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Slouching Towards 2012
For the last two days, Yahoo! has featured an article, “N. Korea alters photo of Kim Jong Il funeral.” Juxtaposing two images, it shows that half a dozen inconsequential figures have been photo-shopped out. It is fitting that Yahoo!, a leader in frivolity, is burdening its attentive yahoos with a pointless, carping article masquerading as political expose. This bitch slapping piece of pseudo-journalism is juxtaposed with “Baby Startled by Mom’s Noise,” “Model Pregnant on Runway,” “NASCAR Star Sorry for Tweets” and “Disney’s Women’s ‘Real’ Looks.”
Future observers will be aghast to discover that, as our economy collapses and the country slides into Fascism, our mostly numb and passive population is left to ponder the true identities of cartoon characters and who Jim Carrey is sleeping with. When it comes to putting a population to sleep, North Korea could take a few lessons from the US, and in fact, many Communist states already have. Don’t ban anything, just suffocate people with nonsense, bombard each brain cell relentlessly with so much tedious “entertainment” that it can no longer think straight.
(Photo/Linh Dinh)All governments lie, but empires lie even more voluminously because they have a grander fiction to maintain, as well as a larger and more complex audience to pacify, stroke and sucker. The list of facts and events, recent and historical, that have been airbrushed from American history would occupy thousands of Howard Zinns for thousands of years. In their places, the official, unending bullshit. Wonders of wonders, tallest buildings collapsing at free fall speed, one without being hit by anything, its demise announced before the fact even. Or a murder without corpse of a most wanted target, with the “heroic” hit team conveniently packed into a helicopter, then killed. Nothing is ever explained, because nothing needs to be explained to a well-opiated audience.
I have contended that a hidden agenda of the Occupy Movement’s tent cities, now mostly gone, is to remove oneself from a normal, domesticated environment, with its attendant, nonstop media brainwashing via television, computer and other electronic gadgets. Freed from these insidious and poisonous mediators, one could discover other human beings, one’s neighbors, and oneself, at last. It wasn’t just a sacrifice to endure the elements and poor sanitation to feel solidarity and community. It was also an attraction, an atavistic yearning to see, hear and feel directly, and to jettison all of the soft yet stubborn, plugged-in shackles. As a sign at Zuccotti Park said so well, “FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, I FEEL AT HOME.”
Many inhabitants of these encampments had no other homes, however, so when these tents were cleared out, they had to scramble. In Philadelphia, a group relocated to an out of the way, vacant lot in a distressed neighborhood, then issued this plea to be left alone, “We are not here protesting or to make a statement, we’re homeless. We are sick of being forced to exist alone, sick of being told that shelters, which are not tolerable living facilities for sober people, are an adequate alternative to being “allowed”, by the government, to work, live and share together to create for ourselves […] ”
Forced by necessity or motivated by activism and desire, these tent dwellers will only multiply in the years ahead. Becoming a tribe unto themselves, they will reclaim entire swaths of America. Squatting on land, they will also get a chance to occupy their own minds. There, they will discover that the tucked away answers are already many degrees wiser and saner than the drivel being pumped out daily by their masters of murderous greed and war.
So far, our overlords have not been overly alarmed by our budding awakening and rebellion. Time Magazine even gave the movement a pat on the head, with a chuckling reminder that it took the Civil Rights Movement a decade to achieve tangible results, but we don’t have ten years to chip and dally away. The bankers are more entrenched than ever, with the next POTUS, their loyal servant, no different than the last, and don’t bet on Ron Paul being allowed to occupy that ceremonial seat.
The Pentagon’s core budget, as submitted by Peace Laureate Obama, is the biggest ever, though hefty cuts have been applied to Overseas Contingency Operations. Whenever another war starts, however, and who knows how many more we’ll see in 2012, the cash spigot will spill as madly as the blood. Trust me.
It’s another year coming, but I doubt that most Americans feel any sense of renewal. In spite of reassuring or silly headlines, pervasive dread is in the air. The election year will give the Occupy Movement energy and focus, but unless it can sharpen its message and allow exceptional individuals already in its midst to emerge as spokesmen and leaders, it will continue to accomplish merely minor, symbolic victories, as their opponents continue to kill, loot and, yes, laugh in their faces.
The you are a leader, I am a leader mantra is patently nonsense, because it takes a highly intelligent, charismatic and forceful figure to galvanize and inspire. A leader must earn his status, and when he has, lesser voices will naturally defer, and if he turns out to be a fraud, he should be chucked aside. Faced with a monomaniacal, brutal and well organized enemy, we cannot just counter with a horizontal position, because they will gladly accommodate this inclination.
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67 Comments so far
Show All'democracy........never existed'. USAn's may have been brainwashed from the start, being told that democratic processes existed but never existed in practice. Within the realm of actually being the case. It was George Carlin who declared that the USA is a fraud starting with the former Bill of Rights and the former Constitution, which the Federalists have opposed from the beginning of the country. The USA Constitution is a fraud, a COUNTERFEIT CONSTITUTION used for propaganda purposes. With a counterfeit constitution it takes the mystery out of why the FORCED CONTRIBUTIONS, withholding taxes, of taxing labor and used to pay the INTEREST ON COUNTERFEIT DEBT created by the banksters.
Thank you, Linh Dinh, for including this information, "buildings collapsing at free fall speed, one without being hit by anything." I celebrate your freedom to write with honesty.
The science proving free fall of WTC 7 is solid. AE911Truth.org
Well said and seconded [to the googolplex power: 10^(10^100) ].
It is a very courageous (and vulnerable) position to take in these times -- speaking truth against power's deeply vested interests -- much like standing in front of and blocking a moving tank.
May the courageous editors and drivers be inspired to accept and allow this to continue, for our common and connected existences demand such.
I'll go back and read the rest as I like Linh Dinh, but this " . . . many Communist states already have" just stopped me. Where are the many communist states? Where? I must admit to not seeing a single one. Someone? Anyone?
I assumed Mr. Dinh was referring to the Communist 'state' as it has existed in many countries throughout time, past and present...specifically, perhaps, the many such 'states' the US has had more than casual associations with, taken pointers from and/or given advice to.
Hi 4thefuture,
I didn't want to go too far off on a tangent in this article, but let me elaborate here: Take Vietnam, for example, my home country. Vietnam used to ban just about everything: pop music, romance novels, fashion magazines, comic books, love poems, dissident literature, of course, and on and on and on. Now, taking a cue from America, it has allowed the country to be drowned in American or American styled pop culture. The Communist oligarchy realize that Lady Gaga, internet porn and the rest are great at pacifying the population and distract people from the corruption and other abuses of the ruling elite.
In the past, Vietnam used to lock up poets, including one Nguyen Chi Thien for 27 years altogether, but now they simply ignore them, like we do in the US. My good buddy, Nguyen Quoc Chanh, has written poems more politically aggressive than Nguyen Chi Thien, but the government doesn't arrest him because they know people are too busy reading celebrity news, listening to pop music nonstop and watching the singing contest, a la American Idol, on television. This crowd control tactic, if you will, they've picked up from the West and the US.
Also, and in conclusion, the hardcore censorship of the Communist states has been relaxed considerably, to be replaced by a saturation of American styled pop culture. This is true of actual Communist states such as Vietnam and China, and former Communist states, many of which are ruled by, well, former Communists. The same fat cats at the top, but now they got a new strategy.
pop as the opiate of the people.
Thank you for taking the trouble to respond to some of these stupid responses, your enlightened and intelligent point of view is always refreshing. Having just read an article which examined the horrors inflicted upon British (but Islamic) citizens at Guantanamo Gulag, I felt compelled to share this observation of one man who managed to survive torture at the hands of the American soldiers. We must remember that today's policeman is most likely yesterday's soldier recently returned from duty in the War on Terror (tm):
The experiences of being inside the camps have not left any of the detainees. Several who came to the Observer photoshoot still find it difficult to talk about what happened, including Tarek Dergoul, 34, from east London, who lost an arm and his toes in an US airstrike in Afghanistan where he said he was on a business trip to buy property. He has talked about his torture before, but today says he cannot and politely refused to be photographed. "Sometimes you can talk and sometimes it sticks in your throat," he said.
Abbasi recognised how Dergoul is feeling: "For me, speaking English broke a lot of barriers, because if you speak to the guards you become a person. I had two years in isolation, so you had to talk to soldiers.
"I spent a lot of time analysing them and realised that for Americans they have to believe they are right. You have to be a terrorist. They assume you are both Taliban and al-Qaida, there is no doubt in their minds, and in their view they have a right to treat you badly, seeking their retribution.
...and so it begins.
http://coyotescage.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/and-so-it-begins/
To wary, Jan 1 2012 - 12:04am:
It's okay, Wary, no need to get so upset. I understand, just take your tranquilizer.
Since I don't want to upset you any further, I am going to be really easy on you with two short remarks, one being in fact a recommendation.
First, the recommendation: a course in remedial English composition and syntax (aka grammar) would do your expressive abilities a world of good.
Secondly, quoting a piece of text is of course selective: what did you want me to do, publish the entire report here on CD? I chose to cite the piece of text that was relevant to the issue at hand, namely, your denying that free fall acceleration took place at all in the destruction of the three buildings of the WTC. You ridiculed the notion that such a phenomenon occurred on that day at the WTC, when in fact even those who gave us the official, government paid and sanctioned analysis of the destruction of the buildings made room for it, however partial that "concession" was (it was a concession to an objection raised by physics teacher David Chandler).
You did not appreciate the fact that you were caught with your pants down, as you did not even take stock of, and properly inform yourself about the official position that you so vehemently and ravingly claim to support and defend. In fact, it would seem that your vehemence and rage are inversely proportional to your knowledge of the official position on the matter.
You are not only a hack scribbler and a denier of empirical data and laws of physics, you are also a liar and a fraud. As such, you have demonstrated that you are not a worthy partner in rational conversation. Naturally, that in turn means that no matter how many insults and assorted nonsense you may throw at me henceforth, I shall no longer respond.
Thank you for your responses, as I wish more people were so courageous and steadfast to challenge the cyber bullying counter-attacks against truth seekers.
There really is NO LOGICAL explanation why some discussions, immediately turn towards such extreme levels of animosity -- instead of mere disagreement -- other than purposeful deceitfulness and/or attempts to invalidate others. Why COULD he so quickly become so personally angry at you, for just expressing facts and opinions ?
Please do consider the possibility that he really does know better ; - )
But then, you're completely correct in deciding that a discussion with him is a futile effort to ever convince him -- but then, we do so for the others on the forum that otherwise would be confused and distracted -- right ?
It is quite likely, that his pay grade precludes expression of his full intelligence's acuity, although clearly he is very good at creating seemingly plausible points of view, demonstrating propaganda's use of clever emotionally twisting faux-logic, and the appearance of having said something important.
I suspect that much of what you describe as his demonstrating a need for "a course in remedial English composition and syntax," is a subtle camouflage to make him appear 'more' authentic and less keenly schooled, which is belied by his near perfect pitch of propaganda manipulation skills.
The true keenness of his convincing artfulness, is making it look simple and easy flowing -- which I assure you it is not.
Logic says that it is very unlikely that he could simultaneously both need schooling and be an expert at fooling people with words, which thereby means that we should be very wary of his likely pretense -- acting as if sincerely convinced, credible, and less educated to appeal to more folks. That he is likely encouraging our framing this perhaps as an egg-head vs. man of the people conflict -- where his seemingly authentic but rough-edged street smarts -- supposedly trumps too narrowed academic blindness and foolishness.
Propagandists do purposefully attack credible intellectual threats, that otherwise shift the people's collective consciousness toward actual truth. He mounted an extensive posting personally against you and the facts that you disclose, where elsewhere on this thread he was very much briefer and general approach.
That he completely reversed himself about free fall being nonsense, might have been a targeted strategy to attack your credibility immediately and directly, even though it undermines his own previous statements. Often this type of a gamble pays off, when no one responds --and even if some do -- the propagandist often appears to win (to the passing, only scanning readers).
On the other hand, I may be entirely off-base -- and he may be naturally exposing his disconnection with reality, and doing that in a convincing manner.
It dawned on me recently that George Orwell was an optimist. His future vision (which is our present day) didn`t include the destruction and toxification of the natural world. His projected rulers had more sense.
What a day, when 1984 dystopia seems like a relative utopia, compared to what we have (will have) ?
An excellent and penetrating comment, thank you for that more chilling than cool thought.
Yes - in human history there has always been some war, cruelty, oppression of the poor. But the destruction of the natural world by powerful global corporations in area after area of the earth, waters and atmosphere makes this era one in which there is no escape except to fight back.
Another terrific article Linh. But if I may offer one different stratagem… Rather than leaders, it's even more important for a grand goal to emerge from the movement, which I believe can be encapsulated in the phrase “separate business and state.” It’s a very vague term, but it carries a lot of weight the more you think about it, imho.
Just like our country (and others) separated church and state (albeit imperfectly), and reaped the benefits, so it is that this other unholy alliance of business and state must go. Virtually every ill we have, whether it’s egregious income inequality, raping the environment, or man’s inhumanity to man via the war profiteers, (and many more problems) can be traced back to the marriage of money and politics.
Mankind is supposed to be a family, but never can be with world slavery to billionaires in place of kings and queens.
SEPARATE BUSINESS AND STATE.