1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Former Military Interrogator on How Torture Delayed Finding Bin Laden
By Andy on May 4, 2011
“One of the things that people aren’t talking about is the fact that one of the people that was confronted with this information that bin Laden had a courier is Skaykh al-Libi, who was held in a CIA secret prison and was tortured and who gave his CIA interrogators the name of the courier as [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment, 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause, 4. Supremacy of the Military, 7. Obsession with National Security
Potency of the Moment
By Andy on May 2, 2011
“The potency of the moment is Obama’s to lose. … So historic is the shift, in fact, that all Obama really has to do now is let the astonishing details of the clandestine operation trickle down and word of his direct, daring involvement penetrate the collective consciousness, and not only will any current agenda items [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment, 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause, 4. Supremacy of the Military, 7. Obsession with National Security
Removing Arizona’s Undocumented Workers Would Shrink the Economy $48.8 Billion
By Andy on March 31, 2011
Report finds that deporting Arizona’s illegal workers would result in: Decrease total employment by 17.2 percent Eliminate 581,000 jobs for immigrant and native-born workers alike Shrink state economy by $48.8 billion Reduce state tax revenues by 10.1 percent If they offered them a path to legalization? Increase total employment by 7.7 percent Add 261,000 jobs [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Former CIA Clandestine Program Supervisor Duane Clarridge Defends the Empire
By Andy on March 20, 2011
Via Glenn Greenwald on Salon: ‘We’ll intervene whenever it is in our national security interests to intervene. And if you don’t like it, you can lump it. Get used to it world. We’re not going to put up with this nonsense.’ YouTube – Duane Clarridge Defends the Empire.
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause, 4. Supremacy of the Military, 7. Obsession with National Security
Alabama Geometry Teachers Uses Assassinating Obama to Teach Parallel Lines
By Andy on May 18, 2010
Well, now you’re just being obtuse: “As far as the Secret Service is concerned, we looked into it, we talked to the gentleman and we have closed our investigation.” A Corner High geometry teacher picked the wrong example, President Barack Obama, to use in a lesson on angles. … No federal charges followed the probe. The teacher was [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Cynthia Dunbar Wants Your Kids to Be Stupid
By Andy on May 17, 2010
More textbook revision from the assholes in Texas: Cynthia Dunbar does not have a high regard for her local schools. She has called them unconstitutional, tyrannical and tools of perversion. The board is to vote on a sweeping purge of alleged liberal bias in Texas school textbooks in favour of what Dunbar says really matters: a [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause, 4. Supremacy of the Military, 6. Controlled Mass Media, 7. Obsession with National Security, 8. Religion and Government are Intertwined, 9. Corporate Power is Protected
Maine GOP Forced To Apologize After Convention-Goers Vandalize An Eighth-Grade Classroom
By Andy on May 15, 2010
So friggging stupid: For seven years, Clifford has had “a collage-type poster depicting the history of the U.S. labor movement” on his classroom door. He uses it “to teach his students how to incorporate collages into their annual project on Norman Rockwell’s historic ‘Four Freedoms’ illustrations.” When Clifford returned to his classroom on Monday, after [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 10. Labor Power is Suppressed, 11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts, 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
AZ Bill Bans Teaching Ethnic Studies
By Andy on May 12, 2010
Scrape, scrape: HB 2281 bans schools from teaching classes that are designed for students of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment or advocate ethnic solidarity over treating pupils as individuals. The bill also bans classes that promote the overthrow of the U.S. government. via Arizona bill targeting ethnic studies signed into law
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Mainstream News Bias Test
By Andy on April 5, 2010
When something truly awful breaks it is always interesting to watch how it is covered inside the US and compare it to the outside world. We’ve got one of those this week. Watchdog site Wikileaks has released a classified video: WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism, 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights, 3. Enemies and Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause, 4. Supremacy of the Military, 6. Controlled Mass Media
Why is Political Violence Coming from the Right?
By Andy on March 31, 2010
Comparing history of right and left political violence: For decades now, the most serious threat of domestic terrorism has come from the growing ranks of paranoid, anti-government hate groups that draw their inspiration, vocabulary and anger from the far right. It is disingenuous for mainstream purveyors of incendiary far-right rhetoric to dismiss groups such as [...]
Posted in 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism