The original poetic line comes from Shakespeare's Henry IV. Part II, (1597). It pertains to but a single head. Still, it is fitting to use the plural in our case, for surely the two council members that took it upon themselves to secretly rule in favor of raucous corn dryers and silos being installed on the east end of our town will ne'er find comfort on their pillows now.

The sword of Damocles shall sway above their tyrannical crowns, striking the same fear into their hearts as they have instilled in those who did not sign the petition opposing the construction and operation of the silos and corn dryer.

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“…and peace on earth, goodwill to men.” Sadly such a concept seems like a pipe-dream in our belligerent world today as nations spill their discontent over their own borders and forcefully instill their ‘good will’ upon other nations at the point of a gun. Can peace ever be won by such means? Surely such a ‘peace’ is but an illusion bought and paid for with the life-blood of our young men and women who have not yet experienced the fullness of life. And where are the ‘old men’, who schemed and goaded the pliable people to accept the horrors of war as a patriotic sacrifice? They are safely ensconced in their ivory colored ‘towers’ plotting yet more fearful means of destruction.

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We are “looking for something we can rely on! There’s gotta be something better out there!” We don’t need the Pentagon to make heroes out of their own victims! We don’t need another Rambo! We just need the truth! Yet in this fair nation, truth is becoming a rarity. Our peerless leader lied to us and we let it slide. We even rewarded this liar with a second term and justified our inane action by calling ourselves patriots. Is our nation craving for real heroes so badly that we need to make heroes of the people we shoot in the back? Do we need to invent heroes just so that we can feel good about the carnage we cause in foreign lands? Or are we simply deluding ourselves?

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Senator Reid’s truthful and heartfelt statement of fact had hardly the time to reverberate in our hallowed halls when our peerless leader decried it as an “insult to our troops in Iraq”. Quite honestly, these words are even a greater insult to our troops, for our young men and women are still being put into harms way by a president who can not face defeat. We Americans seem to abhor defeat, yet if we were to take a long hard look at our history, it would be revealed that we are not as victorious as we wish to be. How many of our fighting men were sacrificed in Korea and Vietnam? Both of these senseless wars did not result in victory. However, if we look at the advertisements that are so gloriously splashed on our television screens, America has the best fighting force in the world. “You made them strong … We make them Army Strong!” The slogan crows. Of course the corollary, “You made them strong … We make them dead!” would be more fitting.

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Absolutely nothing! … Edwin Starr’s lyrics say it so well! “War, it ain't nothing but a heartbreaker. War, friend only to the undertaker.” Yet as we approach the fourth year of this illegal conflict we clearly have not learned the lesson of our violent past. We have no Peace; we have neither love, nor understanding for our fellow man. The hard-line warmongers say that we must fight to keep our freedom, but these same fanatical patriots who claim to be Christian fail to recall the edict of their teacher, namely “… for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”

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What kind of society do we live in? I have previously asked that very question and reported on the thugs that seem to be pervading our school system. Unfortunately, the question I asked then only addressed the observations within this fair nation. But now I must again ask that question, for it has come to my notice that we are not the only ones who are experiencing the decline of our civilization. From half way around the globe I received a most disturbing report of a young, academically brilliant girl who cared more for her grades than being part of the average mob, being beset by a bunch of thugs who planned to kidnap and rape her. This shocking tale needs no further elaboration. The affront and the planning of the deed states it all. What is happening to our society? As Shakespeare stated so eloquently, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves ...”

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Fear is one of our primary emotions, it was with us when we descended from the trees and first dared to wander the open plains of our changing planet. Fear was generated within us by tangible and realistic dangers then. However, as time passed, the powerful realized that our primal fear could be exploited for their gain. Religion used and continues to use fear to control us. The early priests used slights of hand to instill awe within our feeble minds with what seemed to be miraculous apparitions. Later we were beleaguered with the fear of purgatory and the sulphurous fires of hell where our spiritual bodies would burn for eternity. Kings also used our primal fear to control us with ever-present threats to our livelihood and families. Fear still governs us today as those in power make draconian laws that endanger our freedom and the wellbeing of our children.

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In 2002 Mr. Douglas Feith, the then policy chief under Donald Rumsfeld was one of the most ardent proponents of a war with Iraq and a close associate of the neo-conservatives like Paul Wolfowitz, and vice-president, Dick Cheney. Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Wolfowitz did not only authorize Mr. Feith’s work, they lapped it up as though it was manna from heaven. Needless to say, Mr. Feith coordinated his ‘alternative’ intelligence with Mr. Cheney's office and this erroneous work soon became the sole reason for our senseless war with Iraq.

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A new intelligence assessment warns against a pullout from Iraq but also raises doubts about Bush’s approach to stability in Iraq. The National Intelligence Estimate issued on Friday questions Iraq’s ability to assume responsibility for security before mid-2008, despite accelerated U.S. training. Needless to say that the proposed ‘surge’ of American troops in that region would do little to lessen the ever present violence between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. To really understand the basis of this conflict, let us examine the people who populate this region of our planet.

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Australian Prime Minister John Howard predictably used the United Nations’ report on global warming to bolster his case for using nuclear energy as an alternative fuel source. “We must be open-minded and courageous enough to look at all of the options, including nuclear power.” He said, and added “You can't run power stations on solar and wind, let's be realistic.”

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Jane Fonda bluntly stated. “I’m so sad that we still have to do this, that we didn’t learn the lessons of the Vietnam War.” Indeed! It is more than sad; it is pitiful and downright pathetic that we elect leaders who think that the road to greatness has to be paved with the blood of others. How deplorable America’s pro-war stance really is can be best illustrated by recalling that these same warmongers called Jane Fonda ‘Hanoi Jane’ in the Vietnam era. Their attempt to smear her name and gain support for their bloody cause only ended in failure when real patriots like Daniel Ellsberg risked their careers and lives to expose the lies and machinations of our leadership.

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When the defeat of the sixth army in early 1943 shocked the German people to the point of giving up, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels attempted to motivate them. In his rousing speech on the 18th February 1943 in the Berlin Sportpalast he began to lay the groundwork that would demonstrate to the whole world that the German people would unconditionally call for a total war. He fanatically goaded the hysterical mob to yet more sacrifices. Goebbles began his speech with a phrase that Shakespeare would have been proud of; namely: “My German national comrades and my party comrades …” He continued with “Only three weeks ago I stood in this place to read the Fόhrer's proclamation on the 10th anniversary of the seizure of power, and to speak to you and to the German people. The crisis we now face on the Eastern Front was at its height. In the midst of the hard misfortunes the nation faced in the battle on the Volga, we gathered together in a mass meeting on the 30th of January to display our unity, our unanimity and our strong will to overcome the difficulties we faced in the fourth year of the war.”

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I was sent an article the other day that quoted “Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats” as its headline. It was an article that hailed the achievements of this great nation and admonished us to be thankful for the freedom we have. It compared our ‘have’ with the ‘have not’ of other nations and complained bitterly of how we run down our president for keeping us safe and secure. It reminded me of a quote from B. C. Forbes in 1953, which stated: “What have Americans to be thankful for? More than any other people on the earth, we enjoy complete religious freedom, political freedom, social freedom. Our liberties are sacredly safeguarded by the Constitution of the United States; ‘the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.’ Yes, we Americans of today have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray that we may hand it down unsullied to our children and theirs.” Sadly this statement as well as the article I have been sent show how we have lost touch with reality.

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Only hours after President George W. Bush’s speech on Wednesday 11th January 2007, American forces stormed Iranian government offices in northern Iraq. Iranian sources reported that six people, including diplomats, were detained and documents as well as computers were seized in the pre-dawn raid. A leading UK-based Iran specialist, Ali Ansari, said the incident was an “extreme provocation”. Dr Ansari said that Mr. Bush’s speech on future Iraq strategy amounted to “A Declaration of War” on Iran.

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I, as an American, am disgusted at the execution of Saddam. I am not a supporter of Saddam and agree he had done some horrible things to the people of Iraq. Yet we, as Americans, have no right to judge other people, their customs, culture or religion. Our leaders here have also done some despicable things that other counties would rightfully claim as unjust to humanity, yet our leaders are not ousted by an external force, imprisoned or put to death. We are so arrogant and seem to think that the title “American” makes us untouchable.

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Finally! Our peerless leader had no choice but to accept the message, yet it took an undeniable wave of discontent to make him realize that it was sent. November 7th, 2006 is set to be a date that will go down in history. It is the day when the people of this fair nation shouted their message loud and clear! It is the day that the Republicans lost their control of Congress and the Senate. Yet President Bush, although beaten and isolated by the loss in both houses of parliament, claimed that the Democratic Party gains in the U.S. Congress are in part the result of voter disillusionment with the war in Iraq. Still in denial, he made a somewhat predictable move and threw his Defense Secretary to the wolves with the words that it was time for a big change at the Pentagon.

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In his televised speech, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki compared Saddam Hussein to Hitler and Mussolini, and said, “this insulting end” – referring to the death sentence - was befitting “a man who subjected Iraq to a series of wars and murderous campaigns that ripped the social fabric of the country, wasted its resources and served only his sick dreams and illusions.” How fitting these words ring when one substitutes George W. Bush for Saddam Hussein the erstwhile leader of the Iraqi nation that was toppled by the illegal war instigated by our peerless leader. Yet not seeing his own failings, President Bush crowed his victory once again as he stomped the dung heaps of his faithful minions. His sanguine celebration of Saddam Hussein’s death sentence amidst his claims of victory for “Iraq's young democracy” and America’s security once again highlights the true purpose behind this sickening and disgusting rhetoric.

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Faced with the possibility of loosing both houses to the Democrats, our peerless leader and his scriptwriters predictably jumped at the chance Kerry gave them when he ‘botched’ his dig at Bush. Now our president is accusing the Democrat of troop-bashing. But what did Kerry really say that was so inflammatory? According to CTV.ca News he said, “You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.” Only a cretin with a little goading could interpret this as bashing our troops. I would have thought that Kerry’s remark needed no explanation, but apparently our ruling administration saw an opportunity and managed to twist its meaning into something that would stir the fury of the people. Predictably the ‘support or troops’ and ‘patriot’ cards were again played in an attempt to trump this scandalous political game.

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President Bush stumbled through yet another press conference, ducking, dodging and even pleading with his audience as the questions on Iraq were hurled at him. He tried to spin doctor his way out of trouble but after almost six years, we are tired of the same old lines that once stirred this nation into sending its soldiers to war. Worse still was the news that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Bush administration puppet started cutting his strings at a press conference in Baghdad, saying that, by Allah, he was the head of the elected government and no American was going to tell him what to do. We almost came full circle, as Al-Maliki appeared to indicate that he was on the verge of “invading” the United States so that he might bring some democracy to these fair shores.

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The Malleus Maleficarum was compiled by two Dominican inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, who claimed that they had been empowered by Pope Innocent VIII to prosecute witches throughout Germany by a Papal decree dated December 5, 1484. Upon presentation to the clergy at the University of Cologne, it was condemned as both illegal and unethical. Yet Kramer nevertheless inserted a forged claim of support from the University into subsequent printed editions of the book. These alleged endorsements, which appear at the beginning of the book, contributed to its popularity by giving the illusion that such approval had been granted. In light of the events we are currently facing, the parallels between this event and today can not be ignored.

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This is not surprising, but in this artificially created world of fear fabricated by our peerless leader nothing should astound us. Still, when a 14 year old Sacramento girl is questioned by Secret Service agents for her graphic collage of Bush having his hand stabbed with a knife, one must wonder how much higher this nation’s anxiety can be driven. In July of 2006, the latest edit of Title 18 of the US Code was released by the Law Revision Counsel. Paragraph 871 (a) of this code states in part, “Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”

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“The Democratic People's Republic of Korea expresses its disappointment that the security council finds itself incapable of saying even a word of concern to the United States,” the North Korean Ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Gil Yon said. And he is right. The Bush administration has repeatedly rejected North Korea’s appeals for a “non-aggression” pact, believing that it has the right to attack whomever it chooses under a policy of preemptive warfare that furthers its ambitions of global domination. Who is the real belligerent party here? A regime that makes war on other nations for its own interests or a nation that aims to defend itself if attacked?

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The time is rushing towards another election and this great narcotic of power is once again desired by all that hold office. But this struggle of being the top dog, the leader, the decision-maker and the equivocator of all things humane and just is a farce. The rhetoric and promises of a glowing future are but beguilement before the betrayal is perpetrated. It is at times like these that a call to reason and the quoting of a common vision and mission are passed over as a melodramatic rant. Yet what is placed on the opposing scale? Is it not also a schmaltzy magniloquence uttered to lead us up the garden path? Are the machinations, the ‘private deals’ and the jobs for pals not a calculated violation of our trust?

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Lord Acton warned us long ago that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. I was aware of the warning, yet I never believed that it would begin to happen so soon after the formation of our local community group. After a year of debating and bickering, turning apathetic and ready to throw in the towel, we finally and somewhat begrudgingly agreed to elect a Board of Directors who would have the power to guide us. In hindsight, it might have been easier and less stressful to let our group die of natural causes. We were on the brink of passing away; to be remembered as yet another failure that would be soon forgotten. But life was breathed into us and we awoke, and whilst we tested our newfound life, whilst we assumed our posts and realized the power we had, something snapped within our collective soul and we became not a united community body but a body ruled over by its many parts. We had a purpose; we had defined our goal and the way to attain it. But then it happened, a sense of power surged through the veins of some of our members, and whilst most of us were patiently awaiting the next step, some of us negotiated privately and then delivered a complete solution that we were asked to ratify immediately. Whilst this unilateral action by some of our members is not a crime, it does present us with a problem, namely how much of this ‘proposal’ was agreed upon before it was decided that the governing body needed to be informed?

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Sometime during the last month Osama bin Laden may have succumbed to a waterborne illness. At least this is what can be gleaned from the latest report from France where information contained in a leaked intelligence document found its way into a newspaper. President Jacques Chirac stated that Osama might have died of typhoid in Pakistan, however this news is “in no way whatsoever confirmed.” We are now once again faced with the question if bin Laden is dead or alive. This time however we should ask ourselves what President Bush might do if his nemesis were forever beyond his reach. Would he now claim that his mission was indeed accomplished? Or would he persist with his predictable rants of democracy and terrorism? Perhaps he might gloat that God had removed Osama from his reach for it would save him the trouble of invading Pakistan to get him. On the other hand, he might bemoan his passing since without bin Laden another ‘icon’ would have to be found to be the focus of his failed anti-terror mission.

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The Devil is in Washington - at least according to the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, who took his verbal battle with the United States to the floor of the United Nation’s General Assembly on Wednesday where he made comment on the sulphurous vapors left behind by President George W. Bush. Labeling our President as Satan incarnate has raised the ire of many in this great nation and judging by this evening’s news commentary, the statements were apparently made by an idiot. How could this man, whose name is protected by his own nation’s constitution label the leader of another country so? “How indeed?” you might ask. However, let us contemplate the offensive verbiage that our peerless President and members of his administration leveled at other nations. Let us remember that when France was not willing to be part of that pliable coalition, our leaders chose some not so complementary names for President Jacques Chirac. Let us remember that French wine was boycotted and that French fries were labeled ‘Freedom Fries’ at the expense of our tax dollars. But I guess that this was alright, this was fine, because we are American and we can call anyone by any name we choose because we have bigger guns. We can even threaten another nation with our bombs if they don’t comply with our demands as was revealed by President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan.

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Five days ago a senior Syrian government official accused the United States of being behind the assault on its own embassy in downtown Damascus. The Baath party official who, of course, spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “We in the government are 100 percent sure America was behind this attack, which is not the same as other attacks by Islamic groups.” He expanded on this with; “Only the Americans can succeed in carrying out an attack just 200 meters from President [Bashar] Assad's residence in the most heavily guarded section of Syria.” His statements may not be conclusive proof, yet when coupled with what a Bush administration official said after the attack, one must really wonder. Apparently there is hope in our government ranks that the incident convinced Damascus of the dangers of Islamic terror and the need to cooperate with the West against this “phenomenon”. And predictably, the identities of those who attacked the US embassy have not been revealed to us.

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Once again the writings of George Orwell come to mind as I listen to the fantastic verbal gymnastics of the modern American political language that attempts to twist a war into the good fight that must be endured if freedom is to be our ultimate goal. Again I listen to the diatribe that assaults my senses and lectures me on the righteousness of killing for my right to live in peace. Again and again we are all indoctrinated by words that say one thing and mean another. A desire for peace becomes unpatriotic. A question of common sense becomes a siding with the enemy. A cry for justice becomes an excuse for torture. And all of it is done to keep this myth of the American vulnerability alive in our minds.

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Our parents probably asked that very question some forty or fifty years ago and the youth of today will probably ask that same rhetorical question when their exasperation with their own children takes its toll. But one has to ask this question non-the-less if one is truly willing to comprehend the youth of today. So what makes these teenagers tick? What are their true desires, besides partying, racing about, sleeping till the cows come home and in general just having a good time without thinking, nor caring of the consequences that could impact their future? When they were pre-teens they had a burning desire to become a fireman, a policeman or an astronaut. In even younger years they imagined themselves as truck drivers or at the helm of a ship or locomotive. All professions that were respected and required hard work. But as the years passed and schoolwork gave way to festive gatherings, they cast all these noble aspirations to the wind. Now it had become imperative to get as much ‘fun’ as one can, and to hell with the consequences.

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Let us bow our heads and remember the men and women who leapt from the burning towers trying to escape the flames that would surely consume them. The horror was beyond comprehension, beyond belief, beyond that other great inferno in the sky that made Herb Morrison cry out, ‘Oh the humanity!’ It is a horror that will forever remain in the minds of those who witnessed this dreadful escape from the flames. Five years ago to this very day, Death crept into our homes and it has been with us ever since. Like in Seneca’s Medea myth, we continue to sacrifice our children on the altar of fury and distress. We should not forget the horror, but we should not worship it. We should remember the dead, but we should not dwell on death, nor fear it. As Seneca said, “Crudelius est quam mori semper timere mortem” or “It is more cruel to always fear death than to die.” The Dead have passed beyond our world and we can but hope that they have gone to a better place. More sacrifices will not bring them back; more blood will not pay for the blood already spilled. Let us mourn those who died at the hands of the perpetrators, but let us also stop this never-ending bloodshed in the name of revenge.

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The Australian government readily accepted a recommendation from the Remuneration Tribunal to increase the wages of its members by 7 per cent. Only one member, Bob Brown, leader of the Green Party, sought a reduction of the increase in the senate but his motion was categorically defeated. This is another example of our servant's readiness to line his or her own pocket at our expense. One has to seriously question the practice which allows politicians to vote themselves pay raises without seeking approval from those whom they are supposed to represent. When will our haughty representatives acknowledge that they are not in office for their own gain but rather at our pleasure?

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Yes, you too might stumble over those words. But that is precisely what our President’s speechwriters penned for the latest address that our illustrious leader mangled. “These terrorists hope to drive America and our coalition out of Afghanistan, so they can restore the safe haven they lost when coalition forces drove them out five years ago. But they've made clear that the most important front in their struggle against America is Iraq -- the nation bin Laden has declared the ‘capital of the caliphate’. Hear the words of bin Laden: ‘I now address the whole Islamic nation. Listen and understand. The most serious issue today for the whole world is this Third World War that is raging in Iraq.’ He calls it ‘a war of destiny between infidelity and Islam.’ He says, ‘The whole world is watching this war,’ and that it will end in ‘victory and glory, or misery and humiliation.’ For al Qaeda, Iraq is not a distraction from their war on America -- it is the central battlefield where the outcome of this struggle will be decided.” Our President stated, obviously proud of being able to use the words of his enemy to underscore his own agenda.

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It comes in many guises and it affects people all around the world. Economic, political and social indifference, climatic change and war have contributed to it. Most people who are born into poverty are trapped in the quagmire and never escape its clutches. Millions of dollars have been pledged to fight global poverty through the efforts of our former President Bill Clinton who is trying to find ways to alleviate this scourge. The Clinton Global Initiative has signed on many public and private organizations to provide funds and help to lift this curse. But whilst our former President hopes to make a difference, our current President is adding to the problem.

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Rick Santorum, a senator from Pennsylvania, told supporters in a letter this week that while he and Mr. Bush agree on many things, they disagree on one very important point, namely what is being told to the American people regarding the war in Iraq. While the President calls it a war on terror, Mr. Santorum said, “This is no more a war on terror than World War II was a war on blitzkrieg… Terror is a tactic; it is not our enemy. Our enemy is people who have an ideology.”

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I sometimes feel like Winston Smith, the main character of George Orwell’s 1984, especially when I encounter the distortions of history that our representatives are supposedly attempting to foist upon us. The latest example being this gem purported to be uttered by Senator John Glenn; “John F. Kennedy started the Vietnam conflict in 1962” I could not believe it. John Glenn, the man who served 23 years in the United States Marine Corps could not recall the history of the Vietnam conflict. It is hard to believe that he did not know it was Dwight D. Eisenhower who got America involved in this conflict in 1957. Could he not recall that the American involvement came about because of the withdrawal of the French forces that failed to stem the problems that existed there? If this was indeed true one would have to seriously question the viability of allowing this man another term in office. What is happening here? Are we actively rewriting our history or are we to believe that this man is loosing his marbles? I vividly recall that John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on the November 22, 1963. It is a well-known fact that JFK wanted to withdraw America from the Vietnam War. How then could he have started the Vietnam conflict when he inherited it? Are we really thought to be this stupid? Yet there it was, ‘John F. Kennedy started the conflict in 1962’. At least according to the alleged sayings of John Glenn.

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“We are capable of dealing with other problems were they to occur,” Rumsfeld told troops at an airfield in the Nevada desert. Of course you must ask yourself if he could tell our soldiers the truth about the overextended military resources with recruitment being down and tours of duty being extended. Of course he has to put a favorable spin on the less than rosy facts. Therefore, his speech must be taken with quite a bit of salt. “It would be unfortunate if other countries thought that because we have 136,000 troops in Iraq today, that we're not capable of defending our country or doing anything that we might need to do,” he responded to a question about military options for dealing with Iran. Nice words, but the facts remain that our Southern border is like a sieve and the Northern border is not much better. For more than three years our fighting men have been involved in Iraq, the military is showing signs of stress. The Army and Marine Corps, in particular, is forced to spend tens of billions of dollars to replace and repair equipment. It is clear that the combat readiness of many Army units, as well as their ability to take on new missions, has suffered severely under this administration’s leadership. “The important question is not whether we can win. Of course we can win. We won't lose a single battle,” Rumsfeld said in response to questions regarding a possible involvement with Iran. “But do we have the will?” he asked.

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The word comes from the Greek: Demos – meaning ‘the people’ and Kratos meaning ‘authority or rule’ Democracy is not an American invention, although the United States believes it has a superior democratic system. But in truth, any system of government in which ultimate political power rests with a nation's population at large, either directly or through elected representatives may be called democratic. Yet even if citizens have the right to participate in political decision-making, they rarely do. In the United States, it is not mandatory that a citizen cast a vote. It is voluntary. Therefore the votes that place a person or party into power are not necessarily a reflection of the will of the people. Democracy is therefore not an Ideology, but rather an ideal that can be reached or embodied by various institutional arrangements according to one's ideological conception of Freedom, Participation and Rights. The underlying assumption in any democratic system therefore is that every citizen is equally capable of legislating for the whole, that every citizen is a born politician. But this is not something that most citizens take seriously.

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Yes, you are reading this right. America supplied this weapon to Israel and yet it is probing the very use of this dreadful explosive tool that obliterates the earth and everyone and everything upon it. The obvious question is why America supplied this weapon to Israel in the first place, knowing that the use of it would destroy lives. Do you recall an incident in 1999 when Sturm Ruger (a gun manufacturer) was accused of being responsible for marketing a dangerous weapon, which when falling into the hands of children, resulted in tragedy? Might one not also blame the United States for selling these weapons to this relatively young nation that has not yet learned how to live at peace with its neighbors? We have all heard the argument that guns do not kill, people do. We have all listened to the other argument that manufacturers and resellers should bear some responsibility for the weapons they create and distribute. Now you must decide what is right. You must determine if America or Israel is responsible for the carnage that these weapons have caused and are still causing now.

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The most common of all childhood fears is that someone is hiding under the bed. The bogeyman is said to lurk there, ready to attack the sleeper in the dead of night. Parents sometimes encourage this belief, telling children who misbehave that the bogeyman will get them. Today, however, this shadowy monster has been given a face and a nationality. Today, anyone of Middle Eastern appearance, anyone who converses in a foreign tongue, anyone that does not fit the pattern of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASP) stereotype is the bogeyman that strikes fear into our hearts and pervades our dreams. The trouble is that we are no longer children and that we are wide-awake when we spy the dreaded monster. He might even be sitting right next to us on the very plane we fear might never reach its destination.

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When I initially saw the footage of the first plane strike the World Trade Center my reaction was quite predictable. “How can they let a plane fly that low over a city?” I thought. Seconds later, while the blow by blow CNN reporting was just beginning to gather momentum, a second plane collided with the other tower. “This is a terrorist attack!” I snapped at no one in particular. Yet our peerless leader reacted quite differently. According to the available reports, Bush was aware of the first attack even before he got into the Booker School classroom. He knew of it far earlier than I and had time to ponder it when he was told of the second strike. Yet amazingly, this man did not react. He just sat there listening to a ‘Pet Goat Story’ and complimenting the children on their reading skills whilst Americans and foreigners burned alive or jumped to their deaths from the flaming twin towers. You and I do not have access to the vast intelligence gathering apparatus that the President of the United States has, yet we, the people of this fair nation were able to deduce the sad truth and we reacted as any red blooded person would. Either our President had ice water flowing through his veins or there is another, more sinister reason, for his calm.

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After years of victory, it had to come to this. Israel, the blustering nation born in modern times out of a phoenix like myth is on the road to die a slower and inevitable death through terrorist attrition. They marched in confidently, ready to defeat an inferior enemy and got their butts kicked. They did not achieve their goal, they did not free the two soldiers that were captured by Hezbollah and now, aided and abetted by the United Nations and most of Europe, their government agreed to a cease-fire. Columnist Ari Shavit calls 2006 “the most embarrassing year of Israeli defense since the establishment of the State of Israel.” He adds, “Its attempt to prevent bloodshed is costing a great deal of bloodshed.” Nice words, but he should remember the old adage, “He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword” but clearly Israel is more taken with Emiliano Zapata proclamation; “It is better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees.”

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The cold war, or rather the shunning of all things not capitalist inspired has lasted as long. It was born out of the Red Scare during the late 1940’s, the lowering of the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe and the acquisition of an atomic bomb by the Soviet Union, which spelled an end of the United States' monopoly on nuclear weapons. China, like Russia, had been an American ally during the second world war and China still was at the beginning of the Korean War. Then it too turned towards Communism. The red tide was spreading and it, along with other world events influenced the opinions of the American public and made them afraid for their own security. The greatest fear being an inevitable nuclear war with the Soviet Union. It was also believed that communist spies and sympathizers were constantly working within America to bring about the downfall of the United States. Many innocent people were ostracized as a result of the scare mongering during this period. Now the Cold War has been replaced by the War on Terror, but the same fears remain.

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We all knew it was so the moment our phone conversations could be tapped by the NSA. We said so the moment we heard of it. We objected, but our objections fell on deaf ears. We were told that it was for our good, that it was in the interest of National Security and that the President had been granted these powers and more by Congress. He was, after all, a ‘Wartime President’ and needed to keep this country safe! But who is keeping us safe from him? Who is looking after our freedom when a President takes it upon himself to decide what is good for us? Is such a supposedly benevolent behavior not dictatorial? Is our President not acting more like a king, lording over his subjects? Now we hear that the Federal Judge's ruling will be hotly contested. Our President wants his unsupervised wiretapping back and he will stop at nothing to again usurp the privacy of what he believes are his subjects.

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Predictably, the pampered fighting cock that never saw battle firsthand claimed that Hezbollah suffered “a defeat” in its month long war against Israel. “Hezbollah started the crisis, and Hezbollah suffered a defeat in this crisis,” the cock crowed after meeting the hen and her entourage that peck at the world at large. But this mighty cock had to admit that the ‘terrorist’ group has “a fantastic propaganda machine,” In fact, their propaganda could be seen all around the world as they took note of the damaged infrastructure and readied refugee camps to aid the returning Lebanese people. The cock hopes that the international force that is still assembling will become "the new power" in southern Lebanon, but its all bravado. Hezbollah has proved a point that is getting harder to ignore. Modern weapons, fighter jets, bombers and the western weapons of mass destruction can not stop a people who fight for their country and an ideal. History has proven this far too often. The Romans could not defeat an enemy that would not face them. The German Army could not defeat the French resistance fighters or the partisans that rose up in other countries. America could not defeat the Vietcong, much less the Afghan Taliban or the Iraqi insurgents. Modern warfare, a la American style, is useless against a people who believe in something that we have lost. Look back into our history and see how we defeated the English! We did so by the kind of warfare that requires but a small group of dedicated men. The days when people lined up to be shot by the enemy, each taking turns at decimating the other, are gone forever. Now the enemy will kick you in the butt when you are not looking and then vanish from sight.

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Nobel Prize-winning German writer Guenter Grass, author of the great anti-Nazi novel The Tin Drum, has admitted serving in the Waffen-SS. This revelation stoked the fires of hate and bigotry, which abound in this wonderfully fair world of ours. Once again it is erroneously reported that the Waffen-SS was the combat section of the Nazi organization specifically formed to be Hitler’s bodyguard. Once again the Waffen-SS is confused with the General-SS and the concentration camps. If you want to remain ignorant of historical facts, read no further, that is your choice to make. But if you desire to learn the truth, if you have an open mind, then by all means read on. The Waffen-SS was an elite fighting force, better equipped and better trained than the soldiers of the Wehrmacht. Neither was political in nature. In fact the Waffen-SS opened its ranks only to the best of the best. It even formed units that were mainly composed of foreign nationals in direct contrast to the άbermensch slur that is often attributed to the Nazi ideology. I run the risk here of being called a Nazi sympathizer, but the truth needs to be brought forth. Many allied soldiers who bravely faced these young defenders of their Fatherland have stated that the Waffen-SS was a well-trained and disciplined army, a foe that needed to be respected for its bravery and sacrifice in war.

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Racial hated is not dead, it is alive and practiced in Poland to this very day by the Polish Prime Minister who in a tirade against the Federal Republic of Germany referred to the German people as murderers, not victims. Apparently Mr. Kaczynski wants to diminish the guilt that must squarely rest upon the shoulders of the allied powers who formulated and carried out the ethnic cleansing of millions of German civilians from their homeland well after the end of the war. In a speech before the U.S. House of Representatives on the 16th of May 1957, the Hon. B. Carroll Reece of Tennessee called the deportation and violent expulsion of German civilians nothing less than “genocide”. He charged that over 16 million Germans had been expelled from their homes east of the Oder-Neisse Line, resulting in over 3 million deaths. Apparently this was not enough for Mr. Kaczynski who clearly wishes that this little known holocaust would remain a secret forever.

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Here is the latest laughable (if it were not so serious) butt covering attempt by our peerless leader. The Associated Press managed to get a peek at planned retrospective legislation that seems destined to be pushed through Congress after its recess in early September. The bill is essentially an attempt to ward off future prosecution of government officials and clandestine departments by people who have been wronged by this administration. It is nothing less than a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card. Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute of Military Justice allegedly stated that he thought this document very dangerous as it effectively negated past crimes. But the counter argument is of course that we are at war and that the frequent loss of life as well as National Security can not be well guarded if one can not interrogate terrorists effectively.

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The Post conducted a telephone survey to determine if people could recall the year associated with the infamous 9/11incident. Of the 1002 randomly selected adults, ninety-five (95) percent were unable to pinpoint the year in the question. Yet the 9/11 incident is mentioned almost daily in association with the ‘War on Terror’ and the infamous involvement in Iraq. Barely five years later, the year is as enigmatic as the cause that led us to the ever-spreading gloom that this country is sinking into. No wonder then that events from just weeks before are also banished to the furthest reaches of the mind. Is there something in the water that makes us forget or are we too preoccupied with more pressing problems that our wonderful economic climate forces upon us?

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It was August 2002 when I last rode on Route 79 near Sturgis, S.D. It was a peaceful trip and I looked forward to ascend the lonely sacred butte that my late wife and I had ascended years before. To me it was a nostalgic trip. The peacefulness of the prairie, the wind that carried the haunting and mystical flute notes on its breath, the utter silence that surrounded me, all of these things lifted my saddened spirit. As I ascended the butte I was once again reminded of the places where I stopped years before with my young wife, where we stood to admire the vast plain below, where we watched the blue birds flit from tree to tree. It was like being in cathedral, so peaceful, so quiet, so natural. One could feel the presence of that enigmatic spirit that is within each living being and even in the very stones beneath our feet. I picked up a stone and placed it into the fork of a tree, a symbol that I would remember the departed spirit of my wife. A promise that I would not forget her life with me. We both loved this peaceful place and we both respected the people whose sanctuary this is. We thank them for allowing us to share it.

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One hundred and forty thousand people briefly saw the flash that would snuff out their lives in a wink of an eye. Tens of thousands of people were fatally wounded by the searing bright light. Heat and radiation blew across a destroyed city where the shadows of the earlier victims were permanently etched into the remaining upright stones. The evil wind brought suffering, horrendous burns, killing not at once but at leisure, and in the most agonizing way imaginable. The date was the 6th of August 1945. The city was Hiroshima, the perpetrator was America, the only nation on this planet ever to use a nuclear bomb on living human beings. And it did so twice.

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Now that the festivities are over and the clean up has been completed, it is time to review the event that had many people spellbound. The comments received on this year’s performer were glowing; “I really enjoyed the performance. This year’s speakers were outstanding.” Mrs. Arlene Bow said after she left the venue. Many similar comments were received from this year’s attendees, who already asked if there would be more of such performances.

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Bet you did not hear this on CNN! ‘Moscow on Saturday slammed the US decision to impose sanctions on two state-owned Russian arms exporting companies for their alleged cooperation with Iran saying the decision was “vengeance” for major defense contracts with Venezuela.’ (www.hindu.com) Are we to understand that its not OK for Russia to sell arms to Iran and Venezuela, yet it is OK for the United States to sell arms to Israel, Taiwan, Colombia, the Philippines, Georgia, and Indonesia? Our government has also agreed with Israel’s argument that it needed sophisticated weaponry to fight Palestinian terrorists despite the fact that such a disproportionate use of arms would lead to violations of humanitarian laws.

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The ominous tom-tom beat of the drums is signaling yet another war being instigated by our belligerent leadership, this time in Cuba. The questionable call for the people to rise up and fight for democracy is yet another attempt to start fires all around the world in the name of a political principle that is not well practiced, even in this fair nation. How dare we incite people to topple their own government? Surely the drive to do so should come from within that community, not at the behest of words like this; “We will stand with you to secure your rights – to speak as you choose, to think as you please, to worship as you wish, and to choose your leaders, freely and fairly, in democratic elections.” Rice allegedly uttered these words in a broadcast on the US-funded Radio Marti network. Is there not enough strife in the world thanks to the American foreign policy that we must stir up yet more of the same?

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Ridiculous you might say, but that is the argument that comes out of the mouths of our elected officials who have no qualm in voting for and accepting pay rises for themselves without so much as a ‘by your leave’! Just imagine what would happen if we were to go to our bosses, take out their checkbook and write ourselves a higher paycheck. Yet that is precisely what our politicians do. They forget that they are our servants and our employees. They are supposed to work for us, not for themselves. Whilst the minimum wage earner is now, more than ever, struggling to make ends meet. Our so-called ‘leaders’ enjoy the high life, tacking conditions that favor the rich onto a much-needed increase of the minimum wage, which has remained the same for the last decade.

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The fourth annual Story Telling Festival promises to be a venue with a difference. “We are aiming for a more family oriented theme this year”, Angelia Baldwin, the event coordinator, said. “In previous years we concentrated more on the adult anecdotal stories rather than the history of our region, however, we feel that the real aim of telling stories is to enlighten the younger generation of what life was like. What child does not like to hear adventurous and exciting stories?”

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George Orwell must have either been clairvoyant or well attuned to the fickleness of humanity for he was able to chart our future with uncanny accuracy. The year 1984 was, at the time of his writing sufficiently far in the future, yet near enough to cause us concern. That year passed without incident and the people, much relieved, returned to their ignorant bliss. Yet the very things that 1984 warned of began to take shape. Today, our leaders have mastered to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies. Our ministries of love have joined the ministries of truth in an unholy union, leaving but the last vestige of our sanity in the hands of the Thought Police, who can measure our sincerity with such well-honed instruments that even a sincere apology runs the risk of being called insufficient.

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Mel Gibson allegedly voiced these words while being processed for driving under the influence in Los Angeles. He later profusely apologized for his outburst stating that he acted like a person completely out of control, voicing things he did not believe to be true.

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This is a serious linguistic question. This is not a joke or a tongue in cheek editorial comment. By definition, an oxymoron is a combination of two seemingly contradictory or incongruous words. I thus ask; does ‘American Aid’ qualify as an oxymoron?

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It’s that graduation time again and ribald gangs of youths gather at some remote and isolated location to celebrate their release from study and exams. Fueled by all kinds of alcoholic beverages and stupefied by drugs they light a bonfire, feeding it, not with seasoned deadwood conveniently piled up nearby, but with precious items that represent our region’s history.

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The Novel, Animal Farm was a satirical allegory of the Russian Revolution, particularly directed against Stalin's Russia. But one must wonder, if today’s America might now equally qualify as an example for such a literary work.

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