[CTRL] Food For Thought
-Caveat Lector- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,906288,00.html 'Holocaust on a plate' angers US Jews David Teather in New York Monday March 3, 2003 The Guardian An animal rights organisation has sparked outrage with a campaign and exhibition that compares the slaughter of livestock to the Holocaust in the second world war. The exhibition, called Holocaust on Your Plate, juxtaposes harrowing images of people in concentration camps with disturbing pictures of animals on farms. One photograph showing an emaciated man is next to another of a starving cow. Another shows a pile of naked human bodies, next to a shot of a heap of pig carcasses. The exhibition is on show in San Diego and at the University of California in Los Angeles. The organisation behind the campaign, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), intends to take it on a tour of the US, and has set up an exhibition website, masskilling.com. Peta has appealed to the Jewish community for support. In an open letter published on the organisation's website, it cites the Jewish Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer, who wrote of animals: In relation to them, all people are Nazis. The campaign's creator, Matt Prescott, said: The very same mindset that made the Holocaust possible - that we can do anything we want to those we decide are 'different or inferior' - is what allows us to commit atrocities against animals every single day. But the appeal has done little to calm the fury of Jewish groups. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League and a Holocaust survivor, said the attempt to win approval was outrageous, offensive and takes chutzpah to new heights. He said that while the abuse of animals should be opposed, the effort by Peta to compare the deliberate systematic murder of millions of Jews to the issue of animal rights is abhorrent. Rather than deepen our revulsion against what the Nazis did to the Jews, the project will undermine the struggle to understand the Holocaust and to find a way to make sure such catastrophes never happen again, he said. Mr Prescott is Jewish and lost several relatives in Nazi concentration camps. The campaign, he added, was funded by a Jewish philanthropist, who wished to remain anonymous. He said he had expected it to elicit criticism. The fact is, all animals feel pain, fear and loneliness, he said. We're asking people to recognise that what Jews and others went through in the Holocaust is what animals go through every day in factory farms. Other images compare children behind barbed wire with a picture of pigs looking out from behind bars; crowds of people, with cattle being herded into transports; and people crammed into bunks, with chickens in a battery farm. Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe simply because it has been handed down for many genera- tions. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of teachers, elders or wise men. Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all. Then accept it and live up to it. The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutra A HREF=http://www.ctrl.org/;www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html A HREF=http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html;Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF=http://archive.jab.org/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL
[CTRL] Food for thought.... About Guns
-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Food for thought __ A YEAR AGO, I had a religious experience. No, I didn't speak in tongues. I didn't see an apparition of Mary. And even though I'm Comanche Indian, I didn't commune with my ancestors or hear the eagles talk. All I did was watch a TV infomercial produced by the National Rifle Association (NRA). There I was, sitting in my easy chair, eating chicken soup and watching television. Suddenly, I saw an immense pile of guns, thousands of them, being bulldozed into a metal crusher. The narrator explained. These weapons had been confiscated from law-abiding citizens, and were being destroyed. The government had first requ ired the people to register their firearms, and promised that no confiscation would ever occur. Then the government broke its promise. According to the voice-over, this happened in Australia, England, and Canada. The United States was next in line. On the screen appeared distraught gun owners, one after another. They said they would never do this, but they did it! Don't let this happen to you! they warned Americans. We Comanches don't usually admit to being scared. But I was terrified.I had a sense that I was losing America (and, as an Indian, it wouldn't be the first time). I guess I'd always known, in the back of my mind, that there were people out there trying to take our guns. But those faces on TV drove the point home like nothing else had. They were the faces of a people betrayed. Long ago, the government took away the Indian's weapons and put him on reservations. That is history. Indians know all about broken promises. But why would the White Man betray himself? Why would the U.S. government take the weapons away from its own good citizens? They say they're trying to stop crime. But the more gun laws they pass, the more crime we get. A hundred years ago, we didn't have gun laws and we didn't have much crime either. In his book, More Guns, Less Crime, Yale Law School economist John Lott shows that, across the United States, over an 18-year period, states experiencing the greatest reductions in crime are also the ones with the fastest growing percentages of gun ownership. So why does the government keep pushing gun control? The warrior in me knows. He who takes my bow is not my friend. He who takes away my ability to defend myself is my enemy. If the government takes our guns, it's not because they are trying to help us. It's because they are trying to control us. Since my religious experience of watching that documentary, I've found myself wondering why Indians have not played a bigger role in the gun rights debate. Weapons are an integral part of our culture. In Indian country, it's taken for granted that everyone shoots and hunts. Perhaps the use of arms is so fundamental to us that we don't even think of it as a right that can be lost. Recently, I visited Indian friends of the Salish-Kootenay Reservation in Montana. It was a few days before a funeral. Extra food was needed for the mourners. I've got to go get a deer, my friend Terry said, as simply as most Americans would say I've got to go to the store. Among Indians, the weapon is a symbol of honor. In Comanche tradition, the young man grew up with the bow. Its mastery was a test of manhood. The relationship of man and weapon was intimate and lifelong. Every Comanche learned to fight and hunt. If you weren't waging war, you were preparing for war. It was the duty of every member of the tribe to be ready, just in case. In modern America, women seem to have turned against their own men over the gun issue, judging by the polls and the Million Mom March. Indian women have a different mindset. It was the women who taught Comanche boys how to use their weapons. Long before anyone ever heard of Xena the Warrior Princess, a woman called the adiva, or governess ran the Comanche training camps. Americans nowadays seem to be forgetting what it means to be a warrior. They don't value preparedness. They think the government will always be there to defend them from enemies and criminals. But that's not the Indian way. That's not the way of a man. I'm glad the NRA is out there spreading this message. It has earned this Indian's blessing for helping to keep the warrior spirit alive. Dr. David A. Yeagley teaches humanities and psychology at Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma City. His opinions are independent. He holds degrees from Yale, Emory, Oberlin, University of Arizona and University of Hartford. He is a member of the Comanche Tribe, Lawton, OK. For more information on Dr. Yeagley's initiative to teach patriotism in the schools, click here. E-mail him at [EMAIL PROTECTED] *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use
[CTRL] Food for Thought
== CONTENTS ==The True Nature of Government === I think it is very important that we teach our children about the true nature of government. Now, at last, there is a way to give your children a basic civics course right in your own home! In my own experience as a father, I have discovered several simple devices that can illustrate to a child's mind the prin- ciples on which the modern state deals with its citizens. You may find them helpful too. For example, I used to play the simple card game WAR with my son. After a while, when he thoroughly understood that the higher ranking cards beat the lower ranking ones, I created a new game I called GOVERNMENT. In this game, I was Government, and I won every trick, regardless of who had the better card. My boy soon lost interest in my new game, but I like to think it taught him a valuable lesson for later in life. When your child is a little older, you can teach him about our tax system in a way that is easy to grasp and will allow him to understand the benefits. Offer him, say, $10 to mow the lawn. When he has mowed it and asks to be paid, withhold $5 and explain that this is income tax. Give $1 of this to his younger brother, who has done nothing to deserve it, and tell him that this is "fair" because the younger brother 'needs money too'. Also, ex- plain that you need the other $4 yourself to cover the administ- rative costs of dividing the money and for various other things you need. Make him place his $5 in a savings account over which you have authority. Explain that if he is ever naughty, you will remove the money from the account without asking him. Also explain how you will be taking most of the interest he earns on that money, without his permission. Mention that if he tries to hide the money, this, in itself, will be evidence of wrongdoing and will result in you automatically taking the money from him. Conduct random searches of his room in the small hours of the morning. Burst in unannounced. Go through all of his drawers and pockets. If he questions this, tell him you are acting on a tip- off from a mate of his who casually mentioned that you had both earned a bit of spare cash last week. If you find it, confiscate all of that money and also take his stereo and television. Tell him you are selling these and keeping the money to compensate you for having to make the raid. Also lock him in his room for a month as further punishment. When he cries at the injustice of this, tell him he is being "selfish" and "greedy" and only interested in looking after his own happiness. Explain that he should learn to sacrifice his own happiness for other people and that since he cannot be relied upon or trusted to do this voluntarily, you will use force to ensure he complies. Later in life he will thank you. Make as many rules as possible. Leave the reasons for them obscure. Enforce them arbitrarily. Accuse your child of breaking rules you have never told him about and carefully explain that ignorance of your rules is not an excuse for breaking them. Keep him anxious that he may be violating commands you haven't yet issued. Instill in him the feeling that rules are utterly irr- ational. This will prepare him for living under a democratic government. He is too young to understand the benefits of democracy, so explain this wonderful system as follows: You, your wife and his brother get together and vote that your son should have all privileges removed, be caned, and confined to his room for a week. If he protests that you are violating his rights, patiently explain his error and tell him that the majority have voted for this punishment and nothing matters except the will of the majority. When your child has matured sufficiently to understand how the judicial system works, set a bedtime for him of, say, 10 p.m. and then send him to bed at 9 p.m. When he tearfully accuses you of breaking the rules, explain that you made the rules and you can interpret them in any way that seems appropriate to you, according to changing conditions. Promise often to take him to the movies or the zoo, and then, at the appointed hour, recline in an easy chair with a newspaper and tell him you have changed your plans. When he screams, "but you promised!", explain to him that it was a campaign promise and hence meaningless. Every now and then, without warning, slap your child. Then explain that this is self-defence. Tell him that you must be vigilant at all times to stop any potential enemy before he gets big enough to hurt you. This, too, your child will appreciate, not
[CTRL] Food for Thought
-Caveat Lector- http://www.newdawnmagazine.com.au/Resources/index.htm The Hidden Face Behind Advertising By Chris McLean Is it only me, or have others become aware of new techniques being employed in advertising? Advertising in essence isn't wrong - it's a way in which we are informed of new products. But, and this is a big but, more and more advertising is infiltrating our everyday lives, we cannot open our eyes in the morning without some form of advertising staring back at us. By definition, advertising is: (The Maquarie Encyclopedic Dictionary) "advertise -v t 3. to offer (an article) for sale or (a vacancy) to applicants, etc., by placing an advertisement in a newspaper, magazine, etc. " (This being the most relevant definition, p.13, if you are wanting to check the other definitions) Another definition, given by The Educational Resources Informational Center (ERIC), in an article titled 'Educating The Consumer About Advertising' (author Stephen S. Gottlieb) is: "Advertising can be defined as communication which promotes the purchase of products and services, and advertisements are pervasive in the American culture." No longer do these definitions of passive advertising hold true. Increasingly, if we apathetically allow the advertisements to wash over our TV dulled minds, we are not given a choice if we want to buy or not, and at some point the ad we just watched will force us to buy the product it promotes. That is, if we are not conscious of the intricate workings behind the glossy fantasy worlds they portray. That is the point of this article, to open the eyes of a few more people, and to make these people aware of the new techniques being employed. "If this text makes only one person think, then it has served it's purpose." - Zarkon, The Zarkon Principal THE LINE BETWEEN ADVERTISING AND ENTERTAINMENT IS BLURRING Once, a long time ago, it was possible to draw a line between advertising and entertainment. Not anymore. In the apparent evolved entertainment society of today, the advertising is the entertainment. Product Placement, or Advertising Through Association With An Icon Next time you are watching that favourite TV show, wide eyed, open mouthed and in an induced state of stupor, drag your eyes off of the action, and focus on the foreground, and on the backgrounds. Notice the way that certain products are placed? The way the piece of walking talking silicon picks up that can of soft drink, selectively holding the label to the camera. In the peripheral of the main focus of movies is also another great place to see the wonders of product placement in action. This form of advertising is a passive one, but it does have its very own insidious quality. The way that product placement works, is by taking the advertising out of its own domain, and placing it in situations where it is seen to be a part of everyday life. A character on the television casually walks to the fridge, while reciting lines, casually saying "Do you want a drink?" to another character. Whilst grabbing the article from the fridge, the character makes sure the product's label is visible. The viewer doesn't see this to be advertising, but just something that is done. The companies take the advertising out of a noticeably familiar advertising situation, where the consumer knows that the company is pushing their product, and creatively place it into the script, where it seems to become just part of every day life. Couple this with the association of a prominent famous figure actually liking the product (they probably don't though, and remember, the people on the TV aren't really real), and we have a potent purchase stimulus... "Well if Kramer likes it, then damn it, it must have something going for it. I'll just try it once to see what it's like". The advertising has worked its wicked way, a sale has been made that was directly influenced by the advertising. The other form of product placement is the way in which company logos weasel their way into the backdrops of shots on the TV and in movies. It seems to the impressionable mind of the viewer that it is only a part of the backdrop, hell, it happens so much, we can be excused for not noticing it. It isn't just the one instance of the logo appearing that works, it is the repetition of the same logo over and over causing it to lodge in our minds and induce sales. The products that stand out and say "BUY ME", are ones that carry a logo that has been repeated to us time and time before. This sort of advertising just doesn't randomly occur. Big corporate dollars are spent to ensure that certain products appear in specific places and scenes in movies and on TV. Who is writing the scripts - the writers or the money? The New Soap-Opera Ads I'm sure that we have all seen these new breed of ads which have started to insult our intelligence. It is an obvious form of product and service advertising. However, turning an ad into a soap opera turns the attention away from the
