American Fascism on the US Quarter

[Great Spirit]

I dont know why I didn't see this earlier. damn. That looks very much like the Fascist symbols of Nazi Germany and Italy.

Draw your own conclusions. i don't want to here " it's a coincidence" either.

[Oneironaut]

Albania also has an eagle on their flag, and it was a prominent symbol of the Marxist government there throughout much of the second half of the 20th century. Perhaps that means Bush is a closet Marxist! This is further bolstered by the fact that the American flag has fifty five-pointed stars. Five-pointed stars are common on the flags of socialist countries such as the USSR, China, Vietnam, North Korea, Cuba, East Germany and Yugoslavia.

Okay, I'm being sarcastic; it's obvious Bush isn't a Marxist. How do we know that? Because his actions, policies and ideology are directly opposed to what Marxism is all about.

If you want to draw parallels between the Bush administration and the Nazis, that's just fine, but you have to acknowledge that Bush and Hitler aren't the same individual with all the same tactics and beliefs, so you have to point out where they differ too.

It makes to sense no argue that they use similar symbology and that's what makes the Bush administration bad. Show how the actions, policies and ideology of the Bush administration are oppressive, and tell us what exactly you plan to do in response. Look at real world problems, and the available practical solutions to those problems. Complaining that two different régimes use the same kind of bird to represent themselves accomplishes nothing, especially if you have no proposed solutions to what you see as a grave problem that must be solved.

[halo]

Dude, its an eagle. Our National Bird. Basically the symbol of america. While our country may turn into a fascist one are coins are certainly not where you'll find that. Your logic tells you that americas forefathers were fascist because they chose an eagle as the national bird? Because that makes no sense. The eagle is a symbol of good fortune and prosperity that many countries display. No symbol is inherintly fascist or anything. Not even the swastika. Its a buddhist symbol although it is often associated with nazism.

[Oneironaut]

P.S. If you're serious about fighting fascism, I suggest you join your local antifa group and participate in antifascist activities and events:

http://www.antiracistaction.us/pn/
http://www.antifa.net/
http://www.antifa-portal.net/

[Nylo]

Hitler used Hollywood inspiration to create gatherings of "magesty" and "power" based off their extensive knowledge to put together glamourous events. If anything he was copying US. You don't take time to figure anything out, do you?

I don't even think you know what Facism is. It seems you have more a problem with the concepts of Capitalism and actually working to improve the world; rather than bitch and moan about things you think you deserve.

Great Spirit hates the concept of power. He thinks the United States has too much and needs to be stripped apart to accomodate the needs of others. All the while his back is turned to true facist governments that don't give a damn about human rights, civil liberties, or true freedoms.

You condemn a nation that listens to pop music and eats too much McDonalds while people in Darfur, Syria, and China cry out for people to see what their governments actually do to them every day.

Nazi Germany would never have the NAACP
Facist Itally would never have the ACLU
National Socialist Japan would never even CONSIDER alternatives to torture.

You don't have to LOVE america. But for crying out loud, can you really blame people for calling you a moron for comparing two completely different elements of government.

[Oneironaut]

I don't even think you know what Facism is. It seems you have more a problem with the concepts of Capitalism and actually working to improve the world; rather than bitch and moan about things you think you deserve.
I have a problem with the concept of capitalism, but I at least have some ideas on what we might have instead and how we might work to bring about a better society. I don't really think Great Spirit is very much of an anti-capitalist. I think he got fed up with the system, which is understandable, but instead of looking at the problem with logic and reason he got suckered into the paranoid fantasies of some deluded theorists (like David Icke (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Icke), it seems...) who think ousting the current administration will somehow solve all the problems our society faces.

I am a staunch opponent of capitalism and fascism, but I can at least see the difference between a bourgeois republic and fascist totalitarianism, and why it is very much preferable to live in the former. That doesn't mean the United States government is perfect or even defensible. It still commits atrocious crimes and robs the people of their liberty every day, but it's nowhere near as bad as Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan.

Great Spirit hates the concept of power.
I do too. I don't think anybody should be exerting "power" over anybody else, except when absolutely necessary for self-defense or the defense of others from violence or exploitation. I think society can and should make its decisions in an egalitarian democratic manner, where there is nobody on top telling everybody below them what to do. There's nothing wrong with hating the concept of power.

But I think that's totally irrelevant, as I'm sure Great Spirit isn't completely opposed to hierarchy and authority. I bet if some paranoid kooks got into power, made Islam and 9/11 "Truth" the national religions, and started spouting the same kind of gibberish he does, he'd be right behind them. Something makes me think that Great Spirit, for whatever reason, needs to hold ideals diametrically opposed to what people around him think. He doesn't bother looking objectively at the evidence for his beliefs; if it sounds "rebellious" and "cool" enough, he'll take it hook, line and sinker. Some guy says Bush is a reptilian alien from outer space, 9/11 was a big plot by the government to dupe the country into war, or the American eagle is the same kind of bird as the Nazi eagle because both governments are fascist, and he'll soak it up like a sponge.

Real anti-capitalists, for the most part, don't think that way. We hold dearly to the concepts of materialism and rationality; looking at the world for what it is and looking at the practical solutions for the problems we find ourselves in. If you started spouting such paranoid nonsense at RevLeft (www.revleft.com) or some other communist message board, chances are you'd just be laughed at.

[Great Spirit]

Dude, its an eagle. Our National Bird. Basically the symbol of america. While our country may turn into a fascist one are coins are certainly not where you'll find that. Your logic tells you that americas forefathers were fascist because they chose an eagle as the national bird? Because that makes no sense. The eagle is a symbol of good fortune and prosperity that many countries display. No symbol is inherintly fascist or anything. Not even the swastika. Its a buddhist symbol although it is often associated with nazism.dude, than fucken tell me why the eagle of the department of defense have the fascist eagle with wings perfectly out, like the same as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

[Ozarks]

I know this proves nothing (to you) but just for the record: The USA 'Seal' and the eagle were created and adopted about 150 years BEFORE fascists governments came to power in Italy or Germany.

I'm sure the founding fathers were clairvoyant and just thinking ahead.

[jamstigator]

Yeah, really, the fascists used our 'freedom eagle', we aren't using their 'fascist eagle'. Unless the fascist conspiracists have time travel devices too? I'm not sure what the wacky conspiracy-theory-of-the-moment is these days.

[PigSnout]

Great Spirit is like Toyko Rose, a propogandist full of misinformation. He gives Iranians a bad name.

[Dizz-Oh!]

"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." - Benito Mussolini.

Great Spirit, why do you keep posting here? Everyone shits on you over and over and over again! No one's gonna look for themselves because you keep trying to explain it all. Do you really think you can pry americans out of our playstation and dope cocoons? We have the BEST sports, all the porn we need, and tv dinners. Surely, nothing could ever take that away, so who cares if a couple million persians die? Boy, you should come over here. No worries ever, it's a Democracy! What do YOU have? Rumi and Rushdie. Oil and Figs. Don't you see how much more fun life is like this? You never have to take responsibility, for anything, EVER!!! Pretty soon we won't even have to count cash, we'll have a cashless society! Criminals won't be able to get away because they'll be micro-chipped! Rape and murder will become obsolete, just by the conscession of a few of our "natural rights". We are the only country in the world that has any clue how to rule the world, as our prison system can show you! Women here are treated so much better, and get paid better for showing more skin. I feel bad for you if you are truly persian; but you can still be a part of the New World Order!!! Why do people fear it so much!? It's just like the John Lennon song, "Imagine", which I reckon isn't legal in your Theocracy. Read some Nietzche, man! We don't have eternal souls and god is dead, because we have killed him!!! Or better yet, Read some Aleister Crowley (that's Crow-Lay). We have all the best drugs (I bet you never heard of Crank, whoah that's the bees knees) and alll the best things to do while we're on those drugs. Jeez, think twice before you talk down to the Greatest Civilisation Ever. You know why we stood by and let Tibet get slaughtered? Because Buddhists don't care about life, they renounce Earthly Fetters, which means THEY'RE NO FUN. And no fun gets no play from the U.S. of A. That's why we're coming down hard on Religious Morals. We got a lot of them in our country, but this is the last generation. All they're kids will grow up on XBox 360 and Jenna Jameson. We should really just carpet bomb everything from Tehran to Manilla. The Terrorists hate how we roll, and that's why they blew up the WTC. So pass the bong, buddy, and join in the circle jerk. And BTW, why didn't you mention the OWL on the 1 dollar bill?

[Dizz-Oh!]

www.theyrule.net/

[Mark Bryan]

dude, than fucken tell me why the eagle of the department of defense have the fascist eagle with wings perfectly out, like the same as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. It's written somewhere in Exodus where God told Moses I brought you out on eagle's wings which is where we base our observance.

[Mark Bryan]

http://www.asis.com/~stag/seal.html Here's MY honest take on this seal!

[Breukelen advocaat]

http://www.asis.com/~stag/seal.html Here's MY honest take on this seal!
From the website shown above:
"The United States, being founded as a permanent home by the Pilgrim's ".

As a descendant of six Mayflower passengers, I find it amusing that they think the Pilgrims were "of the tribe of Manasseh". This is nonsense.

Additionally, what many people do not know is that the majority of Mayflower pilgrims were NOT seeking religious freedom. Those passengers that had reasons for coming to the New World for reasons other than religious were referred to by the "Saints' (separatists, the religious ones) as the "Strangers". There were various business reasons for coming here.

In addition, there was no concept of "United States" for over 150 years after the Mayflower landed. The settlers of the colonies of Great Britain were English citizens, and in no way, shape, or form wanted to form a nation that was not English. To do so would have been an act of treason, and there were severe penalties for anything resembling that.

[SmokingPlatypus]

I know this proves nothing (to you) but just for the record: The USA 'Seal' and the eagle were created and adopted about 150 years BEFORE fascists governments came to power in Italy or Germany.

I'm sure the founding fathers were clairvoyant and just thinking ahead.

That's just part of it man, they have time-traveling, mind-reading gnomes that would get all sorts of symbiology from facist organizations just as a little "wave", thinking that nobody would catch on. Because it would just be worth the risk of alienating 70% of the country just to carry the same symbol of a facist government. Thank gods that we have people like Great Spirit to show us what the real truth is. Man, I wouldn't even know what was going on if it weren't for him. /sarcasm.

Common symbols appear all over the globe a hundred times over. It's not a conspiracy. Use real logic and real arguments that are based on fact when you're trying to debase America. I hate America too, but what I really dislike are people that are trying to hate America not because of legitimate reasons, but because of half-assed ideas and cockamamie conspiracy ideals.

[birdgirl73]

I've been shaking my head over this post since I saw it earlier. Thanks, Platypus, for your funny sarcasm above. And for everyone else who has tried to reason with GS. It's impossible, however. The guy's completely delusional and is determined to see fascism and conspiracy in practically everything he looks at, obviously.

GS, you not only need to spend some time being assessed by a good mental health practitioner, you also need to review some art history books and see some good examples of classical "motifs" like spead-eagles and doves and, for that matter, nudes and architectural structures. They appear in all sorts of settings all over the world, and so it's no surprise that fascists or anyone else might display a classical bird motif. Pre-historic cave paintings showed such images. Pre-Columbian art displayed such symbols. Native Americans did. Classical European art and sculpture. Bird representations of just this sort are everywhere and have been since the beginning of time.

Seriously, get some therapy. And some schooling.

[SmokingPlatypus]

BirdGirl, you fucking rock.

[Great Spirit]

You're fucken ignorant and dumb. If you knew what I know, you would think differently indeed.

You fail to accept the REALITY that 9/11 was an inside job of the globalists.

And sacrifice millions of Arabs so you people can still pollute??? Terrible. The world will welcome the destruction of greedy Amerikans. And its not from actual Muslim terrorists. The government does the attacks. Look to your White House for the real terrorists!

[Oneironaut]

You're fucken ignorant and dumb. If you knew what I know, you would think differently indeed.
You mean, like how the world is secretly run by a bunch of reptilian aliens?


The world will welcome the destruction of greedy Amerikans.
Wow. Are you actually saying the destruction of all 300,000,000 "greedy Amerikans" would be a good thing? You sir, are worse than Hitler.

[Mark Bryan]

As a descendant of six Mayflower passengers, I find it amusing that they think the Pilgrims were "of the tribe of Manasseh". This is nonsense. http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/israsxn.html Can you go back far enough and prove it? We FULFILL what was prophesied of Joseph in the LAST DAYS! Genesis;49:22-26
Additionally, what many people do not know is that the majority of Mayflower pilgrims were NOT seeking religious freedom. Those passengers that had reasons for coming to the New World for reasons other than religious were referred to by the "Saints' (separatists, the religious ones) as the "Strangers". There were various business reasons for coming here. Profit was ONE motive!

[Mark Bryan]

That's just part of it man, they have time-traveling, mind-reading gnomes that would get all sorts of symbiology from facist organizations just as a little "wave", thinking that nobody would catch on. Because it would just be worth the risk of alienating 70% of the country just to carry the same symbol of a facist government. Thank gods that we have people like Great Spirit to show us what the real truth is. Man, I wouldn't even know what was going on if it weren't for him. /sarcasm.

Common symbols appear all over the globe a hundred times over. It's not a conspiracy. Use real logic and real arguments that are based on fact when you're trying to debase America. I hate America too, but what I really dislike are people that are trying to hate America not because of legitimate reasons, but because of half-assed ideas and cockamamie conspiracy ideals.

I may hate the fascist laws of hemp prohibition,but I LOVE my country!

[SmokingPlatypus]

You're fucken ignorant and dumb. If you knew what I know, you would think differently indeed.

You know what Great Spirit? Why don't you actually tell us what you know instead of linking to pictures on websites that, while entertaining, present no logical arguments whatsoever. Instead of all this high-and-mighty, smoke-and-mirrors bullshit that you seem to be obsessed with putting out there. "Oh, if you only knew the things that I've seen." "If you knew what I've seen, you'd want to wipe my ass with $20 bills and keep them" or whatever the hell kind of stuff you think is clever this week. I am calling your bluff. Tell me what you know. Not some conspiracy theory that some other website made popular, not some supposed link that is tenuous at best between recurring motifs in symbiology.

So, I'm waiting. Impress me with your vast knowledge and I'll get those $20 bills ready. But until then, you're just another asshole that thinks everyone is out to get him. Get help.

Perhaps I should've taken that disclaimer in your sig a bit more seriously, and not listen to any of your bullshit theories about how America want to kill all of its citizens and start a new World War.

[Breukelen advocaat]

http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/israsxn.html Can you go back far enough and prove it? We FULFILL what was prophesied of Joseph in the LAST DAYS! Genesis;49:22-26
Profit was ONE motive!


DNA evidence shows different genetic markers for the populations of Western Europe and the Middle East, although some Europeans do have DNA common to the Middle East, and it is thought to be due to migration up from North Africa during the Neolithic Expansion. Of course, some Middle Eastern people, Jews or otherwise, intermarried with the European population in more recent times -in the past thousand years or so.

Scientific proof, combined with historical research, is better than superstitious, unfactual nonsense.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistoric_Europe

[jamstigator]

Well, some research suggests that adolescents that smoke pot may trigger paranoid schizophrenia if they're already vulnerable to it. *coughGreatSpiritcough*

[Dizz-Oh!]

http://http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696&q=Propaganda&hl=en

Wow, a whole lot of ignorance in this thread, including GS. Great Spirit, to understand who performs suicide attacks, watch Syriana. When you grow up under Military Occupation, under a Police State that sabatoges your agriculture, destroys your homes and replaces them with their own, you lose hope, you lose all that holds you to the material world, and in anger and frustration, you just may become suggestible, to the point of ending up like the two fools in Syriana who blow up that ship. It's not our government that pushes suicide bombers off the cliff, it's Mossad and two or three other agencies deep cover agents.

And it's not our Government that set-up 911, it was a small high-powered cabal within our government.

The above link will help you understand how it is that Americans support Palestinian genocide. As long as we have every material comfort under the sun, we will get fatter, meaner, dumber, and more reactionary at the slightest threat to our Freedoms that Fox has to show us. Fear is the biggest business.

[Ozarks]

And it's not our Government that set-up 911, it was a small high-powered cabal within our government.

The above link will help you understand how it is that Americans support Palestinian genocide. As long as we have every material comfort under the sun, we will get fatter, meaner, dumber, and more reactionary at the slightest threat to our Freedoms that Fox has to show us. Fear is the biggest business.


Yea, shame on Great Spirit, his paranoid delusional nonsense doesn't match your paranoid delusional nonsense.
GS is probably from the cabal "within" the Government just out there mudding the water so you can't get the truth out.

[Oneironaut]

Hey, that actually makes a lot of sense. Great Spirit is actually part of the government conspiracy, sent here to make absolutely loony posts so we all think 9/11 conspiracists are so crazy we can't take anything they say seriously.

[Breukelen advocaat]

http://http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7828123714384920696&q=Propaganda&hl=en
Wow, a whole lot of ignorance in this thread, including GS. Great Spirit, to understand who performs suicide attacks, watch Syriana. When you grow up under Military Occupation, under a Police State that sabatoges your agriculture, destroys your homes and replaces them with their own, you lose hope, you lose all that holds you to the material world, and in anger and frustration, you just may become suggestible, to the point of ending up like the two fools in Syriana who blow up that ship. It's not our government that pushes suicide bombers off the cliff, it's Mossad and two or three other agencies deep cover agents.
And it's not our Government that set-up 911, it was a small high-powered cabal within our government. The above link will help you understand how it is that Americans support Palestinian genocide. As long as we have every material comfort under the sun, we will get fatter, meaner, dumber, and more reactionary at the slightest threat to our Freedoms that Fox has to show us. Fear is the biggest business.

The link didn't work. Anyway, here's a good article, by a Hamas leader, which argues that the Gaza strip problems are often the fault of Palestinians themselves.

Hamas chief attacks 'stupid anarchy' of Palestinians
By Tim Butcher in Jerusalem
(Filed: 30/08/2006)

A senior member of Hamas has broken a taboo by calling on Palestinians to stop blaming Israel for all their ills and look instead at their own failures.

Ghazi Hamad, the Hamas government's official spokesman, said Palestinians had been "attacked by the bacteria of stupidity".

"The anarchy, chaos, pointless murders, the plundering of lands, family feuds â?¦ what do all of these have to do with the occupation?" he asked in the opinion piece published in the Palestinian newspaper, al-Ayyam. "We have always been accustomed to pinning our failures on others, and conspiratorial thinking is still widespread among us."

advertisementHe was particularly scathing about the failure of the Palestinians to make a success of the Gaza Strip, the territory that Israel effectively surrendered a year ago.

"When you walk around in Gaza, you cannot help but avert your eyes from what you see: indescribable anarchy, policemen that nobody cares about, youth proudly carrying weapons. From time to time you hear that so-and-so was murdered in the middle of the night, and the response comes quickly the next morning. Large families carry weapons in tribal wars against other families.

"The reality in which we are living in Gaza can only be described as miserable and wretched, and as a failure in every sense of the word." His description resonates with what many outsiders find when they leave the orderly roads and fields of Israel and cross into Gaza, a dirty, crowded coastal strip teeming with 1.4 million people.

Israel can be blamed for many of Gaza's problems but there is plenty of evidence to support Mr Hamad's thesis, that the kidnapping, lawlessness and social chaos are, at least partly, homegrown.

He said his article was his private opinion.

But it is a sign of growing division between Hamas members living in the Palestinian territories and exiles living elsewhere, including the leadership in Damascus.

The exiles take a hard-line attitude, insisting on militants continuing to fire Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel. But people, such as Mr Hamad, who live in Gaza seem to have lost patience with these tactics.

The rockets have killed only four Israelis, yet hundreds of Palestinians have died in Israeli retribution.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/08/30/wmid130.xml
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
History of Jihad, Mohammed Comic Book, etc.
http://www.historyofjihad.com/

" The List " of Islamic Terror Attacks For the Past 5 Months:
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/index.html#Attacks

[Great Spirit]

You people really disgust me at times with your blindness.

It is you who refuse to accept the real reality that 9/11 was carried out by top people in our government. You are afraid of the idea that our government is a bunch of tyrants. You think Amerika could never be turned into a dictatorship at all. It shakes the foundation of your world.

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and expose the country to greater danger. It works the same in any country" - Hermann Goering

You can lead a jackass to water but you can't make him drink.

[Oneironaut]

I'm not afraid that our government is a bunch of tyrants. I openly recognize that fact. It's just that I'm looking at their actual policies and ideologies instead of pulling stuff out of my ass. You see, when you can explain why they are tyrants and use real evidence to back up your case, people are more likely to be persuaded by your arguments.

If I say Stalin was a bad ruler because he ate babies, that's not going to convince anybody, because I can't back up that statement with any solid evidence. Accusing bad leaders of doing crap they didn't do only serves to make that leader look better, since people see right through your lies and then they start thinking "Hey, maybe this leader isn't so bad after all. If his opponents are lying about him in this case, maybe their other accusations are unfounded too".

[birdgirl73]

You really disgust me at times with your blindness.
You can lead a jackass to water but you can't make him drink.[/SIZE]
Isn't it funny that these two lines are precisely the reaction every rational, intelligent person on these boards has to you, too? Give it up, GS. You cannot win this argument. And you cannot convince people who are better informed and less crazy than you are.

[Hamlet]

Dammit GS, you've got people who dispise Bush so worked up they actually are forced to defend him! Cut the crap!....lol

[eg420ne]

LoL^^^^^^^^

[eg420ne]

For folks who care................. From Freedom to Fascism http://www.freespeechwar.com/smf/index.php?topic=3279.0

[eg420ne]

LoL***** Flame-On:stoned:
*****
Against Total War? Youâ??re an Appeaser of Fascism
Wednesday August 30th 2006, 1:57 pm

For months, I have railed against the absurd neocon averment that Islam constitutes the embodiment of a new fascism. I have insisted the phrase â??Islamofascismâ?� is nothing if not a trite neologism, a meaningless political epithet. In effect, the term is used in a simplistic way to crank up the fear quotient.

â??Islamofascism is nothing but an empty propaganda term,â?� notes Joseph Sobran. â??And wartime propaganda is usually, if not always, crafted to produce hysteria, the destruction of any sense of proportion. Such words, undefined and unmeasured, are used by people more interested in making us lose our heads than in keeping their own.â?�


â??The term â??Islamofascistâ?? is utterly without meaning, but packed with emotional explosives. It is a propaganda creation worthy Dr. Goebbels, and the latest expression of the big lie technique being used by neocons in Washingtonâ??s propaganda war against its enemies in the Muslim World,â?� writes Eric Margolis.

This ugly term was probably first coined in Israelâ??as was the other hugely successful propaganda term, â??terrorismâ??â??to dehumanize and demonize opponents and deny them any rational political motivation, hence removing any need to deal with their grievances and demandsâ?¦. Fascism demands a succession of wars, foreign conquests, and national threats to keep the nation in a state of fear, anxiety and patriotic hypertension. Those who disagree are branded ideological traitorsâ?¦. It is grotesque watching the Bush Administration and Tony Blair maintain the ludicrous pretense they are re-fighting World War II. The only similarity between that era and today is the cultivation of fear, war fever and racist-religious hate by US neoconservatives and Americaâ??s religious far right, which is now boiling with hatred for anything Muslim.

Sec. of Offense, Donald Rumsfeld, has entered the fray and is on point with the latest neocon stage managed effort to portray opposition to the insanity of forever warâ??or, at minimum, war that will last a few generationsâ??as appeasement of fascism.

â??Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld compared critics of the Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World War II, warning Tuesday that the United States is confronting â??a new type of fascism,â??â?� reports the Los Angeles Times. â??By comparing U.S. foreign policy with World War II and the Cold War, Rumsfeld sought to portray skeptics of Bushâ??s foreign policy as being on the wrong side of history. Rumsfeld again ridiculed U.S. officials who, before World War II, wished to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.â?�

Never mind that the unitary decider in the Oval Office hails from a family that violated the Trading with the Enemy Act by â??profiting from their Nazi partnershipsâ?� during the Second World War, a well established fact revealed by documents in the National Archives and Library of Congress, not that we can expect the corporate media to point out such things.

â??The story of Prescott Bush and Brown Brothers Harriman is an introduction to the real history of our country,â?� L.A. art book publisher and historian Edward Boswell told John Buchanan and Stacey Michael of the New Hampshire Gazette. â??It exposes the money-making motives behind our foreign policies, dating back a full century. The ability of Prescott Bush and the Harrimans to bury their checkered pasts also reveals collusion between Wall Street and the media that exists to this day.â?�

â??The discovery of the Bush-Nazi documents raises new questions about the role of Prescott Bush and his influential business partners in the secret emigration of Nazi war criminals, which allowed them to escape justice in Germany,â?� says Bob Fertik, co-founder of Democrats.com and an amateur â??Nazi hunter.â?? â??It also raises questions about the importance of Nazi recruits to the CIA in its early years, in what was called Operation Paperclip, and Prescott Bushâ??s role in that dark operation.â?�

Fertik and others, including former Justice Department Nazi war crimes prosecutor John Loftus, a Constitutional attorney in Miami, and a former Veterans Administration official, believe Prescott Bush and the Harrimans should have been tried for treason.

No such luck. Instead, we can expect the neocons to make flaccid comparisons between Muslims and Nazisâ??while the real fascists are here, at homeâ??as they push ever closer to total war.



Unfortunately, many Americans, with scant knowledge of fascism or Nazismâ??indeed, millions of Americans are completely ignorant of history, let alone basic political scienceâ??will buy into this latest bit of hokum.

â??The struggle we are in is too importantâ??the consequences too severeâ??to have the luxury of returning to the â??blame America firstâ?? mentality,â?� Rumsfeld told the American Legion. â??Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that Americaâ??not the enemyâ??is the real source of the worldâ??s troubles?â?�

Of course, the American Legion is the perfect audience for Rumsfeldâ??s pronouncement, essentially an incitement against a large percentage of the population.

In August, 2005, the Legion â??declared war on antiwar protestors,â?� according to Editor & Publisher. â??Speaking at its national convention in Honolulu, the groupâ??s national commander called for an end to all â??public protestsâ?? and â??media eventsâ?? against the war,â?� in other words the American Legion demanded the First Amendment be trashed.

Thomas Cadmus, national commander, told delegates to use whatever means necessary to â??ensure the united backing of the American people to support our troops and the global war on terrorismâ?¦. It would be tragic if the freedoms our veterans fought so valiantly to protect would be used against their successors today as they battle terrorists bent on our destructionâ?¦. We had hoped that the lessons learned from the Vietnam War would be clear to our fellow citizens. Public protests against the war here at home while our young men and women are in harmâ??s way on the other side of the globe only provide aid and comfort to our enemies.â?�

Rumsfeld, however, was not alone.

â??Mr. Cheney,â?� reports the New York Times, â??spoke of appeasement at an appearance on Tuesday at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, reciting a passage that echoed verbatim one of his stock speechesâ?¦. â??This is not an enemy that can be ignored, or negotiated with, or appeased,â?? he said. â??And every retreat by civilized nations is an invitation to further violence against us. Men who despise freedom will attack freedom in any part of the world, and so responsible nations have a duty to stay on the offensive, together, to remove this threat.â??â?�

On August 10, standing on the tarmac of the airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Bush declared â??that this nation is at war with Islamic fascists,â?� an avowal that likely warmed the hearts of neocon warmongers far and wide.

Three days later, the â??conservativeâ?� (Fox News neocon) Cal Thomas, amplified Bushâ??s assertion on the pages of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. â??It is long past the time when we need to start â??playingâ?? the equivalent of smash-mouth football with these people. Theyâ??ve got our number but we donâ??t yet have theirs,â?� said Thomas in reference to the British liquid bomb patsies (as a neocon, it would be indecent for Thomas to wait for the patsies to actually be convicted of a crime, or rather framed for one). â??This isnâ??t about â??civil rightsâ?� and constitutional protection. These people use our Constitution to protect themselves so they can kill us. And this is decidedly not a game. It is life and death.â?�

As Eric Margolis writes, neocons â??revel in flag-waving, patriotic melodrama, demonstrations of military power, and use the mantle of patriotism to feather the nests of the military-industrial complex, colluding legislators and lobbyists. They urge war to the death, fought, of course, by other peopleâ??s children. They have turned important sectors of the media into propaganda organs and brought the Pentagon largely under their control.â?�

Now, the neoconservatives are busy whipping up war against Syria and Iran to keep themselves in power and maintain the political dynamics of this 21st century revival of fascism.

The real modern fascists are not in the Muslim World, but Washington. The neocons screaming fascist the loudest, are the true fascists themselves. Itâ??s a pity that communist and leftist propaganda so debased the term â??neo-fascistâ?� that it has become almost meaningless. Because that is what we should be calling the so-called neocons, for that is what they really are.

[eg420ne]

Tuesday, August 29, 2006
NEW YORK - The New York Times' Web site is blocking British readers from a news article detailing the investigation into the recent airline terror plot, turning its Internet ad-targeting technology into a means of complying with U.K. laws.

"We had clear legal advice that publication in the U.K. might run afoul of their law," Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty said Tuesday. "It's a country that doesn't have the First Amendment, but it does have the free press. We felt we should respect their country's law."
http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=news&referrer=email&id=20060829/44f3bbc0_3ca6_15526200608291588429157

[eg420ne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsPSI-tcoaI

[eg420ne]

Take it or leave it

"In a move that has been termed 'positively Orwellian' by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch, George W. Bush is ending public access to research materials at EPA regional libraries without Congressional consent. This all-out effort to impede research and public access is a [loosely] covert operation to close down 26 technical libraries under the guise of budgetary constraint. Scientists are protesting, but at least 15 of the libraries will be closed by Sept. 30, 2006."
http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/06/08/30/1329209.shtml

[eg420ne]

Senate moves to give Bush more power to wiretap http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/New_Specter_0829.html

[eg420ne]

Army: Doubting Official 9/11 Story Is ‘Disloyal To The United States’ http://www.lonestaricon.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=426&z=54

[Ozarks]

Now, in a state of panic, because the questioning of the "great conspiracy" is a threat to his make believe ( I hate) view of the world. The 3rd musketeer shows up, and posts 8 posts, that are not even germaine to the discussion of the thread.

I better change the subject before someone looks behind the curtain. :D

[eg420ne]

Like any of you slaves where on track with this thread....it has everything to do with Fascism in which you LOVE sooo much.... enjoy:thumbsup: Flame-On Dude

[eg420ne]

Or are you just mad cause i posted a pic of your cult leader mAnn Coulter

[SmokingPlatypus]

I'm still waiting for your proof and your logical arguments, Great Spirit.

[eg420ne]

Off Topic again:rolleyes: -----This Buds for you SP

If god had long hair and a goatee
And if his eyes were pretty glazed
If he looked spaced out
Would you buy his story
Would you believe he had an eye infection?

And yeah yeah god looks baked
Yeah yeah god smells good
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
What if god smoked cannabis?
Hit the bong like some of us
Drove a tie-dyed microbus
And he subscribes to rolling stone

When god made this place, in the beginning
Did he plant any seeds?
Or did he put them there for Adam and Eve
So theyâ??d be hungry for the apple
That the snake was always offering

And yeah yeah god rolls great
Yeah yeah god smells good
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah
What if god smoked cannabis?
Do you s'pose he had a buzz?
When he made the platypus
When he created earth our home
Does he like pearl jam or the stones?

And do you think he rolls his own
Up there in heaven on the throne
And when the saints go marching home
Maybe he sits and smokes a bowl.
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/What-If-God-Smoked-Cannabis-lyrics-Weird-Al-Yankovic/BAFBEB7F702E347F48257075000B7998

[Mark Bryan]

DNA evidence shows different genetic markers for the populations of Western Europe and the Middle East, although some Europeans do have DNA common to the Middle East, and it is thought to be due to migration up from North Africa during the Neolithic Expansion. Of course, some Middle Eastern people, Jews or otherwise, intermarried with the European population in more recent times -in the past thousand years or so. The path from the Mideast to Europe is the exact path I point to! Especially the Sakai,Sacae-sani in Asia from who the Saxons descend. The Saxons are NOT Jewish (Judah) but are primarily Ephraim and Manasseh! Take the I out of Isaac's sons and you get "Saac's sons" from which we get Saxons which means in hebrew Isaac's sons! God told Abraham that in ISAAC shall his SEED (descendants) be called. The Saxons who came to Europe from Asia came from Israel from 745-718 B.C.E. They are the lost TEN tribes who DID NOT keep their original identity and were SIFTED among the nations and became GENTILISED! THAT'S why it's hard to prove who they are is because of intermarriage and assimilation! Hosea mentions Ephraim as a MIXED multitude and a CAKE UNTURNED! Light on one side DARK on the other! Look at a map of the British Commonwealth at it's height under Queen Victoria and ADD to that Ephraim bein' disguised as a FADIN' FLOWER (fallin' empire) http://ecole.orange.fr/college.saintebarbe/victoria/empire.htm This fulfills Jacob's prophecy (Genesis;48:19) that Ephraim shall become a MULTITUDE (company/commonwealth) of NATIONS! The map shown shows Ephraim as a MIXED MULTITUDE as you consider the COMMONWEALTH nations and their DIFFERENT colored people! Consider ALSO Ephraim's tribal emblem compared to England's national one! http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/motto.html Interestin' that the King James version mentions a unicorn in Deuteronomy ;33:13-17 The lion is the symbol of Judah,the RED lion the Zarah branch,the blue harp,the harp of David from the Pharez branch.


Scientific proof, combined with historical research, is better than superstitious, unfactual nonsense.

This would NOT be superstition!

[Mark Bryan]

Since I can't edit my message,I'll make my correction here! I accidently used the word disguised,rather than described concernin' Ephraim as a cake unturned. MY BAD! I also want to add,in the Strong's Concordance,the word Berith (Brit) means covenant. a circumsision is called a Brit Melah. In hebrew,the word Brit means covenant, iysh (ish) means man and ain means land,so when you have the Great Covenant Land,you hane Great Brit-ain or BRITAIN! Why would a GENTILE nation have a hebrew name and symbols? Can you answer that? Further more,let's look at The name America and where it's name comes from. www.ensignmessage.com

[Mark Bryan]

Since I can't edit my message,I'll make my correction here! I accidently used the word disguised,rather than described concernin' Ephraim as a cake unturned. MY BAD! I also want to add,in the Strong's Concordance,the word Berith (Brit) means covenant. a circumsision is called a Brit Melah. In hebrew,the word Brit means covenant, iysh (ish) means man and ain means land,so when you have the Great Covenant Land,you hane Great Brit-ain or BRITAIN! Why would a GENTILE nation have a hebrew name and symbols? Can you answer that? Further more,let's look at The name America and where it's name comes from. http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/ephraim.html The name America comes from the name Americo Vespucci which was referred to in hebrew manuscripts Hamachir or Machir,son of Manasseh! Also interestin' is that the name Machir in hebrew means salesmanship or CAPITALISM! Does that sound like America to you? Also keep in mind,Manasseh's symbols are the olive branch and the bundle of arrows and is the 13th of the 12 tribes! There yiu have it!

[Breukelen advocaat]

Since I can't edit my message,I'll make my correction here! I accidently used the word disguised,rather than described concernin' Ephraim as a cake unturned. MY BAD! I also want to add,in the Strong's Concordance,the word Berith (Brit) means covenant. a circumsision is called a Brit Melah. In hebrew,the word Brit means covenant, iysh (ish) means man and ain means land,so when you have the Great Covenant Land,you hane Great Brit-ain or BRITAIN! Why would a GENTILE nation have a hebrew name and symbols? Can you answer that? Further more,let's look at The name America and where it's name comes from. http://www.ensignmessage.com/archives/ephraim.html The name America comes from the name Americo Vespucci which was referred to in hebrew manuscripts Hamachir or Machir,son of Manasseh! Also interestin' is that the name Machir in hebrew means salesmanship or CAPITALISM! Does that sound like America to you? Also keep in mind,Manasseh's symbols are the olive branch and the bundle of arrows and is the 13th of the 12 tribes! There yiu have it!

The Hebrew words have nothing to do with the word Britain.

Etymology
Britain

The etymology of the name Britain is thought to derive from a Celtic word, Pritani, "painted people/men", a reference to the island's inhabitants' use of body paint and tattoos. If this is true, there is an interesting parallel with the name Pict, connected with a Latin word of the same meaning. The modern Welsh name for Britain is Prydain. The Q-Celtic form was Cruithin, showing that the Common Celtic singular form was *qr[ui]tanos. The root is presumably that of the modern Gaelic/Irish word cruth 'shape, form'.

It has also been postulated that Britain may derive from the Celtic goddess Brigid, but this is less likely for philological reasons.

In 325 BC the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia visited a group of islands which he called Prettaniké, the principal ones being Albionon (Albion) and Ierne (Erin). The records of this visit date from much more recent times, so there is room for these details to be disputed, but it does seem to attest pre-Roman use of the name by Celtic-speaking inhabitants of the islands.

In keeping with the mediaeval penchant for etymologising country names in terms of eponymous heroes, British historians of the late mediaeval and early modern periods charted the history of the nation from Brutus of Troy, supposedly a hero of the Trojan war who founded Britain just as Aeneas' descendant Romulus founded Rome, Frankus France, and so forth. The life of Brutus, anglicised as Brute, was recorded in the literary tradition of the Prose Brute. This was accepted as the etymology of Britain well into modern times.

Great Britain

The earliest reference to a collocation with a word meaning 'large' is in the writings of the Greek geographer Ptolemy, who called the larger island Megale Brettania (Great Britain), and the smaller island Micra Bretannia (Little Britain).

The original reference seems to have been to the territory in which the Brythonic languages were spoken, which more or less coincided with the Roman province of Britannia, an area equivalent to modern England, Wales and southern Scotland. In the Early Middle Ages speakers of a Brythonic language which later evolved into Breton migrated from Cornwall to Armorica, Western France, possibly because of pressure from Saxon invasions. This is why different forms of the same name apply to insular Britain and continental Brittany. In French the similarity is even more obvious: Bretagne and Grande-Bretagne.

Geoffrey of Monmouth used the names Britannia minor to refer to the Armorican region and Britannia major for the island. The element great in the term Great Britain thus simply means large, to make the distinction from Brittany.


Historical evolution of the term 'Britain'

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, the queen's astrologer and alchemist, John Dee, wrote mystical volumes predicting a British Empire and using the terms Great Britain and Britannia. After Elizabeth's death in 1603 the kingdoms shared one King, James VI of Scotland and I of England. On 20 October 1604 he proclaimed himself "King of Great Brittaine" (thus including Wales and also avoiding the cumbersome title "King of England and Scotland"). This title was eventually adopted formally in 1707 when the Kingdom of Great Britain was formed.

Politically then, British has been used to describe someone or something from Great Britain since the formation of that state in 1707. British was also used to describe members of nations that formed part of the British Empire. This use now, however, could be seen as justifying the colonial era, even if only applied historically. The Kingdom of Great Britain was enlarged and renamed in 1801 by the addition of the island of Ireland â?? already ruled by the British monarchy â?? to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain#Britain

[Nylo]

Real anti-capitalists, for the most part, don't think that way. We hold dearly to the concepts of materialism and rationality; looking at the world for what it is and looking at the practical solutions for the problems we find ourselves in.

I'm a strong proponent of Capitalism, nationalism, and federalism. However at the end of the day I'm a democrat that differs greatly with the opinions of Republicans. I believe that these three things are essential to our government, and while I absolutely loathe communism sometimes I think the only hope for mankind achieving peace as a whole lie in a ratified, well-formulated form of socialism.

I think mankind is at it's best when he/she strives to achieve the best they can. But I will always keep my mind open to fresh ideas that, Godwilling, will help us work towards a common goal for all our benefit.

[shilling]

The original post was about symbols wasn't it?

Well, my tuppence worth is this: The swastika was used by Hitler for his time in power, but prior to that and during and after and even today, it is a sacred symbol for followers of Hinduism and Jainism.

The latter of which is SO obsessed with non-violence,that the extreme practice of includes sweeping the ground before you walk on it, so you don't advertently kill any insects and wearing a mask so you don't accidentally kill tiny living beings by breathing them in!

My point is that a symbol does NOT tell you enough about someone to decide that he or she is a this or that!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

[Mark Bryan]

The Hebrew words have nothing to do with the word Britain. It has EVERYTHING to do with it! Look it up in the Strong's Concordance!



The etymology of the name Britain is thought to derive from a Celtic word, Thought not confirmed! Surely you can do better than that!
Since a RABBI confirmed to me the meanin' of brit'covenant,ish-man,I'd rather believe the words of a Jewish RABBI than that of Celtic PAGANISM!:rolleyes:

[Oneironaut]

I'm a strong proponent of Capitalism, nationalism, and federalism.
And I am a strong opponent of the first two...

However at the end of the day I'm a democrat that differs greatly with the opinions of Republicans. I believe that these three things are essential to our government, and while I absolutely loathe communism sometimes I think the only hope for mankind achieving peace as a whole lie in a ratified, well-formulated form of socialism.
What's so bad about communism? Why is a class society superior to a classless society? Obviously Bolshevik-style "communism" never worked, but that doesn't discredit the idea that there might be some way to achieve a truly classless, stateless society in which all are equal and have equal access to the common wealth of society.

[Breukelen advocaat]

It has EVERYTHING to do with it! Look it up in the Strong's Concordance!


Thought not confirmed! Surely you can do better than that!
Since a RABBI confirmed to me the meanin' of brit'covenant,ish-man,I'd rather believe the words of a Jewish RABBI than that of Celtic PAGANISM!:rolleyes:

The bible is not reliable source of information about anything but.....the bible!

I don't think that a cleric, such as a rabbi, that supports ritual male genital mutilation, superstition, and injustice, is a better source for your historical or literary information than academic scholars are. A rabbi is just another priest, and they are against almost everything that is life-affirming. It's a racket, and you're just buying into their lies. Hell, I'd trust an honest pagan over a priest, mullah, rabbi, or minister any day.

[birdgirl73]

This debate about the etymology of Britain interested me, and so I asked my dad, whose academic speciality is the history of our language/linguistics. He said your history through the Celtic word, Breukelen, is accepted among academic and scholarly circles as the correct etymology of that word.

The problem with the Hebrew word "brit" is that that's actually a Roman alphabet spelling of a word that's actually originally seen in the Hebrew alphabet, and so brit in our alphabet does indeed look and sound like part of "Britain," but in Hebrew the real spelling of that word looks completely different from the b-r-i-t and so it wouldn't have been converted into the Roman alphabet spelling early enough to correspond with the first use of that word in English/British history. The Celtic influence makes imminent sense, especially considering the geographic and linguistic influence of Celtic history on Great Britain. Professor Dad said, "Our language is one of the most infamous for appropriating words from other languages, but we've appropriated nearly all of them from Romance or Germanic languages with similar alphabets and phonemes." Hope that helps!

[Breukelen advocaat]

Thank you, Birdgirl, and thank your dad for me. :thumbsup:

Maybe your screen name should be "Bridget"? Or, let's not even go there! :)

[birdgirl73]

Why Bridget? I'm clearly not getting something. Explain, por favor . . .

[Breukelen advocaat]

Why Bridget? I'm clearly not getting something. Explain, por favor . . .

It's Celtic and Gaelic:
Bridget
(origin: Gaelic.) Brighid, "fiery dart." The name of the muse who was believed to preside over poetry in pagan times, in Ireland. Brighid, in the Gaelic, also signifies a hostage, a pledge of security.

Since we were discussing the pagan Celts, it just sounded enough like another good name, and has some of the same letters as "birdgirl" - which is also fine!

[birdgirl73]

Duh! Certainly that makes perfect Celtic sense. And you're right--the same letters! I just totally missed that association, which saddens me. My mind is too much on science these days and not enough on language.

I like the name Brigid/Bridget as well as BirdGirl. Or just Bird. Heck, call me anything. (Just don't call me late for dinner. . . .)

[Mark Bryan]

The bible is not reliable source of information about anything but.....the bible!

I don't think that a cleric, such as a rabbi, that supports ritual male genital mutilation, superstition, and injustice, is a better source for your historical or literary information than academic scholars are. A rabbi is just another priest, and they are against almost everything that is life-affirming. It's a racket, and you're just buying into their lies. Hell, I'd trust an honest pagan over a priest, mullah, rabbi, or minister any day.
Then you've NEVER studied the scriptures and are UNINFORMED!

[Mark Bryan]

This debate about the etymology of Britain interested me, and so I asked my dad, whose academic speciality is the history of our language/linguistics. He said your history through the Celtic word, Breukelen, is accepted among academic and scholarly circles as the correct etymology of that word.

The problem with the Hebrew word "brit" is that that's actually a Roman alphabet spelling of a word that's actually originally seen in the Hebrew alphabet, and so brit in our alphabet does indeed look and sound like part of "Britain," but in Hebrew the real spelling of that word looks completely different from the b-r-i-t and so it wouldn't have been converted into the Roman alphabet spelling early enough to correspond with the first use of that word in English/British history. The Celtic influence makes imminent sense, especially considering the geographic and linguistic influence of Celtic history on Great Britain. Professor Dad said, "Our language is one of the most infamous for appropriating words from other languages, but we've appropriated nearly all of them from Romance or Germanic languages with similar alphabets and phonemes." Hope that helps! Same here! I've seen a spellin' of beryith and iysh before,just to point that out.

[Mark Bryan]

Duh! Certainly that makes perfect Celtic sense. And you're right--the same letters! I just totally missed that association, which saddens me. My mind is too much on science these days and not enough on language.

I like the name Brigid/Bridget as well as BirdGirl. Or just Bird. Heck, call me anything. (Just don't call me late for dinner. . . .)
Speakin' of bird,people on the streets call me BIRDMAN! I can feed the birds right outta my hands!:D

[birdgirl73]

Speakin' of bird,people on the streets call me BIRDMAN! I can feed the birds right outta my hands!:D
Well hey, Mark Bryan, also known as Birdman. Nice to talk with you.

I got the name Bird from my husband man years ago. Before I went to medical school, I was a writer and, before that, a teacher and reporter. So when I'd be writing something or grading papers, he'd always call me "Word Bird" or ask "What's the word, Bird?" It just sorta stuck as a nickname.

The sad thing is I'm not terribly crazy about birds themselves. They tend to scare me, in fact. So you'll never see me letting any birds eating out of my hand. You might see me eating fried chicken, however. With a smile on my face. . . .

[Hamlet]

You don't like birds?! How can you not like birds?! There's just something unwholesome about that. It's like not liking flowers or puppies....Everybody likes birds. You're just making that up.:confused:

But anyway, back to the subject. A friend was telling me about his stint in rehab. at the State LaLa Home. His favorite story was about Mork from Ork as they called him. Mork wore a cone on his head and kept a Quarter in the palm of his hand. He would talk to George Washington on the Quarter all day while his eyes flitted suspiciously from side to side. I can't look at the title of this thread without thinking about Mork for some reason :)

[birdgirl73]

I know, it is rather unwholesome. I like flowers and puppies and kittens and children and old folks, if that helps restore some wholesome balance to me. I love Mom and America and apple pie.

My apologies for taking us off subject for just a tad longer here. When I was a little girl of three or so, a bird flew into the den in our house, which my mom and dad were painting. All the doors and windows were open, and the bird squawked and flew frantically against the walls and was screeching and pooping everywhere, ruining the wet paint. They were waving brooms and paint rollers and whatever else they could find to try and shoo the bird out. I was just traumatized as heck by all the frantic flying and squawking, they said. It truly terrified me. And I've not liked birds to get too close ever since. I love to see them flying up high in the sky. Love to see hawks soaring. Love seeing pigeons sitting around in groups, and enjoy seeing parakeets, canaries and parrots in cages in pet stores.

But if birds are flying anywhere remotely close to my head, I generally fold up and cover my head like I'm preparing for an explosion. It's silly, I know. My husband and son, who are both taller than I am, have a terrible tendency when we spend summer vacations down on the Mississippi or Alabama gulf coast to steal crackers from restaurants. Then if we're outside somewhere on the beach, out comes a cracker, which they'll hold up over my head, beckoning every sea gull within a five-mile range to converge just above me. It's really mean, but they find it hysterically funny to watch my reaction. In recent years, I've begun frisking them for packages of hidden crackers before we go walking on the beach.

Other than the low-flying-bird phobia, I'm fairly well adjusted!

[Mark Bryan]

Well hey, Mark Bryan, also known as Birdman. Nice to talk with you.

I got the name Bird from my husband man years ago. Before I went to medical school, I was a writer and, before that, a teacher and reporter. So when I'd be writing something or grading papers, he'd always call me "Word Bird" or ask "What's the word, Bird?" It just sorta stuck as a nickname.

The sad thing is I'm not terribly crazy about birds themselves. They tend to scare me, in fact. So you'll never see me letting any birds eating out of my hand. You might see me eating fried chicken, however. With a smile on my face. . . .
I remember when I was 12,I held a GREAT HORNED OWL at the Norfolk Zoo!:D