Re: The American Road to Self-destruction

["Bruce R. McFarling" <ecbm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 9 Jan 2003 15:08:34 -0500 (EST),
Roger Koppl <koppl@xxxxxxx> wrote:

>I'm also a little confused by comments about brain washing and the
>state press.  Are any of the major US newspapers owned by the
>government?  And which foreign papers are US citizens prohibited
>from reading? I hadn't heard that prisoners were being brainwashed
>in the US.  Could someone point me to some sources?  I had thought
>that even mental patients were not subject to the sort of
>deprivations and stresses that brainwashing requires.

I think you are dead right in all respects.  Instead of the
state owning the newspapers, the same corporations that own
the major newspapers own the state, which is a substantial
distinction.  US citizens are not prohibited from reading
foreign papers, they simply can not be bothered to, which
is another substantial distinction.  And certainly
brainswashing would be far less effective than the
combination of taboos that warps the US media reality-bubble
and diversity within the boundaries of what is allowed to
give the appearence of a free press.

However, which major US newspaper is free to publish, for
example, the extent of Isreali war crimes?  They can't ...
it's taboo.  It's taboo on the US broadcast media as well.
After all, here we have a state with the leadership
monopolised by a minority of its population, with 40% of
its population denied the franchise on the pretence that
the colonisation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is a
temporary "occupation" ... a country that outlaws
Christian missionary activity ... a state with a history
of war crimes extending more than a decade, and with an
active program in the development and acquisition of
Weapons of Mass Destruction.  And a state that the US
could bring into line and impose a democratic regime
without any invasion, because it is entirely dependent
on funding from the US to maintain its sovereignty ...
and along the way not only uphold the finest ideals of
US political history but also turn an ongoing source of
conflict and radicalisation within the Arab and Islamic
worlds into an island of stability and peace ...

Instead of solving any of the sources of conflict in the
region, the current regime is dead set on providing more
conflict and instability.  This approach to fighting a "war
on terrorism" is similar to fighting a war on mosquitos
by leaving one swamp in place and creating a new one
nearby.


Virtually,

Bruce McFarling, Newcastle, NSW
ecbm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx