Archive for November, 2008

Since the US-led invasion four years ago, the fifth estate has covered Iraq and the war on terror from virtually every angle–the military, media, intelligence, politics–revealing aspects of the story that you didn’t find anywhere else.

Now, as the White House warns about the latest threat in the region, this time from Iran, it’s worthwhile looking back to examine the deception, suspect intelligence, even lies, that convinced the world of the rightness of targeting Saddam Hussein.

The political decisions behind the invasion The Lies That Led To War is drawn from these stories: In 2003’s The Forgotten People, the fifth estate examined the human rights arguments used to make a case for war.

We looked at the sale of technology by the US to Iraq during the 1980’s despite the fact that this equipment could be, and was used eventually, in military operations by Saddam Hussein against Kurdish civilians. After the gassing of the Kurds in 1988, American business with Iraq actually increased.

In Act of Faith which aired that same year, the fifth estate examined how George Bush and Tony Blair struck a deal that would lead to the invasion of Iraq.

It was a deal struck while UN diplomats worked to avert conflict in the weeks and months leading up to March 19, 2003. In the widely acclaimed Conspiracy Theories and the Unauthorized Biography of Dick Cheney, which aired in 2003 and 2004 respectively, we looked at intelligence failures leading up to 9/11, Dick Cheney’s power within the White House and his Halliburton connections, as well as the links between the Bush family, the Saudi Royal family and the Bin Ladens.

Selling the war in Iraq In 2005’s Sticks and Stones, we turned our attention to the American media and how they covered the ongoing war in Iraq, public dissent, as well as the increasingly hostile tone between left and right in American discourse.

Now, The Lies That Led To War provides context to the events of the previous six years, showing how political, diplomatic, media spin – which sometimes crossed the line into outright lies - have been used by the those in power to further their own agendas.«

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Whisner, Wiliam, N. (1993) - “Overcoming Rationalization and Self-Deception: The Cultivation of Critical Thinking”, Educational Theory, 43(3), 309-322

In a high frequency of cases the fear of present discomfort or future discomfort plays a motivational role in both rationalization and self-deception.

Persons rationalize in offering reasons in support of beliefs or their termination; however, they do not form, maintain, or terminate these beliefs because they believe or judge that the reasons are good in light of evidence.

Such reasons may even function in arguments that are valid or correct and sound; however, the person does not hold or terminate the belief because of the reasons.

Several educational strategies are suggested to overcome the tendency to engage in rationalization and self-deception.

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30
Nov

The Rationality of Escapism and Self-Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in self deception

Loungeway, John L. (1990) - “The Rationality of Escapism and Self-Deception”, Behavior and Philosophy, (Fall-Winter) 90, 1-20

Escapism is defined as the attempt to avoid awareness of aversive beliefs.
Strategies, and a few examples, of escapism are discussed.
It is argued that self-deception is one species of escapism and that entrenched escapism is theoretically irrational except in the special case where it compensates for irrationality elsewhere.
The results for entrenched escapism would apply to self-deception as well.
The function of escapism, then, is to compensate for irrational patterns of belief formation, and to maintain effectiveness (for the sake of continuance of the species), insofar as that is possible, in situations in which a rational person would succumb to despair and suicide.

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30
Nov

Self-Deception is not neccesarily bad

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in self deception

Hamlyn, D. W. (1971) - “Self-Deception”, The Aristotelian Society: Supplementary Volume, 45, 45-60

Self-deception does not involve knowing and not-knowing at the same time.
The self-deceiver really knows what he is up to but makes himself unconscious of what he knows.
Sartre’s objections to this are invalid; the use of quasi-rational methods to irrational ends that self-deception involves has some parallels in Freud.
One cannot understand deception in general except in terms of more general attitudes that a person may have to another or to himself.
Self-deception seen in this context (cf. Not being honest with oneself) may take many forms.
Fingarette’s account is in this sense too limited.

Self-deception, finally, is not necessarily bad.

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30
Nov

The Paradoxes of Self-Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in self deception

Allen, R. T. (1990) - “The Paradoxes of Self-Deception”, Irish Philosophical Journal, 160-170

Self-deception is thought to be impossible, for the same person at the same time cannot both know and keep himself from knowing the same thing. But, while there are not two selves, there is a division within the self, and we do deceive ourselves by not facing up to or acknowledging the facts of which we are at least partly aware.

We deceive ourselves about things that matter to us and which we wish to be other than they are.

In deceiving myself about something, I simultaneously and implicitly pretend to myself that I am not deceiving myself about that something.

The latter can then be the content of a second act as when I claim, to another and so to myself that I am not deceiving myself about

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28
Nov

Bursting Bubbles of Government Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in Deception in Media

Robert-Arthur:Menard gives a seminar on The Illusion of the Person, what Words in Law mean, Consent, Acceptance, Honor & Dishonour, Bills of Exchange, and more! Highly relavent information about just how The Powers That Be govern over us, and what we can do about.«

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28
Nov

Weapons of Mass Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in Deception in Media, Deception in Politics

Explains how mass media justified the war in Iraq.

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28
Nov

ThinkFree Presents : The Magnificent Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in Deception in Politics

ThinkFree.ca and DivergentFilms brings you the limited edition version of The Magnificent Deception, Rob Menard’s newest video on the concepts of Freedom, Law, and Commerce, and how they relate to Persons, Humans, and Freesouls-On-Land. This is the preview version of the Sequel to Bursting Bubbles of Government Deception«

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28
Nov

The U.N. Deception

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in Deception in Media, Deception in Politics

This is the New World Order, the globalists will overthrow the United States Consitition to replace it with a UN Constitution! A one world government, being setup by globalist elites; George Bush Senior, Kofi Annan, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Pope Benedict, all of these elites and many others call for a one world governance!«

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28
Nov

Deception from Blip TV

   Posted by: Hardly Himself   in Deception in Media

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