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Language, Mind Control, and 9/11
An example that shows the radical devaluation of thought is the transformation of words in propaganda; there, language, the instrument of the mind, become ‘pure sound,’ a symbol directly evoking feelings and reflexes. – Jacques Ellul, Propaganda A leader or an interest that can make itself master of current symbols is the master of the […]
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Soul Suicide in the Ballot Box as Palestinians Are Butchered
It’s been a long time but worth remembering, if you can, that when the Twin Towers and Building 7 at the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, the whole world watched in horror. The events of that day were repeated on television over and over and over again, to the point where they […]
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Failures of U.S. Middle East Policies
United States foreign policies are marked by intermittent failures, often accomplishing the opposite of what is intended — Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq are examples. A difference between U.S. policies in the Middle East and State Department walkthroughs in other regions is that the Middle East policies have been consistent failures, worse than adversaries relish. Immediately […]
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Another September 11th
Rolling out of my crib before dawn today (I was in it long before the charlatans Harris and Trump began their theatrical “debate”), it being another September 11th, I wondered where Dick Cheney was. And I was still wondering where Elmer Gantry was, having received the previous day a form message from RFK, Jr.’s faith-based […]
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Overthrowing the Constitution: All Sides Are Waging War on Our Freedoms
It is both apt and ironic that the anniversary of 9/11, which paved the way for the government to overthrow the Constitution, occurs the week before the anniversary of the day the U.S. Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787. All sides are still waging war on our constitutional freedoms, and “we the people” remain […]
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Who Wants to Kill and Die for the American Empire?
“It’s brave to admit your fears” – Ukrainian recruiting poster. Photo credit: Ministry of Defense, Ukraine. The Associated Press reports that many of the recruits drafted under Ukraine’s new conscription law lack the motivation and military indoctrination required to actually aim their weapons and fire at Russian soldiers. “Some people don’t want to shoot. They […]
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Call for Alarm
The unique post-World War II economic and military power of the United States prevented military and foreign policy errors from becoming overpowering disasters. Military adventures in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq upended America’s political system and wounded its psyche. Other than the 2001 attacks on American soil, physical destruction was foreign, appearing as images on television […]
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Does the U.S. Really Need Mideast Oil—or the Mideast—Anymore?
When my husband and I were flying to Beirut, Lebanon to co-edit the English-language Daily Star, we noticed our tickets were paid by ARAMCO (since 1988, “Saudi Aramco,” then one of the world’s largest American oil companies. That was a factor the publisher somehow neglected to explain, along with the pro-West bias of this influential […]
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“Is That Orwellian Or Kafkaesque Enough For You?”
The Guardian has long promoted itself as a valiant publisher of news and analysis that holds the powerful to account. It is a thing of wonder that the Guardian appends the following comment beneath news pieces: Our quality, investigative journalism is a scrutinising force at a time when the rich and powerful are getting away […]
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A Cinematic Portrait of Graeme MacQueen, A Warrior for Peace
It is one thing to read a review of this important and compelling film – a tour de force – and another to watch it. The former fades into insignificance when one takes an hour-and-a-half to immerse oneself in its tragic yet revelatory story. For in it we see and hear a dying man speak […]
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