“We hope this information will serve to eliminate some of the myths surrounding the Pentagon and give an appreciation of the size of this building.”
RT’s Lori Harfenist, “The Resident,” explores stories of every day life—and some interesting trivia, too!—from the U.S. military industrial war machine. Smiles, everyone! Smiles!
» Related Post «
“You can’t be a complete human being if you don’t understand those non-rational forces that make us human, all those things that can’t be measured empirically: love, grief, the struggle with our own mortality, the search for meaning. I mean, Freud said I can write about sex but I can’t write about love–it’s a mystery. And that’s what great religious writers, great philosophers, great artists, great novelists, great poets–that’s what they seek to retain, these forces that finally make us human, that make it possible for us to see in the other not the stranger or the enemy but the reflection of ourselves.” —Chris Hedges
Watch Is Twitter the Newest Form of Literature? on PBS. See more from Idea Channel.
Aaron suffered from depression, but that is not why he died. Aaron is dead because the institutions that govern our society have decided that it is more important to target geniuses like Aaron than nurture them, because the values he sought – openness, justice, curiosity – are values these institutions now oppose. In previous generations, people like Aaron would have been treasured and recognized as the remarkable gifts they are. We do not live in a world like that today. And Aaron would be the first to point out, if he could observe the discussion happening now, that the pressure he felt from the an oppressive government is felt by millions of people, every year. I’m glad his family have not let the justice system off the hook, and have not allowed this suicide to be medicalized, or the fault of one prosecutor. What happened to Aaron is not isolated to Aaron, but is the flip side of the corruption he hated.
What killed him was corruption. Corruption isn’t just people profiting from betraying the public interest. It’s also people being punished for upholding the public interest. In our institutions of power, when you do the right thing and challenge abusive power, you end up destroying a job prospect, an economic opportunity, a political or social connection, or an opportunity for media. Or if you are truly dangerous and brilliantly subversive, as Aaron was, you are bankrupted and destroyed.
»Read More «
