junk and crap, amen

Does your brain feel empty? Feel the hankering for some elucidation? Is there an inexplicable urge to cut through the obfuscation with some straight up reality? Have some time to kill? Well then...

(this post is frequently updated)

"Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land"
Provides a striking comparison of U.S. and international media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East, zeroing in on how structural distortions in U.S. coverage have reinforced false perceptions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.





"The Corporation"
In the mid-1800s the corporation emerged as a legal "person." Imbued with a "personality" of pure self-interest, the next 100 years saw the corporation's rise to dominance. The corporation created unprecedented wealth but at what cost? The remorseless rationale of "externalities" (as Milton Friedman explains, the unintended consequences of a transaction between two parties on a third) is responsible for countless cases of illness, death, poverty, pollution, exploitation and lies.

"The Power Of Nightmares"
Compares the rise of the American Neo-Conservative movement and the radicalIslamist movement, making comparisons on their origins and noting strong similarities between the two. More controversially, it argues that the threat of radical Islamism as a massive, sinister organised force of destruction, specifically in the form of al-Qaeda, is in fact a myth perpetrated by politicians in many countries—and particularly American Neo-Conservatives—in an attempt to unite and inspire their people following the failure of earlier, more utopian ideologies.

"Orwell Rolls In His Grave"
Critically examines the Fourth Estate, once the bastion of American democracy, asking "Could a media system, controlled by a few global corporations with the ability to overwhelm all competing voices, be able to turn lies into truth?..."





"Why We Fight"
An unflinching look at the anatomy of the American war machine, weaving unforgettable personal stories with commentary by a who's who of military and beltway insiders. Why We Fight launches a bipartisan inquiry into the workings of the military industrial complex and the rise of the American Empire.

"Loose Change 2nd Edition"
A comprehensive and critical examination of events leading up to, including and immediately following September 11, 2001. This film at the very least provides overwhelming evidence as to why there needs to be another independent commission to honestly and realistically get to the truth of what really happened that day.

Labels: documentary, history, media, philosophy, terrorism, war

After my last post, I came across this story in The Edmonton Journal about Afghanistan veterans not getting needed mental health care.

Jeez, do I ever feel guilty. Here I am, eating up precious health care resources for my measly little cut finger while returning soldiers, fighting for my freedom, safety and access to universal health care (because that's really what we're there for, not for pipelines or natural resources or because the US told us to), are left out in the cold.

OK, aside from the criminal actions of the Canadian Government inside Afghanistan, when will politicians learn that if you're going to send people to die or be injured or suffer a mental breakdown because they're job is to kill people with the supposed reason of promoting democracy, freedom and our 'superior' way of life, you've gotta take care of them and prove that our system is worth the death and destruction when and if they come home.

Once again the futility, injustice and inhumanity of war becomes clear.

Is this concept really so difficult to grasp? The US has shown over and over that they are incapable of caring for their veterans properly, and in fact purposefully put them in harm's way, which obviously is tied to the insurance and profit dominated health care system there. But here in Canada, with universal not for profit health care, this is absolutely inexcusable.

Labels: Afghanistan, health care, veterans, war

Americans are having a hard time believing that the Iraq war is a nightmare.

According to a CBS New/NY Times poll taken two weeks ago, 32% of Americans believe the Iraq war is going well, and 5% believe it's going very well (I guess five percent of the US population are vampires), and a mind boggling 43% believe that the US did the right thing invading Iraq. 43 percent of the adult population in the USA believe that the right thing to do was to invade a country and destroy it, just for the hell of it, because no one at this point can claim there has been a coherent and consistently justifiable reason for this war. The big three: Saddam involved in 9/11, WoMD, and The Unclesam-o-liscious Democracy Constructor Set have all proven to be false.

At the same time, never has there been more news about just how horrifyingly bad it is going in Iraq. On FOX news even, you hear occasional mention of the chaos and inhumanity and absurdity happening on a daily basis. But I believe that, at least in mainstream, corporate controlled media, the situation is being framed in a way that downplays the full responsibility that the US should bear for the horror show and reinforces the manufactured notions of Iraq's (and the people of the middle east in general) inability to govern itself and the perceived intrinsic tendencies toward violence contained within the souls of middle easterners; that they're a violent, chaotic people who will slaughter themselves and others at the drop of a hat. And that frightens Mr. or Ms. 43%.

The favorite tool of war mongers is fear. A frightened populace will overlook or forgive actions by their government that, under conditions without fear, would cause outrage. Mr. and Ms. 43% watch TV and listen to the politiclones endlessly and confidently interpret the powerful images and video footage of the hell Iraq has become, and perhaps conclude that these people need to be destroyed in order to ensure the safety of the rest of the world.

In other words, the tragedy and chaos in Iraq, rather than dissuading them, strengthens their belief that their government is doing the right thing. And this, of course, plays right into the war mongers plans; cultivate fear and confusion to justify endless war.

When major media outlets are owned by the same companies that manufacture the tools of war, and when the most powerful politicians are little more than mouthpieces for the same corporations, when most people are struggling to make ends meet while working for these same corporations, can you blame the 43% for their confused fear?

Now...read this and imagine the same people and systems in power 20 years into the future. How confused and afraid will our children be?

Labels: Iraq, stupidity, war