Ongoing Propaganda Report.

[Martin Red]

I have noticed over the last few months the rise in war films/ documentaries etc on our Television.

OK, some films got held from showing due to September 11th, the main one was Fight Club due to the destructive ending.

But apart from that, there has been a spate of documentaries films about the SAS storming the Iranian Embassy in 1980. Or Just programs on how the SAS stopped Iraq's Scud attacks during dessert storm. Or World War II films or documentaries.

The drug on the nation is conditioning people once again. And the radio also

"BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson speaks to witnesses who have watched first hand the Iraqi leader's ruthless rise to power "

At least the Internet is a place we can talk rather then a place where we are conditioned.

Please report any Propaganda here and remember ;) :-

Proper ganja not propaganda

[ January 16, 2003, 07:25 AM: Message edited by: Martin Red ]

[djroki]

Hey Martin

I've noticed this too - it seems to be "Militainment" hitting the UK just as described in the US by Dan Rather in this interview from last summer

Toughening us all up for war, mate.... [img]graemlins/jpshakehead.gif[/img]

peace, roki

[der geile hund]

It's cool, war is just all about brotherhood and the guy next to you, right?

[G]

Originally posted by Martin Red:
I

But apart from that, there has been a spate of documentaries films about the SAS storming the Iranian Embassy in 1980. Or Just programs on how the SAS stopped Iraq's Scud attacks during dessert storm. Or World War II films or documentaries.

some of the biggest cons ever, Firstly the SAS jumped thorugh the wrong window into an empty room, and secondly very very few scuds we actually blown up.

While we are on the topic, remember the american crews who looked after the anti scud missles in Israel? Well the never actually blew anything up apart from their own missiles.....Propaganda Propaganda that's the really killer!

[ January 16, 2003, 08:54 AM: Message edited by: Soul Deviant ]

[f0reverneverm0re]

Originally posted by Martin Red:
I have noticed over the last few months the rise in war films/ documentaries etc on our Television.

OK, some films got held from showing due to September 11th, the main one was Fight Club due to the destructive ending.

But apart from that, there has been a spate of documentaries films about the SAS storming the Iranian Embassy in 1980. Or Just programs on how the SAS stopped Iraq's Scud attacks during dessert storm. Or World War II films or documentaries.

The drug on the nation is conditioning people once again. And the radio also

"BBC World Affairs editor John Simpson speaks to witnesses who have watched first hand the Iraqi leader's ruthless rise to power "

At least the Internet is a place we can talk rather then a place where we are conditioned.

Please report any Propaganda here and remember ;) :-

Proper ganja not propaganda

well, there's a new show that runs on The History Channel called "Mail Call". the guy who played the drill instructor in the film "Full Metal Jacket" is the host. they do have some interesting tid bits to share, like the other week they talked about how a grenade worked.
http://www.historychannel.com/mailcall/

The Discovery Channel has also been running quite a few military themed shows; there was a show about Navy Seal training, and another that talked about army basic training. it's pretty much modern war propaganda ("remember our boys on the Malabar front!").

the news stories about how the troops are doing "over there", about the sending off of soldiers and the families hopes for safe return (maybe they shouldn't be sending them off in the 1st place--nice peace protests all around yesterday).

pics of soldiers in the paper..the local big newspaper here (the oregonian) is running those "scope" stories that give overview and analysis of whatever the issue of the day is, whether it's Iraq's "strongman" or the North Korean *threat*. what you won't hear via mass media analysis is that Saddam is possibly a CIA-installed patsy actor, or that North Korea really isn't a threat at all. you also won't read any commentary which develops the idea that maybe--just maybe--the US and co. (including head Varsity cheerleader Tony Blair and even controllers of certain SE Asian countries) are instigating the other side (the "Axis of Evil" member countries/entities and anybody deemed a state "terrorist") in order that they may institute undemocratic/immoral/unethical policies which allow for global domination through the subjugation of all nations and of all humans.

the people allow for their conditioning, this is no secret. want to get people to hate on black people, tell the people that a mess of blacks are moving into their hood; want to get people to hate on the Japanese, tell them that Japanese moguls are buying up a ton of real estate and that they in fact own ever golf course in america (ala the early 90s "Japan is buying america" nightly news propaganda, big on NBC); want people to despise southern "country" whites, portray them as ass backward hicks who wear mullet hair styles and carry shotguns wherever they go--what you're doing is utilizing the fear hate rage and ignorance of the individual..this same approach was taken by the evil emperor in the Star Wars series to lure jedis to the darkside.

http://serendipity.magnet.ch/wtc.html

also, i'm noticing a "general increase" in "alien" propaganda. there were fireball sightings reported on the news about 3 weeks ago, both here in Oregon and i think in England as well, can't remember.

then there's all the recent work of Steven "Schpeel"berg. i don't know if aliens exist and until i am certain they do, no one can convince me that they exist. also, i'm not worried about whether they exist or not, if they do they do.
http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/aliens/aliens.html

more propaganda on the news was the recent HOAX of the 5 middle-eastern looking dudes who allegedly snuck into the US from Canada. the local news kept flashing their images over and over and over again. odd considering that the story could not have been "confirmed" considering that it turned out to be a hoax.

the news media loves to portray people in a negative light, now, "angry muslims" are getting the treatment. a couple of months ago, i saw what was a 1st time news watching oddity for me.

the image of a "middle-eastern looking" guy was shown centered on the screen. of course he wasn't smiling or anything. well what they did was flash-expand the image to full screen size over and over during the newscast when they covered the story relevant to the guy's picture. blah³ Orwellian nightmare...

oh well, more later (and more clearly later, hopefully)

[darshan]

Don't forget the Desert Storm/Saddam video game for PS2!

[f0reverneverm0re]

Originally posted by darshan:
Don't forget the Desert Storm/Saddam video game for PS2!

yeah, i remember the promo w/ the TV anchor sim and stuff. interestingly enough, the HBO original flick "Live from Baghdad" aired on December 7th of 2002, the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, another attack from foreigners upon american sanctity which, like the 9-11 attacks, were also allowed to transpire, w/ some having full knowledge of the events to take place.

television may be nothing but a tool that was intended to reprogram the civilized human being. now that's a conspiracy. now there's High Definition TV. (BTW, anyone ever seen shows where a graphical "distortion-morph" effect has been used which gives the screen image an eerie "3-D" poke-you-in-the-brain feeling? i saw a UFO show on the SciFi channel that used this technique, and i think a show on the Learning Channel too. i don't plan on doing a whole lot of HDTV viewing)

anybody know of any definitive databases on TV history that would have listed all the cop/military/FBI-CIA-spy shows and movies that have been created? (yeah, they've got more than a few shows out now that deal with clandestinely operating intelligence agencies; see CBSs "The Agency" (CIA) and of course "The X-Files" (FBI))
-----------------------------------------------
Live From Baghdad (starring Michael Keaton)
http://www.hbo.com/films/livefrombag...1=latest3_more

american democracy is a hoax; behind it, mass media manipulation
http://www.users.uniserve.com/~synergy/printch2.htm

Warren Buffet (2nd richest man in the US supposedly) has allegedly "guaranteed" the US will suffer a nuclear attack. on september 11th, a meeting was held at offutt AFB in Nebraska; this is supposedly where GW bush ended up during his "diversionary" flight that day (more on Mitre co. too)
http://memes.org/modules.php?op=modl...ticle&sid=1594
forum w/ good convo about this topic
http://www.democraticunderground.com...D60/27145.html

more on Mitre Corp. (who can make a plane fly w/ no hands? who is going to be able to capitalize on the new line of Cray supercomputers that the govt is ready and waiting for?)
http://www.mitre.org/

Mitre is a non-profit venture that receives much federal funding for any number of "projects"
http://burks.brighton.ac.uk/burks/foldoc/53/74.htm

project SAGE (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment)
http://www.eskimo.com/%7Ewow-ray/sage28.html

SIAC (Securities Industry Automation Corporation); this company was formed roughly around the time when Nixon and posse had the US taken off the gold standard
http://careercenter.commweb.com/prof...anyCode=CSIA09

"The climax came on August 13-15, 1971, when Nixon and 15 advisors repaired to the presidential mountain retreat at Camp David. Out of this conclave came the New Economic Policy, which would temporarily -- for a 90-day period -- freeze wages and prices to check inflation. That would, it was thought, solve the inflation-employment dilemma, for such controls would allow the administration to pursue a more expansive fiscal policy -- stimulating employment in time for the 1972 presidential election without stoking inflation. The gold window was to be closed. Arthur Burns argued vociferously against it, warning, "Pravda would write that this was a sign of the collapse of capitalism." Burns was overruled. The gold window would be closed."

"Only one segment of the wage-and-price control system was not abolished -- price controls over oil and natural gas. Owing in part to the deep and dark suspicions about conspiracy and monopoly in the energy sector, they were maintained for another several years. But Washington's effort to run the energy market was a lasting lesson in the perversities that can ensue when government takes over the marketplace. There were at least 32 different prices of natural gas, a rather standard commodity, each of whose molecules is based on one atom of carbon and four atoms of hydrogen. The oil-price-control system established several tiers of oil prices. The prices for domestic production were also held down, in effect forcing domestic producers to subsidize imported oil and providing additional incentives to import oil into the United States. The whole enterprise was an elaborate and confusing system of price controls, entitlements, and allocations. It was estimated that just the standard reporting requirements for what became the Federal Energy Administration involved some 200,000 respondents from industry, committing an estimated five million man-hours annually."

(what would happen if a great majority of the wage slaves in a country earned totally similar wages?)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandinghe...nixongold.html

more global economic conspiracy theory (Tom Wheat, "A State of Clear and Present Danger: A History of american foreign policy during the Cold War)
http://www.geocities.com/s011023/coldwar9.htm
the conclusion. was the "Cold War" between the US and the Soviet Union really a "hot war" against the rest of the world w/ regards to colonial interests? now, go to your local "(International) Trade Center" and try and find the flag of an African nation or that of any other Asian nation besides Japan on display (maybe the S. Korean flag will be flying)...
http://www.geocities.com/s011023/coldwar11.htm

Mitre, a "spotlight company"
http://careercenter.commweb.com/prof...anyCode=CMIT18

remember the old news
http://www.hri.org/news/usa/voa/1998...16.voa.html#05

"Facing our fascist state" (Don Paul) (how does insurance fraud fit into the scheme of capitalism?)
http://www.sfcall.com/paul_11_01_02.htm

computer "Whirlwind", MIT-designed to control a Navy flight simulator

[Martin Red]

TV Programme aired last Saturday "Smallpox 2002" . (on UK TV's BBC 2)

A Pandemic.

I caught this with a bad hang over, made me think that I had missed lots of News from 2002, then when they started explaining that 60 million had died globally and over 1 million had died in America........Yes a fictional documentary

"US President George Bush has requested a copy of BBC Two's Smallpox 2002 programme after a leading scientist told him about the making of the drama.
Dr DA Henderson worked closely with programme makers to create a drama-documentary about the effects of a bio terrorist attack on the world.

Dr Henderson was aboard Bush's Air Force One plane on Tuesday to help promote the president's renewed stance against bio terrorism."

CHECK IT = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...io/1804688.stm

This documentary was scarier than any horror film due to its "documentary style" acting. It even went into the American FBI etc investigating the cause for the pandemic. They are trawling through all the evidence and movements actions of the first infected cases, and then checking CCTV videos to ID the person who was the root cause. They ID him, they find his body which he had hidden himself in a Metro tunnel before he committed suicide using barbiturates. They track him back to a hotel room where a holy book is open at a chapter, this programme was so detailed it was scary.

They cover the virus and it's spread in London by using a home video shot by a family that are living in an estate with outbreaks of smallpox and how the family has to stay inside as the flat health authorities cannot vaccinate as there's a shortage.



The figures reported are 13 million vaccinations for a population of 60 millions.

More on this programme: -

http://www.walltowall.co.uk/press/re...?ReleaseID=251

I also remember the fake documentaries regarding Nuclear attack on the UK aired in the early 80's. Check =
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/smallpox2...king_dan.shtml

I found this Smallpox programme a lot more disturbing in the way it was made

http://media.guardian.co.uk/attack/s...641672,00.html

Straight after Smallpox 2002 a trailer for a documentary on tonight.

"The city in which you live in could be destroyed and made inhabitable for 25 years DIRTYBOMB This Monday night"

[ January 20, 2003, 07:54 AM: Message edited by: Martin Red ]

[Martin Red]

Wednesday, 29 January, 2003, 05:28 GMT
Girding the public for war


Analysis

By Matt Frei
BBC Washington correspondent



President George W Bush has laid out the moral case for a war against Iraq in one of the most powerful speeches he has ever given.

His aim in the State of the Union speech was to remove doubts in the eyes of the American people about the evil nature of the Iraqi regime and spell out the exact nature of the threat that it poses.


Powell will present evidence to the UN
By repeatedly giving details of the weapons of mass destruction that Iraq possessed, and the nature of the regime, he was confronting head-on the issue of evidence that has been continually raised in the debate so far - although without presenting any new facts.

These may come when the US lays out its full case against Iraq before the Security Council, with officials hinting that new intelligence data will be released.

Moral high ground

More importantly, the president was also aiming at recapturing the moral high ground, with his assertion that "if this is not evil, then evil has no meaning".

President Bush's speech at times had the fervour of a religious sermon.

"If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means," he said.


The weapons inspectors say there has not been full co-operation
Mr Bush was also preparing the nation - and the armed forces - for war, outlining his role as commander-in-chief and his reluctance to send men and women into battle unless it was absolutely necessary.

SOURCE = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2700171.stm

[Mah'chew]

Back in the last fracas with the Iraqis, Radio One was banned from playing records by 'Massive Attack' and 'Bomb the Bass' - what the @#%*#, they sanctioned the bombing of thousands of innocent people on our behalf, but they wouldn't let us listen to 'Blue Lines'? (What did all the coffee shops in the Dam start playing after that?).Governments are evil, period !

[f0reverneverm0re]

"Line-by-line indy analysis of Herr Bush's speech"

Two of us watched the State of the Union speech tonight in different places. One of us came over to the other's house afterwards to decompress
from the unpleasant experience. Together, we went through the text of the speech and made some comments.

About Bush and his delivery: Luckily he is not much of an actor, as he works through a speech whose aim it is to introduce the idea of a war that has the potential to cause tens of thousands of deaths, a smirk appears periodically. He actually seemed to enjoy the mood.

Clearly, he was trying to convince people that a war against Iraq is necessary. Has the growing No-War-in-Iraq movement made him go on the defensive? Perhaps. Hundreds of thousands of people protesting in the streets, and some of those acting directly against the physical structures of war-making capitalism is not what the powers-that-be want, that's for sure. So that would be the one hopeful thing to pull out of the speech.

Here's the text, with comments following in italics:

Mr. Speaker, Vice President Cheney, members of Congress, distinguished citizens and fellow citizens, every year, by law and by custom, we meet here to consider the state of the union. This year, we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead.

The people watching this speech who hated it also know these are decisive days and we are planning, too. Be warned, Mr. Bush: Your war will not escalate without increasing resistance.

You and I serve our country in a time of great consequence.

Indeed. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are about to die. Can we stop it?

During this session of Congress, we have the duty to reform domestic programs vital to our country, we have the opportunity to save millions of lives abroad from a terrible disease.

True enough. We didn't hear anything about this during the speech, though, since that would mean dismantling capitalism, destroying the war machine, and turning from greed. What he's really talking about here, domestically, is privatization.

We will work for a prosperity that is broadly shared, and we will answer every danger and every enemy that threatens the American people.

...Everyone and anything on the entire planet that attempts to exercise self-determination over their own resources and lives.

In all these days of promise and days of reckoning, we can be confident. During the last two years we have seen what can be accomplished when we work together.

A never-ending war; a system of repression rivalling, in attitude, that of post-Wiemer Germany and the brownshirts, but in terms of reach it is next-to-none; state budgets in complete collapse, (also post-Wiemer like) killing the most helpless of society.

To lift the standards of our public schools, we achieved historic education reform which must now be carried out in every school and in every classroom so that every child in American can read and learn and succeed in life.

Curing the ills of public education by spending taxes on a useless war is not going to make anyone smarter (nor will testing).

To protect our country, we reorganized our government and created the Department of Homeland Security, which is mobilizing against the threats of a new era.

...by preparing to squash out dissent whereever it sees it by putting a camera on every corner, a bug in every room, and a turncoat neighbor on every street.

To bring our economy out of recession, we delivered the largest tax relief in a generation.

Thousands will soon lose unemployement and no amount of tax relief will help them.

To insist on integrity in American business, we passed tough reforms, and we are holding corporate criminals to account.

And the best way to do that is to fill the Administration with them. Arianna Huffington writes: "{B}oth Harken Energy, while President Bush was on its board, and Halliburton, while Vice President Cheney was its CEO, had created subsidiary shell companies in offshore tax havens. The administration's attempt at what was presumably damage control did more harm than good." That's just the tip of the iceberg. See more here.

Some might call this a good record. I call it a good start.

Cute.

Not.

Tonight I ask the House and the Senate to join me in the next bold steps to serve our fellow citizens.

Our first goal is clear: We must have an economy that grows fast enough to employ every man and woman who seeks a job.

After recession, terrorist attacks, corporate scandals and stock market declines, our economy is recovering. Yet it is not growing fast enough, or strongly enough.

Huh? The recession is over? Where? Not in Oregon, that's for sure!

With unemployment rising, our nation needs more small businesses to open, more companies to invest and expand, more employers to put up the sign that says, ``Help Wanted.''

Jobs are created when the economy grows; the economy grows when Americans have more money to spend and invest; and the best and fairest way to make sure Americans have that money is not to tax it away in the first place.

TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS! Last time that was tried, in combination with increased defense spending, under Reagan (actually started by Carter), it was disasterous.

I am proposing that all the income tax reductions set for 2004 and 2006 be made permanent and effective this year.

Oh good lord. More money to rich people. Great. I'm not personally in favor of even having federal governments, but if you are gonna, tax the hell out of the rich.

And under my plan, as soon as I've signed the bill, this extra money will start showing up in workers' paychecks.

Through this imagined reality of rich people using their money to create jobs. Too bad it doesn't actually work that way.

Instead of gradually reducing the marriage penalty, we should do it now.

Instead of slowly raising the child credit to $1,000, we should send the checks to American families now.

Is another bribe coming?

This tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes, and it will help our economy immediately. Ninety-two million Americans will keep this year an average of almost $1,100 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year.

Beware the word "average". It's a statistical trick. Look this one up and figure out what it really means. As for the example he gives, I don't buy it. Where's the gun money gonna come from?

And our plan will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses.

What's "small"? 50 and under? 500 and under? This is a meaningless phrase.

You, the Congress, have already passed all these reductions, and promised them for future years. If this tax relief is good for Americans three or five or seven years from now, it is even better for Americans today.

We should also strengthen the economy by treating investors equally in our tax laws. It's fair to tax a company's profits. It is not fair to again tax the shareholder on the same profits.

More breaks for the rich. "Treating investors equally"? As if "investors" are some sort of downtrodden class? Co-opting the language of victim politics here.

To boost investor confidence, and to help the nearly 10 million seniors who receive dividend income, I ask you to end the unfair double taxation of dividends.

Another one for the rich, mostly.

Lower taxes and greater investment will help this economy expand. More jobs mean more taxpayers and higher revenues to our government.

And here's the central lie of Trickle-Down: the government will get MORE money if it lowers taxe rates because more people will be making more money. This shit went out of repute in economic circles in the 1930's.

The best way to address the deficit and move toward a balanced budget is to encourage economic growth and to show some spending discipline in Washington, D.C.

...except for weapons of mass destruction.

We must work together to fund only our most important priorities. I will send you a budget that increases discretionary spending by 4 percent next year, about as much as the average family's income is expected to grow. And that is a good benchmark for us: Federal spending should not rise any faster than the paychecks of American families.

Circular reasoning within trickle-down. Kinda like water going down the drain.

A growing economy and a focus on essential priorities will be crucial to the future of Social Security. As we continue to work together to keep Social Security sound and reliable, we must offer younger workers a chance to invest in retirement accounts that they will control and they will own.

PRIVATIZATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY.

Our second goal is high quality, affordable health for all Americans.

The American system of medicine is a model of skill and innovation, with a pace of discovery that is adding good years to our lives.

Cuba's is better. Nyah nyah!

Yet for many people, medical care costs too much, and many have no coverage at all.

These problems will not be solved with a nationalized health care system that dictates coverage and rations care.

HMOs manage care and dicate coverage.

Instead, we must work toward a system in which all Americans have a good insurance policy, choose their own doctors, and seniors and low-income Americans receive the help they need.

Instead of bureaucrats and trial lawyers and HMOs, we must put doctors and nurses and patients back in charge of American medicine.

Sounds good in principle, but I'll bet I'm gonna hate what's coming next.

Health care reform must begin with Medicare; Medicare is the binding commitment of a caring society.

He must mean he wants to privatize Medicare.

We must renew that commitment by giving seniors access to the preventive medicine and new drugs that are transforming health care in America.

The best preventative medicine is no medicine at all, but rather a healthy lifestyle. However, the addictions of junk food, stagnant lives, etc., will not be discouraged. Better to keep everyone unhealthy and dull and dependant.

Seniors happy with the current Medicare system should be able to keep their coverage just the way it is.

And just like you, the members of Congress, and your staffs and other federal employees, all seniors should have the choice of a health care plan that provides prescription drugs.

Keep everybody addicted to Big Pharm. Never mind that the shit don't work.

My budget will commit an additional $400 billion over the next decade to reform and strengthen Medicare. Leaders of both political parties have talked for years about strengthening Medicare. I urge the members of this new Congress to act this year.

Let's see what strings are attached.

To improve our health care system, we must address one of the prime causes of higher cost: the constant threat that physicians and hospitals will be unfairly sued.

Because of excessive litigation, everybody pays more for health care, and many parts of America are losing fine doctors. No one has ever been healed by a frivolous lawsuit; I urge the Congress to pass medical liability reform.

Having lost millions on the stock market, insurance companys are trying to recoup with rising premiums.

Our third goal is to promote energy independence for our country, while dramatically improving the environment.

I have sent you a comprehensive energy plan to promote energy efficiency and conservation, to develop cleaner technology, and to produce more energy at home.

...from the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and other pristine lands.

I have sent you clear skies legislation that mandates a 70 percent cut in air pollution from power plants over the next 15 years. I have sent you a healthy forest initiative to help prevent the catastrophic fires that devastate communities, kill wildlife and burn away millions of acres of treasured forests.

Well shit, if the former is anything like the latter, we know it sucks.

I urge you to pass these measures for the good of both our environment and our economy.

Even more, I ask you to take a crucial step and protect our environment in ways that generations before us could not have imagined.

Just don't stop driving cars.

In this century, the greatest environmental progress will come about not through endless lawsuits or command-and-control regulations, but through technology and innovation.

Aah yes, science will save us all. Ho hum.

Tonight I'm proposing $1.2 billion in research funding so that America can lead the world in developing clean, hydrogen-powered automobiles.

Heavens, that the car companies should come up with their own R&D cash. Another giveaway to corporations.

A simple chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen generates energy, which can be used to power a car, producing only water, not exhaust fumes. With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born today could be powered by hydrogen, and pollution-free.

Join me in this important innovation to make our air significantly cleaner, and our country much less dependent on foreign sources of energy.

Join him in gutting clean air and water regulations.

Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. For so many in our country--the homeless, and the fatherless, the addicted--the need is great. Yet there is power--wonder-working power--in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people.

Americans are doing the work of compassion every day: visiting prisoners, providing shelter for battered women, bringing companionship to lonely seniors. These good works deserve our praise, they deserve our personal support and, when appropriate, they deserve the assistance of the federal government.

"when appropriate". Hmmm. Do i smell a "faith-based" reference about to come?

I urge you to pass both my faith-based initiative and the Citizen Service Act to encourage acts of compassion that can transform America one heart and one soul at a time.

I do!

Last year, I called on my fellow citizens to participate in the USA Freedom Corps, which is enlisting tens of thousands of new volunteers across America.

Tonight I ask Congress and the American people to focus the spirit of service and the resources of government on the needs of some of our most vulnerable citizens: boys and girls trying to grow up without guidance and attention, and children who have to go through a prison gate to be hugged by their mom or dad.

Those same prisoners, many who are serving draconian sentences for minor drug possesion, were incarcerated under laws unfairly applied, and conceived to exact vengeance, and not reform.
The US has essentially a third-world, two-tiered justice system.

I propose a $450 million initiative to bring mentors to more than a million disadvantaged junior high students and children of prisoners.

Government will support the training and recruiting of mentors, yet it is the men and women of America who will fill the need. One mentor, one person, can change a life forever, and I urge you to be that one person.

Whoah. So the government is going to provide a replacement to children for their incarcerated parents. Great.

Another cause of hopelessness is addiction to drugs. Addiction crowds out friendship, ambition, moral conviction, and reduces all the richness of life to a single destructive desire.

Indeed. The addictions of consumerism, such as television, junk-food, car-driving, etc., are doing just that to our society. However, those are addictions that keep corporate-Capitalism going, so they will remain unmentioned.

As a government, we are fighting illegal drugs by cutting off supplies and reducing demand through anti-drug education programs. Yet for those already addicted, the fight against drugs is a fight for their own lives.

Nevermind the fact that the CIA pumped drugs into the inner cities (and probably still does), or that U.S. banks make billions in profit every year by handling all the drug money that washes through their coffers. These are empty words. The government is not against illegal drugs. It is, however, all for criminalizing health problems (the "War on Drugs", which is really a war on people of color and the money-poor) and taking over the resources of other countries (which is what the alleged war on drugs in Colombia is for).

Too many Americans in search of treatment cannot get it. So tonight I propose a new $600 million program to help an additional 300,000 Americans receive treatment over the next three years.

That's $666.67 for each of those people per year for that three years. How will it be disbursed? How much of the ~$667 will go to administrative fees? What choices for recovery will people have? I.e., only methadone for heroin users and nothing else? (which is just replacing one dangerous drug for another.) Will natural methods be covered? How many hour-long counseling sessions would that cover? Maybe 10? For example, "According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one year of methadone treatment for heroin addiction costs $3,500."source This isn't as much money as it sounds like, in other words.

Our nation is blessed with recovery programs that do amazing work. One of them is found at the Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. A man in the program said, ``God does miracles in people's lives, and you never think it could be you.''

Here, he steals a page from Clinton's book, by pointing out a down-home, "real" example of what he's trying to day. Doesn't do it as well as Clinton, who would've had someone from the church in the audience to stand up and get applause. (I don't mean this as props to Clinton at all, who was worse for this country than Reagan or Bush I.)

Tonight, let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you.

Unfortunately, Bush might not have experienced this miracle himself, though he claims to have given up bad habits from his youth. Read this tip, which claims he was still using cocaine as recently as the 2000 presidential campaign. And his daughters seem like they're going down a bad road, too. If he gets imprisoned, will a "mentor" be found for them?

By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men and women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming society, a culture that values every life.

And in this work we must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of their birth and end the practice of partial-birth abortion.

Partial-birth abortion is an exceedingly rare practice that is normally undertaken only to save the life of the mother. Because Bush doesn't have the intestinal fortitude to really go after abortion, like many of his supporters would like to, he throws them this meaningless chit.

And because no human life should be started or ended as the object of an experiment, I ask you to set a high standard for humanity and pass a law against all human cloning.

Huh. Okay. This is a great idea, actually. Hmmm. What's the catch?

The qualities of courage and compassion that we strive for in America also determine our conduct abroad. The American flag stands for more than our power and our interests. Our founders dedicated this country to the cause of human dignity, the rights of every person and the possibilities of every life.

Were these the same founders who were slave-owners? Who didn't let anyone vote unless they were white male landowners? That spirit is indeed still alive in aMErica today.

This conviction leads us into the world to help the afflicted, and defend the peace, and confound the designs of evil men.

Wow, well this is just a bold-faced lie. Do you think he believes it himself? My own convictions lead me to confound the designs of this particular evil man, I tell you what.

In Afghanistan, we helped to liberate an oppressed people, and we will continue helping them secure their country, rebuild their society and educate all their children, boys and girls.

A pointless exercise in rearranging the landscape. Those the US aided turned to be just as repressive, (accept they are now "on our side" as it were).

In the Middle East, we will continue to seek peace between a secure Israel and a democratic Palestine.

How is it that sending weapons and money to a nuclear-armed Israel (allowed to torture and kill whomever it pleases and occupy soveriegn nations) will bring peace?

Across the Earth, America is feeding the hungry. More than 60 percent of international food aid comes as a gift from the people of the United States.

As our nation moves troops and builds alliances to make our world safer, we must also remember our calling, as a blessed country, is to make the world better.

Blessed country? We are "blessed" with having the most viscous gang of killers that has ever ran a state. Oh, blessed be our cruise missiles as they fall from heaven ontop of those that dare question our gluttenous way of life.

Today, on the continent of Africa, nearly 30 million people have the AIDS virus, including 3 million children under the age of 15. There are whole countries in Africa where more than one-third of the adult population carries the infection. More than 4 million require immediate drug treatment. Yet across that continent, only 50,000 AIDS victims--only 50,000--are receiving the medicine they need.

Because the AIDS diagnosis is considered a death sentence, many do not seek treatment. Almost all who do are turned away.

A doctor in rural South Africa describes his frustration. He says, ``We have no medicines, many hospitals tell people, 'You've got AIDS. We can't help you. Go home and die'.'' In an age of miraculous medicines, no person should have to hear those words.

AIDS can be prevented. Anti-retroviral drugs can extend life for many years. And the cost of those drugs has dropped from $12,000 a year to under $300 a year, which places a tremendous possibility within our grasp.

Ladies and gentlemen, seldom has history offered a greater opportunity to do so much for so many. We have confronted, and will continue to confront, HIV/AIDS in our own country. And to meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, tonight I propose the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a work of mercy beyond all current international efforts to help the people of Africa.

This comprehensive plan will prevent 7 million new AIDS infections, treat at least 2 million people with life-extending drugs and provide humane care for millions of people suffering from AIDS and for children orphaned by AIDS.

I ask the Congress to commit $15 billion over the next five years, including nearly $10 billion in new money, to turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the Caribbean.

I'll believe it when i see it. And how do his Big Pharm donors fit into this picture?

This nation can lead the world in sparing innocent people from a plague of nature.

And this nation is leading the world in confronting and defeating the man-made evil of international terrorism.

...by disarming and stepping down from our imperial pedastal?

There are days when our fellow citizens do not hear news about the war on terror. There's never a day when I do not learn of another threat, or receive reports of operations in progress or give an order in this global war against a scattered network of killers. The war goes on, and we are winning.

Hitler said this kinda shit up 'til the end.

To date we have arrested or otherwise dealt with many key commanders of Al Qaida. They include a man who directed logistics and funding for the September the 11th attacks, the chief of Al Qaida operations in the Persian Gulf who planned the bombings of our embassies in East Africa and the USS Cole, an Al Qaida operations chief from Southeast Asia, a former director of Al Qaida's training camps in Afghanistan, a key Al Qaida operative in Europe, a major Al Qaida leader in Yemen.

All told, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been arrested in many countries.

And many others have met a different fate. Let's put it this way: They are no longer a problem to the United States and our friends and allies.

So many other "suspected" people "are no longer a problem" without recourse to criminal courts and the basic idea of justice that the US is supposed to uphold. Summary executions are now allowed.

A person in the room where i was watching this said, "John Wayne". This was a sick sick moment in the history of the U.S. presidency (or in this case, pResidency).

We are working closely with other nations to prevent further attacks. America and coalition countries have uncovered and stopped terrorist conspiracies targeting the embassy in Yemen, the American embassy in Singapore, a Saudi military base, ships in the Straits of Hormuz and the Straits of Gibraltar. We've broken Al Qaida cells in Hamburg and Milan and Madrid and London and Paris--as well as Buffalo, New York.

We've got the terrorists on the run. We're keeping them on the run. One by one the terrorists are learning the meaning of American justice.

"American Justice", an apt phrase, means summary exections and arrests and the creation of a giant free-fire zone: the entire planet.

As we fight this war, we will remember where it began: here, in our own country.

This is probably the truest thing he said all night. Yes, it did start here, in the School of the Americas, the Pentagon, Westpoint, the Whitehouse, and every ROTC in the country. "The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is my own government." (MLK)

This government is taking unprecedented measures to protect our people and defend our homeland.

We've intensified security at the borders and ports of entry, posted more than 50,000 newly trained federal screeners in airports, begun inoculating troops and first responders against smallpox, and are deploying the nation's first early warning network of sensors to detect biological attack.

And this year, for the first time, we are beginning to field a defense to protect this nation against ballistic missiles.

Star Wars is back.

I thank the Congress for supporting these measures. I ask you tonight to add to our future security with a major research and production effort to guard our people against bio-terrorism, called Project Bioshield.

The budget I send you will propose almost $6 billion to quickly make available effective vaccines and treatments against agents like anthrax, botulinum toxin, ebola and plague. We must assume that our enemies would use these diseases as weapons, and we must act before the dangers are upon us.

...and some black ops funding will also be part of this project, to include other ingredients in these vaccines. Mind control shit, here we come.

Since September the 11th, our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have worked more closely than ever to track and disrupt the terrorists. The FBI is improving its ability to analyze intelligence, and is transforming itself to meet new threats.

...but is on strict orders not to ask any questions around the White House, where they would get the REAL story about Sept. 11. (Clue: BUSH KNEW.) Of course, this is also a reference to more internal investigation of anyone the administration doesn't like, which would be political dissidents, freedom-lovers, indymedia readers and contributors, and anyone else who doesn't like Bush and his government and his damn war.

Tonight, I am instructing the leaders of the FBI, the CIA, the Homeland Security and the Department of Defense to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center, to merge and analyze all threat information in a single location.

Oh great. Gonna build that in Portland, maybe? Next to the eco-terrorism office? Is all this going to eventually be brought together under a new Chimera Department?

Our government must have the very best information possible, and we will use it to make sure the right people are in the right places to protect our citizens.

And to harrass those citizens whenever possible. Say goodbye to freedom. The only way that most of us can live with all the oppressive laws in our society is to break them on a daily basis when we need to and get away with it. Once everything is being tracked, and all the agencies are talking to each other, and all the video monitors are staffed for those cameras on all the cameras, our individual liberty will be toast. No one is a completely law abiding citizen. Nobody. 'Cause there's too damn many stupid laws, This is just another way of saying that social control is going to be stepped up even more. Fucker.

Our war against terror is a contest of will in which perseverance is power. In the ruins of two towers, at the western wall of the Pentagon, on a field in Pennsylvania, this nation made a pledge, and we renew that pledge tonight: Whatever the duration of this struggle and whatever the difficulties, we will not permit the triumph of violence in the affairs of men; free people will set the course of history.

Yes we free people will. And you'll be on the wrong side of it, Georgie, unless you have some sort of incredible life-change. The violence committed against humanity by the Bush administration when it orchestrated and carried out the Sept. 11 attacks is far bigger than the deaths that occured that day (more people die in Iraq every month from the sanctions and depleted uranium, and have been for 12 years) but eventually we the free people will prevail. It might be prevailing over smoking ruins everywhere, but it will happen.

Today, the gravest danger in the war on terror, the gravest danger facing America and the world, is outlaw regimes that seek and possess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Yes, that's right. The gravest danger facing aMErica and the world are those weapons; the ones in the hands of the U.S. government, that is.

These regimes could use such weapons for blackmail, terror and mass murder. They could also give or sell those weapons to terrorist allies, who would use them without the least hesitation.

...which is exactly what the U.S. does.

This threat is new; America's duty is familiar. Throughout the 20th century, small groups of men seized control of great nations, built armies and arsenals, and set out to dominate the weak and intimidate the world.

...and in this way, the U.S. is only the latest to do so.

In each case, their ambitions of cruelty and murder had no limit. In each case, the ambitions of Hitlerism, militarism and communism were defeated by the will of free peoples, by the strength of great alliances and by the might of the United States of America.

And let's hope the rest of the world can do that next, and soon, to the U.S. No, let's not hope -- let's work actively toward that goal. Altogether now: "SMASH THE STATE!"

Now, in this century, the ideology of power and domination has appeared again and seeks to gain the ultimate weapons of terror.

That's right, and George Bush is at the helm. Frightening. Especially if you're a brown person in a country with oil.

Once again, this nation and our friends are all that stand between a world at peace, and a world of chaos and constant alarm. Once again, we are called to defend the safety of our people and the hopes of all mankind. And we accept this responsibility.

Oh jesus, what sick awful bullshit. I really have trouble listening to this crap.

America is making a broad and determined effort to confront these dangers. We have called on the United Nations to fulfill its charter and stand by its demand that Iraq disarm. We are strongly supporting the International Atomic Energy Agency in its mission to track and control nuclear materials around the world. We are working with other governments to secure nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union and to strengthen global treaties banning the production and shipment of missile technologies and weapons of mass destruction.

Treaties for other coutries, that is. The U.S. will, in the meantime, break treaties it has already signed (the ABM treaty, for one) and just not sign others (Ban on Landmines). Hypocricy.

In all of these efforts, however, America's purpose is more than to follow a process. It is to achieve a result: the end of terrible threats to the civilized world.

The end of the civilized world, period, is the likely outcome of U.S. foreign policy.

All free nations have a stake in preventing sudden and catastrophic attacks, and we're asking them to join us, and many are doing so. Yet the course of this nation does not depend on the decisions of others.

Whew! What happened to the Republicans anyway? From Isolationism to Unilateralism. The old-school conservatives should be up in arms over this shit. (Maybe they are, already. If so -- more power to ya!)

Whatever action is required, whenever action is necessary, I will defend the freedom and security of the American people.

Really? Then get the hell out of office. That would be a great start.

Different threats require different strategies. In Iran we continue to see a government that represses its people, pursues weapons of mass destruction and supports terror.

Just like home!

We also see Iranian citizens risking intimidation and death as they speak out for liberty and human rights and democracy. Iranians, like all people, have a right to choose their own government, and determine their own destiny, and the United States supports their aspirations to live in freedom.

Oh so we like Iran again? It's hard to keep track of this stuff.

On the Korean Peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that that regime was deceiving the world and developing those weapons all along.

And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions.

America and the world will not be blackmailed.

Not when no one's trying to blackmail them, no.

America is working with the countries of the region--South Korea, Japan, China and Russia--to find a peaceful solution and to show the North Korean government that nuclear weapons will bring only isolation, economic stagnation and continued hardship.

...which the U.S. knows from experience.

The North Korean regime will find respect in the world and revival for its people only when it turns away from its nuclear ambitions.

Good advice for the U.S.

Our nation and the world must learn the lessons of the Korean Peninsula and not allow an even greater threat to rise up in Iraq.

A brutal dictator, with a history of reckless aggression, with ties to terrorism, with great potential wealth will not be permitted to dominate a vital region and threaten the United States.

Here, Bush is clearly describing himself.

Twelve years ago, Saddam Hussein faced the prospect of being the last casualty in a war he had started and lost. To spare himself, he agreed to disarm of all weapons of mass destruction.

For the next 12 years, he systematically violated that agreement. He pursued chemical, biological and nuclear weapons even while inspectors were in his country.

Nothing to date has restrained him from his pursuit of these weapons: not economic sanctions, not isolation from the civilized world, not even cruise missile strikes on his military facilities.

Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations and for the opinion of the world.

The 108 U.N. inspectors were sent to conduct--were not sent to conduct a scavenger hunt for hidden materials across a country the size of California. The job of the inspectors is to verify that Iraq's regime is disarming.

It is up to Iraq to show exactly where it is hiding its banned weapons, lay those weapons out for the world to see and destroy them as directed. Nothing like this has happened. The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons materials sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax; enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin; enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them. U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them, despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

From three Iraqi defectors we know that Iraq, in the late 1990s, had several mobile biological weapons labs. These are designed to produce germ warfare agents and can be moved from place to a place to evade inspectors. Saddam Hussein has not disclosed these facilities. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in the 1990s that Saddam Hussein had an advanced nuclear weapons development program, had a design for a nuclear weapon and was working on five different methods of enriching uranium for a bomb.

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

Our intelligence sources tell us that he has attempted to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.

Saddam Hussein has not credibly explained these activities. He clearly has much to hide.

The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving.

From intelligence sources, we know, for instance, that thousands of Iraqi security personnel are at work hiding documents and materials from the U.N. inspectors, sanitizing inspection sites and monitoring the inspectors themselves.

Iraqi officials accompany the inspectors in order to intimidate witnesses. Iraq is blocking U-2 surveillance flights requested by the United Nations.

Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as the scientists inspectors are supposed to interview. Real scientists have been coached by Iraqi officials on what to say.

Intelligence sources indicate that Saddam Hussein has ordered that scientists who cooperate with U.N. inspectors in disarming Iraq will be killed, along with their families.

Year after year, Saddam Hussein has gone to elaborate lengths, spent enormous sums, taken great risks to build and keep weapons of mass destruction. But why? The only possible explanation, the only possible use he could have for those weapons, is to dominate, intimidate or attack.

With nuclear arms or a full arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, Saddam Hussein could resume his ambitions of conquest in the Middle East and create deadly havoc in that region.

Whew! There's so many lies here, it's impossible to pin 'em all down. I suggest visiting Voices in the Wilderness to learn about the effects of sanctions in Iraq over the last 12 years. It's been a slow-motion genocide against the Iraqi people.

And this Congress and the American people must recognize another threat. Evidence from intelligence sources, secret communications and statements by people now in custody reveal that Saddam Hussein aids and protects terrorists, including members of Al Qaida. Secretly, and without fingerprints, he could provide one of his hidden weapons to terrorists, or help them develop their own.

Before September the 11th, many in the world believed that Saddam Hussein could be contained. But chemical agents, lethal viruses and shadowy terrorist networks are not easily contained.

Imagine those 19 hijackers with other weapons and other plans, this time armed by Saddam Hussein. It would take one vial, one canister, one crate slipped into this country to bring a day of horror like none we have ever known.

We will do everything in our power to make sure that that day never comes.

BIG scare tactic story. Shit. Not like what he's describing could ever be stopped for sure. But it IS an excuse to create a totalitarian state, siphon public money to private defense companies and make an imperial grab for global control. Which is what he really wants.

Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike?

If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option.

Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Bush is even less of an option. He's clearly not the first and doesn't have the latter.

The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages, leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind or disfigured.

Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained: by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape.

As for the citizens who Hussein has killed himself -- they've been Kurds for the most part, about whom the U.S. government doesn't care at all when Turkey is slaughtering them (with U.S. bought weapons).

If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning.

Takes one to know one.

And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country, your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation.

That's the message for us, here, too.

The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. America will not accept a serious and mounting threat to our country and our friends and our allies.

The United States will ask the U.N. Security Council to convene on February the 5th to consider the facts of Iraq's ongoing defiance of the world. Secretary of State Powell will present information and intelligence about Iraqi's--Iraq's illegal weapons programs, its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors and its links to terrorist groups.

We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not fully disarm for the safety of our people, and for the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him.

So there was the only interesting piece of information from the whole speech. So an escalation against Iraq won't occur until then? That's only a week, actually. What are YOU going to do on that dreadful day when the war escalates?

Tonight I have a message for the men and women who will keep the peace, members of the American armed forces. Many of you are assembling in or near the Middle East, and some crucial hours may lay ahead.

In those hours, the success of our cause will depend on you. Your training has prepared you. Your honor will guide you. You believe in America and America believes in you.

This got the biggest applause of the night. "Support our troops" don'tchaknow.

Sending Americans into battle is the most profound decision a president can make. The technologies of war have changed. The risks and suffering of war have not.

For the brave Americans who bear the risk, no victory is free from sorrow. This nation fights reluctantly, because we know the cost, and we dread the days of mourning that always come.

We seek peace. We strive for peace. And sometimes peace must be defended. A future lived at the mercy of terrible threats is no peace at all.

If war is forced upon us, we will fight in a just cause and by just means, sparing, in every way we can, the innocent.

The U.S. has a terrible track record in that department. Don't believe it.

And if war is forced upon us, we will fight with the full force and might of the United States military, and we will prevail.

And as we and our coalition partners are doing in Afghanistan, we will bring to the Iraqi people food and medicines and supplies and freedom.

Will the food packages look just like bombs again?

Many challenges, abroad and at home, have arrived in a single season. In two years, America has gone from a sense of invulnerability to an awareness of peril, from bitter division in small matters to calm unity in great causes.

And we go forward with confidence, because this call of history has come to the right country.

Americans are a resolute people, who have risen to every test of our time. Adversity has revealed the character of our country, to the world, and to ourselves.

America is a strong nation and honorable in the use of our strength. We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers.

Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world; it is God's gift to humanity.

All total bullshit.

We Americans have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving god behind all of life and all of history. May he guide us now, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Thank you.

No, Mr. Bush -- thank YOU for being so obvious about your fascist plans.

(syntax edited by me, not written by me)

[ January 29, 2003, 06:40 AM: Message edited by: f0reverneverm0re ]

[f0reverneverm0re]

NBC movie on Wednesday night 8:30pm PST

"War Stories"

cable TV menu:
"A cynical correspondent (Jeff Goldblum) teams with a naive photographer (Lake Bell) to cover a central Asian war. As the film opens, Nora Stone (Bell) joins Ben Dansmore (Goldblum) in Uzbekistan, where Islamic militants are fighting the US-backed government. Nora whose sister died on Sept. 11, has trouble with objectivity; Ben simply trusts no one--a sound policy, given that a CIA operat--"
end of description

i wasn't going to watch any of this crud but i caught it at the part where Goldblum's char gets thrown into the Uzbek hoosegow only to be visited by the CIA operative, Colter. Colter threatens Goldblum, and mentions all the horrors that await anyone who should wind up in a Uzbek jail.

hm..who is "developing" these stories for television and the big screen?

Uzbekistan area map
http://www.advantour.com/uzbekistan/information/map.htm

[Martin Red]

SOUCE = http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02...2/11_poll.html

The Propoganda War
Iraq


Published: 11-Feb-2003
By: Mark Easton


Our new poll, similar to the research being done inside Downing Street, tells us what progress Tony Blair has made in building support for his policy on Iraq


We've had 90-days of intense anti-Saddam propaganda since we last carried out our huge survey of British opinion over Iraq.

Our new poll, similar to the research being done inside Downing Street, tells us what progress Tony Blair has made in building support for his policy on Iraq, but also what buttons he needs to press to get public backing for a war.

Back in November we asked which country people regarded as the greatest threat to world peace. Number one - not surprisingly perhaps - was Iraq. Second the US. Third - Israel.

Now, though, Iraq has actually slipped down to third place. Second is North Korea. And the country Britons regard as the biggest threat today - the United States. On this evidence, Tony Blair is losing the Propaganda War.

So after endless speeches, dossiers, blurry photos and crackly phone intercepts, how convincing is the case for war?

We asked - true or false: Saddam has chemical and biological weapons. 74% the vast majority think that is true.

He's hiding weapons from the UN - 71% believe that.

Saddam has strong links to Al Qaeda? Only 33% think that's true - 34% say it's false the remainder said they didn't know.

Last Wednesday US Secretary of State Colin Powell played America's propaganda trump card at the UN. The Iraqis dismissed it as a stunt.

Was Britain convinced?
62% of people did not think his evidence amounted to proof that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction.
But look at this: 21% of the public - thats one in five - thought his evidence was fabricated.
65% of people think the government's case against Iraq is weakened by Channel Four News revelation that they'd copied chunks of an intelligence dossier from a twelve year old student thesis.

Looking now at what I call truth and consequences. What does the public really think is Tony Blair's motivation for possible war against Iraq?

Did people think he was driven by a sense of morality and justice or political self-interest?

A clear gender split on this question - among men, 41% think his motives are pure, 38% think its self interest. But among women only 30% said it was a moral issue, 46%, almost half are cynical about his motives. In fact women across the survey are more sceptical

So what can Tony Blair do?

Three months of case building and look what's happened.

This was the situaion last November - 13% said yes to military action, 9% no, 76% needed persuading.

Today - still 70% of people need to be convinced.

So would a second UN resolution do the trick? If Tony Blair had UN backing for war instantly his problem would be solved 82% would back military action. Without any UN support only 28% would back an attack alongside the Americans.

But here's something very interesting - if Tony Blair got a majority of the Security Council to back military action - even if one or two countries vetoed a second resolution - 62% would go to war.

SOUCE = http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02...2/11_poll.html

[f0reverneverm0re]

Originally posted by Martin Red:
SOUCE = http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02...2/11_poll.html

The Propoganda War
Iraq


Published: 11-Feb-2003
By: Mark Easton


Our new poll, similar to the research being done inside Downing Street, tells us what progress Tony Blair has made in building support for his policy on Iraq


We've had 90-days of intense anti-Saddam propaganda since we last carried out our huge survey of British opinion over Iraq.

Our new poll, similar to the research being done inside Downing Street, tells us what progress Tony Blair has made in building support for his policy on Iraq, but also what buttons he needs to press to get public backing for a war.

Back in November we asked which country people regarded as the greatest threat to world peace. Number one - not surprisingly perhaps - was Iraq. Second the US. Third - Israel.

Now, though, Iraq has actually slipped down to third place. Second is North Korea. And the country Britons regard as the biggest threat today - the United States. On this evidence, Tony Blair is losing the Propaganda War.

So after endless speeches, dossiers, blurry photos and crackly phone intercepts, how convincing is the case for war?

We asked - true or false: Saddam has chemical and biological weapons. 74% the vast majority think that is true.

He's hiding weapons from the UN - 71% believe that.

Saddam has strong links to Al Qaeda? Only 33% think that's true - 34% say it's false the remainder said they didn't know.

Last Wednesday US Secretary of State Colin Powell played America's propaganda trump card at the UN. The Iraqis dismissed it as a stunt.

Was Britain convinced?
62% of people did not think his evidence amounted to proof that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction.
But look at this: 21% of the public - thats one in five - thought his evidence was fabricated.
65% of people think the government's case against Iraq is weakened by Channel Four News revelation that they'd copied chunks of an intelligence dossier from a twelve year old student thesis.

Looking now at what I call truth and consequences. What does the public really think is Tony Blair's motivation for possible war against Iraq?

Did people think he was driven by a sense of morality and justice or political self-interest?

A clear gender split on this question - among men, 41% think his motives are pure, 38% think its self interest. But among women only 30% said it was a moral issue, 46%, almost half are cynical about his motives. In fact women across the survey are more sceptical

So what can Tony Blair do?

Three months of case building and look what's happened.

This was the situaion last November - 13% said yes to military action, 9% no, 76% needed persuading.

Today - still 70% of people need to be convinced.

So would a second UN resolution do the trick? If Tony Blair had UN backing for war instantly his problem would be solved 82% would back military action. Without any UN support only 28% would back an attack alongside the Americans.

But here's something very interesting - if Tony Blair got a majority of the Security Council to back military action - even if one or two countries vetoed a second resolution - 62% would go to war.

SOUCE = http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/02...2/11_poll.html

the polling source for above article:
YouGov questioned a representative sample of 2,300 people online between 7 and 10 February.

The sample was draw from the 3,213 people who took part in the original message poll in early November.

The raw data was weighted to represent the demographic profile of all adults throughout Great Britain.

i just want to ask--how reliable is a poll where people may be the victims of a blatant dis/mis-information campaign? how can any judgement be made which is based on unfounded, false or just unbelievable claims?

and why doesn't "skepticism" run very high for this type of polling?

i feel that the results of public opinion polls are being used to influence public opinion and reminds me of the feedback between market and consumer: is the collective opinion of the public actually the opinion of the public, or the opinion that the news media wants it to have?

---------------
polls relevant to white house and Congressional performance
http://www.pollingreport.com/national.htm

about polling
http://www.publicagenda.org/aboutpub...aboutpubop.htm

20 questions journalist should ask about polling results
http://www.publicagenda.org/aboutpub...boutpubop1.htm

[ February 11, 2003, 10:44 PM: Message edited by: f0reverneverm0re ]

[f0reverneverm0re]

does anybody catch the stuff that goes across on the CNN newsticker on TV? just saw some sentence that suggested that Saddam Hussein was buying US and British uniforms and was planning to kill civilians just so he could blame it on the US--I SAW THE SHIT!

not saying it's not possible but really...*sigh*

so if mysteriously the mass media starts showing pictures of "actual" US troops blowing the heads off apparent Iraqi civilians...

even if Saddam Hussein is this evil, the US will always try to smear his name while saying they're only trying to inform people.

would Saddam do something so punkassed?...did the British royals ever do anything this heinous, like lie on and try to starve out the Irish?..did the US nuke Japan--twice--to bring an end to the war, or to test out the effectiveness of new war toys? (no one seems to ask why Germany wasn't nuked)

all the people who question why Africa and other areas seem to be suffering from indigenous violence might want to remember that, like Britainy Spears, people of other nations are not that innocent either.

that CNN ticker is a trip

[Rudy Jordan]

I heard that story about dressing Iraqis as US/UK soldiers on an AM radio show. Incredible.

Germany wasn't nuked for the same reason that German Americans weren't rounded up and placed in internment camps with the Japanese Americans. Then again, Germany never attacked American soil like Japan did so we could start all kinds of discussion on this subject. The official US position is that dropping the bomb on Japan would encourage Germany to surrender in fear of suffering a similar fate.

fOrevernevermOre, you have more links than J-Lo has ass!

Peace

[f0reverneverm0re]

Originally posted by Rudy Jordan:
Germany wasn't nuked for the same reason that German Americans weren't rounded up and placed in internment camps with the Japanese Americans.

fOrevernevermOre, you have more links than J-Lo has ass!

thank you for comparing me to J-Lo's ass.

the US even treated German POWs fairly good during the war. compare with how the Nazis reportedly treated POWs.

[Martin Red]

Heart Break ridge was on last night, what a load of old tosh.

Marine guy pulling all the punky musician lay abouts... into line to fight for a good cause, cus the world would be full of punk asses if the US of A marines didn't go jumping out of helicopters and shooting things cus the world would crumble without these pumped up meat heads, hi five and moon walking in MJackson styles leather jackets from 83, woooooh ! woooof woof shitting bullets out ya ass corporal!, some of the dialogue might as well been chinese

[Monny JcIntosh]

f0reverneverm0re: about US not nuking Germany, I tried to find an excerpt printed in the UK's Guardian from the late W.G. Sebald's book, "On the Natural History of Destruction" but I couldn't. Anyway, they might not have used a nuclear bomb but the Allied bombing of Hamburg was horrific - if you get the chance have a read, especially with MOAB talk bandied about. Of course, that's propaganda of a kind, too. ;)

[lola desire]

they are also pumping up military toys to kids... i watch cartoons faithfully on the weekends and i've seen more g.i. joe commercials within the last month than i have in about 6 months.

[img]mad1.gif[/img] selling the war to kids is sinister [img]mad1.gif[/img]