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The skill to safely navigate the hazards of power and the powerful

2 0 0 0  T i m e s . c o m

Who loses when others set your priorities?

WIKIPEDIA

OUR

MISSION

Welcome to the 2000 Times news forum. Here's what you can expect to see, and hear, on these pages.

  Surely, It must have occurred to you that the news you find on the networks is cooked and boiled down to the consistency of baby food, leaving you nothing to "chew on" once it is placed before you.  There are several reasons why this is done--none of them very flattering to your mental capacity.

   In the first place, when the media, and their government regulators, intend to communicate with you, it is not as a collection of individuals.  As far as they are concerned, you are part of the masses--a herd, ready to panic and make a run on the banks, the gas stations or the nearest grocery store.

   The only news you will get from the media, or any government agency, is what they feel that you "can handle." In short, the news you get is little more than "flute music" composed to give you the sense that you have been informed; but, without placing any burden upon your mental faculties.  In other words, the powers that be don't believe it to be in the public interest to bring you into their confidence, lest you freak out and upturn the apple cart of political leadership.


   On these pages, we will not talk down to you as less than capable adults, able to judge for yourself if a mature reaction is called for on your part.  We have no paid sponsors to please; and so, if what we say does not make sense to you, we expect you to reach for that computer mouse and to take control of the situation, as any responsible citizen should do.

   The choice is yours.  When was the last time you heard that coming across your car radio or your cable TV network? The constitution not only guarantees you the freedom of expression, it also guarantees you the freedom to surrender your choices to anyone smart enough to do your thinking for you.  Call it enterprise; call it an open market; call it business.  It is nothing less than a struggle to capture your imagination and your ability to make a rational decision on your own behalf.  

   It all comes down to choices.  In the final analysis, we are all defined by our choices.  It is our most valuable possession.  Those who give it away thoughtlessly will soon join the ranks of the poor and dispossessed.  They will watch their hard earned wealth and their prized possessions slip through their fingers.  Obvious examples are "easy-to-get" credit cards and subprime mortgages

   In the extreme, the surrender of your choices to others can cost you the friendship and affection of those you cherish and hold most dear.  In the ultimate, it can cost you your soul; and, it's so ease to do.  Just turn off your brain and let the media and the hustlers do your thinking for you.

 
  What we offer our readership is a new kind of fitness program. In this program we will exercise that primary muscle residing between our ears. What we will present, at times, may not be comfortable; and, it will not be designed to lull you to sleep.

  We intend to introduce you to a novel companion, mentioned within scripture as a creature of such great beauty that "the splendor of her never yields to sleep." And yet, all good things will come to you in her company.  Her name is Wisdom.

   In order to make wise choices, it is necessary to have a variety of options.  The focus of current day media and political thinking is to present to us, at most, two or three choices--a social "shell game" designed to give the impression that other alternatives do not exist or that they are not worth considering.

   In other words, they design their approach down to the level that a child can comprehend -- yes or no, left or right, good or evil, up or down, friend or foe, good guys and bad guys, etc., etc., etc. If this is too complicated for you, there are the Sunday morning TV panel shows, where experts from every corner of the fourth estate stand ready to assist you in making a "coin flip" choice.

   That will not happen here; nor, at the CIA or the British MI6.  Within our pages, you will find alternatives, backed by studies and analysis, that will challenge your gray matter and remove any likelihood of future shock in the coming days of the century.