Profound Quotes

"Neither is it that US foreign policy is cruel because American leaders are cruel. It's that our leaders are cruel because only those willing to be inordinately cruel and remorseless can hold positions of leadership in the foreign policy establishment; it might as well be written into the job description. People capable of expressing a full human measure of compassion and empathy toward faraway powerless strangers - (let alone American soldiers - do not become president of the United States, or vice president, or secretary of state, or national security adviser or secretary of the treasury. Nor do they want to." From 'Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower' by William Blum

From "9-11, Six Years Later": "If one looks at the credentials of skeptics compared to the credentials of defenders of the official line, it is impossible to dismiss skeptics as kooks. There are many people with strong imaginations on the Internet, but serious skeptics stick to known facts, known violations of standard procedures and the laws of physics. The vast majority of the people who call skeptics "kooks" are themselves ignorant of physics and have little comprehension of the improbability that such an attack could succeed without either the complicity or complete failure of government agencies. " Paul Craig Roberts

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular? But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right." Martin Luther King, Jr.

Categories

OpEdNews » The Government’s Shameful War on Marijuana Users

History is replete with examples of governmental attempts to modify human behavior by imposing prohibitions. All attempts failed, most of them miserably.
In the 16th century, coffee was banned in Egypt and supplies were burned. Coffee consumption increased rapidly.
In the 17th century, the Tsar of Russia executed people caught using tobacco. Among unexecuted Russian citizens, tobacco [...]

Khaleej Times Online - Americans Divided by Hate Crimes Bill

Susan Fani of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights warns: “The problem in general with hate crimes legislation is that it invites the government to probe way beyond motive. And in instances like this, it trespasses on free speech and religious liberty.”
Although the bill “declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed [...]

OpEdNews » How Americans Think About Torture–and Why

Based on this sampling of polling results, it is easy at first to be surprised and troubled by the degree to which Americans have expressed support for the inhumane treatment and torture of detainees. But public sentiment on such matters does not emerge in a vacuum. Rather, it often reflects the influence of carefully orchestrated [...]

TPM Editorials: Commentary on “Don Monkerud: ‘The new Americanism: The Eichmann Syndrome’”

“Don Monkerud: ‘The new Americanism: The Eichmann Syndrome‘ Posted on Monday, February 07 @ 10:17:43 EST

By Don Monkerud
The New Americanism: The Eichmann Syndrome
by Don Monkerud — Contributing Author [Email This Story]
As the world mourns the anniversary of the Holocaust, we continue to wonder how one of the most advanced countries in the world could commit [...]

Senate Will Move on Hate Crimes Bill; Critics Claim Bill Simply Unnecessary

American Free Press
Friday, May 8, 2009
ON APRIL 29, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 (H.R. 1913) by a vote of 249 to 175. It is expected to be taken up in the Senate any day now.
Critics of the measure contend that, if the bill becomes law, [...]

Paul Craig Roberts: Criminalizing Criticism of Israel

May 7, 2009
The End of Free Speech?
Criminalizing Criticism of Israel
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
On October 16, 2004, President George W. Bush signed the Israel Lobby’s bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act.  This legislation requires the US Department of State to monitor anti-semitism world wide.
To monitor anti-semitism, it has to be defined.  [...]

Truthdig - Reports - Buying Brand Obama

Posted on May 3, 2009
Obama
AP photo / Charles Dharapak
Branding in action: President Barack Obama gestures during a town hall meeting in Fort Myers, Fla., in February to discuss the economy.
By Chris Hedges
Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the [...]

One Nation, Two Systems of Justice: Why Bush Must Go to Prison | The Smirking Chimp

Friedman is the nation’s most prominent opinion writer. He wins journalistic prizes. Audiences shell out big bucks to hear him speak. Book collections of his columns become bestsellers for months on end. Yet the dude can’t write. I’m not talking about his opinions. Friedman doesn’t know how to arrange nouns and verbs in a way [...]

Thought police muscle up in Britain | The Australian

Hal G. P. Colebatch | April 21, 2009
Article from: The Australian
BRITAIN appears to be evolving into the first modern soft totalitarian state. As a sometime teacher of political science and international law, I do not use the term totalitarian loosely.
There are no concentration camps or gulags but there are thought police with unprecedented powers [...]

YouTube - 9/11: South Tower “Collapse” video compilation

And from a Common Sense point of view….

Yes, the case is just too obvious from a scientific point of view— but it’s also obvious from plain ole common sense. Either a building is collapsing or exploding and people know the difference. However many people just haven’t seen CLOSE-UP footage of the SOUTH TOWER EXPLODING. They [...]