I was one of Dr. Yokiel’s chronic pain patients,who was forced to
undergo opiate withdrawls after being on the meds for 11 1/2 years.
I am trying to get a class action lawsuit going,and need some more former patients willing to be part of the suit.
I received,and saw a lot of others receive horrible care from
Cleveland Clinic hospitals and Cleveland Clinic pain mgt programs. I was
told I didn’t need any pain meds of any kind by the asshole at Euclid
hospital pain mgt. Despite a record of serious injuries dating to
1978,over 60 ortho surgeries,and more broken bones than 90% of the
population-(according to a few Dr’s and radiologists)
This is way beyond unethical,and violates every known medical standard for weaning a patient off of opiates.
Soooo….
Let’s sue the sonsofbitches who did this,including Dr
Yokiel,Clevleand Clinic,the Ohio State Medical Board,and if I’m right
about why Dr. Yokiel was shut down-the DEA.
This was done to chronic pain patients by our NE Ohio medical community,and state and likely fed agencies.
Our government and their fake ass “fighting the opioid epidemic” did this to us.
This was not right,and should never happen to anyone who is a chronic pain patient again.
If a Dr decides that a chronic pain patient doesn’t need to be on
pain meds-there is an established process for weaning people off of
opiate pain meds-
and it sure as hell ain’t the Cleveland Clinic’s f*ck you-no one dies from opiate withdrawls.
If you’re a freakin heroin addict-they’ll admit you and wean you off
opiates,and put you in a treatment program-if you’re a chronic pain
patient…
The DEA is more interested in shutting down legit pain mgt docs who
they feel write too many scripts than they are shutting down heroin and
fentanyl dealers.
Think about that for a minute.
Lets sue these sonsabitches so they don’t keep doing this to chronic pain patients.
Contact me @
GamegetterII@yahoo.com
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Precision Long Range School
Precision Long Range School
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September 02 - September 03, 2017 October 21 - October 22, 2017
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School Date(s):
September 02 - September 03, 2017
October 21 - October 22, 2017
Cost:
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Description:
NRA Precision Long Range School You will have the opportunity to shoot behind some of the best long range equipment available on the market today, combined with very knowledgeable instructors that break down the process in great detail for you. Here is what a few of our recent students had to say... "Excellent job of covering many complex subjects in depth necessary to allow good rang results. Classroom instruction was reinforced on the range." "Clearly a lot of effort went into setting up targets and maintaining the range". "The Surgeon rifle and Nightforce scope were a superb system." "Very organized, the schedule was well laid out and we knew what to expect". The NRA Precision Long Range School is the ultimate long range shooting experience available. This school has been specifically designed to provide the world’s absolute best equipment, ranges, and instructors to teach you how to hit very small targets out to and beyond 1,100 yards, and show you how to make hits on the first shot. This unique, school covers a spectrum of long range shooting disciplines. Further, it allows students to incorporate best practices from all types of long range competition disciplines, tactical long range methods, and long range hunting techniques. This school will be taught in MILS and students will learn techniques surrounding, but not limited to: • Dialing • Holding Off • Target Transition • Advanced Long Range Marksmanship • The First Shot • Long Range Speed Shooting • Suppressors Usage • Advanced External Ballistics • Advanced Wind Reading • Applied Ballistics Software Understanding The NRA Precision Long Range School provides the absolute best equipment to include: • Surgeon Rifles with Modular Driven Technology Chassis, chambered in the low recoiling very high ballistic coefficient, .260 Remington cartridge • Nightforce ATACR MIL-R Optics • AWC Suppressors • Swarovski Range Finding Binoculars • Swarovski Spotting Scopes • Nexus Ammunition • Kestrel’s With Applied Ballistics Software PREREQUISITES • Suitable for newer long range rifle shooters and suitable for experienced long range shooters or competitive shooters • Suitable for responsible adult gun owners, SAFE shooters who are familiar with rifle shooting • You should be in adequate physical condition and can stand for several hours outdoors • You should be able to fire from the prone position • You should have some understanding of long range shooting • ALL NRA rules apply
Geographic Location:
Gerrardstown West Virginia
How To Get There:
Fly to Dulles International airport and take rental vehicle to facility.
Accomodations:
Lodging can be booked at this link via NRA Outdoors/Peacemaker’s Lodging Partners: peacemakernational.com/lodgingPartners(We have found that Hampton Inn tends to offer the best rates for our class.)
What's Included:
The 2 Day NRA Precision Long Range School provides the absolute best equipment to include: • Surgeon Rifles with Modular Driven Technology Chassis, chambered in the low recoiling very high ballistic coefficient, .260 Remington cartridge • Nightforce ATACR MIL-R Optics • AWC Suppressors • Swarovski Range Finding Binoculars • Swarovski Spotting Scopes • Nexus Ammunition • Kestrel’s With Applied Ballistics Software Lunch will be provided at the range.
What's NOT Included:
Transportation to the facility, lodging. Breakfast and dinner are on your own
At NRA Outdoors we’ve searched the fields and forests, streams and oceans all over the world for your dream hunting trips. We’ve developed relationships with top-notch outfitters and we keep constant tabs on their amenities, success rates, trophies bagged, personnel and more. At NRA Outdoors we can steer you to what you’re looking for because we know these people and exactly what they have to offer.
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Original article- https://www.nraoutdoors.com/schools/long-range-school?eventid=63
Police Across the Country Using Ice Cream Trucks to Change Public Opinion of Police
Police departments across the country are acquiring ice cream 'propaganda' trucks to change their image.
Why do I call them ice cream 'propaganda' trucks?
The definition of propaganda according to Dictionary.com and the Cambridge Dictionary says it all...
Police ice cream trucks are "official government communication to the public that are designed to influence public opinion."
One has to ask, is Homeland Security providing grants (money) to police departments so they can purchase ice cream trucks?
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2017/08/police-departments-across-country-are.html?m=1
Why do I call them ice cream 'propaganda' trucks?
The definition of propaganda according to Dictionary.com and the Cambridge Dictionary says it all...
Police ice cream trucks are "official government communication to the public that are designed to influence public opinion."
One has to ask, is Homeland Security providing grants (money) to police departments so they can purchase ice cream trucks?
http://massprivatei.blogspot.com/2017/08/police-departments-across-country-are.html?m=1
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Tuesday, July 18, 2017
EXCLUSIVE: Christian Women Up Against ISIS | Clarion Project
EXCLUSIVE: Christian Women Up Against ISIS | Clarion Project: Exclusive interview with the head of the Bethnahrin Women’s Protection Forces, an all-women's fighting unit on the ground against ISIS in Syria.
Friday, May 5, 2017
Passive Aggression and Selective Statistics
"Passive-aggression is among the most irksome of all human behaviors.
Most individuals I’ve conversed with about the issue agree that it is
both profoundly insulting and utterly cowardly. But why is that,
exactly? What about this behavior makes it so reprehensible?
The laws of war are instructive on the matter. Generally, it is understood that wearing the uniform of the enemy, or clothing a combatant in civilian dress, is a violation of the laws of war, and the perpetrator may thus be treated as a spy. Passive-aggression operates under a similar principle. Somebody intends to do you harm, or may even be in the process of doing you harm. He is your enemy. And yet he disguises his actions as a sort of non-combatant so as to avoid retaliation. He may even pretend to be your friend.
Naturally, this is a favored tactic of the Political Left, at least when it possesses insufficient power to work its will more directly. Leftists are able to wear your uniform as a good, concerned, moral citizen, and do you harm in this disguise. A Progressive might say that he is merely concerned with accessibility of healthcare for the poor, downtrodden folks of wherever. In truth, his main concern is personal power. As the arbiter of wealth redistribution, he may decide who to rob, and who to pay, and how much he might take for himself."
Read the rest here...
http://thedeclination.com/passive-aggression-and-selective-statistics/
The laws of war are instructive on the matter. Generally, it is understood that wearing the uniform of the enemy, or clothing a combatant in civilian dress, is a violation of the laws of war, and the perpetrator may thus be treated as a spy. Passive-aggression operates under a similar principle. Somebody intends to do you harm, or may even be in the process of doing you harm. He is your enemy. And yet he disguises his actions as a sort of non-combatant so as to avoid retaliation. He may even pretend to be your friend.
Naturally, this is a favored tactic of the Political Left, at least when it possesses insufficient power to work its will more directly. Leftists are able to wear your uniform as a good, concerned, moral citizen, and do you harm in this disguise. A Progressive might say that he is merely concerned with accessibility of healthcare for the poor, downtrodden folks of wherever. In truth, his main concern is personal power. As the arbiter of wealth redistribution, he may decide who to rob, and who to pay, and how much he might take for himself."
Read the rest here...
http://thedeclination.com/passive-aggression-and-selective-statistics/
Sunday, April 30, 2017
1 Month Notice: 11th NC PATCON May 31st - June 5th 2017
Southern Manners Are Expected From all. As my mother would say, if you can't say anything nice about someone, don't say anything at all. Thank you. :)
Under 7, free
7-12, $14
13 and up, $25
Includes world famous East Carolina *Pig Pickin' on Saturday!
*Chopped pork, Southern fried chicken, black eyed peas, string beans, baked beans, rolls, tea, water and banana pudding.
More info here
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Wake up America- Dennis Kuchinich Defends Trump, Issues Dire Warning About the Deep State
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-16/wake-america-dennis-kucinich-defends-trump-issues-dire-warning-about-deep-state
Monday, February 13, 2017
Read,Share,Help-The Next Victim Railroaded Like This Could Be You
http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?m=1115189453164&ca=bfb2ebce-322a-4a23-bf95-d8c56031e4d9
The U.S. Military's Plans To Take Over America
http://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/coming_soon_to_a_city_near_you_the_u.s._militarys_plan_to_take_over_am
Gander Mountain Preparing Bankruptcy Filing
http://www.scout.com/outdoors/wired2fish/story/1754270-gander-mountain-preparing-bankruptcy-filing
Friday, February 10, 2017
Thursday, February 9, 2017
Euro-insanity- cop who spoke out about migrant crime investigated for "hatespeech"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-02-08/swedish-cop-who-spoke-out-about-immigrant-crime-now-being-investigated-hate-speech?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
My Daughter Amy Was Injured in Bad Car Accident
Amy was on her way to work last Thursday at 4:45am when an oncoming car went left of center and hit her head on.
She was lucky to have survived the crash, and luckier still to have made it through with only a badly broken right ankle and fractured left lower leg plus stitches in several places and quite a few bruises.
Her sister has set up a gofundme fundraiser to help with living expenses for Amy's family.
We- the rest of Amy's sisters, the in laws, aunts and uncles and my wife and I are helping out with expenses,and are taking care of
watching the kids so Amy's husband can work. This still leaves them with a 50% cut in monthly income while household expenses remain the same. Amy's medical bills are already rolling in. She was just transferred from hospital to a rehabilitation facility where she will go through about 3 months of physical therapy.
Her doctors say it will be at least a year before she can return to work.
Please contribute if you can and share link so it gets more exposure.
Thank you,
Larry
Her sister has set up a gofundme fundraiser to help with living expenses for Amy's family.
We- the rest of Amy's sisters, the in laws, aunts and uncles and my wife and I are helping out with expenses,and are taking care of
watching the kids so Amy's husband can work. This still leaves them with a 50% cut in monthly income while household expenses remain the same. Amy's medical bills are already rolling in. She was just transferred from hospital to a rehabilitation facility where she will go through about 3 months of physical therapy.
Her doctors say it will be at least a year before she can return to work.
Please contribute if you can and share link so it gets more exposure.
Thank you,
Larry
https://www.gofundme.com/3csbnso
8 Off Season Rifle Drills
http://www.fieldandstream.com/eight-rifle-shooting-drills?cmpid=enews020817&spMailingID=27807218&spUserID=ODY3ODQ4ODgxMDkS1&spJobID=981535913&spReportId=OTgxNTM1OTEzS0
Monday, February 6, 2017
What Passes for NYT Journalism These Days
http://thedeclination.com/what-passes-for-nyt-opinion-journalism-these-days/#respond
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Why Listening is 2x More Important Than Tx
http://sparks-31.blogspot.com/2017/02/why-listening-is-more-important-than.html?m=1
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Top 10 Threats to Gun Rights in 2017
https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/top-ten-threats-gun-rights-2017
Friday, January 27, 2017
U.S. Suspends Foreign Refugee Resettlement Interviews
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN15A2TD?utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_content=588a95b904d3015e3e8af9b6&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
Disinformation Campaign on Hearing Protection Act Continues
https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170127/disinformation-campaign-on-the-hearing-protection-act-continues
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Changes Coming to Ohio Concealed Carry Law March 21st
https://www.buckeyefirearms.org/changes-ohio-concealed-carry-law-coming-march-21-2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Stolen FBI Machine Gun Highlights Government Double Standards
http://www.ammoland.com/2017/01/stolen-fbi-submachine-gun-highlights-government-double-standards/#axzz4WXUfbo6b
Friday, January 20, 2017
7th Circuit Strikes Ban on Target Practice by Minors and Near Ban on Shooting Ranges
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/01/19/7th-circuit-strikes-ban-on-target-practice-by-minors-and-near-ban-on-firing-ranges/?utm_term=.01051add8a08&wpisrc=nl_volokh&wpmm=1
Court rules tossing flashbang into room with toddler is unreasonable police conduct
https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20170108/14383136439/court-says-tossing-flashbang-grenade-into-room-with-toddler-is-unreasonable-police-behavior.shtml?utm_source=The+Rutherford+Institute&utm_campaign=6075023a96-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_17&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d7ffde3304-6075023a96-42109549
Thursday, January 19, 2017
How Baltimore Police Use Military Tech. To Track You
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/how-baltimore-police-use-military-technology-to-track-you-w458136
Food Safety/Cooking for Large Groups
I have received several e-mails in the past couple weeks asking about the food safety/feeding large groups classes.
I’ll do another class I in March or April if there’s enough interest,with a class II-a 2 day-(Sat/Sun)- class about a month after the first class.
The first class covers food safety,and basic cooking techniques,along with nutrition and menu planning. For class I,there is a lot of material that will be sent via e-mail,and it’s material you will need to know for class-so it’s “homework”.
There is also quite a bit of material that will be handed out in class,along with a food thermometer for each student.
I will provide coffee,tea,soft drinks,lunch and dinner for all classes-students will be cooking the dinner for all classes.
Cost is $150.00 per person for class I and $200.00 per person for class II.
Anyone taking both classes will get a $50.00 discount on class II,making the total cost for both classes-3 days of instruction,plus meals and beverages- $300.00.
I just can’t make the cost any lower. You won’t find any decent cooking classes for less money.
For those who aren’t aware of this…
I have 22 years experience as executive chef,most at 4-5 star hotels and private country clubs,along with experience cooking on fishing boats,and for a backcountry outfitter on wilderness elk hunts.
Anyone interested,e-mail-
gamegetterII@yahoo.com
If there’s enough interest,I’ll post details about the classes.
I’ll do another class I in March or April if there’s enough interest,with a class II-a 2 day-(Sat/Sun)- class about a month after the first class.
The first class covers food safety,and basic cooking techniques,along with nutrition and menu planning. For class I,there is a lot of material that will be sent via e-mail,and it’s material you will need to know for class-so it’s “homework”.
There is also quite a bit of material that will be handed out in class,along with a food thermometer for each student.
I will provide coffee,tea,soft drinks,lunch and dinner for all classes-students will be cooking the dinner for all classes.
Cost is $150.00 per person for class I and $200.00 per person for class II.
Anyone taking both classes will get a $50.00 discount on class II,making the total cost for both classes-3 days of instruction,plus meals and beverages- $300.00.
I just can’t make the cost any lower. You won’t find any decent cooking classes for less money.
For those who aren’t aware of this…
I have 22 years experience as executive chef,most at 4-5 star hotels and private country clubs,along with experience cooking on fishing boats,and for a backcountry outfitter on wilderness elk hunts.
Anyone interested,e-mail-
gamegetterII@yahoo.com
If there’s enough interest,I’ll post details about the classes.
Sparks31: This Weekend - ARRL VHF/UHF Conference
Sparks31: This Weekend - ARRL VHF/UHF Conference: http://www.arrl.org/january-vhf This weekend (Jan 21-23) is the ARRL January VHF Contest. The objective: "For amateurs in the US...
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
The FBI and (Another) Dirty Little Secret
http://www.patrickhenrysociety.com/fbi-another-dirty-little-secret/
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Bowhunter bags record-breaking elk in Montana
Most hunters get cagey when asked where they got their trophy elk, but Steve Felix doesn’t balk.
“This
was killed on public land,” said the potential owner of the newest
world record for typical American elk taken by archery. “It’s a
testament to great habitat and great management and the importance of
public lands.”
To be a
little more specific, Felix brought down the 7x8-point bull in Powder
River County, in the southeast corner of Montana. The Boone and Crockett
Club has confirmed its rack scores 430 inches, making it the largest
elk taken in the state and the fourth-largest ever recorded in the
club’s records. No. 1 scored 442 5/8ths, and No. 2 and No. 3 were both
taken before 1900 – all with rifles. The current world-record archery
kill scored 412 1/8, taken in 2005 in Arizona.
“History
was made right here in Montana,” said Justin Spring, records director
at Missoula-based Boone and Crockett. “It’s a milestone in the success
of our commitment to this iconic species. Animals of this size do not
happen by chance. It takes the combined commitment of wildlife managers
and biologists, landowners, sportsmen and above all else, it takes the
best habitats we can set aside for elk in elk country.”
Felix,
who lives near Seeley Lake, made the eight-hour drive to his hunting
area solo in September when his regular hunting partner couldn’t get
away for the weekend. He spotted the bull early in the morning, and
spent about an hour stalking it to get a shooting position.
A
single arrow at 61 yards brought the elk down 30 seconds after he shot
it. Approaching, Felix said he knew he had bagged the biggest animal
he’d ever pursued. But he wasn’t sure how big.
It
took five backpack loads over two days to bring out the meat. At first,
Felix hoped to bring out the antlers and skin in a single load.
“I got about 60 yards and said this is not going to work,” he said. “It was just too heavy.”
He stopped at the Cabela’s store in Billings to compare his bull to some of the trophies hanging there.
“They
had a rack that scored 400 there, so I took a quick look,” he said.
“Then I went back out to my truck and went, ‘Oh, boy.’”
Realizing he had a contender on
his hands, Felix next stopped at John Berger’s taxidermy shop in
Bozeman. After a preliminary measurement hinted the bull was in striking
distance of a world record, they called Fred King, an expert trophy
grader in the Gallatin Valley. In its fresh, “green” state, the antlers
scored 440 inches. Montana’s existing record was 412 inches.
Antlers
shrink a bit as they dry. After 60 days, the final measurement totaled a
net 430 inches. A final, official score for Pope and Young Club World's
Record status will occur before a panel scored by a group of highly
qualified P&Y and B&C measurers just prior to Pope and Young
Club's Biennial Convention and Big Game Awards Ceremony April 5-8, 2017,
in St. Louis, Missouri.
Felix
said the hunting district doesn’t have a trophy restriction like the
popular Missouri Breaks or Elkhorn Mountain regions of Montana. But it
did have great grass, healthy wildlife and public opportunity.
“I’ve
spent a lot of time in that country,” Felix said. “The first eight days
I was there, I never saw an elk. That was the first arrow either my
partner or I have ever shot there for elk.”
Nothing Is Real: When Reality TV Programming Masquerades as Politics
By John W. Whitehead
January 17, 2017
He’s already the star of his own political reality show.
Americans have a voracious appetite for TV entertainment, and the Trump reality show—guest starring outraged Democrats with a newly awakened conscience for immigrants and the poor, power-hungry Republicans eager to take advantage of their return to power, and a hodgepodge of other special interest groups with dubious motives—feeds that appetite for titillating, soap opera drama.
After all, who needs the insults, narcissism and power plays that are hallmarks of reality shows such as Celebrity Apprentice or Keeping Up with the Kardashians when you can have all that and more delivered up by the likes of Donald Trump and his cohorts?
Yet as John Lennon reminds us, “nothing is real,” especially not in the world of politics.
Much like the fabricated universe in Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show, in which a man’s life is the basis for an elaborately staged television show aimed at selling products and procuring ratings, the political scene in the United States has devolved over the years into a carefully calibrated exercise in how to manipulate, polarize, propagandize and control a population.
Indeed, Donald Trump may be the smartest move yet by the powers-that-be to keep the citizenry divided and at each other’s throats, because as long as we’re busy fighting each other, we’ll never manage to present a unified front against tyranny in any form.
This is the magic of the reality TV programming that passes for politics today.
It allows us to be distracted, entertained, occasionally a little bit outraged but overall largely uninvolved, content to remain in the viewer’s seat.
The more that is beamed at us, the more inclined we are to settle back in our comfy recliners and become passive viewers rather than active participants as unsettling, frightening events unfold.
Reality and fiction merge as everything around us becomes entertainment fodder.
We don’t even have to change the channel when the subject matter becomes too monotonous. That’s taken care of for us by the programmers (the corporate media).
For instance, before we could get too worked up over government surveillance, the programmers changed the channels on us and switched us over to breaking news about militarized police. Before our outrage could be transformed into action over police misconduct, they changed the channel once again to reports of ISIS beheadings and terrorist shootings. Before we had a chance to challenge what was staged or real, the programming switched to the 2016 presidential election.
“Living is easy with eyes closed,” says Lennon, and that’s exactly what reality TV that masquerades as American politics programs the citizenry to do: navigate the world with their eyes shut.
As long as we’re viewers, we’ll never be doers.
Studies suggest that the more reality TV people watch—and I would posit that it’s all reality TV—the more difficult it becomes to distinguish between what is real and what is carefully crafted farce.
“We the people” are watching a lot of TV.
On average, Americans spend five hours a day watching television. By the time we reach age 65, we’re watching more than 50 hours of television a week, and that number increases as we get older. And reality TV programming consistently captures the largest percentage of TV watchers every season by an almost 2-1 ratio.
This doesn’t bode well for a citizenry able to sift through masterfully-produced propaganda in order to think critically about the issues of the day, whether it’s fake news peddled by government agencies or foreign entities.
Those who watch reality shows tend to view what they see as the “norm.” Thus, those who watch shows characterized by lying, aggression and meanness not only come to see such behavior as acceptable and entertaining but also mimic the medium.
This holds true whether the reality programming is about the antics of celebrities in the White House, in the board room, or in the bedroom.
It’s a phenomenon called “humilitainment.”
A term coined by media scholars Brad Waite and Sara Booker, “humilitainment” refers to the tendency for viewers to take pleasure in someone else’s humiliation, suffering and pain.
“Humilitainment” largely explains not only why American TV watchers are so fixated on reality TV programming but how American citizens, largely insulated from what is really happening in the world around them by layers of technology, entertainment, and other distractions, are being programmed to accept the brutality, surveillance and dehumanizing treatment of the American police state as things happening to other people.
The ramifications for the future of civic engagement, political discourse and self-government are incredibly depressing and demoralizing.
This not only explains how a candidate like Donald Trump with a reputation for being rude, egotistical and narcissistic could get elected, but it also says a lot about how a politician like Barack Obama—whose tenure in the White House was characterized by drone killings, a weakening of the Constitution at the expense of Americans’ civil liberties, and an expansion of the police state—could be hailed as “one of the greatest presidents of all times.”
This is what happens when an entire nation—bombarded by reality TV programming, government propaganda and entertainment news—becomes systematically desensitized and acclimated to the trappings of a government that operates by fiat and speaks in a language of force.
Ultimately, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the reality shows, the entertainment news, the surveillance society, the militarized police, and the political spectacles have one common objective: to keep us divided, distracted, imprisoned, and incapable of taking an active role in the business of self-government.
If “we the people” feel powerless and apathetic, it is only because we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that the duties of citizenship begin and end at the ballot box.
Marching and protests have certainly been used with great success by past movements to foment real change, but if those marches and protests are merely outpourings of discontent because a particular politician won or lost with no solid plan of action or follow-through, then what’s the point?
Martin Luther King Jr. understood that politics could never be the answer to what ailed the country. That’s why he spearheaded a movement of mass-action strategy that employed boycotts, sit-ins and marches. Yet King didn’t march against a particular politician or merely to express discontent. He marched against injustice, government corruption, war, and inequality, and he leveraged discontent with the status quo into an activist movement that transformed the face of America.
When all is said and done, it won’t matter who you voted for in the presidential election. What will matter is where you stand in the face of the injustices that continue to ravage our nation: the endless wars, the police shootings, the overcriminalization, the corruption, the graft, the roadside strip searches, the private prisons, the surveillance state, etc.
Will you tune out the reality TV show and join with your fellow citizens to push back against the real menace of the police state, or will you merely sit back and lose yourself in the political programming aimed at keeping you imprisoned in the police state?
January 17, 2017
“There are two ways by which the spirit of a culture may be shriveled. In the first—the Orwellian—culture becomes a prison. In the second—the Huxleyan—culture becomes a burlesque. No one needs to be reminded that our world is now marred by many prison-cultures…. it makes little difference if our wardens are inspired by right- or left-wing ideologies. The gates of the prison are equally impenetrable, surveillance equally rigorous, icon-worship pervasive…. Big Brother does not watch us, by his choice. We watch him, by ours…. When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people become an audience, and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk; culture-death is a clear possibility.”— Professor Neil PostmanDonald Trump no longer needs to launch Trump TV.
He’s already the star of his own political reality show.
Americans have a voracious appetite for TV entertainment, and the Trump reality show—guest starring outraged Democrats with a newly awakened conscience for immigrants and the poor, power-hungry Republicans eager to take advantage of their return to power, and a hodgepodge of other special interest groups with dubious motives—feeds that appetite for titillating, soap opera drama.
After all, who needs the insults, narcissism and power plays that are hallmarks of reality shows such as Celebrity Apprentice or Keeping Up with the Kardashians when you can have all that and more delivered up by the likes of Donald Trump and his cohorts?
Yet as John Lennon reminds us, “nothing is real,” especially not in the world of politics.
Much like the fabricated universe in Peter Weir’s 1998 film The Truman Show, in which a man’s life is the basis for an elaborately staged television show aimed at selling products and procuring ratings, the political scene in the United States has devolved over the years into a carefully calibrated exercise in how to manipulate, polarize, propagandize and control a population.
Indeed, Donald Trump may be the smartest move yet by the powers-that-be to keep the citizenry divided and at each other’s throats, because as long as we’re busy fighting each other, we’ll never manage to present a unified front against tyranny in any form.
This is the magic of the reality TV programming that passes for politics today.
It allows us to be distracted, entertained, occasionally a little bit outraged but overall largely uninvolved, content to remain in the viewer’s seat.
The more that is beamed at us, the more inclined we are to settle back in our comfy recliners and become passive viewers rather than active participants as unsettling, frightening events unfold.
Reality and fiction merge as everything around us becomes entertainment fodder.
We don’t even have to change the channel when the subject matter becomes too monotonous. That’s taken care of for us by the programmers (the corporate media).
For instance, before we could get too worked up over government surveillance, the programmers changed the channels on us and switched us over to breaking news about militarized police. Before our outrage could be transformed into action over police misconduct, they changed the channel once again to reports of ISIS beheadings and terrorist shootings. Before we had a chance to challenge what was staged or real, the programming switched to the 2016 presidential election.
“Living is easy with eyes closed,” says Lennon, and that’s exactly what reality TV that masquerades as American politics programs the citizenry to do: navigate the world with their eyes shut.
As long as we’re viewers, we’ll never be doers.
Studies suggest that the more reality TV people watch—and I would posit that it’s all reality TV—the more difficult it becomes to distinguish between what is real and what is carefully crafted farce.
“We the people” are watching a lot of TV.
On average, Americans spend five hours a day watching television. By the time we reach age 65, we’re watching more than 50 hours of television a week, and that number increases as we get older. And reality TV programming consistently captures the largest percentage of TV watchers every season by an almost 2-1 ratio.
This doesn’t bode well for a citizenry able to sift through masterfully-produced propaganda in order to think critically about the issues of the day, whether it’s fake news peddled by government agencies or foreign entities.
Those who watch reality shows tend to view what they see as the “norm.” Thus, those who watch shows characterized by lying, aggression and meanness not only come to see such behavior as acceptable and entertaining but also mimic the medium.
This holds true whether the reality programming is about the antics of celebrities in the White House, in the board room, or in the bedroom.
It’s a phenomenon called “humilitainment.”
A term coined by media scholars Brad Waite and Sara Booker, “humilitainment” refers to the tendency for viewers to take pleasure in someone else’s humiliation, suffering and pain.
“Humilitainment” largely explains not only why American TV watchers are so fixated on reality TV programming but how American citizens, largely insulated from what is really happening in the world around them by layers of technology, entertainment, and other distractions, are being programmed to accept the brutality, surveillance and dehumanizing treatment of the American police state as things happening to other people.
The ramifications for the future of civic engagement, political discourse and self-government are incredibly depressing and demoralizing.
This not only explains how a candidate like Donald Trump with a reputation for being rude, egotistical and narcissistic could get elected, but it also says a lot about how a politician like Barack Obama—whose tenure in the White House was characterized by drone killings, a weakening of the Constitution at the expense of Americans’ civil liberties, and an expansion of the police state—could be hailed as “one of the greatest presidents of all times.”
This is what happens when an entire nation—bombarded by reality TV programming, government propaganda and entertainment news—becomes systematically desensitized and acclimated to the trappings of a government that operates by fiat and speaks in a language of force.
Ultimately, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the reality shows, the entertainment news, the surveillance society, the militarized police, and the political spectacles have one common objective: to keep us divided, distracted, imprisoned, and incapable of taking an active role in the business of self-government.
If “we the people” feel powerless and apathetic, it is only because we have allowed ourselves to be convinced that the duties of citizenship begin and end at the ballot box.
Marching and protests have certainly been used with great success by past movements to foment real change, but if those marches and protests are merely outpourings of discontent because a particular politician won or lost with no solid plan of action or follow-through, then what’s the point?
Martin Luther King Jr. understood that politics could never be the answer to what ailed the country. That’s why he spearheaded a movement of mass-action strategy that employed boycotts, sit-ins and marches. Yet King didn’t march against a particular politician or merely to express discontent. He marched against injustice, government corruption, war, and inequality, and he leveraged discontent with the status quo into an activist movement that transformed the face of America.
When all is said and done, it won’t matter who you voted for in the presidential election. What will matter is where you stand in the face of the injustices that continue to ravage our nation: the endless wars, the police shootings, the overcriminalization, the corruption, the graft, the roadside strip searches, the private prisons, the surveillance state, etc.
Will you tune out the reality TV show and join with your fellow citizens to push back against the real menace of the police state, or will you merely sit back and lose yourself in the political programming aimed at keeping you imprisoned in the police state?
Monday, January 16, 2017
Modern Surveillance-Why You Should Care and What to do About it
https://law.stanford.edu/2017/01/11/american-spies-modern-surveillance-why-you-should-care-and-what-to-do-about-it/?utm_source=The+Rutherford+Institute+%E2%80%A2+Complete&utm_campaign=af8d4e3b9a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d7ffde3304-af8d4e3b9a-42109549
Rules of Engagement for Interacting With Police
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/legal_features/constitutional_qa_rules_of_engagement_for_interacting_with_police?utm_source=The+Rutherford+Institute+%E2%80%A2+Complete&utm_campaign=af8d4e3b9a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d7ffde3304-af8d4e3b9a-42109549
Friday, January 13, 2017
Thursday, January 12, 2017
We're the Only Ones Forming a Perimeter Enough
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/2017/01/were-only-ones-forming-perimeter-enough.html?m=1
Saturday, January 7, 2017
40% Myth Further Debunked by Suspiciously Timed Harvard Report
https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170106/40-percent-myth-further-debunked-by-suspiciously-timed-harvard-report
Boston U. Continues to Tout Flawed Gun "Research"
https://www.nraila.org/articles/20170106/boston-university-continues-to-tout-flawed-gun-research
Trump to Build Death Camps for Transgendered People of Color:Deport all Women
http://fredoneverything.org/author/fredreed/
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Cop Killers and Killer Cops- 2016
https://www.rt.com/usa/372406-officer-involved-shootings-review/?utm_source=The+Rutherford+Institute&utm_campaign=ef9ae24425-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_29&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_575dd19741-ef9ae24425-41948021
Russia is the Aggressor??!!?
https://mojavedesertpatriot.wordpress.com/2017/01/04/military-hooliganism/#respond
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Nevada Background Check Law Faces New Legal Challenge
http://m.reviewjournal.com/local/nevada/nevada-s-gun-background-check-law-already-limbo-faces-new-legal-challenge
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