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ALLEN'S SUNDAY REFLECTIONS 1/30/05
The American citizen lives in a world where fantasy is more real than reality, where the image has more dignity than its original : Daniel Boorstin
IRAQ'S PSEUDO ELECTIONS
The elections are a sham with only one intent. Legitimize Allawi's Interim government so we can legally claim the oil , privatize the country and claim a foothold in the Persian gulf .
The so called insurgency are, in reality, freedom fighters who recognize
our true intent and are increasingly growing in numbers.
Unfortunately, Americans are the only ones who do not grasp
our true intent because of laziness, an unwillingless to see beneath the freedom image presented by the Bush administration, a compliant media and a relentless and deceptive administration spin. Two questions which have never been answered ~ Why are we building 14 permanent military bases in Iraq if we intend to eventually leave ? In this U.S. enforced election at gunpoint ~ who is counting the votes ?
Linda Heard, Gulf News, who correctly predicted this scam two
years ago, now adds don't be fooled by occupation in democracy's clothing ;
" We would have to be either naïve or on Prozac to believe the Bush administration is poised to walk off into the sunset sans oil and sans face, leaving an Iraqi government representing the Shiite majority free to cosy up to the Iranian ayatollahs.... Iraqis know that Allawi perpetuates the lie their country is now a sovereign state.....Allawi is no patriot and if he remains prime minister after the vote, then, as far as I am concerned it was a sham, a pre-arranged set-up just as a Iraqi diplomat confided it would be..... A paper entitled "Rebuilding America's Defences" drawn up by the Project for a New American Century in 2000 and signed up to by several top members of the Bush administration suggests US troops need to establish a permanent foothold in the Gulf, while keeping a low profile...Once Iraq is officially stamped a democracy and American soldiers withdraw to a series of permanent bases or behind the walls of the largest and most fortified US embassy in the world, the Strauss-cons will have achieved their objective occupation in democracy's clothing."
In *The Image*, Boorstin explains that a "pseudo-event" has four characteristics.
(1) "It is not spontaneous, but comes about because someone has planned, planted, or incited it." This is certainly the case for the Jan. 30 elections -- and we know who's been doing the planning.
(2) "It is planted primarily (not always exclusively) for the immediate purpose of being reported or reproduced. . . . Its success is measured by how widely it is reported." This is very much the case for the Jan. 30 elections in Iraq, as any consumer of news media last week, this week, or next week can testify.
(3) "Its relation to the underlying reality of the situation is ambiguous. Its interest arises largely from this very ambiguity. . . Without some of this ambiguity a pseudo-event cannot be very interesting." The Jan. 30 elections fit this criterion to a T: they are ambiguous in the extreme.
(4) "Usually it is intended to be a self-fulfilling prophecy." And this is the very nature of the Jan. 30 elections: by taking place, they fulfull the prediction that they will take place.
As Boorstin wrote in 1961: "The American citizen thus lives in a world where fantasy is more real than reality, where the image has more dignity than its original. We hardly dare face our bewilderment, because our ambiguous experience is so pleasantly iridescent, and the solace of belief in contrived reality is so thoroughly real. We have become eager accessories to the great hoaxes of the age. These are the hoaxes we play on ourselves."
SOCIAL SECURITY
Bush is crying wolf again for two reasons ~ 1. He needs a smokescreen for his deteriorating Iraq quagmire and 2. He needs to feed his corporate base with more financial goodies at the expense, I will add, of the elderly and frail.
The Center for American Progress confirms this week that this has been a long time Bush agenda ; " Turns out this isn't the first time President Bush has warned that Social Security was about to go broke. In 1978, while running for Congress in Texas, Bush was quoted by USA Today and the Texas Observer as saying the system would go broke by 1988 if Congress failed to privatize the system. The Observer notes that Bush "warned that Social Security would go bust in ten years unless people were given a chance to invest the money themselves." USA Today also had the congressional candidate saying that "Social Security would go broke in 10 years." Asked about his remarks by Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) at a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus Wednesday, Bush reportedly responded, "I lost." Rangel responded, "the Lord works in mysterious ways."
HILLARY SWANK IS THE ' MILLION DOLLAR BABY '
I watched Clint Eastwood's MILLION DOLLAR BABY last night and was amazed at the performance of Hillary Swank.
Eastwood's tightly edited film is gritty and simple with a wonderful supportive cast.
Eastwood should win best director for the performance he coached out of Swank ~ who dominated the screen with her underplayed presence .
The movie itself stayed with me long after I left the theater for
it touches on core issues many of us do not want to face ~ like death, compassion, sacrifice and empathy.
Prediction: Swank wins best actress / Jamie Foxx wins best actor for his riviting performance in RAY.
WINTERBRAIN MEETING / PALM SPRINGS
I will be in Palm Springs, California from February 3th through
February 8th ~ speaking at the annual Winterbrain conference
EXPLORING NEW DIMENSIONS OF THE MIND AND HEART.
I'll be presenting at two Plenary sessions and doing a workshop as well as participating on two panels. See my website for details www.allenroland.com
I'm really excited about sharing everything I know with many peers from other states and countries as well as absorbing their ideas and thoughts ~ while, of course, enjoying the warm desert sun.
If you are interested in additional information go to
ONLY LOVE HEALS,
Allen L Roland
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Catch me every Monday morning 7AM ~ TRUTHTALK
on Conscious Talk Radio
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KYCY 1550 AM SAN FRANCISCO / WED 9 - 10 AM
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