 |
| Total Page Views | |
We received
8502006
page views since Nov 2004 | |
| Login | |
| Shop Amazon | |
| Scifillian, Inc. | |
| SPOXTalk | |
| Stories By Topic | |
| Exploration | |
| Who's Online | |
|
There are currently, 24 guest(s) and 1 member(s) that are online.
| |
| Monthly Quote | |
"Scum always rises to the top, but instead of scraping it off and discarding it, most people follow it!?!"
--Sherlyn Meinz, 2008
| |
| Link to us! | |
| Anti-War Webs | |
| |
The AlienLove Shop
AlienLove Shopping
|
|
 | History/Culture: Flying the Flag; Faking the News |
 by: John Pilger, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
Edward Bernays, the American nephew of Sigmund Freud, is said to have invented modern propaganda. During the First World War, he was one of a group of influential liberals who mounted a secret government campaign to persuade reluctant Americans to send an army to the bloodbath in Europe. In his book, "Propaganda," published in 1928, Bernays wrote that the "intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses was an important element in democratic society" and that the manipulators "constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power in our country." Instead of propaganda, he coined the euphemism "public relations."
The American tobacco industry hired Bernays to convince women they should smoke in public. By associating smoking with women's liberation, he made cigarettes "torches of freedom." In 1954, he conjured a communist menace in Guatemala as an excuse for overthrowing the democratically-elected government, whose social reforms were threatening the United Fruit company's monopoly of the banana trade. He called it a "liberation."
Bernays was no rabid right winger. He was an elitist liberal who believed that "engineering public consent" was for the greater good. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, September 03 @ 21:22:46 EDT (12 reads)
(Read More... | 7274 bytes more | Comments? | History/Culture | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Peace News: Trying to Be Hopeful About Peace |
 by: Dr. James J. Zogby, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
A few years back when Washington was preparing for the then highly- touted Annapolis Peace Conference, I remember commenting that I was "hopeful, but not optimistic." As we approach the latest incarnation of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, I'm even finding it difficult to be hopeful, though I will continue try to be supportive recognizing, as I do, the consequences of failure.
Convening these talks at this time is certainly a gutsy move for President Barack Obama. Knowing that the odds of success are slim and the costs of yet another let down are great, one can only hope that the president and his seasoned and accomplished team (including Secretary of State Clinton and Special Envoy George J. Mitchell) have a trick or two up their sleeves, ready to play at the appropriate moment. But we've been down this road too many times, under far better circumstances, to easily give oneself over to the notion that this time surely will be different.
To begin with, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, while insisting that these talks occur without preconditions, has clearly defined enough conditions of his own (though being "too clever by half" by terming them "priorities"). His insistence, for example, that Palestinians recognize Israel as a "Jewish State," while viewed an innocent "no-brainer" to most Americans, is an especially loaded term for Arabs. Acceptance of this, unless carefully defined, permanently disenfranchises the 20 percent of Israel's population who are Palestinian Arabs. It is also intended to rule out any repatriation for Palestinian refugees whose "right to return to their homes" is considered an "existential threat to the Jewish State." ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Thursday, September 02 @ 17:22:28 EDT (16 reads)
(Read More... | 6721 bytes more | Comments? | Peace News | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Politics: The Anti-Empire Report - September 2010 |
 By William Blum, www.killinghope.org
Things which don't go away. Things the American government and media don't let go of.
And neither do I.
Iraq
"They're leaving as heroes. I want them to walk home with pride in their hearts," declared Col. John Norris, the head of a US Army brigade in Iraq. [1]
It's enough to bring tears to the eyes of an American, enough to make him choke up.
Enough to make him forget.
But no American should be allowed to forget that the nation of Iraq, the society of Iraq, have been destroyed, ruined, a failed state. The Americans, beginning 1991, bombed for 12 years, with one excuse or another; then invaded, then occupied, overthrew the government, killed wantonly, tortured ... the people of that unhappy land have lost everything — their homes, their schools, their electricity, their clean water, their environment, their neighborhoods, their mosques, their archaeology, their jobs, their careers, their professionals, their state-run enterprises, their physical health, their mental health, their health care, their welfare state, their women's rights, their religious tolerance, their safety, their security, their children, their parents, their past, their present, their future, their lives ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, September 01 @ 20:55:20 EDT (17 reads)
(Read More... | 18323 bytes more | Comments? | Politics | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Opinion: Christians Who Must Have A Devil |
 By Howard Bess
My roots are in Midwestern Christian Fundamentalism. My family was Baptist and Republican. My father and grandfather believed every word that Joseph McCarthy said about the Communist threat to America. The pastor, who had the most influence over me, was trained at Moody Bible Institute and was an ardent dispensationalist. Franklin Roosevelt was Satan in disguise. At different times Adolph Hitler, the Pope, and Joseph Stalin were named as the Antichrist of the Book of Revelation.
Through the process of college and graduate education, my world view was significantly altered. My roots have left me with an abiding interest in the dynamics of American Christian Fundamentalism. My understanding has turned out to be quite simple. At the heart of American Christian Fundamentalism is a basic religious dualism that is obsessed with a never ending struggle between good and evil. They are obsessed with fighting and must always have an enemy.
This struggle between good and evil is not without Bible precedence. There is no shortage of Bible material that supports this approach to life. The history of Israel is filled with bloody battles with neighbors. The crux of Revelation is the final battle between good and evil with a triumphant Jesus Christ the winner over every opposing force. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, August 31 @ 18:07:17 EDT (19 reads)
(Read More... | 5463 bytes more | Comments? | Opinion | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Screwed Again: L.A. Sheriff Plans To Use Military Heat Ray Against Inmates |
ACLU Calls On Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Officials To Abandon Plans To Use Military Heat Ray Device Against Jail Inmates
From: ACLU.org
Use Of “Assault Intervention Device” Tantamount To Torture
LOS ANGELES – The American Civil LibertiesUnion and the ACLU of Southern California today sent a letter to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca demanding that he not employ a high-tech ray gun built for the military against prisoners at the Los Angeles County Jail.
Sheriff’s Department officials announced last week they intend to begin using an “Assault Intervention Device” developed by the Raytheon Co. that fires an invisible heat beam capable of causing unbearable pain on inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center’s North County Correctional Facility.
“The idea that a military weapon designed to cause intolerable pain should be used against county jail inmates is staggeringly wrongheaded,” said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU National Prison Project. “Unnecessarily inflicting severe pain and taking such unnecessary risks with people’s lives is a clear violation of the Eighth Amendment and due process clause of the U.S. Constitution.”...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Monday, August 30 @ 21:42:47 EDT (26 reads)
(Read More... | 3963 bytes more | Comments? | Screwed Again | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Politics: Calling Them Out: War Profiteer Steven R. Loranger |
 by: Nick Mottern, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis
War profiteering is defined by Stuart Brandes in his book "Warhogs, a History of War Profits in America," as "a gain in economic well-being obtained as a result of military conflict."
As he shows, there is a long history of war profiteering in the United States and an equally long history of public disgust for it. One of the most quoted expressions of this disgust came from President Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II: "I don't want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster."
Brandes also notes there was a time when war was exceptional and war profiteering a nasty exceptional thing that accompanied it. But after World War II, the United States moved more and more to a status of permanent war.
In his new book "Washington Rules," former Army Col. Andrew Bacevich says a group of "semi-warriors" ... "some in uniform, others in suits," operators in the military-industrial complex, had by 1961 "gained de facto control of the U.S. government." ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, August 27 @ 22:44:32 EDT (31 reads)
(Read More... | 28181 bytes more | Comments? | Politics | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Politics: Peace: The Real Deficit Buster |
 FCNL.org – A Quaker Lobby in the Public Interest
For the first time in decades, real cuts in Pentagon spending could be on the agenda.
Recognizing that federal budget deficits will put military spending under the microscope, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has called for the Pentagon to “restrain spending.” In response, military contractors and some members of Congress are demanding that no cuts be made in their favorite Pentagon projects.
We need to mobilize thousands of concerned people to persuade Congress that deficit reduction and smart security call for real cuts in military spending.
Members of Congress should hear from you, right now. Before they return for the September legislative session, they should know that their constituents support cutting the Pentagon budget.
You can help make sure that cuts in Pentagon spending are on the table as Congress considers ways to reduce the federal government deficit. Write your representative today. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Thursday, August 26 @ 20:30:18 EDT (30 reads)
(Read More... | 3971 bytes more | Comments? | Politics | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| International: Another Curse for Afghanistan |
By William A. Collins
Great resources,
Wealth galore;
Guess there'll be
Another war.
As if war, tyranny, drugs, corruption, disease and misogyny weren't misfortune enough for Afghanistan, now the Pentagon reports that it also suffers that worst affliction of all--mineral resources. "What did we do to deserve this?" cry the Afghans. "Now they'll never go home!"
You betcha. Why else, countless observers point out, would the Pentagon be announcing the "discovery" of vast deposits of iron, copper, gold, cobalt, and lithium. This isn't exactly hot news. The first press release to this effect came from Marco Polo. It was followed up in more detail by the SovietUnion during its own unhappy occupation, and now the Chinese already have a deal going for a copper mine.
The preponderance of Washington (and world) opinion is that this timing is meant to stanch the flow of our NATO allies scrambling for the exits. Not to mention the similar nosedive of American public opinion. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, August 25 @ 21:26:38 EDT (39 reads)
(Read More... | 4043 bytes more | Comments? | International | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Reviews: "Not Written in Stone: Learning and Unlearning American History ... |
 by: Eleanor J. Bader, t r u t h o u t | Book Review
"Not Written in Stone: Learning and Unlearning American History
Through 200 Years of Textbooks"
By Kyle Ward, The New Press, 304 pages, $22.50 paperback.
It's a hot summer evening and a group of friends and family members are sitting around shooting the breeze. The talk turns reminiscent when someone brings up "the time when ..." Slowly, each person adds a bit to the narrative. "No," one says, "that's not what happened." Others chime in, offering their recollections of the who, what, when and why of the particular incident. Despite lots of laughter and good cheer, an uninvolved observer would be perplexed, confused about what actually transpired.
So it is with history: Tales of what actually happened vary depending on who is doing the telling and why they're talking. What's more, race, class, gender and personal identity impact the thing we call history. In the end, what one person chooses to emphasize will be deemed insignificant, or even irrelevant, by someone else.
Kyle Ward, director of social studies education at Minnesota's St. Cloud University, concludes, "every person involved in a historical event, from the original actors to the historians who have written about it, have been influenced by their own society/culture, no matter what era they wrote and did their research in." ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, August 24 @ 17:55:07 EDT (35 reads)
(Read More... | 8854 bytes more | Comments? | Reviews | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| The News: Religious Freedom In America |
By Howard Bess
Muslins are planning to build a mosque and community center in lower Manhattan near Ground Zero of the 9/11 attac[k] on the World Trade Center. In order to begin construction, the Muslim organization that is building the center has passed through every procedure required by the City of New York. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Jew, has spoken out strongly in defense of the project. Commentators have pointed out (I believe accurately) that were the 13 story building being built as a Jewish synagogue or a Christian church, not a peep of protest would be heard. No one would be protesting that the building was insensitive to those who died in the 9/11 attack.
We all need to be reminded that the people who died on 9/11 respresented a broad spectrum of religious persuasions. American Catholics, American Protestant Christians of many varieties, American Jews and, yes, American Muslims died. Included in the victims were atheists and agnostics. Sprinkled in were probably a few Hindus, Buddhists, and Taoists. Anyone who knows a bit about New York City is fully aware of the splendid diversity of people who live and work there. The people who were working in the twin towers and died on 9/11 most certainly reflected a cross section of the New York City population. People of every religious persuasion were big losers on 9/11. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, August 24 @ 17:44:39 EDT (37 reads)
(Read More... | 5300 bytes more | Comments? | The News | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| My Story: "THE HOTEL" |
 By Rainbow Painter
We moved Mother on January 2, at the recommendation of her doctor, to the local Alzheimer's Assisted Living facility, which she refers to as "The Hotel".
I wasn't sure as to how this was really going to play out on that early morning as I was preparing the move and organizing the timing and boxing up her precious belongings from around her own bedroom and from throughout her home. My hopes were jetting here and there as I was choosing the right things in which to hopefully keep her memory fresh and revealing of times, people or places.
She was a bit anxious, as was I, and I'm sure with her sensitivity being aroused by my anxiety level, she knew something was up with me that morning. She asked me the same question she asks of me every morning, "Are you going anywhere and if you do, I want to go with you." I cautiously said to her that if and when I do decide, I would let her know.
So as she is getting dressed and asks of us our opinion of her choice of clothing for the day and if she looked nice, which of course, she looks beautiful everyday, but it's an acknowledgment of approval she seeks from us daily, I am gathering strength for the ride we are about to take to "The Hotel". The dreaded drive I will never forget. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Monday, August 23 @ 21:37:18 EDT (41 reads)
(Read More... | 9838 bytes more | Comments? | My Story | Score: 5)
|
|
|
| Spirituality: Troops Punished After Refusing to Attend Evangelical Concert |
by: Mike Ludwig, t r u t h o u t | Report
Update: An Army spokesman now says the Pentagon will investigate soldiers' claims that they were punished for refusing to attend the Christian-themed concert.
Pvt. Anthony Smith is the type of guy who stands up for what he believes in. That's why he decided to hold his commanding officers accountable for punishing him and fellow soldiers after they refused to attend an evangelical Christian rock concert at the Fort Eustis military post in Virginia.
After a day of training at Fort Eustis, Smith and other trainees were normally released to have personal time, but on May 13, Smith and dozens of others were "required" to march in formation to a concert headlined by an evangelical Christian rock band. Smith spent six months training at Fort Eustis before moving to Arizona to serve on active duty with the National Guard.
"No option was presented to us off the bat," Smith told Truthout about the required concert. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, August 20 @ 20:53:49 EDT (37 reads)
(Read More... | 6199 bytes more | Comments? | Spirituality | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Screwed Again: Corporate America Speaking Out |
 by: Jim Hightower
Congressional Republicans have spent the first two years of the Obama administration as the rock-solid party of "no," "uh-uh," "no way," "forget about it," "nothing doing," "we're-against-it-and-we'll-kill-it." This is one reason their job approval rating is lower than that of BP executives.
But now, GOP leaders in the House say they are shifting from pure negativity. Instead, they intend to step forward with their own bold policy ideas. Terrific! What are some of those ideas? "Uh ... um ... well," say the leaders, "we don't know yet, but that's why we've launched an exciting new campaign that we call America Speaking Out. We'll go directly to the grassroots people, asking for their ideas, giving them a voice and letting them shape 'the new Republican agenda.'"
Again, terrific! Where are you starting your grassroots campaign? "Uh ... um," stumble the leaders, before mumbling: "Washington, D.C."
Indeed, only six weeks after America Speaking Out was introduced as "an unprecedented initiative to listen to the American people," ASO did not rush out to hold open policy-crafting town hall forums in places like Fargo, Fresno and Freeport. Instead, they held a closed session in the snug confines of House minority leader John Boehner's Capitol Hill office.
And just who were the plain folks the GOP leader invited? His e-mailed solicitation went to 20 top lobbyists representing big corporations and such business front groups as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Thursday, August 19 @ 21:21:23 EDT (37 reads)
(Read More... | 5082 bytes more | Comments? | Screwed Again | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Opinion: A "Mosque" Should Be Built at Ground Zero |
by: Brita Rose, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed
After almost a decade since 9/11, it is surprising how little we have learned. Still plagued by xenophobia and Islamophobia in the US, it is hard for many Americans to identify who the enemy actually is in this so-called "war on terror." Nothing has brought this to light more clearly than the current controversy over the supposed mosque to be built at ground zero.
Firstly, the debate itself is riddled with inaccuracies. The proposed building - now called "Park 51 Project" - is to be, not merely a mosque, but a cultural center backed by the Cordoba Initiative(1), a progressive group which promotes peace and crosscultural understanding, and will contain a prayer room among its many facilities. Thereby, even the use of the term mosque for such a space is up for debate. Secondly, the building will not be at ground zero, but two blocks away, and dwarfed by surrounding skyscrapers. Thirdly, there over 100 mosques in New York City - one of which already exists four blocks from ground zero. Following the detractors' reasoning, these mosques should be eliminated.
But each of these facts misses the point. Were they not the case, we should still be asking what the true objection is here - given that the religious/cultural center in question is being built by legal permit cleared by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission in a country founded upon religious freedom. What is wrong with building the center at ground zero? ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, August 18 @ 21:26:54 EDT (42 reads)
(Read More... | 11395 bytes more | Comments? | Opinion | Score: 0)
|
|
|
| Labor News: ‘I Would Join a Union’ |
By Richard Trumka/ AFL-CIO
More than 70 years ago, President Franklin Roosevelt said, “If I were a worker in a
factory, the first thing I would do would be to join a union.”
Barack Obama recently referenced FDR’s statement and took it further:
I think that’s true for workers generally. I think if I was a coal miner, I’d want a
-union representing me to make sure that I was safe and you did not have some of
the tragedies that we’ve been seeing in the coal industry. If I was a teacher, I’d
want a -union to make sure that the teachers’ perspective was represented as we
think about shaping an education system for our future.
Like Roosevelt’s, Obama’s words were spoken in the midst of painful economic
upheaval—the recession that almost became the second Great Depression.
So why are the benefits of joining a -union so clear to presidents when the bottom falls out
of the economy?
Several reasons. ...
|
|
|
Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, August 17 @ 20:07:45 EDT (43 reads)
(Read More... | 3981 bytes more | Comments? | Labor News | Score: 0)
|
|
| |
| Survey | |
| Please Visit | |
| Shop AlienLove | |
| The Fine Print | |
| Stone Tarot | |
| File Photo | |
| Things To Do | |
| The Forums | |
| Old Articles | |
| Monday, August 16 | | · | The Public Pension Outrage and Alan Greenspan's Pension |
| Friday, August 13 | | · | Fear of Number 13 - Triskaidekaphobia |
| · | Are you a whistleblower for peace? |
| Thursday, August 12 | | · | Google and Verizon Usher in the Internets |
| Wednesday, August 11 | | · | Dishonoring MLK's Legacy |
| · | The Hidden Tragedy of the CIA's Experiments on Children |
| Tuesday, August 10 | | · | The Peace Vision |
| Wednesday, August 04 | | · | The Anti-Empire Report - August 2010 |
| Tuesday, August 03 | | · | Rights Groups File Lawsuit To Allow Challenge To Targeted Killing |
| Monday, August 02 | | · | Our Prisons Don't do us Justice |
| Saturday, July 31 | | · | Which Parts of Jesus Teaching Should We Believe? |
| · | The Missing Piece Meets the Big O |
| Friday, July 30 | | · | Danger Of Establishing "New Normal" With Worst Bush-Era Policies |
| Wednesday, July 28 | | · | Military Was Concerned About Vets' Exposure to Depleted Uranium |
| · | Candidate appearances affect election outcomes |
| Tuesday, July 27 | | · | It Takes too Much Money to Run |
| · | Afghanistan Funding: Time to Make a Fuss |
| Monday, July 26 | | · | Americans are Dying to Eat |
| Friday, July 23 | | · | Experts: Health Hazards in Gulf Warrant Evacuations |
| · | Florida Dengue Fever Outbreak Leads Back to CIA and Army Experiments |
Older Articles
| |
|
|
Welcome
AlienLove Forums