Humans need to believe in something to have some sense of control in difficult times. The more confusing the situation, the great our sense of loss of control, the greater our need for understanding. The understanding that we create may be based in relatively few facts, and it may be true, or untrue. But we perceive the patterns and act based on our understanding, regardless. This link is to a 17.49 minute long Science Friday radio program that speaks to these tendencies in humans.
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Today is seven years after the event which has become known simply as 9/11. I can't deny that this event has had an impact in my life. It was when I realized that that those in power are entirely corrupt, and that we the people do not get much that could be considered factual news. I personally was able to avoid seeing television footage of the event for a couple of years afterward. I did not want to know. I tried to avoid it. But eventually it was in front of me, and what I saw caused me to question everything that I had been told, everything that I had read.
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Just finished reading The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness by Karen Armstrong. Though I enjoyed the entire book, the last chapter was my favorite. It is in this chapter that she summarizes her newfound understanding of religion and culture, and explains how her study of theology in preparation to write A History of God was in part a spiritual practice, which then transformed her. Prior to that chapter she weaves her life story into modern world history, leaving me feeling more educated, if still alarmed, about what is happening.
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Political awareness dawns slowly for me. I was not a good student of history in school. I lasted nearly 4 years after the airplanes hit the world trade center before I viewed video of that event. I am like the proverbial ostrich with my head in the sand. But today I came to a new understanding of JFK. He really was working for peace. He was in opposition to the military industrial complex. Eisenhower had recognized and named it, but he did not attempt to restrain it. Kennedy did. And there is no politico-economic force more brutal than that which specializes in death and world domination. Of course he was assassinated. Of course.

JFK had a prayer, borrowed from Abe Lincoln, that he said to himself to maintain calm in the face of incredible pressures for war. The prayer ended with "I am ready"....and it seems he was ready to accept full responsibility for his actions and the retaliation that took his life. No wonder this man is so often referenced by presidents and peace advocates. He lives in our subconscious as a warrior for truth, good and right. And he was martyred. And as for the conspiracy theorists; yes, there must have been a conspiracy. Such actions are rarely random. I don't know the details, but just like 9/11/01, JFK's assassination was intentional and for profit. The stench lingers in the story. The executor of such action is carefully and completely separated from the planners so as to insure "plausible deniabililty", but the link is there, somewhere.

Many thanks to my local radio station, KBOO, for the history lesson, and for the inspiration.

--aka sarcoid from Gr "sark" and "oid" means flesh-like
--Besnier-Boeck disease
--immune disorder krkrized by non-caseating granulomas usu in lungs or lymph
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Just like me. =-]
( 7 World Trade Center collapse )

http://nationalwriterssyndicate.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=2

This is the best article I've found on 9/11. Torin Wolf joined the army on 9/11/00. He explains why and how the government's story about the collapse of the World Trade Center is totally bogus, and has dozens of excellent supporting links. Thanks to aegis_one.

I've been blaming our situation on a complacent and comfortable populace. As long as we are fat and happy, we aren't likely to start a revolution. But this editorial (behind cut) proposes that there is an inherent weakness and timidity among liberals---an unwillingness to grasp power and use it.

I think they're right, but I don't understand. Why are liberals like this? What is wrong with wielding power?

Pelosi's statement that impeachment is off the table is a prime example of someone who is in a position of power but doesn't want to appear to want the power. She should be saying "Look out guys, we'll remove you and I'll take over if you don't start flying right". It is exactly her responsbility as Speaker of the House to take that power if needed. I pick on Pelosi but we have an entire congress of wimpy representatives who would rather say "bad boy" than to take the stick away from the bullies and use it themselves to enforce proper behavior.

Even the timid and the shy can break out of old habits and become outspoken proponents of truth. Each of us so-called Americans who do not actively participate in guiding our representatives needs to break out and take action too. My pen is greased: lots of congressmen and senators are hearing from me. It's time for all of us to take our responsibility to this nation seriously.

Democracy requires an educated and involved populace, or it will fall. Ours is making whistling noises, it's falling so fast.

( Read the Editorial from Buzzflash about How and Why the Democrats Are Weak )

Check this 2003 writing out, it's good:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul110.html

Here's his general summary of what neocons believe:

They agree with Trotsky on permanent revolution, violent as well as intellectual.

They are for redrawing the map of the Middle East and are willing to use force to do so.

They believe in preemptive war to achieve desired ends.

They accept the notion that the ends justify the means – that hard-ball politics is a moral necessity.

They express no opposition to the welfare state.

They are not bashful about an American empire; instead they strongly endorse it.

They believe lying is necessary for the state to survive.

They believe a powerful federal government is a benefit.

They believe pertinent facts about how a society should be run should be held by the elite and withheld from those who do not have the courage to deal with it.

They believe neutrality in foreign affairs is ill-advised.

They hold Leo Strauss in high esteem.

They believe imperialism, if progressive in nature, is appropriate. Using American might to force American ideals on others is acceptable. Force should
not be limited to the defense of our country.

9-11 resulted from the lack of foreign entanglements, not from too many.

They dislike and despise libertarians (therefore, the same applies to all strict constitutionalists.)

They endorse attacks on civil liberties, such as those found in the Patriot Act, as being necessary.

They unconditionally support Israel and have a close alliance with the Likud Party.

However it was funded by the federal government, and comes to predictable conclusions.
These guys checked it out:
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/june2007/220607study.htm

This is a ten minute video with some good footage of the south tower falling.
I think this guy is asking the right questions.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwQa5eokieY
(thanks to aegis_one)

And here's another one that brings up questions for me about flight 93:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZekosYOmXc&mode=related&search=

Our government is still maintaining the story that Building 7 fell down due to terrorist activity. The owner collected $861 million in insurance for the building, based on a terrorism claim. But the evidence contradicts this claim, and Senator Kerry has publicly stated opinions that are contrary to the government line. He thinks it fell down because of planned demolition. Ever since I saw the video of the way it fell, I have been convinced of the same, and also convinced that the towers also fell due to carefully placed explosives--and not because of airplanes. Of course, I'm not a demolitions expert, but find one and ask--apparently what looks obvious to me is even more obvious to them. A new tidbit: CNN and BBC were reporting the fall of Building 7 before it actually fell. Terrorism indeed. Here's a good summary and some interesting video:

http://www.infowars.com/articles/sept11/wtc_7_kerry_says_7_deliberately_demolished.htm

If you haven't heard of her, she's the brains and spirit behind Democracy Now, a spunky radio news program that has spread via Pacifica Radio and NPR in some places (not here).

You can download her daily program here: http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl.

Here's her first weekly column: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/291047_amy05.html.

Amy Goodman's book, Exception to the Rulers, starts with 9/11 and follows the story of the Shrub regime and their poorly-executed attempt to dominate the mideast, along with the submission of the mainstream media. But Goodman does not lower her eyes. There has already been a lot of great reporting from this lady and her crew. I look forward to seeing her column in papers. Our local paper, the Daily Sun, would just as soon ignore her. But if enough of us request her column...who knows what could happen.

Goodman's column will be titled "Breaking the Sound Barrier" and to request it our paper is to contact King Features.

http://georgewashington.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-would-it-take.html

Excellent insight for everyone who still hasn't looked into 911 to decide for themselves.
For everyone who suspects but doesn't want to know.
For everyone who just can't bear to imagine.

It's Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, telling his side of the 9/11 and aftermath story.... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6210240/from/ET/
It is refreshing to find that I am not the only one who is outraged. ...This happened at the same time as ABC airing a "docudrama" about 911 that got them tons of bad press because it was so biased and factually flawed....

From a heroine: Amy Goodman of Democracy Now interviewed the authors of "One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century." The authors argue that the Republican party owns a clear advantage in the fundamentals of campaigning and has built up a series of structural advantages that make it increasingly difficult to beat. Listen/Watch/Read: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/13/1331232

I wonder if my hunch is correct; that the battle against the neocons will be won be taking the Republican Party away from them. I want the Republican Party to stand for fiscal responsibility, and the avoidance of foreign entanglements, as it did when it was founded. The neocons will have none of this.

And in other hopeful news, in lovely Rhode Island, anti-Bush Republican Lincoln Chafee was chosen in the senate primary. YEAH. He's more anti-Bush than the Democrat he will run against (Sheldon Whitehouse). It will be interesting to see...

Moussauoi was in prison in fall 2001. He knew about Al Quaida's 9/11 plot, and did not reveal it. He lied under oath.
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Below I have quoted the closing paragraphs of Osama Bin Laden's broadcast on Al Jazeera TV from Thursday, January 19. I had not read it until today, but I am glad I finally did read it. He spoke about torture and rape, and of the hopeless suicides of American soldiers caught between fighting an unjust war and the punishing devices of a vicious government. He spoke about Bush's lies and of the financial support that he gets from "war merchants". Bin Laden is insightful and direct. I honor his fight to the death against our president, his cronies and our war and profit machine. I hear more compassion in his promise to give us hell than I hear in Bush's constant promise that they are "making progress" at sacrificing our young men for the almighty oil dollar. I am sorry that I am a hypocrite and pay taxes to a government which has so horrifically wronged so many people. As tax day approaches this becomes constantly more painful. There must be a better way.
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This guy Moussaui is the only person on trial for conspiring in 9/11. He knew about it before it happened. He was taking flying lessons "for his own enjoyment" and did something wacky. He was taken into custody, and he didn't give it away. He's small fry from the Al-Qaeda perspective, but the US government was going to scapegoat him. Burn him on a cross if they could. But this administration, including the lawyers, is so incompetent and self-righteous that they are hanging themselves. This is the second time that they have violated Moussaui's constitutional rights (and we know how much respect for these rights this administration has). This FAA lawyer coached four members of the jury and contacted more of them by email. She cc'ed the whole group so they could communicate among themselves. This was totally against the rules. So the trial has been thrown out. Moussaui is going to get life instead of death.

Here's the BBC story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4802412.stm.

History is going to FRY the Shrub Administration. FRY.

I had the opportunity to read more on this story, about the world of Islam erupting in violent indignation over some blasphemous cartoons. It turns out that some secular Arab governments and other folks with political aims have been using these cartoons and lots more to whip the populace into a frenzy for their own aims. It is similar to the use of 9/11 by the US government, to frighten citizens into giving the feds carte blanche to "protect" us.

As long as both sides in this escalating conflict case their arguments in terms of good and evil, we are doomed to a nasty WWIII. There is no reconciling with someone who calls you evil. America is the "Great Satan" to the Muslims. For many reasons. I don't know if nuclear devastation is already inevitable, but it seems probable coming from this angle. I don't believe the Shrub Regime when they say Iran is 10 years from having nuclear bomb capacity. They lie about everything else, so they probably are talking out of their asses about this item also.