Fifty-nine percent of Americans believe that astrology is “mostly true” or “somewhat true” — up from 40 percent in 1978.
Laurence W. Britt
Posted inNews & Opinion
Flipping the bird
In a little-noticed presidential initiative on July 27th, the putative leader of the free world flipped the proverbial bird at a group of reporters as he happened by while strolling through the White House. The extended middle digit of his right hand was raised high as he turned his back on these accredited White House […]
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Hot news, cold news
Do you ever wonder how some stories in the news get covered extensively; others, seemingly more important, get little coverage, and still others get no coverage at all? Here are a few examples of what I mean by COLD NEWS. These are stories that are “out there” but there is little or no follow-up. • […]
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Blowback — The unfolding tragedy of DU
The US purportedly went to war in Iraq to remove the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. What’s not very well understood is that we used our own WMDs in the process, and the consequences for both Iraqis and Americans are disastrous. Even worse, this story is being ignored, brushed aside, or covered up […]
Posted inNews & Opinion
That sucking sound again
We’ve come to realize that when President Bush makes a pitch for something that’s “good for the American people” it’s time to watch out. And so it is with the administration’s support for CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement. CAFTA, of course, is the bastard child of NAFTA, the agreement that was supposed to […]
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Days of war
This Thursday, June 9, will mark 1,365 days since September 11, 2001, the putative beginning of the War on Terror. And virtually no one will take notice. But this number’s been around before: It was 1,365 days between the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 7, 1941) and final victory over the Axis powers in World […]
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The new propaganda
Browsing through the Brighton library recently, I came across a video from a 1982 PBS mini-series titled “A Walk Through the 20th Century.” This particular installment was called “World War II — The Propaganda Battle,” narrated by Bill Moyers. Being a history buff, especially about World War II, I checked it out. The film compares […]
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Next: absolute power
If I read the results right, last year’s presidential election was a close one. That means the country’s divided — or unclear — about what it wants. But the Bush administration acts as if the American people have embraced right-wing governance. And that’s exactly what we’re getting. Republicans are trying to grab total control […]
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Skating on thin ice
The word “conservative” comes from a Latin word meaning “to preserve.” The Bush administration bills itself as conservative, but it’s anything but. It’s unprecedented for a country, under conservative leadership or otherwise, to propel itself from financial health to possible collapse as fast as the US has over the past five years. When George […]
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Our real crisis
The big Social Security crisis the Bush administration is keeping in the headlines is serving as a big distraction. The real crisis resides with Medicare/Medicaid. Yet the administration hardly ever mentions this fact. We wonder why. Given the mendacity of Bush and the mentality of his top advisors, it should not be hard to figure […]
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Social security: lies, lies, and damn lies
Adolf Hitler wrote in Mien Kampf “The people will more easily fall victim to a big lie than to a small one.” The key is to keep repeating it over and over. For the second time in three years, the Bush administration is using the Big Lie Technique to advance its agenda. The first Big […]
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Saving Schiavo: hypocrisy without limit
In near-record time, the Terri Schiavo case has morphed into a national cause célèbre stoked by the almost unlimited self-righteousness and hypocrisy of the Bush Administration. The family tragedy has been happily picked up by Tom Delay, who’s seeking to divert attention from his growing scandal woes. Continuing the political grandstanding, Bush rushed back to […]
