Televised Illiteracy

Functional illiteracy has reached epidemic proportions in the United States. There are more than seven million illiterate Americans, more than twenty five million are unable to read well enough to complete a job application, or read a simple sentence.

As many as fifty million read at a fourth grade level. Nearly a third of the nation's population is illiterate or barely literate, and this number is growing rapildy. At least one third of high school and, surprisingly, college graduates never read another book after graduation.

Surveys indicated that in 2007 eighty per cent of American families neither bought nor read a book that year. And yet the United States is among the world's more literate countries. Mexico and Canada are worse.

At least part of the reading deficit in America can be attributed directly to television, which is based on images, not words, and has long been America's main mass communicatin medium, replacing newspapers.

The average Americn watches more than four hours of television a day. This adds up to more than a full day of TV out of every two weeks, or two solid months of viewing per year per person. Such people will have spent nine years in front of a TV by the they reach the age of sixty five.

These numbers are a tribute to the seductive capabilities of television, which transports us away from our dreary lives into a world of fabulous fantasy, where everyone is beautiful, and the stress and violence are shocking, stimulating, and vicarious.

We are made to feel closer to the people who really matter, celebrities. By so doing television confers a false sense of power, and becomes the final tuthority on what matters in life. The best way to strike a blow at the insanity of American culture, and to free oneself from manipulation by our corporate masters might well be the money saving measure of cancelling the cable.

There may still be time to get to the public library before the corporate sensors get their hands on it.

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Transient by Choice

by Billy Shears



Life in America is pretty good.  Although forty five million americans live in poverty, 20 to 30 million need a job, and  one hundred million live paycheck to paycheck with high rent or underwater mortgages, still, life in America is pretty good.

And so it was for me, until I decided that I'd had enough of it. Enough nine to five, enough struggling to get by with bills and pressure and deadlines and stress....it was time to get away for awhile.

I decided I wanted to go camping, without any limit on time or space. I wanted my life, at least for a time, to be freee of any responsibility, other than daily survival. Go where I want, when I want, do what I want. The complete freedom of homelessness, responsibilitylessness.

I needed a good pair of walking shoes, a couple changes of clothing, including rain gear, a sleeping bag, and a light weight one man tent in my back pack. No car, no phone, no attachments.

Complete freedom. I would hit the road on foot, and become a homeless transient by choice. Walk a few miles, campout. Walk a few more, campout. Walk a few more, hangout, for a little while. Take notes and keep a diary. An entire spring, summer, and fall on the road, then...who knows?Let the grand adventure begin!


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Nuclear Disarmament

The Truthless Reconciler strongly advocates the elimination of all nuclear weapons, but of course, who doesn't? Isn't that the dream of every sensible person? How to get everyboy in the saloon to give up their guns, after they've already got them pointed at each other? 

What is the biggest roadblock? Why, the United States, of course. Aint no way in hell the United States of America is going to agree to anything like that, ever. Not as long as the military industrial complex, rather than the unwashed masses, is in control.

The international initiative to stop Iran from building the bomb, (or, for all we know, to get Iran to eliminate whatever nuclear weapons it already has), seems like a perfect opportunity to get a world wide ban movement underway.

Actually, its rather hard to imagine any nation which wants the bomb not having it. Just send some students to graduate school in America in nuclear engineering. Were I Iran, I would demand a world wide ban as a condition for quitting my program.

The sheriff walks into the saloon and disarms everybody. But who, other than the United Nations, which can't do it, can do it?  Only the extraterrestrials, if there are any, have the power tp walk in, and disarm humanity of atomic bombs.

If only they would come here and do it!  Perhaps even now, if we're lucky, the Galactic Federation of Light is contemplating just such a move. WE can only hope that they'll also round up any stray bombs which might have been acquired by terrorist groups.

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Seeking Help

The Truthless Reconciler is looking for truth, and thinks it can be found in a wide variety of places. Therefore we are looking for writers of all kinds to contribute articles; conservatives, libertarians, socialists, christians, non christians, moslems, men, women, young, old, and so forth...

Last but not least we are looking for extraterrestrials, that's right, alien beings from other planets, to contribute to TTR.

And why not? It takes all kinds, right?

Careful research by Truthless Reconciler staff indicates that this is not such an inconceivable idea, and might very well be within our reach. So far only three or four different humans have written articles for us, and we greatly appreciate it, but we need more. More people. More aliens. We still don't have s single conservative writer ...or alien...but we will...we will..

Further research seems to indicate that extraterrestrials are all over the internet, usually "channeling", or giving their messages  through human contacts. There are several of these contacts who are particularly prominent; Greg Giles and David Wilcock are two  of the most distinguished channelers, and a being from Andromeda named "SaLuSa" is among the preeminent aliens in the field.

And so be it. Very well then. This is to announce that the Truthless Reconciler wishes to be a conduit of messages from extraterrestrials to humaninty, and considers itself eminently qualified for this. WE will pay top dollar. (would that even matter to them?) It is claimed by researchers that the mere expression of a thought directed towards our extraterrestrial visitors is sufficient to garner their attention.

Very well then!  The Truthless Reconciler hereby wishes to receive the attention, and written, publishable communication, from, um...what was his name...SaLuSa!!  Or, from any other alien who might be interested in being channeled.

Looking forward to hearing from you, Sincerely,
                                                                              The Truthless Reconciler

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DON'T DROP OUT

After the first day of classes this semester, I felt like dropping out, again.  I went back to college part-time at the age of 50.  I’ll be retired before I graduate.  It doesn’t matter.

I started college back in the 1970s.  I chose the No. 2 ranked party school in the nation, and it lived up to its reputation.  After 8 fun-filled years and a dismally low GPA, I dropped out.

I was in good company.  The list of famous college drop-outs is impressive.  Everyone knows that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates never graduated from college.  But since it’s ludicrous for me to compare myself to Jobs or Gates, I tried to find a few more drop-out role models.

Alicia Keys dropped out after one semester at Columbia University.  I can’t sing or play piano.

Heidi Klum became a model immediately after high school.  To say I have nothing in common with her is a gross understatement.

Woody Allen got kicked out of college.  He reports he got caught cheating on a metaphysics test: "I looked into the soul of the guy next to me."

Rush Limbaugh dropped out of college after being required to take ballroom dancing.  I’m grateful that is not a core requirement for my major.  Glenn Beck reportedly enrolled in one class at Yale but dropped out, complaining that he spent more time looking for a parking space than he did in class.  Worst excuse ever.

Brad Pitt left the University of Missouri two credits short of graduating.  He’s done okay for himself.

My previous college attempt most closely resembles actor Ray Romano.  He went to college for 7 years but never graduated.  He said, “I would get my student loans, get money, register and never really go.  It was a system I thought would somehow pan out.”

Karl Rove, former presidential advisor, left University of Utah after two years.  He should have stayed in school, for his own sake and that of the president he would later advise.

Tiger Woods quit Stanford University after two years.  I never played a round of golf without cheating.  But then he’s had his issues with cheating too.

A lot of celebrities never finished college, including Robert DeNiro, Clint Eastwood, Kanye West, Simon Cowell, Michael J. Fox, Aretha Franklin,  Quentin Tarantino, Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg.  The drop-out list also includes many CEO’s, politicians and eight U.S. presidents, such as Roosevelt and Lincoln.

These and countless other college drop-outs had hugely successful careers.  Some were just born with massive talent or good looks; others just got lucky.  Remember that the list of college graduates is even more impressive.  Education is still important, but good luck getting a job.  Next time you get a call from a telemarketer, just ask them where they got their MBA.

###annie

Letter to the Editor

Dear Truthless Reconciler,

I read you, but I don't always agree with you. Why do you think american culture is so bad? Why do you think we are all so dumb, that we are puppets of the corporations? I love American television, and the hot babes who read the news to me, and the hot babes who sell good stuff to me.

Intellectual television shows such as Desperate Housewives enhance our culture by clearly demonstrating what we do not want our culture to be. If we spend our days wondering what killed Whitney Houston, we won't be wondering whether the current political/economic system is really best for most people, and we can relax. 

And since we know it isn't best, and we know that to change it would require a great deal of effort and sacrifice, we prefer to remain in the realm of celebrity events, to simplify and excite our mundane but complicated lives. To take us away from the real world around us. And what could be better than that?

Our lives in America are hectic, lonely, and mundane. We seem to like it like that, the isolation, the lack of community. Our entertainment is our favorite drug, ahead of sugar, caffeine, or even alcohol. Is there reallly anything "wrong" with constantly burying our heads in mobile electronic devices, as long as we don't rear end anyone?

American culture is great because of Paris Hilton, not in spite of Paris Hilton. We like our vicarious lives. Please henceforth publish articles in The Truthless Reconciler which contribute to, rather than condemn, America's glorious celebrity culture.

                                                                       Sincerely,
                                                                                         Billy "pinkin" Shears

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Celebrity For Profit

Back in the day when most folks were either farmers or very small business people, political and economic power were in the hands of the hereditary large land owning nobility.

After the industrial revolution, when corporations were invented and began to grow large, political and economic power shifted to the corporate elite, even as democracy began to replace manarchy. In either monarchy or democracy, real political power is in the hands of those who possess the wealth.

American celebrity culture does the same thing to the teeming masses as religion did for centuries; keeps them distracted, and harmless. Celebrity is the prime tool corporations use to sell us whatever they wish, whether we need it or not.

Celebrities humanize corporate commodities, celebrities present a friendly face of our corporate masters. In his book "Celebrity" Chris Rojek calls celebrity culture "the cult of distraction that valorizes the superficial and the gaudy", and ignores the disintegration of culture, and the increasing separation of the consumers of culture from the realities of that culture.

All the while, material wealth trickles down to us in barely sufficient quantities to keep us yearning for more, and willing to work for more, at jobs which transfer most of their value added to the owners.

It was emphasized that the funeral of Whitney Houston would be a small, private affair. It ended up being televised to most of the world.  It seems there is no end to celebrity for profit.

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Celebrity Worship

"We all have gods", Martin Luther said, "its just a matter of which ones." In America, our gods are celebrities. WE idolize our celebrites with a religious fervor formerly reserved for gods of nature, for gods in the sky. We build temples to celebrities the way the ancient Romans built temples for emperors, ancestors, and sky gods. America is, in essence, a polytheistic society.

Any physical object ever owned or touched by a member of the celebrity pantheon becames a sacred relic, like a bone fragment from a saint, extremely valuable monetarily, imbued with magical powers. JFK's golf clubs, Michael Jackson's bed, princess Di's dress, whatever.

Sooner rather than later possessions of Whitney Houston will doubtless join the magical parade of valuable talismans. Each year nearly a million people pilgrammage to Graceland, a sacred temple.

Entire corporations, like the Hard Rock Cafe base their appeal on a mass yearning to be closer to celebrity. The corpses of ascended celebrities, like Charlie Chaplin and Eva Person, are stolen and held for ransom. Likewise headstones of the famous. In our modern culture our religion is celebrity.

When Albert Einstein moved to New Jersey in 1933, he was instantly turned into the most famous celebrity in the world by the American media, as you can no doubt imagine. He was amazed. In europe he had been a well known and respected scientist, in America, he was suddenly a celebrity god, one of our American pantheon of celebrity gods. He was photographed so often that he started calling himself a "model", and he couldn't understand why wriitng his name on a piece of paper created a sacred American reliquery. 

Our celebrity religion serves the same purpose as the roman gods; it keeps the motley masses tamed, and harmless.

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PHOBIAS

 It is a commonly known fact that public speaking is the No. 1 fear; death is No. 2.  Everyone has a fear of something.  Some phobias are more common than others. 

Many people have a fear of teachers, cops, dentists and doctors.  Last week, I again experienced “white coat syndrome”, where blood pressure rises because of nervousness about seeing the doctor.  I also recently experienced fear of taking tests, actually called “testophobia”, which some psychologists believe is actually a fear of success.

The list of identified phobias is extensive.  Some of the clinical names are easy to figure out, such as obesophobia, fear of gaining weight, or “Papaphobia”, fear of the Pope.  Other phobia names make no sense, unless you speak ancient Greek or Latin.  For example, “arachibutyrophobia” is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth;  “Venustraphobia” is the fear of beautiful women;  “Paraskavedekatriaphobia” is fear of Friday the 13^th; “lilapsophobia” is fear of tornados and hurricanes.

Jim Morrison of the 1960s rock group, The Doors, wasn’t exactly a role model, but he was an extraordinary poet and philosopher.  Morrison said “Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power.”

So, in the course of any ordinary day, I may experience politicaladophobia, taxophobia, houseworkaphobia, exercisophobia, gaspriceaphobia, alarmclockophobia, fastfoodophobia, realityshowophobia, narcilepsiphobia, bankruptophobia, and hangoveraphobia, but with any luck, I won’t have to do any public speaking.

###annie

Social Conservative Dilemma

Rick Santorum is the latest in a long line of altenatives to Mitt Romney, Mitt the GOP frontrunner who is unfortunately unacceptable to republican conservatives,  particularly social conservatives.

The right wingers have tried Hrman Cain, Michelle Bachman, Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, and  Newt Gingrich as non-Romeny alternatives, and they've all been relegated to the dust bin.

Now we have a recently resurgant Santorum, who is extremely socially conservative, challenging Romney, who recently claimed to be "severely conservative", in the republican scramble to be the most conservative. 

Romney has hardly been "severely conservative", not even close to the others, which is why he would make the  best opponent against Obama. Mitt'll have to convince the social conservative republican base that he can be as conservative as they want him to be, then, in the campaign against Obama, he'll have to subtley shift gears, and run as a moderate. And this, he can and will do, easily.

In order to secure the republican nomination, Santorum, on the other hand, is emphasizing that he opposes ALL contraception, all sex before marriage, and all homo sex. His sexual philosophy is rather far to the right of mainstream America, which tends to take a more libertarian approach to this issue.

Santorum would go down against Obama like a Goldwater or a Dole. It is the tea party social conservatives who will have to give ground, and eventually swallow their pride, and support Romney. Otherwise, the republicans are in trouble.

And then, the only thing Romney will have to do is reverse his previously stated stance, and proclaim his concern for the poor.

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One versus Ninety Nine

The ninety nine per cent, versus the one per cent. We are the ninety nine per cent. Well enough. But the question is, just who is the one per cent? Corporate CEOs? Heads of state and other high ranking government officials around the world ? Billionaires and multi millionaires? Tim Tebow? Alex Rodriguez ?

The truth is, the ninety nine and the one are mere models, abstractions used to simplify a rather complicated situation. But the gist is still the same; grotesque, unacceptable inequality of wealth and power. If the ninety niners were truly unified in purpose, their cause would  doubtless soon come true, and wouldn't be needed anymore.

The truth is, the status quo, concerning wealth, power, and violence, is supported by far more than the one per cent, it is supported and maintained by many more than that, and, to certain degree, by us all.

What can we do to help change the status quo? Lean a bit farther away from it each day, perhaps. A tearing up of a credit card here, a disconnection of cable TV there, maybe an email or two to some politicians... who knows....but the Occupy Wall Street movement aint done, not by a long shot, it will likely spring back up come spring, and its on its way to the internet.

May the Arab spring inspire us all to greater equality and compassion, and long live the brave people of Syria!

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Bring Our Troops Home

by Jim Hosp

I would defend my country and my family if anyone attacked us 

on my street or in my neighborhood but I would not defend America with my life in; 

Vietnam, 

Laos, 

Cambodia, 

the Dominican Republic, 

Grenada, 

Lebanon, 

Libya, 

Iran, 

Libya, (again) 

Iraq, 

Somalia, 

Bosnia, 

Haiti, 

Afghanistan, 

Sudan, 

Kosovo, 

in the Global War on Terror over seas, 

Operation Enduring Freedom, 

Operation Iraqi Freedom, 

the War in North-West Pakistan, 

the "crackdown on al-Queda" in Yemeni, 

the Second Liberian Civil War, 

the 2004 Haitian rebellion, 

Operation Odyssey Dawn,

or Egypt.  

America's military actions and wars since the 1960's, my adult life.

I do not have the answers to the question of how to stop war but I say this, bring our service men and women home now. 

Some countries are not worth the lives of our family members.

Our service men and women have done more than what should be asked of anyone, for way too long. Stand proudly next to them not against them. Our Vet's are not our enemies. Each Vet has supported our freedom by serving. They are the best in the world. 

Support our Vet's return home with the best medical services available, hire them, train them for good paying jobs and by respecting the sacrifices they have made for all us. Most of us do not know what they have gone through and have been asked to do to preserve our way of life.

America enjoys wonderful freedoms and we should support each other. If there is anything worth fighting for, it's our Vet's and their return home.

A safe and secure America starts at our own boarders. 

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Occupy the Internet

If the Syrian government were to stop attacking the people of Syria, the Syrian people might, at this point, get out into the streets and stage such a massive protest that nearly everyone in Syria might end up getting involved.  A veritable tiger by the tail.

We the American people online tend to support the Syrian people online, do we not?

You friends of The Truthless Reconciler in Russia are perhaps aware that your government is blocking U.N. action against the Syrian Assad government. Is there by chance any means by which small groups of Russian citizens can encourage their government to change policy?

Let's get this "Occupy Wall Street" movement established on the internet, and "Occupy the Internet", and form a global coalition of the ninety nine per cent of humanity which wishes to see an end to the madness, to put an end to the madness.

The madness includes global corporate domination, destruction of the environment for the enrichment of the few, religious extremism, paranoid dictators who accede to religious extremism and corporate domination in order to stay in power, national foreign policy driven by religious extremism and elite corporate interests. (and so forth).

May the good people of Syria continue to rise up, and replace a dictatorship with a democracy of its people, by its people, for its people!

May the ninety nine per cent govern the world in its own best interests!


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Inclusiveness

Evidently some university did a study which concluded that higher IQ people tend to be liberal, and lower IQ people tend towards conservatism, especially social conservatism.

It sounds rather dubious, yet, one recalls the tendency of university professors worldwide to be liberal, and one might think that the most intelligent American presidents of recent vintage were Carter, Clinton, and Obama, while the somewhat less gifted were Bush, Bush, and Reagan.

The purpose here is not to advocate any particular political philosophy, but rather, to seek truth through thought exchange. Both liberalism and conservatism are true. Both are correct. And they compliment each other, and they do not mutually exclude each other. Conservatism is the foundation upon which liberalism is based, as augmentation, not antithesis.  Likewise all the world's religions, each providing a particular pathway to the truth.

Let's assume, until otherwise proven, that liberals and conservatives are about equally intelligent, overall. And likewise all religions are true. Like Goethe said:

             "When I realized that everyone invents his own religion, I decided to invent mine."

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More on Occupy Wall Street

          On September 17, 2011, “Occupy Wall Street” began in the financial district of New York City.  The generalized goal was to protest the corporate greed and political corruption of the banks and corporations symbolized by Wall Street, also referred to as the “1 percent”.  Utilizing social media for global publicity, it is a leaderless movement, with no current list of demands, and no projected ending, other than making the world a better place for the 99 percent.  The Occupy Wall Street website contains the following call to action:  “Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.  This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society.”

            Across the nation, the movement brought out a wide demographic of supporters, from the old hippie baby boomers to the young idealisitic college students to the truly poor and homeless victims of the current economy.  Celebrities, including some who participated in the protests of the 1960s-70s, are pitching in to promote the cause.  Ice cream moguls Ben and Jerry treated everyone in the Washington, D.C. camp to free ice cream.  According to the New York Daily News, on November 7, 2011, the 99% crowd occupying Zuccotti Park at Wall Street were treated to a concert by two legendary rock performers from Woodstock, David Crosby and Graham Nash, singing “Teach Your Children” and “Military Madness”.  Crosby may have experienced a Woodstock flashback as he shouted “No more war!” to the delighted crowd during the concert, but afterwards he told a Daily News reporter that he understood the crowd:  “People are pissed off and they have a reason to be pissed off.  They just want jobs.  They want to be a part of society.  I’m here to help.  The system is against them.”  Other celebrities lending their support to the movement include Yoko Ono, Deepak Chopra, Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Alec Baldwin, Susan Sarandon, Nancy Pelosi, and of course, Michael Moore.    Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson appeared on NBC’s Today Show on 12/1/11 expressing his understanding of the cause and the need for more jobs.  

            The impact of the Occupy Wall Street movement is impossible to measure at this time, but with better weather around the corner, many are ready to spring back into action.  In early December, 2011, the governors of New York and California both proposed tax hikes on the rich to save their states’ budgets.  Whether the Occupy movements had any influence on these proposals is debatable, as both governors are Democrats and tax hikes were inevitable.  Occupy Wall Street’s “fifteen minutes of fame” may be up, giving way at least temporarily to the media’s obsession with the Republican presidential candidates and other looming global issues, but for a few months, the protesters captured the world’s attention, with their resonating message that greed and corruption will no longer be tolerated by the 99% on the low end of the income inequality injustice.  History has proven time and again that movements such as this can produce positive change.  As the Occupy Wall Street movement endures some speed bumps, they vow to re-energize their supporters with a new game plan and a firm belief that a better world for everyone is possible.

###written by annie

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