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“This, then is the alchemy of fictionalized history, the pixie-dust of national self-esteem and hubris. We seem to think it is our national burden to transform base water into blessed wine. We think we are Jesus.”

By Andrew S. Taylor

Memory and identity are inextricably interdependent properties. One’s memories form the narrative of the self, and one’s sense of “self” is the primary means by which one’s memories are given meaning in the present. Together, these two properties largely determine the choices we make. The primary complication, of course, is that memory is selective, especially when subjected to the biases of perceived needs. Inconvenient disjunctures in the narrative-of-self may be pruned away from consciousness, left to fall by the wayside. This unfortunate fact of human nature explains why we so often see even bright, well-intentioned individuals marching confidently into the viper’s nest.

What is true for individuals is also true for nations when it comes to the question of national memory and national identity. A nation may collectively look to the established narrative of the past for guidance in the present, as well it should. But this only works when the past is correctly apprehended. If the historical narrative is false, decisions in the present will be based on false premises.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Carolyn Baker

9/19/07

“As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air-however slight-lest we become unwilling victims of the darkness.”

~Justice William O. Douglas~

In April, 2007 I was pleasantly surprised to find Naomi Wolf’s article, “Fascist America, In 10 Easy Steps” posted in several places online. I have been a fan of Wolf for many years, greatly appreciating her works and especially her 1991 book, The Beauty Myth. I had been looking for a list-or more specifically, an encyclopedia of the losses of civil liberties in the United States that might clarify for my history students the extent to which America has become a fascist empire. Wolf’s “10 Easy Steps” was perfect, but her just-published book, The End Of America: Letter Of Warning To A Young Patriot, from which the 10 easy steps was compiled, offers an even fuller picture-a succinct and engaging explanation of how our civil liberties have been hijacked in the past decade. It is the most poignant, powerful, genuinely patriotic piece of literature I have encountered since Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. No wonder then, that the book’s cover greatly resembles that 46-page tract by Paine written in 1775-as well it should.

Click HERE to read the rest of the article….

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

by Sylvain Lamoureux

9/19/07

After a while, one begins to realize that things must be narrowed down for those that can only take one or two things at a time–those who are so deeply entrenched into a system that they don’t even understand but will defend to the death.

Fear - a control mechanism used throughout history to mold and steer society in the direction that some think it has to go.

Daily the masses are subjected to images, sounds, and ideas that convey a message that they should be afraid of something or someone. I found evidence of this the other day when I was confronted by some individuals simply because I said that I was not afraid of anything. Apparently, I have to be afraid of something in order to be part of today’s society. I fear something: that the world and its inhabitants will not see clearly until it is too late.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Adam Engel

9/19/07

Fairies, Angels and UFOs will come, Ares and Aphrodite too (he’ll come like Gary Cooper in a tux and she in sequins like Marlene Dietrich — or is it the other way?) so loud was the Rhythm of LIFE, so ineffective, but fun to make some noise and dance. We’ll dance on THEIR graves and on our own; clang our pots and smoke them; amplify our ukuleles, bang the ear-drums slowly, meltdown decibel boom or bust and

WELCOME TO THE WOODSTOCK, D.C. GHOST DANCE JAMBOREE (AND ARMAGEDDON TOO)!

Greed, fear and Muzak be damned! We’ll have a blast (pun intended), and know this doesn’t have to be, this Thanatos Waltz, although it is and was and ever always puff of us poof of us bodies in time to be forgotten.

Oh well. Big deal. Shut up. Dance. Dance or die. Dance and die. Don’t matter: do the bunny hop hustle bump and grind jitterbug Charleston go go go, L’il sister, show yer hoochie koochie cuckoo shoes nude to the waist oh darlin’ lemme part yer beet curtains it’s only for one night a life without consequence, a Dance without memory or permit.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Vi Ransel

9/19/07

Corporations seek pockets of poverty
like pit vipers lock on to heat,
taking advantage of cheap, docile labor
and creating corporate fiefs.

The Poor get used as chum
in the roiling economic waters
to attract the sharks of profit
that circle the bottom line’s coffers.

Corporations promise job creation
then run small businesses out of town
along with those original jobs, so in fact,
the number of jobs goes down.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Dale Allen Pfeiffer

9/17/07

Bush now has the ability to declare martial law at his own discretion, and in so doing dissolve the other branches of government, throw out the constitution, and suspend elections. He appropriated the right to do this largely by executive order. He can declare martial law whenever he deems there is sufficient cause; cause being an act of terrorism, an economic crisis, an act of war, civil unrest, or a natural catastrophe. For more information about the executive orders and legislation granting Bush these rights, please watch the short video at www.mountainsnetinel.com (What We Choose to Ignore), or visit the US Martial Law Timeline.

Hard as it might be to believe, there is a very real possibility that Bush will exercise these rights before his term ends. All he needs is an excuse. At present, the economy is on the verge of collapse, the Iraqi Occupation is going badly no matter what Bush and his chosen generals say, energy supplies are unable to keep pace with demand, disapproval of the Bush administration is growing, and Bush wants to attack Iran and so complete his Middle East conquest. He has all the reason in the world to declare martial law. All he lacks is a sufficient excuse.

Click HERE to read the article in its entirety….

Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

Most factory-farmed animals are confined for life in completely unnatural surroundings, reduced to mere abstract units denied the status of living creatures, and manipulated relentlessly to maximize profits. Alongside Big Pharma, agribusiness is one of the most corrupting influences in American politics.

by Peter Singer

10/2006

For low meat prices, the animals, the environment and rural neighborhoods pay steeply.

There is a growing consensus that factory farming of animals - also known as CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations - is morally wrong. The American animal rights movement, which in its early years focused largely on the use of animals in research, now has come to see that factory farming represents by far the greater abuse of animals. The numbers speak for themselves. In the United States somewhere between 20 million and 40 million birds and mammals are killed for research every year. That might seem like a lot - and it far exceeds the number of animals killed for their fur, let alone the relatively tiny number used in circuses - but 40 million represents less than two days’ toll in America’s slaughterhouses, which kill about 10 billion animals each year.

The overwhelming majority of these animals have spent their entire lives confined inside sheds, never going outdoors for a single hour. Their suffering isn’t just for a few hours or days, but for all their lives. Sows and veal calves are confined in crates too narrow for them even to turn around, let alone walk a few steps. Egg-laying hens are unable to stretch their wings because their cages are too small and too crowded. With nothing to do all day, they become frustrated and attack each other. To prevent losses, producers sear off their beaks with a hot knife, cutting through sensitive nerves.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By John Hanks

9/17/07

After the filth murdered the Wellstones, I knew that we were under a Nazi regime and that soon we would all be dead. At that point I just assumed I was dead, like any experienced combat soldier. I put signs in my car windows that say “Bush ordered 911″ or “Republicans Return to Their Own Vomit”, etc. Since I live in Wyoming, I figured that I would be murdered in short order, but so far I’m fine, after 4 years of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. If you put good hateful signs in your windows, you outflank the crook media, and cell phones often do the rest.

The only way to counter demoralization, which is the stock and trade of the filth, is to cultivate a black and intelligent hatred. Anger is an exhausting weakness and just an expression of demoralization. But, hatred is an instinctual reaction to those who would like to kill you. Republicans are full of hatred because they know that liberals would like to revoke their license to steal. That is why they don’t have to think except in terms of slogans.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

By Horace Coleman

9 Sep 07

Reason for conflict

Vietnam

∙ Did not want communism to spread in S.E. Asia. Proxy war between U.S. and Soviet Union; extension of Cold War. China has common border with N. Vietnam; did not want expanded Western involvement in S.E. Asia (their “backyard”). U.S. imperialistic ambitions; disregard for welfare of non Caucasians / non Christians.

Iraq / Afghanistan

∙ Revenge for 9/11 (although Iraq had nothing to do with 9 / 11, we emphasized subduing Iraq over stabilizing Afghanistan).

∙ Didn’t like Saddam Hussein (his Kuwait invasion threat to U.S. oil supplies).

∙ Reduce Iraq’s influence in region. Hussein claimed Kuwait was slant drilling into Iraqi oil fields. Afghanistan critical transportation route for oil.

∙ Depose Hussein.

∙ U.S. imperialistic ambitions (expand bases and presence in the Middle East.

∙ Disregard for welfare of non Caucasians / non Christians.

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Cyrano’s Journal Online and its semi-autonomous subsections (Thomas Paine’s Corner, The Greanville Journal, CJO Avenger, and VoxPop) would be delighted to periodically email you links to the most recent material and timeless classics available on our diverse and comprehensive site. If you would like to subscribe, type “CJO subscription” in the subject line and send your email to

EDITORS’ PREAMBLE: Boyish and all-American-looking GOP language whore Frank Luntz has perverted further (a feat in itself!) the sordid and utterly immoral “art” of political p.r. The raves he receives by fellow establishment whores like Time Magazine are eloquent commentary on how “American civilization” operates in corporate terms. On his own website, he touts his horn thusly:

“Frank Luntz is one of the most honored communication professionals in America today. “Time Magazine” named him one of “50 of America’s most promising leaders aged 40 and under” and he is the “hottest pollster” in America according to the “Boston Globe.” Frank was named one of the four “Top Research Minds” by Business Week and was the winner of the coveted Washington Post “Crystal Ball” award for being the most accurate pundit in 1992. Public Television’s Bill Moyers had this to say about Frank: “He’s a magician with a gift for the politics of words and what words best connect with the hearts and minds of the public.” Said comedian Al Franken: ” Asking Frank Luntz if he understands public opinion is like asking Julia Childs if she knows how to make a soufflé.”

By The Rockridge Institute

The radical Right’s messaging and framing infrastructure doesn’t seem so fearsome if you know how to spot its weaknesses.

The radical Right is acutely aware of cases where the general public has progressive values and would ordinarily reject their agenda. The Right’s approach to such cases is deception, often through the use of Orwellian language — language that means the opposite of what it says.

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