill also - With the 95% of our corporately controlled media's opportunistically dispensing of the pills to an ideologically blinded and eager populace, almost in exactly the same way as the Nationalists did to the German citizens of the mid to late 1930's - With the new aspect of the attack on, and the successful destruction of, both the balance of powers, and the reality-based environmental regulations, of this nation - With the "loyal opposition" in complete state of denial, or stunned marginalization, or in the fugue of a non-functioning depression. - I just feel the following items are timely.

Enjoy. . .  I sincerely hope these following items help you in your own search for some truth. . .

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Tailgated by Media Technology
by Norman Solomon, Media Beat, Dec. 31, 2004

"We might fall back on the simple observation that most technology is not "good" or "bad."  We ought to evaluate its merits on the basis of who dominates it and to what ends it is harnessed."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Torture - From J.F.K. to Baby Bush
by Steve Weissman, Truthout Perspective, Dec. 31, 2004

"The hearing, to be held early in the New Year, will provide a good taste of Absurdist Theater.
Everyone knows how the play will end.  Short of a new Abu Ghraib or a sudden flood of photos showing how the Americans used dogs and pigs to sexually assault Iraqi women, the Senators will confirm Gonzales for his new post."

Link To The Full Article Here

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A State of Chaos
by Sidney Blumenthal, The Guardian, Dec. 30, 2004

"George Bush has purged the last of his father's senior advisers, handing over control to his neocon allies.  Republican elders who warned of endless war are purged.  Those who advised Bush that Saddam was building nuclear weapons, that with a light military force the operation would be a "cakewalk", and that capturing Baghdad was "mission accomplished", are rewarded."

Link To The Full Article Here

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One man's retirement math: Social Security wins
by David R. Francis, Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 27, 2004

"He recorded all the payroll taxes he paid into the system (including the matching amount from
his employer), tracked down the return the Social Security Trust Fund earned for each of the 45 years, and then compared the result with what he would have gotten had he been able to invest the same amount of payroll tax money over the same period in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (including dividends).

To his surprise, the Social Security investment won out: $261,372 versus $255,499, a difference
of $5,873.

It's an astonishing finding."

Link To The Full Article Here

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Tucker Carlson to MSNBC?
by Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting, Dec. 22, 2004

"The pattern in cable news is to imitate Fox," said FAIR's Peter Hart.  "But MSNBC is going beyond that-- it wants to outfox Fox by surpassing Fox's partisanship.  Viewers deserve diverse opinions from the media, not an uninterrupted stream of right-wing spin."

Link To The Full Article Here

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U.S. Forest Plan Would Lessen Restraints
by Matthew Daly, A.P. via FindLaw, Dec. 22, 2004

"Managers of the nation's 155 national forests will have more leeway to approve logging and other commercial projects with less formal environmental review under a new Bush administration plan."

Link To The Full Article Here

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