Monday, June 29, 2009

The Truth Alone Will Not Set You Free



The Truth Alone Will Not Set You Free By Chris Hedges

Chris's article is extremely close to the case I've been making for years now, with perhaps a stronger, more compelling and more immediate argument.

Free Speech vs. Surveillance in the Digital Age By Amy Goodman

What Madoff Really Needs is Company, and Lots of It by Richard Adams

The Elephant in the Room: Israel's Nuclear Weapons by David Morrison

An Honest Conversation by Alice Rothchild

Going Nowhere Fast in Afghanistan by William S. Lind



Bill

Thursday, June 25, 2009

To the reader ...:


Please think of what I'm doing as saving you time.

That is, if we are like-minded (which should be easy enough to figure out by perusing posts in this blog), and you don't have the time to sort through a bunch of information sources, I'm like one of your "Reader's Digest" feeds. As are, I should say, much of the information sites I provide links to, as well. The Internet makes it possible for interconnections the likes of which never existed before.

Indeed, we are today in a race - between our using the Internet to put the "by/of/for the people" part back into government, and losing this capability at the hands of those who wish to take it away from us.

If you've been following world events for any period of time, you'll have noticed that our information supply, the so-called mainstream media ("msm'), has been duping us on some very serious things, foremost of which is the military invasion of the Middle East. While their (very profitable) crusade (for Israel's security, the Military-Industrial-Complex and some greedy and unscrupulous people) was going on, their friends on Wall Street were busy emptying our pockets through a hole they dug under the very laws written to keep them from doing what they then proceeded to do.

I'm trying to save you from spending time ferreting out important information (which somehow - magically - manages to evade the msm's - and theremore most peoples - attention) because these "other sides of the story" are important for you to know when forming an opinion. American opinions (see Pew Research) for studies testifying to the efficacy of the propaganda machine.

It's our good (or mis- ?) fortune to have some really big issues going on in the world today. You should keep yourself well informed (basically knowing both sides of at least the major issues of our time) because big changes are going on that will affect your children and theirs greatly.

On this blog, I'll present links to articles I come across of the greatest interest for the day. I spend time that someone else might spend on a hobby. I guess that makes it hobby, doesn't it? Certainly I'm not in it for the money.

I have been using spare time to researching things that interest me, and I just couldn't help but take notice of current events and wonder how it all came to this. You've heard the "when I was a kid ..." stories, I'm sure. I've got a few too, having spent my youth in the 50's and 60's.

I'm (recently, having only recently discovered him via some Internet excursion), I've become an instant fan of Thomas Paine. He's right up there as a thinker/wordsmith in his field, politics, as Carl Jung is to psychology. The precision of thought and the clarity of their presentations are awesome and inspiring.

Things are very busy around here (I, but I am committed to sticking with this "blog project". I have things on my mind that I feel need saying. Turns out I'm in luck because a growing number of talented, thoughtful, skilled people are writing more and more along the same lines as I would write. So, I'll save us all time by providing you with links to what they are writing, instead of writing essentially the same thing.

There are occasions where I will intersperse my thoughts with links, but with so much excellent material out there already, I'm thinking not to bother re-inventing wheels. It's more efficient just to cull and promulgate the links.

Years ago, working at Prodigy, I prophethized a "new breed of editors" would emerge in the online world we were creating for the 1st time (before AOL and the Internet redefined the online world, so far for the better). It was easy to foresee these editors becoming a challenge to the big media barons, but right now nobody has any idea at all as to the future (read: privacy) of the online world.


Bill Arnold

Plight of the small business owners

My contributions to today's reading list:

The Plight Of New York's Small Business Owners

R.I.P. Farrah Fawcett Seemed to me like a pretty good woman. Died before her time. There's a reason in there somewhere.

And R.I.P to Michael Jackson Undoubtedly a prodigy and World famous artist, but he had some fatal flaws. Heavy on the talent, light on the other stuff.

Israel's Crimes, America's Silence By John Dugard

A Withdrawal in Name Only by Erik Leaver and Daniel Atzmon

Gas Pump Thievery: Who's Really Behind the Rising Prices at the Pumps? By Jim Hightower

Big Business Is Aiding the Internet Crackdown in Iran and China -- Will the Technology Be Used on Americans Next? By Amy Goodman

Petraeus Is a Failure -- Why Do We Pretend He's Been a Success? By Fred Branfman



Bill

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now? by Philip Giradli

Definitely one of the most informative articles on Iran yet:
The War Between Civilizations That Never Was By William Pfaff

To Thomas Paine fans, watch this Bill Moyers video.

For anyone not aware of Thomas Paine, google "Common Sense" and "Age of Reason". If you haven't read these papers, now would be a very good time to do so.


Bill