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Various Stuff, including Some Advice From an Old Activist and Some Very Useful Links
by Keith Shirey
6/4/06
1) A LITTLE RHETORIC TO HELP YOU ARGUE WITH YOUR REACTIONARY BROTHER-IN-LAW AND OTHER MORONIC RELATIVES.
Begin sentences with, "We are Americans," then pause for effect. This will usually elicit a powerful emotional response and turn off the listenerıs brain. Then say, ³We are Americans, and we believe in ____________________________________ (fill in the blank and assert some progressive value such as equality of opportunity, justice, fair play, equal treatment under the law, a level playing field, opportunity for children, separation of church and state, free speech, the right to privacy, being a nation of laws where no man is above the law, not even the President etc. Then as your opponent, as a good American, if he/she doesn't agree with these values. Then use this value to support or attack a particular proposal or existing law, action, etc ._______________________, the rich paying their fair share of taxes, No Child Left Behind as a fraud, NSA spying, Presidential Findings as a way of destroying the U.S. Constitution with it checks and balances, etc.
2) THE TRUTH ABOUT POLITICS - WHAT IT REALLY IS ABOUT.
The Greek Philosopher Aristotle said that, fundamentally, politics is about ethics. And that it true, particularly because it is through politics that a society determines how resources are allocated and, particularly what is done to what Jesus called "the least amongst us." It is through politics that we live or die, fight wars or not, torture people or not. Politics is about power. That is the ability to manipulate, control, or influence the behavior of others. Politics is about who gets what, where, when and why. The statement, "thatıs just politics" refers to political activity (of the state, in the office, in church, etc.) that is held in low repute. But you can see, by the considerations raised above, that that is not all it is.
3) THE INVASION AND OCCUPATION OF IRAQ.
The U.S. Invasion of Iraq began on March 20, 2003. But, in October of 2002, A crucial report, read by President Bush at the time, called the National Intelligence Estimate, dealt with terrorism, and drew conclusions from The CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency and the other U.S. spy agencies that Baghdad:
1. had not sponsored past terrorist attacks against America,
2. was not operating in concert with al-Qaida,
3. and was not a terrorist threat to America.
But Bush, a white knuckle alcoholic with the usual stubborn obsessions of those with the disease, ignored the American intelligence communities findings and sold the war to the American people on the basis of an Iraq-Al Qaida terrorist link. Before the war, Bush was repeatedly asked to prove the link and he couldn't. Certainly, American prominence in the Middle, especially in the Gulf, had long been an objective of American Foreign policy. But the Bush administration exercised no restraint in the region but, instead, fiercely attempted to impose Iimits there. It is clear that Vice-President Cheney, Rumsfeld and the Neo-Conservatives dominated foreign and military policy decisions. They believed that exercising superior military power would enable the U.S. to control this oil rich region. The fantasy of creating a new political order in the region through pre-emptive war and superior military power was one of the prime motivating factors in the attack and invasion of Iraq. It must be seen as part of an effort to control the region as a whole. Bush has labeled this a "crusade" and a manifestation of God's will. In this, he has been backed by key elements of the Christian Right, particularly Dispensationalist Christians. See http://users.frii.com/gosplow/disp2.html#c2 Perhaps Bush seeks to create conditions for "the tribulation," "the rapture," "The War of Armageddon", etc. as described in the Book Of Revelation of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Perhaps he desires, as a "born again" Christian to see the end of the world so he can go to heaven. Perhaps not. Perhaps his close relationship with the lunatic Christian right is fostered to achieve his political goals. Perhaps the Bush administration does not believe their lies about impending "mushroom clouds", "imminent danger from Iraq," the threat of Iraqi Anthrax and "weapons of mass destruction." But, in that case, they are manipulators, con men, and deceivers who have pimped their illegal, disastrous adventure in Iraq by playing on the deepest fears of the American people after 9/11. On the other hand, if they believe they are telling the truth with these prevarications they inhabit a world of delusion. So either they are pimps and whores or delusional inhabitants existing in a bubble of unreality. In either case, they have done great damage to our democratic republic. Instead of getting a "falling domino democratic effect in the Middle East they sought , they have laid a foundation of hatred for the United States in the region that will plague future American generations. The simple minded George Bush has stated that he doesnıt do nuance. But it is the complexity of the issues that the U.S. must confront in the Islamic world in order to obtain both justice and to protect the U.S. interests in the region. Merely asking why the terrorists perpetrated the atrocity of 9/11 is not to condone their vicious, inhumane actions. But in the world of the Bushies, there are no complexities. One cannot ask such questions. It is seen a part of a cosmic struggle between good and evil. And if one wants to discuss the issue in practical terms, they will have their patriotism questioned by the gaggle of buffoons, clowns, and jingoists in the Administration and their echo chamber on talk radio and Faux News. In conclusion, the Bush Administration and its policies are completely radicalizing the Islamic world by its military presence in Iraq, accompanied by Abu Gharib and other American atrocities. This has been the goal of Osama bin Laden, and objective that he could not accomplish. The simple-minded Bush, Vice, Rummie and the neo-cons have done the work for Osama. Osama could not have a better ally than Junior Bush.
4) TACTICS TO TAKE ON INTERNET GOONS IN POLITICAL CHAT ROOMS.
OK, we know youıre loving and caring. But politics is a contact sport. You need to know how to play hardball with people who go for the jugular. This is a good place to start: http://notesonrhetoric.blogspot.com/ Perhaps even better is http://www.proft.org/tips/conv-terror.html An example of the material on this web site: ³ If a person is making an imaginative or novel point, the approach here is to push the idea to a radical extreme generally agreed to be bad. The extreme can be either real or imagined. The hope here is that the other person will reflexively back-off and retreat to a defensive position, thus short-circuiting the veracity of the argument. "So you think we ought to just throw out the whole system, then?" "How is that different from classic fascism?" "So you would just like to kill off anyone who disagrees with you, it appears!"
5) CENSORSHIP IN THE U.S.
4) Bush Administrations denial/manipulation of science
6) WHY THE PRICE OF GAS IS SO HIGH.
The oil producers claim that lack of refining capacity is one of the major causes. But, n 2005, the top five oil saw their profits surge to more than $111 billion. The worldıs largest oil giant, ExxonMobil, made $36.1 billion. As for the issue of refining capacity, In the 1990s, oil producers complained of too much refining capacity, not too little, and an "oversupply" of oil that was driving down profit margins. The industry responded by shutting down 25 refineries in the US since 1995 and cutting capacity by 830,000 barrels a day. In addition, competitors conspired to control the amount of oil and gas on the market, eliminate independent producers and consolidate control of supply and pricing in the hands of the oil monopolies. See http://www.fightbacknews.org/2005/04/highgas.htm
7) GLOBAL WARMING.
The global warming skeptics are a tiny but vocal group of scientists who argue that absolutely no conclusive evidence exists for global warming. Their views have been disseminated very effectively by right-wing think tanks and through Internet websites (e.g., www.junkscience.com and www.techcentralstation.com). A series of articles in the May/June 2005 issue of Mother Jones magazine details the financial ties between the energy industry, conservative think tanks and the skeptics. The basic physical principles upon which the Theory of Global Warming is based include the notion of inter-convertibility amongst forms of energy
(introduced by Fourier in his formulation of planetary energy balance), thermodynamics (air cools when it rises), thermodynamics of phase change
(cold air holds less water), quantum theory (absorption and emission of infrared by CO2 and other greenhouse gases), blackbody radiation, and Newton's laws of motion. Each of these components has passed literally thousands of tests in the laboratory. There is essentially zero uncertainty in the validity of such things, which form the basic physical underpinning of the Theory of Global Warming. If any of these parts of the theory didn't work, neither would microwave ovens, computers, steam engines, infrared remote controls, and any number of other everyday devices. http://www.realclimate.org/index.php?p=258 he science behind global warming is conclusive and well-documented. For over fifty years, scientists have been measuring the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the Mauna Loa laboratory in Hawaii. They have found that the concentration of CO2 has been increasing by about one part per million every year - an increase that is caused by the burning of unprecedented amounts of fossil fuels over the last two hundred years of industrialization. Scientists have also been studying ice to tell us about our planet's climate history. Data taken from deep core drilling on the ice sheets near the north and south poles show that historically, higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have lead to global warming. We are already seeing this trend of warming today - the ten hottest years on record have all occurred within the last fifteen years. http://www.sierraclub.org/globalwarming/overview/overview4.asp World Bank, Pentagon: global warming red alert Weather of mass destruction bigger threat than terrorism Washington, DC, United States A world thrown into turmoil by drought, floods, typhoons. Whole countries rendered uninhabitable. The political capital of the Netherlands submerged. The borders of the US and Australia patrolled by armies firing into waves of starving boat people desperate to find a new home. Fishing boats armed with cannon to drive off competitors. Demands for access to water and farmland backed up with nuclear weapons. Sound like the ravings of doom-saying environmental extremists? It's actually from a report commissioned by the Pentagon on how to ready America for the coming climate Armageddon. http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/world-bank-pentagon-warn-cli
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