by Stephen Lendman

Jefferson called an educated citizenry "a vital requisite for our survival as a free people."

Madison warned that "A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy, or, perhaps both."

Jack Kennedy said "The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all."

In 1748, Montesquieu said "The tyranny of a principal in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy."

In a June 1950 commencement speech, Boston University President Daniel Marsh said, "If the (television) craze continues....we are destined to have a nation of morons."

Well before television arrived, journalist Walter Lippmann called the public "the bewildered herd." In policy matters, their function is to be "spectators," not "participants."

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by Stephen Lendman

Like better known war profiteers, NGOs also cash in. A Centre for the Study of Interventionism (CSI) report discussed it.

CSI challenges interventionist notions. Exponents believe "military violence" should enforce international law. "These claims stand in contrast to" non-interventionist principles. UN Charter provisions and other international law enunciate them. CSI challenges current practice. Its new report discussed Libya. It explains how lies promote war. It asked if "the case for R2P (responsibility to protect was) based on fraud." It wasn't on truth and international law. Its rage to fight spurned them.

The UN Charter's Chapter VI calls for resolving conflicts peacefully. Humanitarian intervention prohibits military force or other hostile acts.

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by Stephen Lendman

Obama plans more wars. The peace candidate can't get enough of them. Hawkishness defines his agenda. So does belligerently transforming independent regimes into client ones.

The business of America is war. Permanent war is policy. Peace is abhorred. Preventing it is prioritized. So is controlling Eurasia's vast oil, gas, and other resources unchallenged.

War profiteering depends on conflict. It's the American way. Post-WW II, it's been that way. One war leads to others. Proxy ones are waged. Sums spent are enormous.

Post-9/11 alone, estimates run into the multi-trillions. A June Brown University Watson Institute for International Studies (WIIS) "Cost of War" report said up to $5,444 trillion was spent and projected with all related expenses and obligations included.

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by Stephen Lendman

Israel notoriously censors truth. Military censorship bans or sanitizes material potentially harming Israel's security. Media/government agreements comply.

Some make sense like banning reports beneficial to adversaries. Others don't by suppressing information people have a right to know. For example, whatever affects their welfare and officials' crimes need revealing so everyone knows.

Various Supreme Court decisions also limit content suppression to "tangible (or) near certain" instances of public endangerment. Of course, interpretations are crucial.

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