Misinformation & Propaganda – Page 36 – Public Intelligence Blog

First Published in 1980, Need Another Whole New Book,

February 18, 2007

Kristina Borjesson

There are many excellent reviews of this book, many with real substance that need not be repeated.

I searched in vain across all 44 reviews and could not find anyone pointing out that this book was first published in 1980, a quarter-century ago.

It's a worthy book, but completely out of date–the practices it describes are not out of date, but we all need a major update.

I recommend Fog Facts: Searching for Truth in the Land of Spin and Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project Truth' as two current updates.

From the larger literature within which I appreciate this book, I see four fully interwoven reasons why America is no longer a republic:

1) Excessive concentration of wealth at the top, CEOs earning 400 times more a year than their lowest paid employee. See Lee Iacocca's recent work, Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

2) Wealth corrupting politicians, while corporate personality avoids justice. The Federal Reserve in particular needs to be closed down.

3) A house-broken media unwilling to challenge “the establishment,” and

4) An inert public, not realizing that it is being treated–in human terms–just as inhumanely as cattle force fed to death in fourteen months.

“Live Free or Die.” Now there's a theme. There are 27 secessionist movements in America, among which Vermont's is the most viable. The time may well have come to dissolve the existing federal government if we cannot achieve electoral reform and the restoration of constitutional integrity.

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2007/02/172009/12/04

Review: Secrecy & Privilege–Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq

4 Star, Crime (Government), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Impeachment & Treason, Misinformation & Propaganda, Politics, Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy

Superb Personal Effort, Narrow, Needs Other References,

February 17, 2007

Robert Parry

This is a superb personal effort by the author, and it does a tremendous job of harvesting both news media stories and key books. It is however a bit anrrow, and I recommend other references.

A simple example: he speaks of the narrow Bush victory in Florida without reference to Greg Palast's PRE-ELECTION reporting, subsequently summarized in the book, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy or any understanding of the fact that over a year in advance of the election Jeb Bush stole the election by disenfranchizing over 35,000 black voters whose names were remotely–very remotely–linked to the names of felons from other states (only Florida felons cannot vote, but Jeb Bush wanted this so bad he paid ten times the going rate to a “friendly” company that used Texas felon lists to “disqualify” voters who only found out they were disqualified on election day.

Another example: he has a great (but dated) appendix on CIA and who it has funded as intermediaries and end recipients of CIA cash all over the world, but he completely misses the same necessary information for Wall Street, the 40,000 non-profits created to hide wealth and manage perceptions (as well as lure people off land with gold, see Confessions of an Economic Hit Man).

There are many other books on the Nazi, mafia, and Saudi corruption ties of the Bush family, and there are also other books that are more comprehensive and current on the problems we face today because of young Bush II and his war criminal vice President. See for example, “Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil; Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids and my personal favority, Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency.

Robert Parry is a gifted investigative reporter. His first book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & ‘Project Truth' remains among my favorites. In this book, what may be his most important message is this: the extremists Republicans (I am an estranged moderate Republican disgusted with Karl Rove's hijacking of the party) have combined secrecy, lies, and “perception management” to completely confuse and mislead the public, while carrying out high crimes and misdimeanors against the government, the treasury, the military, and the people.

From Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon to Karl Rove and Dick Cheney and the young (and rather stupid) George Bush II, this book paints a very ugly and accurate picture of the pathological abuse of power and of the public purse by these people. Most of them need to be tried, convicted, and jailed. None of them are fit for public office in a moral informed democracy, but then, as the author makes clear, we do not live in a moral, informed democracy. We live in a The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead where most Americans cannot identify all the states around their own, much less other countries. We have gotten the government we deserve.

One final observation: this book is super but in isolation. I am increasingly persauded that Amazon should digitize ALL books, so that customers can “buy” composite renditions of information that honor copyright at the paragraph and page level, while creating unique original visualizations and summarizations that are free of copyright and can be bought on their own. I would pay $1,000 for a visualization–a poster–of all of the criminal, dictator, and immoral connections of George Bush II and his evil former master, Dick Cheney (whose Secret Service nickname is “Edgar,” for the guy that managed the puppet). Bush has finally figured out, way too late, that Cheney hijacked and destroyed the first six years.

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2007/01/042009/12/04

Review: The True Cost of Conflict/Seven Recent Wars and Their Effects on Society

5 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Atrocities & Genocide, Congress (Failure, Reform), Corruption, Crime (Government), Misinformation & Propaganda, True Cost & Toxicity, War & Face of Battle

Amazon Page

Ten Years Ahead of Its Time, Now Part of “True Cost” Meme,

January 4, 2007

Michael Cranna

This book was ten years ahead of its time in relation to the emergent “true cost” meme that is exploding as the public acquires access to more information and the tools to make sense of that information.

The author has done a first-rate job of looking at seven conflicts and their costs or (rarely) benefits. This is precisely the kind of analysis that is needed if Congresses and Parliaments are to be educated and weaned away from the bankers fondness for war and credit for war as a profit harvesting opportunity.

I recommend that in addition to this book, the reader consider General Smedley Butler's book, “War is a Racket,” and the superb book by Cees Wiebes, “Intelligence and the War in Bosnia” (see my review for lessons learned).

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2007/01/022009/12/04

Review: Big-Box Swindle–The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses

5 Star, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Economics, Misinformation & Propaganda, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Truth & Reconciliation

Amazon Page

Author has created a meme, essential part of a bigger picture,

January 2, 2007

Stacy Mitchell

The author of this book has gone way past good authorship–the business reporting in this book has achieved meme status and “Big Box Swindle” is now a term that leads to all sorts of interesting findings when one searches the web and the literature.

I recommend the other book listed above as part of the literature on “True Cost,” a meme that is resonating with the public much more than is “inconvenient truth.” True cost covers water (4000 liters in a T-Shirt), fuel (hundreds of gallons to move Wal-Wart toys from China), sweatshop and child labor (Wal Mart again), and tax avoidance as well as convictions for breaking various laws.

Although they do not appear in the list above, I recommend the varied books on Wal-Mart, especially the one focusing on the high cost of low price.

This author and the literature surrounding this author will shortly be matched by a point of sale ability for buyers to photograph any bar code, send it to Amazon or other sources, and get back the “True Cost” as well as comparable prices and alternative purchase suggestions.

This book could represent a turning point in the public mind, and is therefore of considerable importance to how we choose to react to its findings so that our children and grandchildren are not swindled–however, and the author would among the first to agree, it is not enough that we eradicate these unethical companies; we must also educate our future generations so that they do not lose sight of the “True Cost” of the “Big Box Swindle.”

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2006/12/272009/12/04

Review: Target Iran–The Truth About the White House’s Plans for Regime Change

4 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Congress (Failure, Reform), Diplomacy, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Impeachment & Treason, Intelligence (Government/Secret), Intelligence (Public), Military & Pentagon Power, Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Terrorism & Jihad, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), War & Face of Battle, Water, Energy, Oil, Scarcity

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Critical Piece of the Puzzle, Not the Whole Picture,

December 27, 2006

Scott Ritter

Scott Ritter was proven correct about Iraq not having weapons of mass destruction, and this alone demands our respectful attention to his views of the foolishness of attacking Iran.

There are other reviews of the substance of this book that are excellent, so here I just wish to contribute three supporting observations:

1) Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror by LtGen Thomas McInerney and MajGen Paul Vallely, was published in 2004 and lays out the complete plan for US military domination of the Middle East, with Iran following Iraq, and then Syria etcetera. As lunatic as the plan may be (see my review for more details) it is a plan that will be carried out as long as Dick Cheney remains Vice President and George Bush Junior remains a fool who is clearly in way over his head.

2) Howard Bloom, who understood the coming Sunni versus Shi'ite world war for the soul of Islam, writing about it in The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of History, now warns of a likely Iranian masterplan that first used Ahmed Chalabi to lure the American neo-cons into Iraq, and now has lured four carriers, two strike groups and an amphibious group within range of the supersonic Sunburn missile that carried a nuclear warhead, can explode a carrier, and travel at 3.0 Mach straight line, or 2.2 Mach when zig-zagging.

3) In addition to Scott Ritter's excellent analysis of how Iran can turn off the oil supply in Iran, portions of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Kuwait, it is helpful to consider the extreme vulnerability of the US land supply route from Kuwait to Baghdad. A slide by Webster Tarpley showing this vulnerability is posted above.

Ritter gets a lot of respect from me–his integrity took him from a relatively minor position as a Marine Corps field grade officer, and elevated him to the role of speaker of truth for the public. I think he is right–the US will attack Iran, ostensibly in support of Israel–and this will be the greatest disaster of the 21st century, setting off a true world war between Sunni and Shi'ite in which the Christians are the “collateral damage” while the Jews experience a new form of genocide. I just shake my head, feeling helpless, wondering what it takes to get Scott Ritter's important knowledge in front of Congress.

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2006/12/072009/12/04

Review DVD: 9/11 Mysteries – Part I: Demolitions

5 Star, 9-11 Truth Books & DVDs, Crime (Corporate), Crime (Government), Impeachment & Treason, Intelligence (Public), Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Reviews (DVD Only)

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Nails It!,

December 7, 2006

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Edit of 11 Jun 09 to fix Tarpley and add links.

I read a lot, but lately I have been discovering the real value of non-fiction DVDs. This is one of the best, one of the most important DVDs that I have ever seen. I recommend it without reservation.

Although I am a very conservative person, my views have been radicalized by the superb non-fiction coming from Webster Tarpley, Jim Marrs, and Michael Ruppert, among others.

This DVD systematically and logically covers the power blackout that turned off the security camaras and access devices, the withdrawal of the bomb-sniffing dogs, the heavy dust each morning in the days preceeding 9-11, the secondary explosions that strongly suggest a planned demolition of three buildings (one of them, WTC 7, not hit at all), and–quite interesting–the asbestos problem that made the buildings, built in the 1960's–a real loser unaffordable to fix or take down. 9-11 was literally a $7 billion bonanza for its owners, at one stroke destroying the bulk of the complex to be cleaned up at taxpayer expense, and paying a DOUBLE insurance premium (in court, the claims that the two airplanes were two separate incidents rather than one coordinated attack, doubled the money paid out by the insurance companies). Bottom line: I think the US Government “let it happen” for its own reasons, and Larry Silverman was tipped off and it was Larry Silverman, not the US Government, that brought the buildings down. If this is obvious to me after a cursory examination of public materials, I have to ask myself: 1) how much did Rudy Guliani get for scooping and dumping to destroy the crime scene? and 2) is the insurance company part of the scam, or just stupid?

I have to say, on the basis of all my reading and my own past experience as a professional intelligence officer, that I am certain of one thing: this has not been properly investigated; and I am fairly certain of a second thing: 9-11 was known to be happening by a handful in the US Government and a handful in Israel as well as Pakistan, and it was welcomed as a cataclysmic event that would also be financially profitable to another handful. All of the suspicious activity began when Larry Silverman took possession of the complex.

Although I am less inclined to believe–without a proper investigation–that 9-11 was in fact made to happen at the instigation of Dick Cheney among others, I do believe there is enough evidence about neo-conservative views that such an event was needed, to *demand* a public investigation. The 9-11 Commission was a whitewash, actually criminal in its negligence.

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2006/12/042009/12/04

Review: State of Fear

5 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Misinformation & Propaganda, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

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Fiction in the Public Service,

December 4, 2006

Michael Crichton

Edit of 27 Jan 07: I've just watched the author on C-SPAN Book Channel, and am very impressed by his focus on demanding that all scientists reveal their data or be cut off from public funding. I realize some have voted against this review because they misunderstand the author as saying that environmental skeptics are correct. That is not the case. He is in fact calling for complete transparency and open exchanges of information, and I find that quite compelling.

This is one of the few fiction books that I read and review, but I certainly endorse it and value it as a very fine means of educating the public with respect to both the absence of good reliable hard science on the entire issue of the environment, and as a primer on what can be done by man to either destroy the planent by staging events that leverage the underlying vulnerability, or to do constructive research and global remediation.

Many of the reviewers have reacted viscerally to this book, or not read it all the way through to include the author's superb non-fiction series of statements about the environment and the science or non-science of the environment, and the author's final statement on why the politicization of science is bad. I recommend the books (and/or my reviews) of the books on the Republican War on Sciencee and on Climate Change.

The author is to be commended for integrating truthful real-world footnotes with the fictional text. This is a book that is educational and meritorious. It could and should be both a movie and a serious game for change. While the author suggests that much of the fear-mongering about the environment is just that, he does help us understand that making the case for remediation and conservation now must be based on the most rigorous study possible.

I would be quite pleased if the author chose to create a series keyed to the ten threats identified by the United Nations High-Level Threat Panel. Apart from Environmental Degradation (threat #3), the others are Poverty, Infectuous Disease, Inter-State Conflict, Civil War, Genocide, Other Atrocities, Proliferation, Terrorism, and Transnational Crime.

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Category: Misinformation & Propaganda

Review: Into the Buzzsaw–Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press

Review: Secrecy & Privilege–Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq

Review: The True Cost of Conflict/Seven Recent Wars and Their Effects on Society

Review: Big-Box Swindle–The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Businesses

Review: Target Iran–The Truth About the White House’s Plans for Regime Change

Review DVD: 9/11 Mysteries – Part I: Demolitions

Review: State of Fear