The Ridenhour Prizes for Truth Telling, Edward Snowden Wins

Staff Writer, R. Patrick Chapman

Human Rights / The Ridenhour Prizes
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Truth telling has been lost to this world. The American culture used to be "Truth, Justice, and the American Way." A notion Superman would be proud to own.

Instead another type of culture has been inserted into the United States configuration, one many do not recognize from our childhood musings. Hollywood has decided to manipulate the generations through programming and social engineering so most people do not see telling the truth as something special or correct, but something to be feared or ignored.

Luckily, there are still people and organizations who believe in Truth Telling. The Ridenhour Prizes are one such foundation:

The annual Ridenhour Prizes recognize acts of truth-telling that protect the public interest, promote social justice or illuminate a more just vision of society. These prizes memorialize the spirit of fearless truth-telling that whistleblower and investigative journalist Ron Ridenhour reflected throughout his extraordinary life and career.

Edward Snowden is the other. 

 "I don't want to live in a world where everything that I say, everything I do, everyone I talk to, every expression of creativity or love or friendship is recorded. And that's not something I'm willing to support, it's not something I'm willing to build, and it's not something I'm willing to live under. So I think anyone who opposes that sort of world has an obligation to act in the way they can," Snowden told Greenwald, Poitras, and Guardian journalist Ewen MacAskill in an interview for the Guardian in June 2013.

When Greenwald asked him why he revealed himself as the whistleblower, Snowden replied: "I think that the public is owed an explanation of the motivations behind the people who make these disclosures that are outside of the democratic model…. And I'm willing to go on the record to defend the authenticity of them and say, 'I didn't change these, I didn't modify the story.'"

Perhaps Superman can be proud of humanity after all. There are still people in this world who do not conform to or believe the notion that truth is untenable, unfathomable, or unremarkable, but something to be celebrated.

Maybe it is time people began telling the truth and showing the world what dark secrets hide away from public knowledge. 

Because evil takes root in the world when good men stand and do nothing.

Thank you, Edward Snowden, for speaking the Truth. We appreciate all The Ridenhour Prize recipients.

Source: The Ridenhour Prizes

Black Thursday, Friday Group Think

Staff Writer, DL Mullan

Current Events

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Group Think: "a pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values and ethics."

Could very well be what Black shopping days are really about. Deceive yourself that going shopping on or the day after a holiday to get the best prices is a great idea. Follow advertisements and other propaganda on the television or radio that other people will be enjoying themselves, why not you? Then you find yourself in a violent mob.

On these flash mob buyers' free-for-all days, you truly see what the values and ethics of a community really are: consume, conform, obey, buy, watch tv, submit... Sounds more like the movie, They Live, then actual reality.

In the clutches of Group Think, people do not realize how they are being used, abused, and thrown away. It is all about being apart of the collective. Well, the human race does have its interdependence but it also has independence of thought and action. 

That is why one person goes to jail for a crime and not his/her entire family, but slowly America has become a Group Think society to those people who are uninformed about the psychology of behavior. We see collective thinking and group relations on TV news: one person does a horrible crime now everyone has to give up their [insert whatever it is this week in here].

You get the idea. 

So you have to start asking yourself: is it really worth it? Is it really that important to be a follower? Or is it an American culture that values critical thinking and leadership instead of zombiesque consumerism? 

No one can answer that for you, but if you keep following the herd, then what do you have to complain about? The bail-outs, economic depression, and free trade agreements that cause you to be on unemployment, welfare, or lose your home? Move along... nothing to see here.

What? It's what the leaders of the herd want: for no one to ask questions or want a better life.

If you are dissatisfied with the destruction of your country so someone else can get rich off the booms and busts and bubbles, then you might be an independent American after all. So turn off your TV, stop consuming until your are in debt, and start calling Congress and the White House.

When enough people stand up for real value, value will return. Don't you think it is about time?

Source: M-W,