The Lies Told by Governments and their Allies

George Galloway eloquently states the facts about the about the 2003 invasion of Iraq, smashing the official lies, one by one. Who told these lies? Governments in bed with weapons contractors and people who pretended to be journalists, who actually served as their stenographers. For those thinking that such a big lie is not possible, here's your proof. It's possible for powerful people to tell a big lie in broad daylight and never be called out on it. Or maybe not for 20 years, when it is too late to save hundreds of thousands (or millions) of lives.

The lies we heard regarding Iraq should make us pause whenever a government official looks us straight in the eyes and tells us to trust them. It's possible that they are telling the truth, but governments and their newspapers have a long history of misleading us. We need to always keep this in mind. The Twitter Files are blowing up more big government/corporate/media lies every week and the official silence is deafening and telling.

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Who is the Authoritarian?

because I follow these trends closely, but . . . For the past month Matt Taibbi has been reporting in detail that the FBI, DHS, DOD, CIA and other agencies have built a system for mass delivery of censorship requests to firms like Twitter and Facebook. MSNBC has now accused Taibbi of fueling authoritarianism with his reporting. Taibbi responded by listing some of the many pro-censorship advocates currently lurking around at MSNBC, people who call themselves journalists:

John Brennan, former Director of the CIA, now senior intelligence analyst at MSNBC

Frank Figliuzzi, formeer Assistant Director of Counterintelligence at the FBI

Asha Rangappa, former Special Agent for the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence

Nicolle Wallace, former Communications Director for George W. Bush

Jeremy Bash, former Chief of Staff of the CIA

Clint Watts, former FBI counterintelligence agent and MSNBC national security analyst

Chuck Rosenberg, former Acting DEA administrator and senior FBI official

Nayyera Haq, former Senior Director of the White House

Richard Painter, former Chief Ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush White House

Neal Kaytal, former Acting Solicitor General of the United States

Ben Rhodes, former National Security Advisor to Barack Obama

Barry McCaffrey, former U.S. Army General and Drug Czar, security analyst for NBC and MSNBC

Stephen Twitty, former Lieutenant General of the U.S. Army

Joyce Vance, former U.S. Attorney

Barbara McQuade, former U.S. Attorney

Glenn Kirschner, former Assistant U.S. Attorney

For more on the abject silence of the left-leaning legacy media, its refusal to acknowledge the obviously disturbing importance of Taibbi's recent reporting on the Twitter Files, consider this episode of Glenn Greenwald's System Update on Rumble. The title: "Media Silent as Twitter Files Expose Flagrant Misconduct in Govt. & Journalism."

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Hundreds of College Professors Sign FIRE Letter of Concern Directed to Hamline University Firing of Art History Professor

I'm honored to be one of the signatories of this letter to Hamline University in Support of an instructor unfairly dismissed by Hamline. I was among many college professors FIRE invited to view and sign the letter. The letter details the incident, the facts of which are so absurd that one might wonder whether they were made up. But they are absolutely true. Here's an excerpt from the letter:

We are deeply concerned by reports that Hamline dismissed a faculty member for presenting pedagogically relevant artwork depicting the Prophet Muhammad during an art history class session on Islamic art.

The notable piece, which has been studied and shared extensively since the 14th century, enriches students’ understandings of Islamic history, the life of Prophet Muhammad, the nature of Qur’anic revelations, and the significance of religious iconography.

Therefore, in presenting the image, the instructor was exercising academic freedom for one of its core intended purposes: to introduce students to “the best published expressions of the great historic types of doctrine upon the questions at issue,” and “to provide them access to those materials which they need if they are to think intelligently.”

Moreover, the instructor, out of respect for some Muslim students’ religious convictions, stated in the syllabus that Islamic images would be presented, and that participation in the visual exercise and discussion would be optional. Before presenting a slide of the painting, the instructor also reportedly alerted the class.

After a student complained, the instructor emailed the student to apologize. But this was deemed insufficient. Associate Vice President for Inclusive Excellence David Everett sent an all-staff email describing the Islamic image and classroom exercise as “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful, and Islamophobic,” later declaring, “it was best that this faculty member was no longer part of the Hamline community.”

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Banning Gas Stoves is Now a Priority for Some

The federal government is considering a ban on gas stoves.

Three points.

1. They will need to pry my gas stove from my cold dead hands.

2. Do you really want to shut down all the restaurants that use gas to cook, including my favorite little stir fry take-out place at the end of my block.

3. If you are REALLY worried about particulates, don't read Sam Harris' article about the dangers of fireplaces (link in the comments). Here's an excerpt:

It seems to me that many nonbelievers have forgotten—or never knew—what it is like to suffer an unhappy collision with scientific rationality. We are open to good evidence and sound argument as a matter of principle, and are generally willing to follow wherever they may lead. Certain of us have made careers out of bemoaning the failure of religious people to adopt this same attitude.

However, I recently stumbled upon an example of secular intransigence that may give readers a sense of how religious people feel when their beliefs are criticized. It’s not a perfect analogy, as you will see, but the rigorous research I’ve conducted at dinner parties suggests that it is worth thinking about. We can call the phenomenon “the fireplace delusion.” . . .

Here is what we know from a scientific point of view: There is no amount of wood smoke that is good to breathe. It is at least as bad for you as cigarette smoke, and probably much worse. (One study found it to be 30 times more potent a carcinogen.) The smoke from an ordinary wood fire contains hundreds of compounds known to be carcinogenic, mutagenic, teratogenic, and irritating to the respiratory system. Most of the particles generated by burning wood are smaller than one micron—a size believed to be most damaging to our lungs. In fact, these particles are so fine that they can evade our mucociliary defenses and travel directly into the bloodstream, posing a risk to the heart. Particles this size also resist gravitational settling, remaining airborne for weeks at a time.

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