Thursday, August 7, 2003

War Talk=Doublespeak QUOTE OF THE DAY "Although some would say it is an achievement that no nuclear weapon has been used since 1945, tens of thousands of such weapons, the exact number is unknown, remain in arsenals around the world. The progress made after the end of the Cold War in reducing those arsenals must be accelerated and solidified. Moreover, other worrisome trends have emerged in recent years, such as the acquisition of nuclear weapons by non-nuclear States, and efforts to modernize existing arsenals and to create new types of nuclear weapons. The possibility that nuclear weapons or radiological bombs could fall into the hands of terrorists has also become a major concern. On this day of remembrance, let us all, governments and citizens alike, reaffirm our pledge to bring closer the day when people everywhere will be free to live their lives in peace, without fear of annihilation by the world's most horrible weapons." - - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 8/6/03 (From a message read to the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, commemorating the 58th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack) http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-headlines/markup/msg01169.html KNOW YOUR HISTORY - AUGUST 7th 1789 -- The U.S. War Department was established by Congress. 1912 -- The Progressive Party nominated Theodore Roosevelt for president. Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt had stormed the Republican convention but failed to wrest the nomination from William Howard Taft. He then founded his own, short-lived, Progressive Party. The party split allowed Taft to win the election. 1978 -- The Love Canal subdivision of Niagara Falls, NY built on the site of a former Hooker Chemical Company chemical dump, was formally declared a toxic disaster area by President Carter. RHINO'S RAP: On Tuesday, the Democratic Presidential candidates debated before members of the AFL-CIO, each hoping for an endorsement. Dennis Kucinich was coming on like a bull dog, kicking ass & naming names. MSNBC coverage below. Meanwhile, the California Governor's recall election is looking like a soap opera & threatening to turn into a circus. The Republican sponsored & funded recall election to oust the lackkluster & much compromised Governor Gray Davis is set up so that in the same election we vote on the ouster, we will also vote for the replacement governor. If the recall is passed, the candidate with the most votes wins. To run, you must hand in by this Saturday, 65 endorsing signatures & $3,500. There mat be as many as 300 people running. Each day brings a surprise. Monday, it was Larry Flint (Rhino sez boo!), & Wednesday, Arianna Huffington (Rhino sez Yay!). Arnold Terminator has been teasing & waiting till the last moment as he often does in signing on to a movie. There's also a 99 cent chain store chain offering to any 99 year old person willing to run that they'll cover the 65 signatures & the entry fees. RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE today is a collection of excerpts from the newly released book "Weapons of Mass Deception: the Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq", by Sheldon Rampton & John Stauber.  It's detailed & oh so Orwellian Rampton is editor of PR Watch &Stauber is executive editor . They 've co-authored 3 previous books: Toxic Sludge Is Good For You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry," "Mad Cow U.S.A.: Could the Nightmare Happen Here?" "Trust Us, We're Experts: How Industry Manipulates Science and Gambles With Your Future." Democrats make pitch to unions - Kucinich stands out at AFL-CIO event By Tom Curry , MSNBC, 8/5/03 CHICAGO, Aug. 5 -  The leaders of organized labor played host Tuesday night to a nine-candidate free-for-all among the Democratic presidential contenders. Long-shot contender Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio stood out from the crowd, delivering a rousing performance, challenging former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on why he wasn't willing to cut the defense budget and demanding that Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri tell the audience whether he'd revoke the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pull the United States out of the World Trade Organization. AFTER THE DEBATE Kucinich insisted that it wasn't impractical to cancel NAFTA and pull out of the WTO. "No one here answered that question.... None of them would say it - not even Dick Gephardt who is trying to rely on support from labor to become the next president." Dean said after the debate, "I don't think we should cancel the WTO or NAFTA, but I do think labor and environmental standards have to be part of that. And if nations we trade with aren't willing to embrace International Labor Organization standards, then I don't think we can trade with them. We certainly can't have open-border trade with them." Gephardt declined to answer Kucinich's challenge but made a strong appeal for union members' support, declaring, "This administration has declared war on the middle class in this country." IT'S ALL AT: http://www.msnbc.com/news/948704.asp 7:48:02 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - The Fog of War Talk The Fog of War Talk By John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton, AlterNet, July 28, 2003 Editor's Note: This is an edited excerpt from the newly released book "Weapons of Mass Deception: the Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq", by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber. ...Doublespeak has accompanied war for thousands of years. English professor William Lutz has found examples as early as Julius Caesar, who described his brutal and bloody conquest of Gaul as "pacification." "The military is acutely aware that the reason for its existence is to wage war, and war means killing people and the deaths of American soldiers as well," he states. "Because the reality of war and its consequences are so harsh, the military almost instinctively turns to doublespeak when discussing war." Doublespeak often suggests a noble cause to justify the death and destruction. Practically speaking, a democratic country cannot wage war without the popular support of its citizens. A well-constructed myth, broadcast through mass media, can deliver that support even when the noble cause itself seems dubious to the rest of the world.... GREAT EXCERPTS FROM A GREAT BOOK, AT: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16497 "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. 6:34:21 AM    comment

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