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POPSVEE Day in Alameda, California, we practiced duck-and-cover as well as earthquake drills. Nothing quaint or or historic about it then. Here’s Reagan speechwriter Anthony R. Dolan at the Wall Street Journal on the power of “Four Little Words” … you remember them: “Tear down that wall” … and the earth-shaking ideas they represented as well as the action that backed them. The popular myth is that the wall kind of toppled over by itself, with a little push from people power. That of course ignores not only the prior 44 years of Cold War … interspersed with several hot ones that cost us tens of thousands of American lives … it also ignores the massive military buildup of the 1980s, the encouragement of liberation movements behind the Iron Curtain, the tough engagement with old-school Soviet leaders and, not least, the cordial engagement with a Soviet leader who realized it was time to throw in the towel. An atmosphere was finally created in which people felt like they could
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POPS20 Years After The Wall Came Down I was 19 when the Berlin Wall came down. I remember vividly the photographs of elated Germans atop the wall, and on either side, hammering and pick-axing their way through a structure that came to epitomize the East-West divide during the Cold War. It's been 20 years since the wall fell. MSNBC is featuring a number of fascinating articles on their website, many with archival footage and video of the event. Anyone with an interest in this topic should definitely check out the MSNBC materials.
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POPSKeep the government out of the news business
Turning to Washington for help to save the declining news business says much about the mentality of mainstream journalism leaders, an attitude that we and the government are on the same side. This is the mentality that led to the news establishment’s acceptance of the Iraq War. Go to the clip to learn what happened to Mother Jones after becoming a tax exempt non-profit after it reported on lobbying in Washington. Once you allow the government or private corporation to have any controlling link to the media you lose independence. Editors become fearful of criticizing the hand that feeds it. Publishers and benefactors become cozy and unbiased reports become fewer and fewer. Journalism becomes a de facto advertisement for consumer products. We hope in the future we’ll see more I.F. Stones, more guerrilla warriors on the Web, in print and on the air. Because of them—and not because of a government handout—great reporting will survive, as it always has.
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POPS'The Axis of Idiots' - note from a Retired Marine You want to run from Iraq and abandon the Iraqis to murderers just as you did to the Vietnamese. Iraq, like Vietnam, is another war that you were for, before you were against it. John Murtha, you said our military was broken. You said we can't win militarily in Iraq. You accused United States Marines of cold-blooded murder without proof and said we should redeploy to Okinawa. Okinawa, John? And the Democrats call you their military expert! Are you sure you didn't suffer a traumatic brain injury while you were off building your war hero resume? You're a sad, pitiable, corrupt and washed up politician. You're not a Marine, sir. You wouldn't amount to a good pimple on a real Marine's butt. You're a phony and a disgrace. Run away, John.
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POPS Speech of Joseph McCarthy, Wheeling, West Virginia, February 9, 1950 Today we can almost physically hear the mutterings and rumblings of an invigorated god of war. You can see it, feel it, and hear it all the way from the Indochina hills, from the shores of Formosa, right over into the very heart of Europe itself. The one encouraging thing is that the “mad moment” has not yet arrived for the firing of the gun or the exploding of the bomb which will set civilization about the final task of destroying itself. There is still a hope for peace if we finally decide that no longer can we safely blind our eyes and close our ears to those facts which are shaping up more and more clearly . . . and that is that we are now engaged in a show-down fight . . . not the usual war between nations for land areas or other material gains, but a war between two diametrically opposed ideologies.
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POPSThe Long Road to Indecision (we need a "Decider") selecting Gen. Stanley McChrystal to implement it, the administration began to get very cold feet about the war it had described as a strategic necessity. Consider this quick timeline: March 27 . Accompanied by Gen. David Petraeus, author of the Iraq “surge” and head of U.S. Central Command, President Obama announces the conclusion of the “Af-Pak” review: a “comprehensive strategy” to “disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda” and “combat insurgents”"i.e., the Taliban. May 11 . McKiernan is fired and replaced by Gen. Stanley McChrystal. “We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador. Late June . Traveling in Afghanistan with Bob Woodward"who has by now simply opened an office in the West Wing"National Security Adviser (and ex-Marine general) Jim Jones tells on-the-ground commanders “that the Obama administration wants to hold troop levels here flat for now, . . .
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POPSThings To Make You Go Hmmm? If it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be? Why do you press harder on a remote-control when you know the battery is dead? Why do people without a watch look at their wrist when you ask them what time it is? Why do banks charge you a "non-sufficient funds fee" on money they already know you don't have? Why do they call it the Department of Interior when they are in charge of everything outdoors? What do little birdies see when they get knocked unconscious? I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman where the self-help section was. She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose. Isn't it scary that doctors call what they do "practice?" How is it possible to have a civil war?
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POPSReal Slime: An Open Letter To Bill Maher
But the most pathetic thing is when you expose your lack of education (both formal and informal) with your crackpot “theories.” This was no more evident than in the season finale of Real Time this past friday, where you asserted that it was doctors and patients “colluding together” to “corrupt” the healthcare system. This statement was so absurd and bizarre that your entire guest panel (all liberals) and even your reliably sycophantic studio audience just stared at you in disbelief. After three seconds of uncomfortable silence both the audience and panel (that included Chris Matthews and Alec Baldwin) erupted in laughter—not with you, but AT you. Things unraveled further when you launched into a diatribe defending more stupid comments you’d made the previous week about vaccines being “dangerous medical procedures.” Both Matthews and Baldwin were visibly disgusted by this, which resulted in Matthews aggressively confronting you and making you look like an idiot—again.
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POPSMilitary Service Training Ground For Sexual Predation This article is quite comprehensive in scope and deserves a full reading. A few more paragraphs from it follow this remark. "Yet for decades, in spite of the terrible numbers, the military has managed with astonishing success to get away with responding to grievances like Krause's with silence, or denial, or by blaming "a few bad apples." But when individual soldiers take the blame, the system gets off the hook. And it can be shown that the patterns of military sex crimes are old and widespread -- for generations, military service has transformed large numbers of American boys into sexual predators. So it seems reasonable to ask if perhaps there is something about military culture or training or experience that can be identified as causative, and then, perhaps, changed."
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POPSReady to Revolt: Oath Keepers pledge to prevent dictatorship in U.S. They are armed and promise to keep the oath they took to protect the Constitution. Founder Stece Rhoades: "We say if the American people decide it's time for a revolution, we'll fight with you." That type of rhetoric has caught the attention of groups that track extremist activity in the United States. In a July report titled "Return of the Militias," the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center singled out Oath Keepers as "a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival." SPLC now monitors Oath Keepers on its Web site blog "Hatewatch." Oath Keepers is not preaching violence or government overthrow, Rhodes said. On the contrary, it is asking police and the military to lay down their arms in response to unlawful orders. Group supporters compare President Obama's America to Adolf Hitler's Germany. They also liken Obama to England's King George III during the American Revolution. One member calls Obama "the domestic enemy the Constitution is talking about."
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POPSToxic Legacy of the Cold War Ohio's Fernald Preserve has flowers, birds and tons of radioactive waste. Sites that once supplied the nation's nuclear arsenal now pose a staggering political, environmental and economic challenge.
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POPSGrowing Up Bin Laden Wife and son bare secrets of terror kingpin (married to a monster). Najwa says Americans were kind and friendly, but the country was not to her conservative tastes. Pets met horrible ends. A monkey the children loved was run over by one of Osama's men. She watched the television in horror as the Twin Towers fell, claiming the lives of 2,991 people. Najwa says she has not spoken to Osama since the attacks. And this is the kind of animal species, the pals of Obama that exist at Gitmo, yet liberals defend this trash. Incredible. Just revolting.
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POPSBerlin: Then and now Adrian Bridge recalls the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and looks ahead to events marking the 20th anniversary. "Less than a day had passed since the embattled East German Communists had thrown in the towel and said their citizens could travel freely and already the Berlin Wall, the ultimate symbol of the divided continent was disappearing into history. " As Willy Brandt, former mayor of West Berlin and West German Chancellor put it so succinctly: “What belongs together, now grows together.”
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POPSDocumentary -The CIA And The Nazis A History channel documentary, that gives an insight into the inner workings of what went after WW2 and led up to the cold war and how the two are inter-connected, and also what happened to the thousands of Nazi's that were brought to America by the US military. The truth is, thousands of former Nazis, some of whom committed atrocities, went to work for the United States government without the public’s knowledge. During the war, their crimes ranged from overseeing slave labor camps to sending orphans to their deaths. After the war, they were on the US payroll either as scientists in America or as intelligence agents in Europe.
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POPSGiant Puppets to Tell Tale of German Reunification Up to 52 helpers on the ground and in cranes control the movements of the lifelike models via a complex system of pulleys. The giant puppets, made of steel, wood and horse hair can dance, blink, roll their eyes and even breathe. The girl will also carry a post sack containing letters and postcards written during the Cold War that were intercepted and read by the former East German communist secret police. Organizers have been planning the mammoth spectacle for three years. Hundreds of workers will be on hand to help the giants on their way.
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POPSMarching to world domination: Why the West should be worried about China Personally, I feel China with its ever growing power over the west (financially) will do what ever other powerful nation will do - want to dominate! As we fall apart (deliberate) and the dollar drops out of the picture they will have a clear shot at this posturing.. Russian will be right along with them.. Point being we are fading and fading fast - everyone knows it but us!!
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POPSWhat Went Wrong With Our Economy? We're letting domestic and multinational corporations, with their uncompromising profit motive and strong connection to the military, determine the future course of our country and the world. Terrorism has replaced communism as the major threat to our lifestyle. But corporate defense contractors -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and General Dynamics -- take millions of dollars from the federal treasury every DAY to produce Cold-War-era weapons, with their profits guaranteed by the American public. We're the leading seller of arms to the world. We intervene in more countries than ever before, even though studies show that intervention is tied to terrorism. Our elected representatives listen to businessmen and generals rather than to scientists, doctors, humanitarians, teachers, mothers. And we've been conditioned to believe that this is the way it must be. But it doesn't have to be this way.
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POPSExploring the powerful history of Gdansk This lovely street wasn't always so lively and carefree. On Sept. 1, 1939 — nearly 70 years ago to this date — Adolf Hitler invaded this once-German city, sparking World War II. By the end of the war, nearly 80 percent of the city had been destroyed, and the main street lay in ruins. Locals stubbornly rebuilt their town with the help of detailed drawings and photographs, mostly using the original brick. Today, excursion boats ferry history buffs through shipyards to Westerplatte point, where the war's first shots were fired.
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POPS Bring Peace into the World Today and Everyday To get you started, here are some ideas from the “Peace One Day” website:- • Make peace with someone you have fallen out with. • Swim or cycle for your own peace of mind. • Bring your family and friends together for a meal. • Send peace cards and emails. • Organise some lunch boxes for homeless people. • Make peace with yourself. • Create or visit a peace garden. • Light a candle for peace. • Hold a few minutes of silence. • Write a prayer for world peace.
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POPSSoviets Built a Doomsday Machine. It’s Still Working. more at source: By guaranteeing that Moscow could hit back, Perimeter was actually designed to keep an overeager Soviet military or civilian leader from launching prematurely during a crisis. The point, says Zhelenyakov says, was “to cool down all these hotheads and extremists. No matter what was going to happen, there still would be revenge. Those who attack us will be punished.”
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