It seems more overuse a trigger-word gets, the more of its meaning gets gutted. Social security has destroyed financial privacy and with it a great deal of the security people used to enjoy. "Homeland security" is such a fine-sounding phrase that I have to catch myself from grooving on it momentarily every time I hear or read it. After all, it's nothing but governmentese for "Here's a gigantic new bureaucracy with a lying name to cover fraudulent goals in the wake of our own in-house 9/11 atrocity, and above all, to give constituents such feelings of fright as to never enjoy another moment of repose."
Similarly, the words terror and terrorism have been totally Orwellized in our time. Terror is an emotion; you can't logically have a war on it any more than you can profess to be stamping out hate (which the power mafia also claim). Before Boy George Bush's 9/11 field day, terrorism actually had a meaning that most people could recognize if not identify with: government, crime gangs or any other entity attempting to force an agenda by committing (or ratifying) acts that strike enough fear into the public's heart's that they'll comply with it. My handy thumbnail definition is, I think, perfectly in keeping with sane pre-9/11 dictionaries: making an example of a few individuals or groups in order to frighten the masses into submission.
There have been many terrorist phenomena in our own time and place. For a century or more, labor unions have sporadically used terrorism to get what they want, whether it be against the corporations they oppose or the workers that opt not to join union efforts. The chaotic, ruinous 1960s were marked by such diverse terrorists as the Weather Underground, the Symbionese Liberation Army and Black Panthers. More recently you'll remember the Unabomer/Unibomber and Earth Liberation Front -- yes, I'm highlighting known leftwing cases since you hear almost nothing about them in the (ha, ha) "mainstream" media.
But above all, I personally find that our own governments operate by terror now. Even in local towns and cities, people who speak up against corruption face consequences -- higher property taxes, bureaucratic screwups. Needless to say, the fedgov uses the IRS as a literal KGB, striking absolute terror into most people's hearts and roughing up a president or other bigwig's critics with harassment audits or other bureaucratic rot. The number of patriotic leaders the Establishment has murdered outright is staggering -- lots of them before drones and Ayrabs began hitting headlines.
There's terrorism in workplaces -- need any explanation on that one? Anyway, I just came across this page -- merely a gag item in a "fun" site, sort of like the very un-funny but very major news items carried as entertainment in "weird news" features:
Do check in at the above site from time to time. Some of you will laugh at material like the smashing, crushing 11 words above -- some of you will gain political fodder and briefing in it. Count me among the latter crowd, and please keep nuttynewstoday.com and newsoftheweird.com handy.
One more request -- get THIS too, in toto:
http://topconservativenews.com/2014/04/study-from-princeton-northwestern-declares-us-to-be-an-oligarchy-based-on-1779-policies/
Study from Princeton & Northwestern declares US to be an Oligarchy based on 1,779 policies
Two professors, one from Princeton and one from Northwestern University, looked at 1,779 public policies enacted by the US government between 1981 to 2002.
They say the empirical data shows that the interests of the elites and special interests outweighs the interests of the majority. Their data shows that public policy lines up with the policies advocated by interest groups and elites, even when those policies were opposed by a majority of the population.
The study is slated to be published in the fall 2014 edition of Perspectives on Politics.
Oh wow, here's the report itself:
http://www.princeton.edu/~mgilens/Gilens%20homepage%20materials/Gilens%20and%20Page/Gilens%20and%20Page%202014-Testing%20Theories%203-7-14.pdf
.....Oh, no -- my new addiction!
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