What do you believe?

[Guest #22]

My dog:
[img]http://photos-904.facebook.com/n13/52/4/179900355/n179900355_30016904_9700.jpg[/img]

BAB's dog:
[img]http://216.218.248.205/datastore/2e/2f/t/2e2f95f85014f32a3cc0e19743fe9652.jpg[/img]

[-Dan_Bengals_FL-]

I believe population control is the biggest issue facing this planet.

[Guest #22]

I happen to agree.

[Guest Coy Bacon]

[quote name='Dan_Bengals_NJ' post='255275' date='Apr 25 2006, 11:14 PM']I believe population control is the biggest issue facing this planet.[/quote]


I believe population control is a ruse designed to achieve..........well population control - as in control of the activities of the population rather than the numbers.

The Doors Of Perception:
Why Americans Will
Believe Almost Anything
By Tim O'Shea
www.thedoctorwithin.com
8-18-1

Aldous Huxley's inspired 1956 essay detailed the vivid, mind-expanding, multisensory insights of his mescaline adventures. By altering his brain chemistry with natural psychotropics, Huxley tapped into a rich and fluid world of shimmering, indescribable beauty and power. With his neurosensory input thus triggered, Huxley was able to enter that parallel universe described by every mystic and space captain in recorded history. Whether by hallucination or epiphany, Huxley sought to remove all controls, all filters, all cultural conditioning from his perceptions and to confront Nature or the World or Reality first-hand - in its unpasteurized, unedited, unretouched, infinite rawness.

Those bonds are much harder to break today, half a century later. We are the most conditioned, programmed beings the world has ever known. Not only are our thoughts and attitudes continually being shaped and molded; our very awareness of the whole design seems like it is being subtly and inexorably erased. The doors of our perception are carefully and precisely regulated. Who cares, right?

It is an exhausting and endless task to keep explaining to people how most issues of conventional wisdom are scientifically implanted in the public consciousness by a thousand media clips per day. In an effort to save time, I would like to provide just a little background on the handling of information in this country. Once the basic principles are illustrated about how our current system of media control arose historically, the reader might be more apt to question any given popular opinion.

If everybody believes something, it's probably wrong. We call that

Conventional Wisdom.

In America, conventional wisdom that has mass acceptance is usually contrived: somebody paid for it.

Examples:

* Pharmaceuticals restore health
* Vaccination brings immunity
* The cure for cancer is just around the corner
* Menopause is a disease condition
* When a child is sick, he needs immediate antibiotics
* When a child has a fever he needs Tylenol
* Hospitals are safe and clean.
* America has the best health care in the world.
* Americans have the best health in the world.
* Milk is a good source of calcium.
* You never outgrow your need for milk.
* Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.
* Aspirin prevents heart attacks.
* Heart drugs improve the heart.
* Back and neck pain are the only reasons for spinal adjustment.
* No child can get into school without being vaccinated.
* The FDA thoroughly tests all drugs before they go on the market.
* Back and neck pain are the only reason for spinal adjustment.
* Pregnancy is a serious medical condition
* Chemotherapy and radiation are effective cures for cancer
* When your child is diagnosed with an ear infection, antibiotics should be given
immediately 'just in case'
* Ear tubes are for the good of the child.
* Estrogen drugs prevent osteoporosis after menopause.
* Pediatricians are the most highly trained of al medical specialists.
* The purpose of the health care industry is health.
* HIV is the cause of AIDS.
* AZT is the cure.
* Without vaccines, infectious diseases will return
* Fluoride in the city water protects your teeth
* Flu shots prevent the flu.
* Vaccines are thoroughly tested before being placed on the Mandated Schedule.
* Doctors are certain that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh any possible risks.
* There is a power shortage in California.
* There is a meningitis epidemic in California.
* The NASDAQ is a natural market controlled only by supply and demand.
* Chronic pain is a natural consequence of aging.
* Soy is your healthiest source of protein.
* Insulin shots cure diabetes.
* After we take out your gall bladder you can eat anything you want
* Allergy medicine will cure allergies.

This is a list of illusions, that have cost billions and billions to conjure up. Did you ever wonder why you never see the President speaking publicly unless he is reading? Or why most people in this country think generally the same about most of the above issues?


HOW THIS WHOLE SET-UP GOT STARTED

In Trust Us We're Experts, Stauber and Rampton pull together some compelling data describing the science of creating public opinion in America. They trace modern public influence back to the early part of the last century, highlighting the work of guys like Edward L. Bernays, the Father of Spin. From his own amazing chronicle Propaganda, we learn how Edward L. Bernays took the ideas of his famous uncle Sigmund Freud himself and applied them to the emerging science of mass persuasion. The only difference was that instead of using these principles to uncover hidden themes in the human unconscious, the way Freudian psychology does, Bernays used these same ideas to mask agendas and to create illusions that deceive and misrepresent, for marketing purposes.


THE FATHER OF SPIN

Bernays dominated the PR industry until the 1940s, and was a significant force for another 40 years after that. (Tye) During all that time, Bernays took on hundreds of diverse assignments to create a public perception about some idea or product. A few examples: As a neophyte with the Committee on Public Information, one of Bernays' first assignments was to help sell the First World War to the American public with the idea to "Make the World Safe for Democracy." (Ewen)

A few years later, Bernays set up a stunt to popularize the notion of women smoking cigarettes. In organizing the 1929 Easter Parade in New York City, Bernays showed himself as a force to be reckoned with. He organized the Torches of Liberty Brigade in which suffragettes marched in the parade smoking cigarettes as a mark of women's liberation. Such publicity followed from that one event that from then on women have felt secure about destroying their own lungs in public, the same way that men have always done.

Bernays popularized the idea of bacon for breakfast. Not one to turn down a challenge, he set up the advertising format along with the AMA that lasted for nearly 50 years proving that cigarettes are beneficial to health. Just look at ads in issues of Life or Time from the 40s and 50s.

During the next several decades Bernays and his colleagues evolved the principles by which masses of people could be generally swayed through messages repeated over and over hundreds of times. One the value of media became apparent, other countries of the world tried to follow our lead. But Bernays really was the gold standard. Josef Goebbels, who was Hitler's minister of propaganda, studied the principles of Edward Bernays when Goebbels was developing the popular rationale he would use to convince the Germans that they had to purify their race. (Stauber)


SMOKE AND MIRRORS

Bernay's job was to reframe an issue; to create a desired image that would put a particular product or concept in a desirable light. Bernays described the public as a 'herd that needed to be led.' And this herdlike thinking makes people "susceptible to leadership." Bernays never deviated from his fundamental axiom to "control the masses without their knowing it." The best PR happens with the people unaware that they are being manipulated.

Stauber describes Bernays' rationale like this: "the scientific manipulation of public opinion was necessary to overcome chaos and conflict in a democratic society." Trust Us p 42

These early mass persuaders postured themselves as performing a moral service for humanity in general - democracy was too good for people; they needed to be told what to think, because they were incapable of rational thought by themselves. Here's a paragraph from Bernays' Propaganda: "Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. In almost every act of our lives whether in the sphere of politics or business in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires that control the public mind."

A tad different from Thomas Jefferson's view on the subject:


"I know of no safe depository of the ultimate power of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise that control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not take it from them, but to inform their discretion."

Inform their discretion. Bernays believed that only a few possessed the necessary insight into the Big Picture to be entrusted with this sacred task. And luckily, he saw himself as one of that few.


HERE COMES THE MONEY

Once the possibilities of applying Freudian psychology to mass media were glimpsed, Bernays soon had more corporate clients than he could handle. Global corporations fell all over themselves courting the new Image Makers. There were dozens of goods and services and ideas to be sold to a susceptible public. Over the years, these players have had the money to make their images happen. A few examples:

Philip Morris Pfizer Union Carbide Allstate Monsanto Eli Lilly tobacco industry Ciba Geigy lead industry Coors DuPont Chlorox Shell Oil Standard Oil Procter & Gamble Boeing General Motors Dow Chemical General Mills Goodyear


THE PLAYERS

Dozens of PR firms have emerged to answer that demand. Among them:

Burson-Marsteller Edelman Hill & Knowlton Kamer-Singer Ketchum Mongovin, Biscoe, and Duchin BSMG Buder-Finn


Though world-famous within the PR industry, these are names we don't know, and for good reason. The best PR goes unnoticed. For decades they have created the opinions that most of us were raised with, on virtually any issue which has the remotest commercial value, including:

pharmaceutical drugs vaccines medicine as a profession alternative medicine fluoridation of city water chlorine household cleaning products tobacco dioxin global warming leaded gasoline cancer research and treatment pollution of the oceans forests and lumber images of celebrities, including damage control crisis and disaster management genetically modified foods aspartame food additives; processed foods dental amalgams


LESSON #1

Bernays learned early on that the most effective way to create credibility for a product or an image was by "independent third-party" endorsement. For example, if General Motors were to come out and say that global warming is a hoax thought up by some liberal tree-huggers, people would suspect GM's motives, since GM's fortune is made by selling automobiles. If however some independent research institute with a very credible sounding name like the Global Climate Coalition comes out with a scientific report that says global warming is really a fiction, people begin to get confused and to have doubts about the original issue.

So that's exactly what Bernays did. With a policy inspired by genius, he set up "more institutes and foundations than Rockefeller and Carnegie combined." (Stauber p 45) Quietly financed by the industries whose products were being evaluated, these "independent" research agencies would churn out "scientific" studies and press materials that could create any image their handlers wanted. Such front groups are given high-sounding names like:

Temperature Research Foundation International Food Information Council Consumer Alert The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition Air Hygiene Foundation Industrial Health Federation International Food Information Council Manhattan Institute Center for Produce Quality Tobacco Institute Research Council Cato Institute American Council on Science and Health Global Climate Coalition Alliance for Better Foods

Sound pretty legit don't they?


CANNED NEWS RELEASES

As Stauber explains, these organizations and hundreds of others like them are front groups whose sole mission is to advance the image of the global corporations who fund them, like those listed on page 2 above. This is accomplished in part by an endless stream of 'press releases' announcing "breakthrough" research to every radio station and newspaper in the country. (Robbins) Many of these canned reports read like straight news, and indeed are purposely molded in the news format. This saves journalists the trouble of researching the subjects on their own, especially on topics aboutwhich they know very little. Entire sections of the release or in the case of video news releases, the whole thing can be just lifted intact, with no editing, given the byline of the reporter or newspaper or TV station - and voilá! Instant news - copy and paste. Written by corporate PR firms.

Does this really happen? Every single day, since the 1920s when the idea of the News Release was first invented by Ivy Lee. (Stauber, p 22) Sometimes as many as half the stories appearing in an issue of the Wall St. Journal are based solely on such PR press releases.. (22) These types of stories are mixed right in with legitimately researched stories. Unless you have done the research yourself, you won't be able to tell the difference.


THE LANGUAGE OF SPIN

As 1920s spin pioneers like Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays gained more experience, they began to formulate rules and guidelines for creating public opinion. They learned quickly that mob psychology must focus on emotion, not facts. Since the mob is incapable of rational thought, motivation must be based not on logic but on presentation. Here are some of the axioms of the new science of PR:

* technology is a religion unto itself * if people are incapable of rational thought, real democracy is dangerous * important decisions should be left to experts * when reframing issues, stay away from substance; create images * never state a clearly demonstrable lie

Words are very carefully chosen for their emotional impact. Here's an example. A front group called the International Food Information Council handles the public's natural aversion to genetically modified foods. Trigger words are repeated all through the text. Now in the case of GM foods, the public is instinctively afraid of these experimental new creations which have suddenly popped up on our grocery shelves which are said to have DNA alterations. The IFIC wants to reassure the public of the safety of GM foods, so it avoids words like:

Frankenfoods Hitler biotech chemical DNA experiments manipulate money safety scientists radiation roulette gene-splicing gene gun random


Instead, good PR for GM foods contains words like:

hybrids natural order beauty choice bounty cross-breeding diversity earth farmer organic wholesome.


It's basic Freudian/Tony Robbins word association. The fact that GM foods are not hybrids that have been subjected to the slow and careful scientific methods of real cross-breeding doesn't really matter. This is pseudoscience, not science. Form is everything and substance just a passing myth. (Trevanian)

Who do you think funds the International Food Information Council? Take a wild guess. Right - Monsanto, DuPont, Frito-Lay, Coca Cola, Nutrasweet - those in a position to make fortunes from GM foods. (Stauber p 20)


CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD PROPAGANDA

As the science of mass control evolved, PR firms developed further guidelines for effective copy. Here are some of the gems:

- dehumanize the attacked party by labeling and name calling

- speak in glittering generalities using emotionally positive words

- when covering something up, don't use plain English; stall for time; distract

- get endorsements from celebrities, churches, sports figures, street people...anyone who has no expertise in the subject at hand

- the 'plain folks' ruse: us billionaires are just like you

- when minimizing outrage, don't say anything memorable

- when minimizing outrage, point out the benefits of what just happened

- when minimizing outrage, avoid moral issues



Keep this list. Start watching for these techniques. Not hard to find - look at today's paper or tonight's TV news. See what they're doing; these guys are good!


SCIENCE FOR HIRE

PR firms have become very sophisticated in the preparation of news releases. They have learned how to attach the names of famous scientists to research that those scientists have not even looked at. (Stauber, p 201) This is a common occurrence. In this way the editors of newspapers and TV news shows are often not even aware that an individual release is a total PR fabrication. Or at least they have "deniability," right?

Stauber tells the amazing story of how leaded gas came into the picture. In 1922, General Motors discovered that adding lead to gasoline gave cars more horsepower. When there was some concern about safety, GM paid the Bureau of Mines to do some fake "testing" and publish spurious research that 'proved' that inhalation of lead was harmless. Enter Charles Kettering.

Founder of the world famous Sloan-Kettering Memorial Institute for medical research, Charles Kettering also happened to be an executive with General Motors. By some strange coincidence, we soon have the Sloan Kettering institute issuing reports stating that lead occurs naturally in the body and that the body has a way of eliminating low level exposure. Through its association with The Industrial Hygiene Foundation and PR giant Hill & Knowlton, Sloane Kettering opposed all anti-lead research for years. (Stauber p 92). Without organized scientific opposition, for the next 60 years more and more gasoline became leaded, until by the 1970s, 90% or our gasoline was leaded.

Finally it became too obvious to hide that lead was a major carcinogen, and leaded gas was phased out in the late 1980s. But during those 60 years, it is estimated that some 30 million tons of lead were released in vapor form onto American streets and highways. 30 million tons.

That is PR, my friends.


JUNK SCIENCE

In 1993 a guy named Peter Huber wrote a new book and coined a new term. The book was Galileo's Revenge and the term was junk science. Huber's shallow thesis was that real science supports technology, industry, and progress. Anything else was suddenly junk science. Not surprisingly, Stauber explains how Huber's book was supported by the industry-backed Manhattan Institute.

Huber's book was generally dismissed not only because it was so poorly written, but because it failed to realize one fact: true scientific research begins with no conclusions. Real scientists are seeking the truth because they do not yet know what the truth is.

True scientific method goes like this:

1. form a hypothesis

2. make predictions for that hypothesis

3. test the predictions

4. reject or revise the hypothesis based on the research findings

Boston University scientist Dr. David Ozonoff explains that ideas in science are themselves like "living organisms, that must be nourished, supported, and cultivated with resources for making them grow and flourish." (Stauber p 205) Great ideas that don't get this financial support because the commercial angles are not immediately obvious - these ideas wither and die.

Another way you can often distinguish real science from phony is that real science points out flaws in its own research. Phony science pretends there were no flaws.


THE REAL JUNK SCIENCE

Contrast this with modern PR and its constant pretensions to sound science. Corporate sponsored research, whether it's in the area of drugs, GM foods, or chemistry begins with predetermined conclusions. It is the job of the scientists then to prove that these conclusions are true, because of the economic upside that proof will bring to the industries paying for that research. This invidious approach to science has shifted the entire focus of research in America during the past 50 years, as any true scientist is likely to admit.

Stauber documents the increasing amount of corporate sponsorship of university research. (206) This has nothing to do with the pursuit of knowledge. Scientists lament that research has become just another commodity, something bought and sold. (Crossen)


THE TWO MAIN TARGETS OF "SOUND SCIENCE"

It is shocking when Stauber shows how the vast majority of corporate PR today opposes any research that seeks to protect: Public Health and The Environment

It's a funny thing that most of the time when we see the phrase "junk science," it is in a context of defending something that may threaten either the environment or our health. This makes sense when one realizes that money changes hands only by selling the illusion of health and the illusion of environmental protection. True public health and real preservation of the earth's environment have very low market value.

Stauber thinks it ironic that industry's self-proclaimed debunkers of junk science are usually non-scientists themselves. (255) Here again they can do this because the issue is not science, but the creation of images.


THE LANGUAGE OF ATTACK

When PR firms attack legitimate environmental groups and alternative medicine people, they again use special words which will carry an emotional punch:

outraged sound science junk science sensible scaremongering responsible phobia hoax alarmist hysteria

The next time you are reading a newspaper article about an environmental or health issue, note how the author shows bias by using the above terms. This is the result of very specialized training.

Another standard PR tactic is to use the rhetoric of the environmentalists themselves to defend a dangerous and untested product that poses an actual threat to the environment. This we see constantly in the PR smokescreen that surrounds genetically modified foods. They talk about how GM foods are necessary to grow more food and to end world hunger, when the reality is that GM foods actually have lower yields per acre than natural crops. (Stauber p 173) The grand design sort of comes into focus once you realize that almost all GM foods have been created by the sellers of herbicides and pesticides so that those plants can withstand greater amounts of herbicides and pesticides. (The Magic Bean)


THE MIRAGE OF PEER REVIEW

Publish or perish is the classic dilemma of every research scientist. That means whoever expects funding for the next research project had better get the current research paper published in the best scientific journals. And we all know that the best scientific journals, like JAMA, New England Journal, British Medical Journal, etc. are peer-reviewed. Peer review means that any articles which actually get published, between all those full color drug ads and pharmaceutical centerfolds, have been reviewed and accepted by some really smart guys with a lot of credentials. The assumption is, if the article made it past peer review, the data and the conclusions of the research study have been thoroughly checked out and bear some resemblance to physical reality.

But there are a few problems with this hot little set up. First off, money. Even though prestigious venerable medical journals pretend to be so objective and scientific and incorruptible, the reality is that they face the same type of being called to account that all glossy magazines must confront: don't antagonize your advertisers. Those full-page drug ads in the best journals cost millions,Jack. How long will a pharmaceutical company pay for ad space in a magazine that prints some very sound scientific research paper that attacks the safety of the drug in the centerfold? Think about it. The editors aren't that stupid.

Another problem is the conflict of interest thing. There's a formal requirement for all medical journals that any financial ties between an author and a product manufacturer be disclosed in the article. In practice, it never happens. A study done in 1997 of 142 medical journals did not find even one such disclosure. (Wall St. Journal, 2 Feb 99)

A 1998 study from the New England Journal of Medicine found that 96% of peer reviewed articles had financial ties to the drug they were studying. (Stelfox, 1998) Big shock, huh? Any disclosures? Yeah, right. This study should be pointed out whenever somebody starts getting too pompous about the objectivity of peer review, like they often do.

Then there's the outright purchase of space. A drug company may simply pay $100,000 to a journal to have a favorable article printed. (Stauber, p 204)

Fraud in peer review journals is nothing new. In 1987, the New England Journal ran an article that followed the research of R. Slutsky MD over a seven year period. During that time, Dr. Slutsky had published 137 articles in a number of peer-reviewed journals. NEJM found that in at least 60 of these 137, there was evidence of major scientific fraud and misrepresentation, including:

* reporting data for experiments that were never done * reporting measurements that were never made * reporting statistical analyses that were never done

oEngler

Dean Black PhD, describes what he the calls the Babel Effect that results when this very common and frequently undetected scientific fraudulent data in peer-reviewed journals are quoted by other researchers, who are in turn re-quoted by still others, and so on.

Want to see something that sort of re-frames this whole discussion? Check out the McDonald's ads which often appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Then keep in mind that this is the same publication that for almost 50 years ran cigarette ads proclaiming the health benefits of tobacco. (Robbins)

Very scientific, oh yes.


KILL YOUR TV?

Hope this chapter has given you a hint to start reading newspaper and magazine articles a little differently, and perhaps start watching TV news shows with a slightly different attitude than you had before. Always ask, what are they selling here, and who's selling it? And if you actually follow up on Stauber & Rampton's book and check out some of the other resources below, you might even glimpse the possibility of advancing your life one quantum simply by ceasing to subject your brain to mass media. That's right - no more newspapers, no more TV news, no more Time magazine or Newsweek. You could actually do that. Just think what you could do with the extra time alone.

Really feel like you need to "relax" or find out "what's going on in the world" for a few hours every day? Think about the news of the past couple of years for a minute. Do you really suppose the major stories that have dominated headlines and TV news have been "what is going on in the world?" Do you actually think there's been nothing going on besides the contrived tech slump, the contrived power shortages, the re-filtered accounts of foreign violence and disaster, and all the other non-stories that the puppeteers dangle before us every day? What about when they get a big one, like with OJ or Monica Lewinsky or the Oklahoma city bombing? Do we really need to know all that detail, day after day? Do we have any way of verifying all that detail, even if we wanted to? What is the purpose of news? To inform the public? Hardly. The sole purpose of news is to keep the public in a state of fear and uncertainty so that they'll watch again tomorrow and be subjected to the same advertising. Oversimplification? Of course. That's the mark of mass media mastery - simplicity. The invisible hand. Like Edward Bernays said, the people must be controlled without them knowing it.

Consider this: what was really going on in the world all that time they were distracting us with all that stupid vexatious daily smokescreen? Fear and uncertainty -- that's what keeps people coming back for more.


If this seems like a radical outlook, let's take it one step further: What would you lose from your life if you stopped watching TV and stopped reading newspapers altogether?

Would your life really suffer any financial, moral, intellectual or academic loss from such a decision?

Do you really need to have your family continually absorbing the illiterate, amoral, phony, uncultivated, desperately brainless values of the people featured in the average nightly TV program? Are these fake, programmed robots "normal"?

Do you need to have your life values constantly spoonfed to you?

Are those shows really amusing, or just a necessary distraction to keep you from looking at reality, or trying to figure things out yourself by doing a little independent reading?

Name one example of how your life is improved by watching TV news and reading the evening paper. What measurable gain is there for you?


PLANET OF THE APES?

There's no question that as a nation, we're getting dumber year by year. Look at the presidents we've been choosing lately. Ever notice the blatant grammar mistakes so ubiquitous in today's advertising and billboards? Literacy is marginal in most American secondary schools. Three-fourths of California high school seniors can't read well enough to pass their exit exams. ( SJ Mercury 20 Jul 01) If you think other parts of the country are smarter, try this one: hand any high school senior a book by Dumas or Jane Austen, and ask them to open to any random page and just read one paragraph out loud. Go ahead, do it. SAT scales are arbitrarily shifted lower and lower to disguise how dumb kids are getting year by year. (ADD: A Designer Disease) At least 10% have documented "learning disabilities," which are reinforced and rewarded by special treatment and special drugs. Ever hear of anyone failing a grade any more?

Or observe the intellectual level of the average movie which these days may only last one or two weeks in the theatres, especially if it has insufficient explosions, chase scenes, silicone, fake martial arts, and cretinesque dialogue. Radio? Consider the low mental qualifications of the falsely animated corporate simians hired as DJs -- seems like they're only allowed to have 50 thoughts, which they just repeat at random. And at what point did popular music cease to require the study of any musical instrument or theory whatsoever, not to mention lyric? Perhaps we just don't understand this emerging art form, right? The Darwinism of MTV - apes descended from man.

Ever notice how most articles in any of the glossy magazines sound like they were all written by the same guy? And this writer just graduated from junior college? And yet has all the correct opinions on social issues, no original ideas, and that shallow, smug, homogenized corporate omniscience, to assure us that everything is going to be fine... Yes, everything is fine.

All this is great news for the PR industry - makes their job that much easier. Not only are very few paying attention to the process of conditioning; fewer are capable of understanding it even if somebody explained it to them.


TEA IN THE CAFETERIA

Let's say you're in a crowded cafeteria, and you buy a cup of tea. And as you're about to sit down you see your friend way across the room. So you put the tea down and walk across the room and talk to your friend for a few minutes. Now, coming back to your tea, are you just going to pick it up and drink it? Remember, this is a crowded place and you've just left your tea unattended for several minutes. You've given anybody in that room access to your tea.

Why should your mind be any different? Turning on the TV, or uncritically absorbing mass publications every day - these activities allow access to our minds by "just anyone" - anyone who has an agenda, anyone with the resources to create a public image via popular media. As we've seen above, just because we read something or see something on TV doesn't mean it's true or worth knowing. So the idea here is, like the tea, the mind is also worth guarding, worth limiting access to it.

This is the only life we get. Time is our total capital. Why waste it allowing our potential, our personality, our values to be shaped, crafted, and limited according to the whims of the mass panderers? There are many truly important decisions that are crucial to our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, decisions which require information and research. If it's an issue where money is involved, objective data won't be so easy to obtain. Remember, if everybody knows something, that image has been bought and paid for.

Real knowledge takes a little effort, a little excavation down at least one level below what "everybody knows." 1

REFERENCES



Stauber & Rampton Trust Us, We're Experts Tarcher/Putnam 2001

Ewen, Stuart PR!: A Social History of Spin 1996 ISBN: 0-465-06168-0 Published by Basic Books, A Division of Harper Collins

Tye, Larry The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations Crown Publishers, Inc. 2001

King, R Medical journals rarely disclose researchers' ties Wall St. Journal, 2 Feb 99.

Engler, R et al. Misrepresentation and Responsibility in Medical Research

New England Journal of Medicine v 317 p 1383 26 Nov 1987

Black, D PhD Health At the Crossroads Tapestry 1988.

Trevanian Shibumi 1983.

Crossen, C Tainted Truth: The Manipulation of Fact in America 1996.

Robbins, J Reclaiming Our Health Kramer 1996.

Jefferson, T Writings New York Library of America, p 493; 1984.

O'Shea T The Magic Bean 2000 www.thedoctorwithin.com Alternative Medicine magazine May 2001.

[MULLY]

[u][b]I believe[/b][/u]

I have to go to work again tomorrow
The rent is due on the 27th of each month
My inability to control myself got me into credit card debt
My wife is a great person
It's time for a new pair of shoes
I could bang the new history teacher at my school if I put the effort forth
Quantas airlines has narrow seats

Carson Palmer should have a statue on Fountain Square

[u][b]I don't believe[/b][/u]

I'll lose 100lbs by Christmas
My dick will be 14 inches long tomorrow morning
My wife will begin swallowing
Grapefruit is good for you....(that shit is fucking evil)
Tom Cruise isn't gay

The Stealers can beat the Bengals this coming season.

MULLY
keepin' it real

[Nati Ice]

i believe...

ill have another beer

[Guest CTBengalsFan]

[quote name='Coy Bacon' post='255297' date='Apr 25 2006, 11:51 PM']I believe population control is a ruse designed to achieve..........well population control - as in control of the activities of the population rather than the numbers.

The Doors Of Perception:
Why Americans Will
Believe Almost Anything
By Tim O'Shea
www.thedoctorwithin.com
8-18-1

*PARANOIA PARANOIA EVERYBODY'S COMING TO GET ME*[/quote]

[BirdmanND]

good post Coy.

As I am a young researcher and am the son of a Pediatrician, I know more about a few of the issues raised in that article than most, and therefore have a few comments.

Drug companies do have a vested interest in seeking treatments as opposed to cures, and thus direct their research in that way. However, doctors have no interest in keeping you sick, as they make the same amount of money no matter what happens to you. Therefore, doctors are motivated to treat you as effectively and as quickly as possible in order to avoid creating more work for themselves.

The vast majority of scientists would love to work in the interest of public health, but the ability to do so is limited by the availability of public money for independent (primarily university based) research. Therefore, a very large percentage of scientists decide to work for biotech companies including drug companies, where the focus of their research is decided by their corporate superiors. Therefore, blame the leaders of drug companies for finding treatments and not cures for diseases. However, because of the way the system works, drug companies are a very necessary evil because they provide the monetary investment in medical research that the American public is unwilling to pay through taxes.


Work published in peer review journals can be trusted (for the most part) despite the lack of total financial disclosure. This is because the peer review process does not end at the publishing of the journal. Journal articles are not to be taken as fact, they are science. Which means that conclusions are based on observed evidence. However other scientists may (and often do) see aspects of a study which they do not think are true, and will have another hypothesis explaining the observed results, or may believe the observed results are erroneous. Scientists will then re-test the experiments of the study themselves. As for fraud in scientific journals, while it has been known to happen, it is extremely rare, and is not a real problem.

The only problem with scientific journals is that the media and general public often read and distribute journal articles as fact.

"Independent" Studies funded with corporate money should always be taken with a huge grain of salt, as the article says. Unfortunately, the results of these studies are often reported by the media or referenced by politicians as being on par with truly independent studies. It should be also be noted that scientists who work for drug companies are not considered part of the scientific community, as their work is never published in peer review journals.

The FDA does need to be reformed, but is still trustworthy.

There is no reason to fear genetically engineered food. For example, every banana in the supermarket has been genetically engineered.

from that list at the start of the article:

* Pharmaceuticals restore health: Depends on the drug
* Vaccination brings immunity: Assuming no complications, True
* The cure for cancer is just around the corner: True and False, but mostly false
* Menopause is a disease condition: False
* When a child is sick, he needs immediate antibiotics: Big time False, this is a major problem
* When a child has a fever he needs Tylenol: False
* Hospitals are safe and clean.: False
* America has the best health care in the world.: If you have the money, True
* Americans have the best health in the world.:
* Milk is a good source of calcium.: Eh, its not bad.
* You never outgrow your need for milk.: Only babies "need" milk, (and really not even them) but its not bad
* Vitamin C is ascorbic acid.: True
* Aspirin prevents heart attacks.: False, but can help treat when taken during. (is this really what people think? I think the commercials are pretty clear on this one.)
* Heart drugs improve the heart.: False
* Back and neck pain are the only reasons for spinal adjustment.: False, can have other benefits
* No child can get into school without being vaccinated.: I'm pretty sure that's false, but i dunno for sure
* The FDA thoroughly tests all drugs before they go on the market.: True, but as with all trials, there is a margin of error.
* Back and neck pain are the only reason for spinal adjustment.: repeat
* Pregnancy is a serious medical condition: What is this even supposed to mean?
* Chemotherapy and radiation are effective cures for cancer: True for some, False for others
* When your child is diagnosed with an ear infection, antibiotics should be given
immediately 'just in case': Once again, Hells no!
* Ear tubes are for the good of the child.: True, assuming its necessary
* Estrogen drugs prevent osteoporosis after menopause.: False, but can treat.
* Pediatricians are the most highly trained of all medical specialists.: False. The more specialized the doctor, the more highly trained. duh.
* The purpose of the health care industry is health.: depends on the part
* HIV is the cause of AIDS.: True
* AZT is the cure.: False, treatment
* Without vaccines, infectious diseases will return: False
* Fluoride in the city water protects your teeth: not my area
* Flu shots prevent the flu.: True, with some assumptions
* Vaccines are thoroughly tested before being placed on the Mandated Schedule.: see FDA
* Doctors are certain that the benefits of vaccines far outweigh any possible risks.: False
* There is a power shortage in California.: huh?
* There is a meningitis epidemic in California.: I haven't heard this
* The NASDAQ is a natural market controlled only by supply and demand.: huh?
* Chronic pain is a natural consequence of aging.: maybe in an indirect way, but False
* Soy is your healthiest source of protein.: well, its not bad.
* Insulin shots cure diabetes.: False, treats Type I
* After we take out your gall bladder you can eat anything you want: False
* Allergy medicine will cure allergies.: False, treatment

[Storm]

I believe that anyone who accuses someone of rape and is found to be flat out lying should be sentenced to the same term faced by the accussed

I believe that in our justice system you are guilty until proven innocent

I believe that saying "guns kill people" is like saying "spoons mane Rosie O'Donnel fat"

I believe that some churches purposely use metal pans when collecting tiething to cause shame to people who donate change

[Jason]

[b][u]I Believe:[/u][/b]

In small governemnt that stays out of our way rather than trying to provide everything for us.

Most of the current crop of Republicans have betrayed that principle.

And thus, in term limits

In the trinity,

The Devil

Heaven

Hell

The death penalty for murderers if there is strong supporting evidence

Life begins at conception

Bush did not lie, but may have had faulty inteligence

Iraq was not involved in 9-11 but is now the front in the War on Terror


[b][u]I Do Not Believe:[/u][/b]

The world is overpopulated (but the "Third World" is)

That global warming is man made

That you can tax and spend to prosperity

That socialism works

[-Dan_Bengals_FL-]

Coy, I was referring to the number of people on the planet. Controling that number is the biggest issue facing the people on this planet. However, no politician will want to face that task, first off because it is political suicide to be pro-population control (of numbers) and second because it is not profitable to slow down the booming population.

[Guest ONYX]

[quote]*PARANOIA PARANOIA EVERYBODY'S COMING TO GET ME*[/quote]

I dont believe Coy is paranoid


I do belive that CT suffers from "[b]girlfriendswallowingyourjizzophobia[/b]"

[url="http://go-bengals.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16824&st=0&#entry255401"]http://go-bengals.com/forum/index.php?show...=0entry255401[/url]

[Guest mongoloido]

[quote]Don Williams - I Believe In You

I don't believe in superstars,
Organic food and foreign cars.
I don't believe the price of gold;
The certainty of growing old.
That right is right and left is wrong,
That north and south can't get along.
That east is east and west is west.
And being first is always best.

But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.

Well, I don't believe that heaven waits,
For only those who congregate.
I like to think of God as love:
He's down below, He's up above.
He's watching people everywhere.
He knows who does and doesn't care.
And I'm an ordinary man,
Sometimes I wonder who I am.

But I believe in love.
I believe in music.
I believe in magic.
And I believe in you.

Well, I know with all my certainty,
What's going on with you and me,
Is a good thing.
It's true, I believe in you.

I don't believe virginity,
Is as common as it used to be.
In working days and sleeping nights,
That black is black and white is white.
That Superman and Robin Hood,
Are still alive in Hollywood.
That gasoline's in short supply,
The rising cost of getting by.

But I believe in love.
I believe in old folks.
I believe in children.
I believe in you.

But I believe in love.
I believe in babies.
I believe in Mom and Dad.
And I believe in you.[/quote]

[Guest IndianaBengal]

i believe::

you will find spelling errors in my post here..
the govt is for oil revenues and taxes 1st.
they respond to emergencies in the fashion they see fit.
jesus is the savior
god is jesus father
there is a heaven (though not for me)
there is no hell. bastards in the 16oo's wanting to burn there own church members started that scary shit.
when you die, you become worm food.
when the ship goes down, you better be ready

dan rooney blew tag real hard last yr after tj rubbed the towel on his shoe. and told him, somethin has got to give.
if the bengals win the sb, carson and marv are 100% responsible

[Jason]

[quote name='IndianaBengal' post='255574' date='Apr 26 2006, 01:40 PM']i believe::

you will find spelling errors in my post here..
the govt is for oil revenues and taxes 1st.
they respond to emergencies in the fashion they see fit.
[b]jesus is the savior
god is jesus father
there is a heaven (though not for me)
there is no hell.[/b] bastards in the 16oo's wanting to burn there own church members started that scary shit.
when you die, you become worm food.
when the ship goes down, you better be ready

dan rooney blew tag real hard last yr after tj rubbed the towel on his shoe. and told him, somethin has got to give.
if the bengals win the sb, carson and marv are 100% responsible[/quote]

Jesus spoke more about hell than He did Heaven.

[Guest bengalrick]

i believe:

- that jesus christ walked this earth 2000 years ago, and was the closest thing to God that this world has ever seen... even if he was only a profit, if you live by his values and teachings, you will be living a moral life in 99% of the worlds views...

- that all religions were once linked, and somone pissed someone else off, and they created their own religion...

-that my liberal friends make me stronger, and i make my liberal friends stronger...

-that people that blame our gov't for the actions of 9/11 w/out any evidence that can't be explained, is spitting in the face of all families of 9/11 victims...

- that since i started caring about politics, my blood pressure has risen drastically... its easier to not care

- the bengals are seriously forming a dynasty, and teams will look at 2003 as a blueprint to "how to fix a bad team"

- that the inconsistancies w/ the moon landing, along w/ not doing it ever since, leads me to believe that landing on the moon was a PR stunt that worked brilliantly...

- that if you think that earth is the only planet in the universe w/ life on it, you are pretty conceded... that would be a massive amount of wasted space

- that peace is impossible to ever reach... even if we erased every humans memory of the past, some race would piss another race off again, and we would be at square run... the only difference is maybe the teams would change some...

- that democracy is the worst gov't on paper, and the best gov't in practice... this is b/c power is spread around, so even though it is full of buracracy, no one person makes all the decisions...

- that the key to spreading wealth is to make more wealth, not spread around what we already have... if you work in a production environment, and you can do 20 items an hour, and another worker can only do 10, we should push the person doing 10 to do better, not try to slow down the top producer...

- that i hate credit cards....

- that nissan has some kind of tracker on my car, to tell them that it is now paid off, and anything that has been waiting to go wrong, is not stacking up.... paid off my ass

i don't believe:

- that some people can post a "i believe" and leave out president bush

- conspiracies are as abundant as some make them...

- in reincarnation

- that religion is a bad thing... it is only taken advantage of, b/c all religion is based on faith...

- in ghosts... i believe nothing of what i hear, and half of what i see...

[Jason]

[quote]- that the key to spreading wealth is to make more wealth, not spread around what we already have... if you work in a production environment, and you can do 20 items an hour, and another worker can only do 10, we should push the person doing 10 to do better, not try to slow down the top producer...[/quote]

[img]http://djmansion.250free.com/guiness.JPG[/img]

[size=3][b]BRILLIANT![/b][/size]

Seriously.

[STRAYCAT]

I believe:


I am tired of high gas prices and all CEO of all companies should take a pay cut!

I believe it is better to have dogs instead of kids

I believe if it wasn't for the sex thing there would be a bounty on all women

I believe Miller is better tasting than Budweiser



I don't believe:


That our govt would knock down 2 of the tallest buildings to start a war

In gay marrage

That the chinese mob had anything to do with the hurricanes last year

The taco bell dog really likes that shit to eat

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="#660000"]more .... [/color]




[b][size=3][u]I believe [/u] [/size]


that we shouldn't tell kids who believe in Santa Claus and monsters under their bed about God or Jesus

that religion is just as serious as and potentially damaging porn, and thus should be for those 18 and up

that the driving age should be raised to 18

that Nostradamus was an awesome guesser

there should be a "maximum wage"

that the only people who bash Karl Marx, are those who have never read anything he wrote

that at heart if they actually thought about it - most rich democrats are republicans and most poor republicans are democrats

that those who visit the third world for long periods of time, see the real effects of capitalism

that blacks in the U.S. are more athletic on average because of a process of un-natural selection where the weaker slaves died on the trip over

that George Orwell is presently rolling in his grave along with George Washington

that Marvin Lewis is the greatest thing ever to happen to the city of Cincinnati

that the passengers on flight 93 were heroes who thwarted a government plot to crash them into Washington D.C.

that Noam Chomsky is presently the most brilliant man alive

that abolitionist John Brown should be on the 1 dollar bill

that people are born Gay (see Big Ben)

that the Russian Soviet Army saved the world by assuming 10 + million battlefield casualties against the Nazi army while the U.S. who lost 250,000 troops gets most of the credit

that world world 3 will be fought with Nukes, while world war 4 will be fought with sticks and stones






[size=3][u]I don't believe [/u] [/size]


in psychics

that most Americans read the newspaper

that most Americans could point out Iraq on a blank world map

that Badass has ever caressed a girls un-brawled tit

95 % of what Fox News says [/b]

[Jason]

[quote name='BlackJesus' post='255811' date='Apr 26 2006, 08:44 PM'][color="#660000"]more .... [/color]
[b][size=3][u]I believe [/u] [/size]

that those who visit the third world for long periods of time, see the real effects of capitalism

[/b][/quote]

Huh? How do you figure?

Most 3rd world nations are dictatorships, and definitely not capitalist. Show me 1 capitalist nation in the 3rd world.

[STRAYCAT]

I believe:






there should be only 1 post on this subject [img]http://forum.go-bengals.com/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/3.gif[/img]

[Chris Henrys Dealer]

[quote name='Jason' post='255818' date='Apr 26 2006, 09:11 PM']Huh? How do you figure?

Most 3rd world nations are dictatorships, and definitely not capitalist. Show me 1 capitalist nation in the 3rd world.[/quote]

I think he's alluding to the fact that in many cases third world countries are coerced into selling their natural resources to corporations created through the capitalist model. These are usually done for dirt cheap and then the products / resources are moved elsewhere leaving people in the countries themselves with little benefit. Many times corporations then exert their power to ensure that leadership is kept in place that is favourable to them and their existence. Often at the expense of the local populace. While you can argue that this is more cronyism and a diversion from pure capitalism theory. History has shown it goes hand in hand.

Some recent examples being:

1) Overthrowing the democratically elected Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in 1954 in Guatemala due to the lobbying of US multinational United Fruit Company to maintain interests in the region.
2) Corporate support for Batista in Cuba. Again mainly due to interests in hotel, fruit, and so forth.
3) Tanzania. Virtually all of its mineral wealth is owned by South African corporations.
4) Nigeria. The oil companies with oil. The world's 5th largest oil producer, is still one of the poorest countries in Africa.
5) The Diamond trade in Africa. There are wars in three countries due to corporations backing various factions to get access to supply. Probably the most famous case is Mark Thatcher, Maggie's kid trying to finance a revolution in Equatorial Guinea with the backing of several diamond companies to get to its supply.
6) The use of sweatshops in Asian countries by companies such as Nike to produce goods to sell to consumers in other countries


So these are cases where the corporations, that have come about due to the capitalist model operate in third world countries without necessarily providing many benefits to the local populace.

[Guest BlackJesus]

[quote name='Jason' post='255818' date='Apr 26 2006, 09:11 PM']Huh? How do you figure?

Most 3rd world nations are dictatorships, and definitely not capitalist. Show me 1 capitalist nation in the 3rd world.[/quote]


[b]um no ..... actually most African nations are not dictatorships but democracies ..... as are most South American nations ..... the main place in the world for Dictatorships are islamic countries which are usually capitalist in nature (Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, etc) but I don't want a debate on the issue in this thread .... so feel free to make another thread and I will gladly list to you all of the nations with dictators and their economic systems. Also take note that all of the top countires with the highest life index rating are the more socialistic ones. Moreover, The United States is one of the most Socialist states in the world in many respects .... (social security, food stamps, medicaid, welfare, workers comp, unemployment, public schooling, disability, food subsidies, govt grants for research) .... ring a bell. [/b]

[Guest bengalrick]

i believe:

- in a higher being

- that the "one post rule" in this thread, is a bad rule...

- many of the things in our history that have been absolutely necessary and have helped us out of tough times, are now too powerful to deal w/... you take your pick on which things i'm talking about, b/c i can think of 5 or 6 off the top of my head...

- if we don't fix medicare, medicade, and SS before '08, we will have an economic slowdown comparable to the carter days, and maybe worse...

- if someone hurts carson's knee this year, there will be an alliance signed on this board to snipe out that person... seriously....

- that i'd rather have a country full of people that know who the secretary of state is yet disagrees w/ me in ideology, than citizens that doesn't know who that is and but agree w/ me...

- this thread will be in the HOF in the near future...

- that biggest evil in the world is money... 9 out of 10 crimes are committed b/c of it...

- if there was no such thing as money, we would not have the technology we have now, but also wouldn't have as much crime... we would probably have very little crime...

- if we truely want to help our low class pull theirselves out, the key isn't to give them money, but to let them keep what they earn....

i don't believe:

- capitalism and democracy are the same thing... the countries that you speak of in africa might be democracies, but they don't have a capitalist model at all... if you want to point to failed capitalist models, point towards mexico where it would apply correctly...

- we help people w/ welfare in alot of cases... i'm talking long term...

- gas will ever be under 2.00 again

- one person or thing can be blamed for oil/gas prices... we all just pick out our personal favorite culprits and stick w/ them, while not acknowledging that the gov't (taxes are done by dollar, not gallon), opec, big oil companies, the countries in opec, and all of our enemies benefit from higher gas prices, while the people that need money the most get taxed the hardest to help all these groups above...

[Guest BlackJesus]

[color="#990000"][b]More ....[/color]




[size=3][u]I believe [/u] [/size]


that Micheal Jackson molested both young boys, and both their parents also tried to set him up .... he just took the bait

the greatest song writer of all time is Bob Dylan

that in the future all races in the U.S. will use affirmative action to compete against Asian students

that on average immigrants who come to the U.S. work much harder and have a better work ethic than people born here

that athiests or agnostics are on average, far more "moral" than religious people

that the drinking age should be lowered to 18

that it is a travesty that millions of children do not have health insurance in the U.S.

that fundamentalist Christians are not that different from fundamentalist muslims

that Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire used Steroids - and deserve asterisks

that the best runningback in NFL history was Barry Sanders

that the best player in NFL history was Lawrence Taylor

that women should wax their vaginas

that Iraq will still be in a state of Chaos in 5 years

that in 10 years Iraq will be 3 separate states

that by the time the U.S. leaves Iraq .... we will have lost 20,000 US troops and the perception will be that we "lost"

that in 50 years Bush will be looked back on as an absolute catastrophe and failure as a President ... he will be the blueprint of the Fuck up and parents will warn their kids in the year 2050 with the saying: "don't be a Bush"

that the Kurdish people deserve their own rightful and ancestral homeland, partitioned from N Iraq, NE Syria, E Turkey, and W Iran.

that Pat Robertson has fucked an animal at some point in the last 3 years

that Oscar Robertson was the best fundamentally sound Basketball player of all time

that the only difference between "manifest Destiny" and Hitlers push to take over Europe .... was the fact that 100 years separated them ....

that the funniest show on Television is the Ali G show

that South Park should have showed Cartman crapping on Muhammads head to prove a point .... that here in the U.S. we have freedom of speech

that Hugh Grant (married to Elizabeth Hurley) fucking that hooker was the dumbest act of all time

that Salma Hayek in Desperado is the hottest woman I have ever seen on film






[size=3][u]I don't believe [/u] [/size]


in Hinduism

in baptism

that God hears your prayers

that if there is a God, he gives a shit about Africa

that Kimo's hit was an accident

that Cowher has never peeked at Rothlessfags cock in the locker room [/b]