Day: September 2, 2010

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Responding to the call of conscience… Jennifer Bowman interviews Jason Miller

by Jason Miller
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
Thomas Paine’s Corner August 26, 2010
Sept. 2, 2010

Jennifer Bowman: So let’s cut right to the chase. In some of your recent writings, you’ve indicated that you’re dealing with some serious challenges in your life right now. What are they?

Jason Miller: Aside from the systemic backlash resulting from my vigorous activism, I’m dealing with a number of serious personal issues. Some of these were self-inflicted and some weren’t. Either way, I need to deal with them.

I was so absorbed in my activism for about a year that I let certain aspects of my life get away from me, in a manner of speaking. As many of you may have already read, I’m a recovering alcoholic (since 1992—hence my straightedge beliefs). However, I got away from some of my spiritual and intellectual efforts to manage my passion and set aside working the Twelve Steps, which tends to land me into trouble. Fortunately, I’m back on the path I need to follow, which still includes veganism of course, and have turned to the painful task of cleaning up my messes.

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Flying the Flag, Faking the News By John Pilger

https://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/

By John Pilger
Information Clearing House
www.Newstatesman.com
September 02, 2010

Loud noises from Washington about a US pull-out from Iraq are a poor disguise for America’s determination to keep waging war. And the same sort of spin is at work here in Britain

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 is 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”.

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Kucinich Response to President Obama’s Statement Regarding the Future of Iraq

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by Congressman Dennis Kucinich
Washington, Aug 31, 2010

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) issued the following statement in response to President Obama’s speech from the Oval Office regarding the future of Iraq:

“The President is rightly celebrating that less American troops are in harm’s way. I join the President in that celebration.

“We need to dispense with the fiction, though, that this announcement in any way diminishes our financial or resource commitment to Iraq. Fifty thousand “non-combat” troops will remain, and that number does not include the State Department’s plan to double the amount of mercenaries through next year–whose only loyalty is to the highest bidder–and fortify numerous ‘enduring presence posts’ throughout the country. This fortification will include the recent State Department request for Black Hawk helicopters, mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles, and advanced surveillance systems. Such a substantial reliance on mercenaries amounts to a privatization of war.

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