Politik

"A western citizen is being brainwashed much more than a soviet citizen ever was during the era of communist propaganda. In ideology, the main thing is not the ideas, but rather the mechanisms of their distribution. The might of the Western media, for example, is incomparably greater than that of the propaganda mechanisms of the Vatican when it was at the zenith of its power. And it is not only the cinema, literature, philosophy – all the levers of influence and mechanisms used in the promulgation of culture, in its broadest sense, work in this direction. At the slightest impulse all who work in this area respond with such consistency that it is hard not to think that all orders come from a single source of power."

"As mainstream news outlets become increasingly complacent, and even supportive of pro-war policies, it becomes more essential that anti-war voices, and anti-war journalists in particular, resist the attempt by the United States to set the precedent that the act of publishing war crimes is a punishable offense."

"If Wikileaks were a print publication, the injunction would be unthinkable. … What distinguishes this case is that the allegedly intolerable materials were published on the Internet instead of on paper. But that's a poor reason to abandon the principles that protect those who want to publish -- as well as those who want to read. Censorship is censorship, no matter the medium."

"We welcome everyone here to the hearing. In the Texas v. Johnson case in 1989, the Supreme Court set forth one of the fundamental principles of our democracy. That is, that if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable. That was Justice William Brennan."

"NEPOTISM, n. Appointing your grandmother to office for the good of the party."

"The origin of the term “nepotism” comes from Catholic bishops who would bequeath wealth, property, and priesthood to their “nephews”---usually their illegitimate offspring, and it served as a way for church clergy to both own property and to retain power in their families. Today, we use nepotism to refer to the hiring or promotion of a family member (including in-laws), and it smacks of favoritism. Indeed, the hiring of relatives in some companies is forbidden by company policy."

"There is one simple change that would help shake up the status quo and reverse the ongoing trend towards incumbency and plutocracy. All we need do is pass a law that prohibits family members of a current or former officeholder from running for elected office or serving in any capacity in his or her own administration. Ever since John Quincy Adams... America has suffered the shortcomings of a system open to the abuses of nepotism... George W. Bush was never qualified to be president, but he had the family connections...the Democratic Party could have saved itself from itself with such a statute in place as Hillary Clinton, the wife of a former president, would have been disqualified... would have cleared the way in 2016 for Bernie Sanders, who had a far better chance of knocking off Donald Trump... Such a provision would prevent the likes of the Bush daughters and Chelsea Clinton from running. More importantly, it would halt any further political ambitions by the Trump siblings, including Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka.... With special interests ruling the roost, we're lucky to see new blood take office and instead must put up with something more akin to dynastic rule.Let's at least put an end to the passing of power from one generation of professional politicians to another, and clear the way for the possibility of truly representative government."

"Society's and law‐makers' demands for individual and corporate social responsibility as an alternative response to market and redistributive failures have recently become more prominent. Certainly, calls for people to contribute time and money to good causes have existed throughout history and in all societies, from Antiquity to, say, eighteenth century Quakers' and Mennonites' refusal to invest in weapons and slavery.... the movement is gaining momentum, especially with the empowerment of civil society... and the equitable‐trade/responsible‐investment movement. A variety of factors probably combine to account for this trend: (i) social responsibility is likely to be a normal good; (ii) information about companies' practices throughout the world has become much more accessible and quick to travel; (iii) the scope of environmental and social externalities exerted by multinationals in less developed, more laxly regulated countries is likely to have expanded in pace with globalization; (iv) the long‐run cost of atmospheric pollution (e.g. global warming), or at least the public's awareness of it, has risen significantly."

"Charitable acts have value, but under the slightest scrutiny the magnanimity of the super-rich often proves to be a Band-Aid – and a self-aggrandizing one at that – over social consequences of the process that allows such unprecedented accumulation of wealth. Decades of skirting social responsibility to maximize profit can’t be undone with a few magnanimous gestures."

"While some companies have formal programs, others let employees follow their individual passion for volunteering. “Our leadership team doesn’t dictate where people volunteer because we want our team members – those who live and work in the communities we serve – to decide where their time will have an impact,” said Chris Martin, President and CEO, Provident Bank. “Whether that’s picking up a hammer and helping Habitat for Humanity or spending the day throwing strikes during the Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowling Tournament, we encourage all team members to take time to give back. That is why we give every employee 2 paid days per year to volunteer."

"As a former editor with some experience in investigating and exposing corruption and misconduct... I have the greatest admiration for the way the Guardian has handled the Snowden leaks. The moral courage, professional diligence, social responsibility, and editorial excellence that has gone into making this challenging mass of material, including technical information, accessible to general readers are in the finest traditions of public-spirited and impactful investigative journalism."

"National anthems are meant to be sung."

"National anthems are of generally recent origin. being commissioned or elevated to the status of anthem through decree or popular demand (Snyder 1990). In Latin America, national anthems are frequently emotional paeans to the patria."

"[A]n anthem is a prayer sung by people worshiping their country... every nation must have this prayer..."

"National anthems are the equivalent in music of a country's motto, crest or flag. Patriotic fervour is usually the keynote, though the forms and images used to express it vary a good deal and can reveal much about the character of a nation at the time the words were written. The text of an anthem may often have to be revised or modified in the light of political change within the country or in its relations with its neighbours."

"National Anthems come about, not because of the suitability of the particular words or notes, but because they are adopted generally by the nation."

"For example, each nation is expected to have its own flag and national anthem... The universal code forbade the playing of two anthems for one nation: becoming a "proper" nation would mean selecting a single "official" anthem. A national anthem is a universal sign of particularity. The conventions of the oeuvre demand that the uniqueness of the nation be celebrated in a universally stylized manner. National anthems not only fit a common pattern, but it is part of their symbolism that they are seen to do so. They flag the nation as a nation among nations, as flags themselves do."

"Because of their special status, national anthems serve several important social functions within a nation. These symbols crystallize the national identity, announcing both to citizens and to a nation's neighbors who the nation is, where it has been, and where it is going. National anthems also create and maintain bonds between citizens; with every performance, anthems contribute the formation of a collective body. National anthems establish a rallying center for the national collective; in this way they motivate patriotic action. Often national anthems function to honor the efforts of citizens; linking citizen to symbol creates a symbiotic relationship between the living nation and the symbolic nation. National anthems also serve as a means for legitimizing authority; authority figures attempt to merge their goals and desires with these symbols' sacred aura."

"We are often left wondering: just what is and what is not national about national anthems? Close musical scrutiny of Europe's national anthems fails to turn up answers to that question but leaves us, instead, with the rather perplexing sense that the national anthems sound a great deal alike (listen, for example, to the collection of European national anthems compiled on Swarovski Musik Wattens 1993). There are many reasons that national anthems are musically ambiguous, even if we imagine that their nationalist cultural work is potentially of great significance. First of all, national anthems do move around, and they often possess the generic characteristics that make melodies suitable for contrafacts, assigning new text to preexisting melodies (see Kurzke 1990). Second, external forms that together yield the subgenres that fit together as the genre of the national anthem itself are remarkably quite similar."

"In my view national anthems are—politically read or societally understood— simultaneously apodictical and epideictic speeches. They are apodictical, unlike the meaning in classical rhetoric, not because conclusions are deduced from syllogisms of indisputable premises, but because social convention and the law protect their numinous quality. The apodictical, the indisputable, also refers to the concrete act of staging, in which objections to iconic and numinous qualities of the Gemeinschaft are not permitted. But national anthems are also epideictic in that they are supposed to persuade. They persuade in the concrete act of nation-building, and they celebrate the Gemeinschaft."

"Love of fatherland and pride in one’s country are the keynotes of most national anthems, and in many, religious feeling is blended with patriotic sentiment."

"[A] national anthem is not a dance song. It is more like a national flag in song and music, something to be proud of, to love, to rally around. So we had better learn it, and sing it with gusto."

"Every state must have its anthem, flag and coat of arms – or must it? This package, now taken for granted, became the worldwide standard only about a century ago, when the European habits and traditions began to spread across the globe – and not all countries have these symbols."

"[N]ational anthem reminds me primarily of victory. Surely every athlete will confirm my words."

"When ... any white man in the world says “give me liberty, or give me death,” the entire white world applauds. When a black man says exactly the same thing, word for word, he is judged a criminal and treated like one and everything possible is done to make an example of this bad nigger so there won't be any more like him."

"Political prisoners, detention without trial and unlimited imprisonment define tyranny."

"There can be no political prisoners in a democracy, nor detention without trial in a state of law."

"Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

"O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

"And again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish."

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

"I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create calamity: I the LORD do all these things."

"Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God."

"The Lord who gave us Earth and Heaven Takes that as thanks for all He's given. The book he lent is given back All blotted red and smutted black."

"Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name."

"Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

"Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

"Lord of all the great divine powers, borne by ! Youthful Utu, lord of all the great divine powers, borne by Ningal."

"Suen, the lord born to command."

"Not only did the lord make the world appear in its correct form, the lord who never changes the destinies which he determines – Enlil – who will make the human seed of the Land come forth from the earth – and not only did he hasten to separate heaven from earth, and hasten to separate earth from heaven, but, in order to make it possible for humans to grow in "where flesh came forth" [the name of a cosmic location], he first raised the axis of the world at ."

"What he orders is faithfully executed. [...] Endowed with beauty in the E-kur, [...] among the great gods, the great and august lord. [...] Lord whose abode is the mountains, father Nanna, [...] fixes the months and the according to a cord, establishes the year. [...] Who puts all the lands in order, [...] who makes the Tigris and the Euphrates bring flowing water. [...] [O]n earth, on the day of the disappearance of the moon, as you have completed the month, you summon the people, lord; and then in the netherworld you decree great judgments, you decide sublime verdicts. Enki and Ninki, the great lords, the great princes, the lords who determine fates, await your utterances, father."

"This most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being. This Being governs all things, not as the soul of the world, but as Lord over all, and on account of His dominion He is wont to be called Lord God, Universal Ruler."

"August Nibru! No deity excels like your lord and lady! They are powerful princes; they are brilliantly revealed deities. No deity excels like Enlil or Ninlil! They are powerful princes; they are lords who can decide destinies. In your midst they have given divine powers to king Enki."

"Utu is lord; you should fix your gaze on him."

"Lifting your head in your goodness, greatness and majesty, majestically you extend your arm in order to determine destinies: great An has liberally bestowed on you your kingship over heaven and earth, and Enlil has perfected for you your great and noble filial status and lordship. Enlil has made majestic divinity manifest for you. Determining a destiny for your flowing waters, the majestic lower waters, Enki from within the sacred bathing chamber has placed the good earth, the good mother, at your feet. Enlil has sired you in majesty and lordship. O Nanna, your crescent moon is called "the crescent moon of the seventh day". Enlil has made known throughout heaven and earth your name, which is a sacred name. Princely son, he has made your greatness manifest throughout heaven and earth. The majestic assembly has bestowed on you his status as Enlil. And from the place of the sanctuary g, Enki has determined for you your lordship and majesty. King of heaven and earth who adorns heaven and earth, from the majestic abzu, the place of the sanctuary Eridug, he has declared your great lordship and your greatness. O Nanna, he has chosen as your inheritance that you should surpass the Anuna gods. He has seated you in a sacred dwelling amid their pure divine powers which gladden the heart. He has grandly called the great gods to the food offerings. He has seated them for the ritual which fills the heart with majestic pleasure. He has presented to the gods their offerings which gladden the heart. He has seated you in a majestic place, a sacred place. O Nanna, he has seated you in a sacred place, a sacred dwelling."

"Say to Nanna, the firstborn son of Enlil, who loves prayers; repeat to the lord whose light spreads widely, the crown of heaven and earth, the great lord who loves to revive man; the father of the black-headed; the merciful king, who can untie and release; the merciful, compassionate god who listens to appeals: You, who are perfect in lordship and wear the legitimate headdress, the one with gleaming appearance and noble countenance, holy form endowed lavishly with beauty: your greatness covers all countries. Your fearsome radiance overwhelms the holy sky. [...] You are indeed glorious from east to west. [...] You are the king of heaven and earth; it is you who decide their fate."

"The Lord showed me, so that I did see clearly, that he did not dwell in these temples which men had commanded and set up, but in people's hearts … his people were his temple, and he dwelt in them."

"For I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty."

"LORD, n. In American society, an English tourist above the state of a costermonger, as, lord 'Aberdasher, Lord Hartisan and so forth. The traveling Briton of lesser degree is addressed as "Sir," as, Sir 'Arry Donkiboi, or 'Amstead 'Eath. The word "Lord" is sometimes used, also, as a title of the Supreme Being; but this is thought to be rather flattery than true reverence."

"I know that the LORD is always on the side of the right. But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the LORD'S side."