********************************************************
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008 - 7PM
LUSSIER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
55 S. GAMMON RD.
MADISON, WI 53717
AAM MEMBERSHIP - $25!!!!
MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
********************************************************
`
Hi, Samba.
That entire report was made up...it never happened. It was a hoax that was spread like lightning over the internet. The person that supposedly leaked the incident doesn't even exist...he was created by two other people.
Vera
******************************
"In the days before volcanoes were invented, lava had to be hand carried down from the mountains and poured on the sleeping villagers.
This took a great deal of time."
----- Original Message -----
From: "Baldeh, Samba" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, November 14, 2008 10:03 am
Subject: Re: Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by Propaganda
To: [log in to unmask]
> ********************************************************
>
> ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
>
> SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008 - 7PM
>
> LUSSIER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
> 55 S. GAMMON RD.
> MADISON, WI 53717
>
> AAM MEMBERSHIP - $25!!!!
>
> MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
>
> ********************************************************
> `
>
> Vera, How did you know that She did know Africa is a continent and not
> a country?
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: African Association of Madison [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of VERA R CROWELL
> Sent: Friday, November 14, 2008 8:57 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People
> Easily Fooled by Propaganda
>
>
> ********************************************************
>
> ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
>
> SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008 - 7PM
>
> LUSSIER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
> 55 S. GAMMON RD.
> MADISON, WI 53717
>
> AAM MEMBERSHIP - $25!!!!
>
> MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
>
> ********************************************************
> `
>
> But, wasn't it all the 'really, really, educated' people who truly
> believed the hoax that reported Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a
> continent? That's what I call 'easily fooled by propaganda.' People
> were so eager to believe that the person sitting on top of and in
> control of most of our oil reserves truly isn't going to know where
> the rest of the oil is on the planet. Gullible...and easily fooled.
>
> ******************************
> "In the days before volcanoes were invented, lava had to be hand
> carried down from the mountains and poured on the sleeping villagers.
> This took a great deal of time."
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Aggo Akyea <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thursday, November 13, 2008 5:29 pm
> Subject: Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People Easily
> Fooled by Propaganda
> To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> > ********************************************************
> >
> > ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
> >
> > SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2008 - 7PM
> >
> > LUSSIER COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER
> > 55 S. GAMMON RD.
> > MADISON, WI 53717
> >
> > AAM MEMBERSHIP - $25!!!!
> >
> > MAIL YOUR CHECK TO AAM, P. O. Box 1016, MADISON, WI 53701
> >
> > ********************************************************
> > `
> >
> > Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by
> Propaganda
> >
> > By Chris Hedges, Truthdig
> > Posted on November 12, 2008, Printed on November 13, 2008
> > http://www.alternet.org/story/106551/
> >
> >
> > We live in two Americas. One America, now the minority, functions in
> a
> > print-based, literate world. It can cope with complexity and has the
>
> > intellectual tools to separate illusion from truth. The other
> America,
> > which constitutes the majority, exists in a non-reality-based belief
>
> > system. This America, dependent on skillfully manipulated images for
>
> > information, has severed itself from the literate, print-based
> > culture. It cannot differentiate between lies and truth. It is
> > informed by simplistic, childish narratives and cliches. It is
> thrown
> > into confusion by ambiguity, nuance and self-reflection. This
> divide,
> > more than race, class or gender, more than rural or urban, believer
> or
> > nonbeliever, red state or blue state, has split the country into
> > radically distinct, unbridgeable and antagonistic entities.
> >
> > There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold
> > high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who
>
> > read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the
> nation's
> > population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are
> > growing by an estimated 2 million a year. But even those who are
> > supposedly literate retreat in huge numbers into this image-based
> > existence. A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent
> of
> > college graduates, never read a book after they finish school.
> Eighty
> > percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a
> book.
> >
> > The illiterate rarely vote, and when they do vote they do so without
>
> > the ability to make decisions based on textual information. American
>
> > political campaigns, which have learned to speak in the comforting
> > epistemology of images, eschew real ideas and policy for cheap
> slogans
> > and reassuring personal narratives. Political propaganda now
> > masquerades as ideology. Political campaigns have become an
> > experience. They do not require cognitive or self-critical skills.
> > They are designed to ignite pseudo-religious feelings of euphoria,
> > empowerment and collective salvation. Campaigns that succeed are
> > carefully constructed psychological instruments that manipulate
> fickle
> > public moods, emotions and impulses, many of which are subliminal.
> > They create a public ecstasy that annuls individuality and fosters a
>
> > state of mindlessness. They thrust us into an eternal present. They
>
> > cater to a nation that now lives in a state of permanent amnesia. It
>
> > is style and story, not
> > content or history or reality, which inform our politics and our
> > lives. We prefer happy illusions. And it works because so much of
> the
> > American electorate, including those who should know better, blindly
>
> > cast ballots for slogans, smiles, the cheerful family tableaux,
> > narratives and the perceived sincerity and the attractiveness of
> > candidates. We confuse how we feel with knowledge.
> >
> > The illiterate and semi-literate, once the campaigns are over,
> remain
> > powerless. They still cannot protect their children from
> dysfunctional
> > public schools. They still cannot understand predatory loan deals,
> the
> > intricacies of mortgage papers, credit card agreements and equity
> > lines of credit that drive them into foreclosures and bankruptcies.
>
> > They still struggle with the most basic chores of daily life from
> > reading instructions on medicine bottles to filling out bank forms,
>
> > car loan documents and unemployment benefit and insurance papers.
> They
> > watch helplessly and without comprehension as hundreds of thousands
> of
> > jobs are shed. They are hostages to brands. Brands come with images
>
> > and slogans. Images and slogans are all they understand. Many eat at
>
> > fast food restaurants not only because it is cheap but because they
>
> > can order from pictures rather than menus. And those who serve them,
>
> > also semi-literate or illiterate, punch in orders on cash registers
> > whose keys are marked with symbols and pictures. This is our brave
>
> > new world.
> >
> > Political leaders in our post-literate society no longer need to be
>
> > competent, sincere or honest. They only need to appear to have these
>
> > qualities. Most of all they need a story, a narrative. The reality
> of
> > the narrative is irrelevant. It can be completely at odds with the
> > facts. The consistency and emotional appeal of the story are
> > paramount. The most essential skill in political theater and the
> > consumer culture is artifice. Those who are best at artifice
> succeed.
> > Those who have not mastered the art of artifice fail. In an age of
> > images and entertainment, in an age of instant emotional
> > gratification, we do not seek or want honesty. We ask to be indulged
>
> > and entertained by clichs, stereotypes and mythic narratives that
> tell
> > us we can be whomever we want to be, that we live in the greatest
> > country on Earth, that we are endowed with superior moral and
> physical
> > qualities and that our glorious future is preordained, either
> because
> > of our attributes as
> > Americans or because we are blessed by God or both.
> >
> > The ability to magnify these simple and childish lies, to repeat
> them
> > and have surrogates repeat them in endless loops of news cycles,
> gives
> > these lies the aura of an uncontested truth. We are repeatedly fed
> > words or phrases like yes we can, maverick, change, pro-life, hope
> or
> > war on terror. It feels good not to think. All we have to do is
> > visualize what we want, believe in ourselves and summon those hidden
>
> > inner resources, whether divine or national, that makes the world
> > conform to our desires. Reality is never an impediment to our advancement.
> >
> > The Princeton Review analyzed the transcripts of the Gore-Bush
> > debates, the Clinton-Bush-Perot debates of 1992, the Kennedy-Nixon
> > debates of 1960 and the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858. It reviewed
>
> > these transcripts using a standard vocabulary test that indicates
> the
> > minimum educational standard needed for a reader to grasp the text.
>
> > During the 2000 debates George W. Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level
>
> > (6.7) and Al Gore at a seventh-grade level (7.6). In the 1992
> debates
> > Bill Clinton spoke at a seventh-grade level (7.6), while George H.W.
>
> > Bush spoke at a sixth-grade level (6.8), as did H. Ross Perot (6.3).
>
> > In the debates between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon the
> > candidates spoke in language used by 10th-graders. In the debates of
>
> > Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas the scores were respectively
>
> > 11.2 and 12.0. In short, today's political rhetoric is designed to
> be
> > comprehensible to a 10-year-old child or an adult with a sixth-grade
>
> > reading level.
> >
> > It is fitted to this level of comprehension because most Americans
> > speak, think and are entertained at this level. This is why serious
>
> > film and theater and other serious artistic expression, as well as
> > newspapers and books, are being pushed to the margins of American
> > society. Voltaire was the most famous man of the 18th century. Today
>
> > the most famous "person" is Mickey Mouse.
> >
> > In our post-literate world, because ideas are inaccessible, there is
> a
> > need for constant stimulus. News, political debate, theater, art and
>
> > books are judged not on the power of their ideas but on their
> ability
> > to entertain. Cultural products that force us to examine ourselves
> and
> > our society are condemned as elitist and impenetrable. Hannah Arendt
>
> > warned that the marketization of culture leads to its degradation,
> > that this marketization creates a new celebrity class of
> intellectuals
> > who, although well read and informed themselves, see their role in
> > society as persuading the masses that "Hamlet" can be as
> entertaining
> > as "The Lion King" and perhaps as educational. "Culture," she wrote,
>
> > "is being destroyed in order to yield entertainment."
> >
> > "There are many great authors of the past who have survived
> centuries
> > of oblivion and neglect," Arendt wrote, "but it is still an open
> > question whether they will be able to survive an entertaining
> version
> > of what they have to say."
> >
> > The change from a print-based to an image-based society has
> > transformed our nation. Huge segments of our population, especially
>
> > those who live in the embrace of the Christian right and the
> consumer
> > culture, are completely unmoored from reality. They lack the
> capacity
> > to search for truth and cope rationally with our mounting social and
>
> > economic ills. They seek clarity, entertainment and order. They are
>
> > willing to use force to impose this clarity on others, especially
> > those who do not speak as they speak and think as they think. All
> the
> > traditional tools of democracies, including dispassionate scientific
>
> > and historical truth, facts, news and rational debate, are useless
> > instruments in a world that lacks the capacity to use them.
> >
> > As we descend into a devastating economic crisis, one that Barack
> > Obama cannot halt, there will be tens of millions of Americans who
> > will be ruthlessly thrust aside. As their houses are foreclosed, as
>
> > their jobs are lost, as they are forced to declare bankruptcy and
> > watch their communities collapse, they will retreat even further
> into
> > irrational fantasy. They will be led toward glittering and
> > self-destructive illusions by our modern Pied Pipers--our corporate
>
> > advertisers, our charlatan preachers, our television news
> celebrities,
> > our self-help gurus, our entertainment industry and our political
> > demagogues -- who will offer increasingly absurd forms of escapism.
> >
> > The core values of our open society, the ability to think for
> oneself,
> > to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgment
> and
> > common sense indicate something is wrong, to be self-critical, to
> > challenge authority, to understand historical facts, to separate
> truth
> > from lies, to advocate for change and to acknowledge that there are
>
> > other views, different ways of being, that are morally and socially
>
> > acceptable, are dying. Obama used hundreds of millions of dollars in
>
> > campaign funds to appeal to and manipulate this illiteracy and
> > irrationalism to his advantage, but these forces will prove to be
> his
> > most deadly nemesis once they collide with the awful reality that
> > awaits us.
> >
> > Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, is a Senior Fellow
> at
> > the Nation Institute. His latest book is Collateral Damage:
> America's
> > War Against Iraqi Civilians.
> >
> > © 2008 Truthdig All rights reserved.
> > View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/106551/
> >
> >
> > <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
> > Aggo Akyea
> > http://akyea.tribalpages.com/
> > Check my photos at:
> > www.flickr.com/photos/peki
> >
> > "Instead of studying how to make it worth men's while to buy my
> > baskets,
> > I studied rather how to avoid the necessity of selling them."
> > WALDEN by Henry David Thoreau - 1854
> >
> > *** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
> > *** Access AAM list archives:
> > http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***
> >
> >
> >
>
> *** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
> *** Access AAM list archives:
> http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***
>
> *** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
> *** Access AAM list archives:
> http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***
*** Send email to the list: [log in to unmask] ***
*** Access AAM list archives: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/AAM.html ***
|
