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Corporate Mind Kontrol 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Corporations, governments, and special interest groups spend at least 30 billion dollars annually --exclusively, to screw with your mind. Whether you hear the news on NPR or your local morning shock jock, read the New York Times or USA Today, watch C-Span or the nightly news, an enormous percentage of the news you take in will be the direct result of somebody's spin. And it's all because of a subdivision of the advertising world called the public relations industry. With 2200 public relations flacks in over 30 countries, Burson-Marsteler is the world's largest public relations firm. They represent big-name corporations (Philip Morris, AT & T, NBC), foreign nations (the governments of Indonesia, El Salvador, Kenya) and heavy-duty non-governmental organizations (the World Bank, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association,the American Petroleum Institute).Burson-Marsteler's promotional materials boast that "the role of communications is to manage perceptions which motivate behaviors th
Stealing Beauty - Japonisme 1970-01-01 00:59:59 After Japanese ports reopened to trade with the West in 1854, a tidal wave of foreign imports flooded European shores. On the crest of that wave were woodcut prints by masters of the ukiyo-e school which transformed Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art by demonstrating that simple, transitory, everyday subjects from "the floating world" could be presented in appealingly decorative ways.Parisians saw their first formal exhibition of Japanese arts and crafts when Japan took a pavilion at the World's Fair of 1867. But already, shiploads of oriental bric-a-brac—including fans, kimonos, lacquers, bronzes, and silks—had begun pouring into England and France.It is said that James Whistler discovered Japanese prints in a Chinese tearoom near London Bridge and that Claude Monet first came upon them used as wrapping paper in a spice shop in Holland. James Tissot and his friend Edgar Degas were among the earliest collectors of Japanese art in France, but their own art was affected by exo Read more:Beauty
, Stealing
John Stauber & The PR Industry 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Advocate: John, you've written three books about the public relations industry, and you've been publishing PR Watch for eight years, so I'm sure you're chockfull of horrifying PR stories. Can you give a particularly egregious example of PR at its worst? Stauber: When Sheldon [Rampton] and I wrote our first book, Toxic Sludge is Good For You, our publisher challenged us to come up with a title that didn't even use the word PR in it. He said, "Look, no one wants to read a book about PR. Everyone thinks they're too intelligent, too cynical, too sophisticated, too educated to be fooled about PR." So we came up with this title, Toxic Sludge is Good for You, which we didn't realize had actually been inspired by a Tom Tomorrow cartoon that we had in the first issue of PR Watch, where, you know, toxic sludge is getting into the water supply and PR experts are brought in, and by the fourth panel of the cartoon the citizenry is saying, "Well, how foolish we were to be concerned about to
War & Terrorism 1970-01-01 00:59:59 By Howard ZinnTHERE IS SOMETHING important to be learned from the recent experience of the United States and Israel in the Middle East: that massive military attacks, inevitably indiscriminate, are not only morally reprehensible, but useless in achieving the stated aims of those who carry them out.The United States, in three years of war, which began with shock-and-awe bombardment and goes on with day-to-day violence and chaos, has been an utter failure in its claimed objective of bringing democracy and stability to Iraq. The Israeli invasion and bombing of Lebanon has not brought security to Israel; indeed it has increased the number of its enemies, whether in Hezbollah or Hamas or among Arabs who belong to neither of those groups.I remember John Hersey's novel, ``The War Lover," in which a macho American pilot, who loves to drop bombs on people and also to boast about his sexual conquests, turns out to be impotent. President Bush, strutting in his flight jacket on an aircraft carrie Read more:Terrorism
Global Meltdown 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Richard Alley's eyes glint as we sit in his office in the University of Pennsylvania discussing how fast global warming could cause sea levels to rise. The scientist sums up the state of knowledge: "We used to think that it would take 10,000 years for melting at the surface of an ice sheet to penetrate down to the bottom. Now we know it doesn't take 10,000 years; it takes 10 seconds."That quote highlights most vividly why scientists are getting panicky about the sheer speed and violence with which climate change could take hold. They are realising that their old ideas about gradual change - the smooth lines on graphs showing warming and sea level rise and gradually shifting weather patterns - simply do not represent how the world's climate system works.Dozens of scientists told me the same thing while I was researching my book The Last Generation. Climate change did not happen gradually in the past, and it will not happen that way in the future. Planet Earth does not do gradual chan Read more:Global
, Meltdown
Make The Pie Higher 1970-01-01 00:59:59 This poem is composed entirely of actual quotes from George Bush. Circulating on the internet for some time, it was reportedly compiled by Washington Post writer Richard Thompson.I think we all agree, the past is over.This is still a dangerous world.It's a world of madmen and uncertaintyand potential mental losses.Rarely is the question askedIs our children learning?Will the highways of the internet become more few?How many hands have I shaked? They misunderestimate me.I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.Families is where our nation finds hope,where our wings take dream. Put food on your family!Knock down the tollbooth!Vulcanize society!Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher! Read more:Higher
Herbs 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Astragalus - promotes resistance against disease by activating immune system; reduces blood pressure; helps treat heart disease and diabetes; increases energy and staminaAvena Sativa (Oats) - soothes nervous system and performance anxiety; boosts fertility; strengthens heart; good for urinary organs; reduces nicotine cravings; and helps with detoxificationBee Pollen - helps counteract effects of aging; raises mental and physical capabilities; assists in balancing endocrine system; helps chronic colitis and constipation/diarrheaBladderwrack - has natural iodine to promote a healthy thyroid; encourages good circulation and eases obesity; gently stimulates the metabolismCat's Claw - an immune system builder; cleanses and detoxifies entire digestive system, scrubs the intestinal walls and increases all nutrients' absorptionDamiana - sexual stimulant and enhances sexual performance; tonic to improve overall body function; helps relieve anxiety and promotes a feeling of well-beingDHEA - an Read more:Herbs
Baul 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels from the Bengal region, now divided into Bangladesh and West Bengal. Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. They are thought to have been influenced greatly by the tantric sect of the Kartabhajas. Bauls travel in search of the internal ideal, Maner Manush (Man of the Heart). The origin of the word is debated. However, it is widely agreed that it comes either from Sanskrit batul, meaning divinely inspired insanity or byakul, meaning fervently eager. There are many different streams to the sect.The baul were recorded as a major sect as early as mid 18th century. Their religion is based on an expression of the body, which they call deho-shadhona, and an expression of the mind, which they call mana-shadhona. Some of their rituals are kept mostly hidden from the mainstream, as they are thought to be repulsive by many, and hedonistic by others. They concentrate much of their mystic energies on the chaar-chand (bengali for four-moons), i.e. the
Every Bite You Take 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Have been travelling in the US for a bit recently and was getting rather suspicious about why the food at eating establishments [across the quality spectrum] tastes so similar. Luckily, I came by the following article by Ulrich Boser on Slate:A hot dog from Yankee Stadium. Potato latkes from the Four Seasons in Manhattan. Sirloin steak at Applebee's. The jumbo cheeseburger at the University of Iowa Hospital. While it would seem these menu items have nothing in common, they're all from Sysco, a Houston-based food wholesaler. This top food supplier serves nearly 400,000 American eating establishments, from fast-food joints like Wendy's, to five-star eating establishments like Robert Redford's Tree Room Restaurant, to mom-and-pop diners like the Chatterbox Drive-In, to ethnic restaurants like Meskerem Ethiopian restaurant. Even Gitmo dishes out food from Sysco. Should you worry that one source dominates so much of what you eat?Like any retailer, chefs need wholesalers that distribute
Identity & Violence 1970-01-01 00:59:59 By Amartya Sen"My first exposure to murder," the Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen writes in "Identity and Violence
," "occurred when I was 11." It was 1944, a few years before the end of the British Raj and a period of widespread Hindu-Muslim riots. The victim was "a profusely bleeding unknown person suddenly stumbling through the gate to our garden, asking for help and a little water." Rushed to the hospital by Sen's father, the man died there of his injuries. He was Kader Mia, a Muslim day laborer knifed by Hindus. He had been asked by his wife not to go into a hostile area of then-undivided Bengal. But he had to feed his starving family, and he paid with his life.To the young Sen, this event was not just traumatic but mystifying. How was it, Sen asks about that murderous year, that "the broad human beings of January were suddenly transformed into the ruthless Hindus and fierce Muslims of July"? And how was it that Kader Mia would be seen as having only one identity — that of be
The Price Of Money - Selfishness 1970-01-01 00:59:59 A series of experiments have shown that merely thinking about or looking at money changes the way people behave, causing them to be more selfish and self-sufficient.Participants first re-arranged several jumbled lists of words to form sentences. Some participants were given word lists that led to neutral sentences (e.g. "it is cold outside'), whereas other participants were given words that led to money-related sentences (e.g. "a high-paying salary'). Next, they all attempted to solve a difficult geometric puzzle. Those participants who had completed the money-related sentences worked significantly longer on the puzzle before asking for help (average of 314 seconds), compared with the participants who'd completed neutral sentences (average of 186 seconds - no different from controls who didn't complete the earlier sentence task).In another experiment, participants were again primed with either the neutral or money-related descrambling task. Afterwards they sat alone in a Read more:Money
, Selfishness
Kirikou et la Sorciere 1970-01-01 00:59:59 Directed By: Michel OceletWhen it was first released in France in 1999, this delightful animated children's story was the source of unlikely controversy. Set in an imaginary Africa, it tells the story of Kirikou, a stubborn newborn baby who's so eager to see the world, he clambers out of his mother's belly unannounced and starts firing off an exhausting array of questions.It sounds harmless enough. What upset director Michel Ocelet's critics was the fact that the little urchin spends the whole movie in his birthday suit, chatting to the bare-breasted women of his village before battling the slinky, evil sorceress who's blackmailing them into poverty. Convinced that nudity wasn't compatible with a children's movie, Ocelet's original producers bizarrely demanded he cover Kirikou up and draw bras on all his female characters!Fortunately, the director was sensible enough to stay faithful to the story's original West African origins. The result is an unexpected treat on every level
Economic Hit Men 1970-01-01 00:59:59 AMY GOODMAN: John Perkins joins us now in our firehouse studio. Welcome to Democracy Now!JOHN PERKINS: Thank you, Amy. It’s great to be here.AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. Okay, explain this term, “economic hit man,” e.h.m., as you call it.JOHN PERKINS: Basically what we were trained to do and what our job is to do is to build up the American empire. To bring -- to create situations where as many resources as possible flow into this country, to our corporations, and our government, and in fact we’ve been very successful. We’ve built the largest empire in the history of the world. It's been done over the last 50 years since World War II with very little military might, actually. It's only in rare instances like Iraq where the military comes in as a last resort. This empire, unlike any other in the history of the world, has been built primarily through economic manipulation, through cheating, through fraud, through seducing people into our way of life, through Read more:Economic
Disappearing Water 1970-01-01 00:59:59 They serve a strong brew at the Alamo coffee-house in Presidio, a small farming town near the US-Mexican border. They need to. Times are tough, says Terry Bishop, looking up from his second mugful. This land, next to the Rio Grande in Texas, has probably been continuously farmed for longer than anywhere in America, he says. Six hundred years minimum. It has been home to scalp-hunters and a penal colony; it has seen Comanche raids, Spanish missionaries, marauding Mexican revolutionaries and a population boom during a recent aliens amnesty. All that time, it has been farmed. But soon it will be back to sagebrush and salt cedar. Climbing the levee by the river at the end of his last field, Bishop shows me the problem. The once mighty Rio Grande is now reduced to a sluggish brown trickle.In its middle stretches, the river often dries up entirely in the summer. All the water has been taken out by cities and farmers upstream. "The river's been disappearing since the 50s," says Bishop, who h Read more:Disappearing
Towards Sacred 1970-01-01 00:59:59 When the teachings of geometry are used to show the ancient truth that all life emerges from the same blueprint, we can clearly see that life springs from the same source … the intelligent, unconditionally loving creative force some call "God." When geometry is used to express and explore this great truth, a broader understanding of the universe unfolds until we can see that all aspects of reality become sacred. The ancients knew this truth and incorporated sacred geometry teachings into their schools as a way for anyone to begin to practically understand his or her personal relationship to "God" and the universe.
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