Great Interview for Inside View of Government

  

I found a great series of interviews done by reporter Paul Jay of TheRealNews.com with Lawrence Wilkerson, former military colonel and Former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State, Colon Powell.


I suggest you watch all of the segments in order from bottom to top on the following web page:


http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33&Itemid=74&jumival=736


The interviews help to put a human element into the workings of the Federal Government including the White House and the military during Larry Wilkerson's  years as Colin Powell's primary speech writer. Leading up to his White House experience, Larry discuses his career  in the military from 1966, when he enlisted, wanting to go to Vietnam.


In another topic, he tells about his shift away from the Republican Party.


Mr. Wilkerson provides great descriptions of Colin Powell, a man he still has great respect for.


The thing that turned Mr. Wilkerson off during the Bush 2 administration, for enthusiasm for "truth, justice, and the American way,' was torture." It was called enhanced interrogations, but it was torture.  Torture is "a perversion of American values and a perversion of American beliefs." 


It came to him when he realized the torture issue was "not just an aberration, it was a manifestation of where we had come as a country...we had built ourselves into a national security state." 


He was troubled by "we were turning into a country that knew only one way of achieving its purpose, and that was to kill people." He started to speak out in October, 2005.


Hope you can take the time to watch some of these. I found myself always looking forward to the next segment.

THE MEAN WORLD SYNDROM

I watched a documentary movie the other day titled "The Mean World Syndrome."  This term was used and developed by a man named George Gerbner, a professor of communications, for the condition where violence shown in the mass media causes viewers to think that we live in a more dangerous world than it really is. We have become more fearful for ourselves.


We all see violence on TV news, shows, commercials, sports, reality shows, etc. and movies.  Even shows like America's Funniest Home Videos has violence. It turns out that people who watch the most TV are most fearful.


A few points from the movie:
1. A child sees 8,000 murders by the time they finish elementary school.  


2. By the time they turn 18 they have seen 200,000 acts of violence.  


3. Over time the violence in the media has increased significantly.  In general we as the public in the USA believe we live in a less safe world.  However, violent crime is at a 30 year low. 


4. Local news is the greatest culprit for portraying meanness with 61% of the leadoff stories reporting crime, fires, disasters and accidents.


Does this surprise you?  Number 3 surprised me!  The movie is worth watching. By becoming more aware of reality, it may improve your outlook on life with your neighbors and your town.


A trailer for the movie that was released last year is on the right side of the link below.  However, just below the trailer, you can watch the whole 51 minute movie as a Preview.


http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=143


Watch it if you get a chance.

How Do You Recognize a Psychopath?

Found an interesting piece on NPR, "A Psychopath Walks Into a Room. Can You Tell?"  The following is a  segments that starts us thinking:
"Robert Hare, the eminent Canadian psychologist who invented the psychopath checklist, ... recently announced that you're four times more likely to find a psychopath at the top of the corporate ladder than you are walking around in the janitor's office,"


Very interesting. That makes me think back to the crazy bosses I have had in my career.  


Many characteristics of "successful" CEO's match up with characteristic of a psychopath, such as, "manipulative" and "self aggrandizement."
 Here is a link.   http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/06/maher-on-palin-anybody-could-be-president-in-this-dumb-fcking-country/