Commerce – Page 236 – Public Intelligence Blog

A Note on the Mighty Wurlitzer: Anatomy of Modern Propaganda Techniques

Zahir Ebrahim | Project Humanbeingsfirst.org

Edward Bernays, the nephew of Sigmund Freud, began his seminal 1928 book simply titled Propaganda, with these ominous words:

‘The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of.' — Edward Bernays, 1928, pg.1, Propaganda

Aldous Huxley, on the 30th anniversary of his own seminal 1931 allegorical novel Brave New World, made the following dreadful observations in the very opening segment of his talk on the Ultimate Revolution upon which mankind and modernity are perilously perched:

‘You can do everything with bayonets except sit on them! If you are going to control any population for any length of time you must have some measure of consent. It's exceedingly difficult to see how pure terrorism can function indefinitely. It can function for a fairly long time, but I think sooner or later you have to bring in an element of persuasion. An element of getting people to consent to what is happening to them. Well, it seems to me that the nature of the Ultimate Revolution with which we are now faced is precisely this: that we are in process of developing a whole series of techniques which will enable the controlling oligarchy who have always existed and presumably always will exist, to get people actually to love their servitude! This is the, it seems to me the ultimate in malevolent revolution shall we say.' — Aldous Huxley, 1962 speech at UC Berkeley, minute 04:06

Read full article with photographs and many links.

Continue reading “Zahir Ehrahim: A Note on the Mighty Wurlitzer: Anatomy of Modern Propaganda Techniques”

2013/04/27

SchwartzReport: Corporate Prison Crime & Corporate Agriculture Crime — Blessed Once Again by the US Government

Commerce, Corruption, Government

This report is a trifecta of corrupted capitalism. It starts with the latest in the Prison Privatization trend, followed by the New American Slavery trend. In every way that one can measure these prison companies they consistently show what I can only characterize as depravity.

Consider for a moment the requirement that private prison companies be assured by the government paying them — that is to say you and me — that they will keep them at least 90 per cent stocked at all times. Just contemplate the implications of that sentence.

Then it moves on to the corruption of real estate investment trusts (REIT), the latest in the Deregulation trend.

The Corrections Corporation of America's Latest Shady Business? Tax Evasion
KRISTEN GWYNNE – AlterNet (U.S.)

Yet further corruption of our food system to the benefit of corporate profits. The Obama Administration is no better than the Bush Administration in this regard and, therefore, a tremendous disappointment. Once again, we have an example of the disconnect between Obama's words and his actions. He talks social progressive; he acts corporate servant.

USDA Ruffles Feathers With New Poultry Inspection Policy
TOM PHILPOTT – Mother Jones

2013/04/262013/04/26

Mini-Me: American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus

Commerce, Corruption, Idiocy, IO Deeds of War, Non-Governmental

Huh?

American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus

The American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus (formerly the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya) is a Freedom House initiative that bills itself as the ”only private, nongovernmental organization in North America exclusively dedicated to promoting the peaceful resolution of the Russo-Chechen war.”[1] According to Freedom House, ACPC “coordinates with an international network of activists, journalists, scholars and nongovernmental organizations to advocate for and support human rights and rule of law, to monitor the upward trend of violence in the region, and to promote peace and stability in the North Caucasus.”[2] As of early 2013, the committee appeared to be largely defunct.

Founded in 1999 by U.S. liberal hawks and neoconservatives primarily interested in using the conflict in Chechnya to press an anti-Russian agenda, the ACPC eventually updated its name and broadened its focus after conflicts erupted between Russia and other parts of the Caucasus, including Ingushetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and North Ossetia.[3]

In early 2013, the committee attracted attention when the suspects in the April 2013 Boston marathon bombing were identified as ethnic Chechens. Although early reports did not indicate that the suspects were driven by Chechen nationalist motivations, some writers questioned whether the FBI had improperly ignored warnings from Russian authorities that one of the alleged bombers had met repeatedly with a suspected terrorist leader in Dagestan.

A writer for Antiwar.com suggested that groups like ACPC had promulgated an anti-Russian bias in Washington that precluded serious consideration of Russian warnings about potential Chechen terrorists. “How did [the bombers] manage to evade the multi-billion dollar ‘security apparatus, which was set up with so much fanfare after 9/11? The answer is to be found in the manipulations and odorous alliances dictated by our interventionist foreign policy, a throwback to the cold war era, which has deemed Russia an enemy and the Chechens the Good Guys.”[4]

Continue reading “Mini-Me: American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus”

2013/04/26

Chuck Spinney: America’s War Games — to the Death

Commerce, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement, Media, Military

Almost 23 years ago, I wrote a short pamphlet, Defense Power Games. My aim then (as it is now) was to explain why the end of the Cold War would not produce a peace dividend in the form of reduced defense budgets that were substantially lower that those averaged during America's Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Take a quick scan of Defense Power Games … now watch this 25 minute video — America's War Games — (also on youtube here) just released by Aljazeera for its People and Power segment. The video explains why the end of the War on Terror will not, like the end of the Cold War did not, result in a peace dividend

Santayana wrote that those who ignore history are condemned to repeat it. After watching “America's War Games,” ask yourself two simple questions:

“What has changed since the Defense Power Games pamphlet was published in 1990?”
“Will the end of the War on Terror produce a dividend?”

I submit the answers are self-evident: (1) “Nothing” and (2) “No”

But one thing that has changed: Our economy is in far greater trouble today than it was in 1990, although the seeds for the current disaster were being merrily planted during the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, as well as in the 1990s, not to mention the first decade of the 21st Century. And this time around, it ought to be clear that continuing to assign grossly excessive amounts of scarce resources (capital and skilled labour) to defense spending will make America's current economic problems worse.

So, how can we reduce the defense budget to free up the funds needed by both the private and public sectors to reinvigorate our economy?

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: America's War Games — to the Death”

2013/04/25

Eagle: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists May Look at Corrupt Judges in Foreclosure Cases, Beginning in Maryland

03 Economy, 06 Family, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 10 Transnational Crime, 11 Society, Commerce, Corruption, Government

300 Million Talons... — 300 Million Talons…

This study and a wide variety of email and wiki posts may be a tipping point that puts the full weight of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists into the battle against corrupt judges in the pockets of the banks — specifically, judges that have been ruling against individual home owners being illegally foreclosed, refusing to grant their motions for presentation of the actual mortgage document. Despite laws being passed that demand exactly that, the judges are being paid to ignore those laws.

Here is the 357 page PDF, one of the most viewed documents (top 5%) on LinkedIn.

Dr. Richard Cordero Esq Memorandum of 23 April 2013 with attachments

Earlier Supporting Study PDF 348 pages):

Exposing Judges' Unaccountability and Consequent Riskless Wrongdoing

2013/04/252013/04/25

Eagle: Round Up of YouTube Videos on Boston and Texas

07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, Commerce, Corruption, Government, YouTube

BOSTON

YouTube (8:05) Alex Jones PROOF! Boston Marathon Bombing is Staged Terror Attack

Over 2.5 million views.

YouTube (3:00) (Beck Gives Obama Till Monday to Admit Boston Bombing was Inside Job

Over 1 million views.

YouTube (15:05) New Evidence That Boston Bombings Was Staged Please Watch

Hollywood blood packets all over the place, Hollywood simulated wounds overview

YouTube (13:01) BOSTON LIES!! NEW HARD EVIDENCE!!! YOU ALL MUST REALLY WATCH THIS!!!!

TEXAS

YouTube (14:54) Lazer Plasma Decontamination Weapon USED IN Waco Blast Extreme Evidence

YouTube (2:24) Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion | Missile Strike Proof [Original]

239,000 views

YouTube (1:52)Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion | Missile Strike Proof 2 [Original]

Improved version of the preceding video.

2013/04/242013/04/24

SchwartzReport: BP Does Not Pay Out, Continues to Screw the Gulf Coast, Uses Its Own Police to Block Journalists, Local Politicians Are Collaborating with BP Agains the Public…

03 Economy, 05 Energy, 06 Family, 07 Health, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Justice, 11 Society, 12 Water, Commerce, Corruption, Government, Law Enforcement

The story has passed from the media's attention. If you listen to the mainstream media, and look at all those cozy, “come on down y'all” ads BP has put up on television, things have returned as if the oil spill never happened. As this story makes clear, it is all an Orwellian propaganda lie. I ran this story because a reader on the Gulf Coast wrote to tell me t! hat whatever I thought was going on, human lives, the coast, and the ecosystem were still devastated. This carbon energy crisis may not really be over for years; indeed, things may never be as they once were.

The Gulf Coast May Never Recover
MAUREEN NANDINI MITRA, Managing Editor – Earth Island Journal

EXTRACT:

Most people I know who have been directly affected by the spill have lost faith in the recovery process. They tried to give BP the benefit of the doubt and work with [claims czar Kenneth] Feinberg, who was tasked by BP to handle the claims after the initial claims process failed. People were asked to fill out paperwork over and over again and their claims were still rejected for reasons not made clear to them. No one seems satisfied that their elected officials fought the fight for them. Most of them don't believe any money will trickle down to them at all.