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