Foreign Policy magazine - glorifying repressive regimes for being "tough on terrorism" while stirring up more fear

a publication with the impressive title of "Foreign Policy" ought to be able to rise above being a propaganda tool... oh, well... so much for a mag published by the carnegie endowment for international PEACE, eh...?

The List: The Worst Places to Be a Terrorist

Fighting transnational terrorism often involves making unsavory choices between protecting civil rights and providing security. The following regimes have opted for the latter and are definitely not the kind of places you want to get caught if you’re plotting some terrorist mayhem.

so where are these places that are so zealously safeguarding their citizens...?

• Jordan
• Egypt
• Singapore
• Russia

and, oh, by the way...

• France

i just gotta ask, what's the implied message here...? are these places the u.s. should be emulating...?

now, for the fear-mongering...

How (Not) to Spot a Terrorist

Identifying terrorists on the battlefield is relatively simple. My scout-sniper school instructor always reminded us of a solid truism that applies perfectly both in Afghanistan and Iraq—shoot the one with the gun. The same cannot be said of the world’s most dangerous terrorists—the ones operating covertly inside the United States and Europe. They are an entirely different matter. Hunting them down is more akin to finding Soviet spies during the Cold War. It requires an educated, deeply institutionalized counterintelligence apparatus...

and...

Meet the New Face of Al Qaeda

Few of the deadliest modern-day suicide bombers fit the stereotype of a mass murderer. Here’s a look at four once-average people who epitomize the changing profile of the terrorists we fear most.

and they go on to profile folks that, horror-of-horrors, could pass among us unnoticed...

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Millions of children are being raised on prejudice and disinformation

aw, geeeez... more bullshit from foreign policy... check this out...

the title...

Europe’s Philosophy of Failure

now, for the meat...

In France and Germany, students are being forced to undergo a dangerous indoctrination. Taught that economic principles such as capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship are savage, unhealthy, and immoral, these children are raised on a diet of prejudice and bias. Rooting it out may determine whether Europe’s economies prosper or continue to be left behind.

Millions of children are being raised on prejudice and disinformation. Educated in schools that teach a skewed ideology, they are exposed to a dogma that runs counter to core beliefs shared by many other Western countries. They study from textbooks filled with a doctrine of dissent, which they learn to recite as they prepare to attend many of the better universities in the world. Extracting these children from the jaws of bias could mean the difference between world prosperity and menacing global rifts. And doing so will not be easy. But not because these children are found in the madrasas of Pakistan or the state-controlled schools of Saudi Arabia. They are not. Rather, they live in two of the world’s great democracies—France and Germany.

oh, my stars and garters... shocking... just SHOCKING...! "savage..." "unhealthy..." "immoral..." they certainly COULDN'T be talking about capitalism, free markets, and entrepreneurship...! oh, but wait...! yes, they ARE...! france and germany are DARING to challenge THE RELIGION OF CAPITALISM... how terribly cheeky of them...

The deep anti-market bias that French and Germans continue to teach challenges the conventional wisdom that it’s just a matter of time, thanks to the pressures of globalization, before much of the world agrees upon a supposedly “Western” model of free-market capitalism. Politicians in democracies cannot long fight the preferences of the majority of their constituents. So this bias will likely continue to circumscribe both European elections and policy outcomes. A likely alternative scenario may be that the changes wrought by globalization will awaken deeply held resentment against capitalism and, in many countries from Europe to Latin America, provide a fertile ground for populists and demagogues, a trend that is already manifesting itself in the sudden rise of many leftist movements today.

well, we CERTAINLY can't tolerate POPULISM, now, can we...?

i don't know about you, but i find this little screed terribly naive... by choosing to completely overlook the ravages caused by globalization, the breathtaking exploitation of people and resources wrought by capitalism, and the global financial chaos we are experiencing right at this moment from free and unregulated financial markets, the author is revealing himself as nothing more than a public relations shill for the global super-rich... like they need another apologist... i say, "bloody good for france and germany for trying to inject a little truth into their school curriculums..." it's a novel idea, but, who knows, it might catch on...

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You want to read something REALLY funny?

start with the title of this piece in the current edition of foreign policy...

The List: How to Steal an Election Without Breaking a Sweat

with me so far...? ok, NOW, let's look at the teaser...

From Abuja to Islamabad, autocratic regimes have become adept at manipulating “free and fair elections” to stay in power. Here’s how they do it—and how to stop them.

heaven forbid the u.s. would be included in the list...

anyway, here's a few of the things being "done" to steal elections and what we can "do" to "stop THEM"...

How it’s done: It’s much easier to steal an election when there are fewer checks on executive power and no legal framework for resolving disputes.

How to stop it: An independent judicial branch that is capable of arbitrating electoral disputes without partisan pressure is a must. It also helps if polls are managed by independent election commissions rather than interior ministries.

stop me if any of this sounds familiar...

How it’s done: In countries with little or no independent media outlets, opportunities are rife for leaders to use state-controlled media to broadcast propaganda or discredit the opposition.

How to stop it: The proliferation of Internet news sources and text messaging can make it harder to control the flow of information...

How it’s done: In close elections, a popular technique is to identify which polling stations are likely to be swing votes and replace trained election officials with government loyalists at the last minute.

How to stop it: Observers from international organizations are harder to remove and less susceptible to threats from local law enforcement personnel.

How it’s done: [O]fficial results are generally tabulated by officials at centralized locations away from public scrutiny, making deliberate miscounting all too easy.

How to stop it: [Use] mobile phones to text unofficial results to a central server, creating a tally that could be compared to officially released results

well, gosh, there's just lots and lots more, but you'll just have to go read it yourselves...

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