Contact RJ off-Blog:
Sparrow Chat was born in late 2003 on a "Blogger" site, but following problems with the server, was moved to a "Wordpress" format. Unfortunately, at the time no-one on Wordpress had discovered a simple method of transferring posts from the beta version of Blogger, so the only archives available are from November 2006, when the blog migrated here.
"Yarns of a Professional Gongoozler"
by
R J Adams.
NOW AVAILABLE - IN PAPERBACK!
Subtitled "Tales of English Canal Life at Dixie's Marina", this book highlights both the touching and absurd aspects of living and working around the boating fraternity on England's inland waterways. Available from the publisher and leading bookstores, the work can also be purchased in eBook (.pdf) or AudioBook (.mp3) format for immediate download.
For more information, and to purchase your copy - click on the bookcover - NOW!
NOW AVAILABLE ON - Amazon Kindle!
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.
The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.
We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.
We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.
This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron."
Republican US President
Dwight D Eisenhower ~ April 16th, 1953
Thanks to Al Devito at "Vineyard Views" for the information.
SUPERPOWER
The works of Ben Turnbull take a satirical look at the lengths America's political elites go to in order to control and manipulate the way we think, from our first days of play to the last time we cast our vote. Turnbull is a passionate critic of the contemporary American political system, and explains why toys are central to his work: "Force fed on violence, abused by a controlling superpower and blackmailed through patriotism, the public are ultimately as disposable as the toys they once played with".
HOMECOMING
Click to enlarge
More works by Ben Turnbull can be found HERE
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DON'T BE FOOLED!
There is no such thing as "Clean Coal"
"Clean coal: Never was there an oxymoron more insidious, or more dangerous to our public health. Invoked as often by the Democratic presidential candidates as by the Republicans and by liberals and conservatives alike, this slogan has blindsided any meaningful progress toward a sustainable energy policy."[1]
Clean Coal Technology means taking the carbon dioxide from coalburning power stations and storing it underground. To date, that technology does not exist. It cannot be done. Even if sometime in the future it became possible, CO2 stored under the soil will eventually find a way to the surface and prove a legacy for our descendents we should not wish on them.
"Toxins from coal-fired power plants are spewed into our air and leach into our water, causing asthma, cancer and over 24,000 premature deaths each year. And just recently, in Tennessee, we all saw the catastrophic effects from the failure of one coal-ash impoundment on surrounding watersheds and communities."[2]
Think the 'War on Drugs' is a good thing? This book may convince you otherwise.
Highly Recommended! Click the Book.
Sparrow Chat does not benefit in any way from sales of this book.
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Sometimes, we just need a little peace........
Photo: Fall Colors .....and tranquility.
Photo: Power of Nature Click on images to full-size. |
by R J Adams September 2, 2010 at 11:32am
Only nine people died in Iraq from insurgent violence yesterday[1].
[1] “Iraq Today” September 2nd 2010
Filed under: 
Bread basket of the Middle East
R J Adams September 2, 2010 at 11:32am
"Sparrow Chat" is the website/blog of R.J.Adams, a British writer living in America. The name derives from my first book "Even Little Sparrows", an autobio of my years with the British RSPCA. Some may disagree with my views on certain subjects. Comments are welcome, provided they are of an intellectual and constructive nature. No obscenities, please - unless necessary to the description of certain politicians and others of that ilk.
"Flying The Flag, Faking The News"
"...intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society and the manipulators constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power in our country" ~ "Propaganda", Edward Bernays (1928)
In his latest column for the New Statesman, John Pilger traces the history of propaganda to Edward Bernays, the American nephew of Sigmund Freud, who invented the term "public relations". Bernays believed in "engineering public consent" and creating "false realties" as news...
The American tobacco industry hired Bernays to convince women they should smoke in public. By associating smoking with women's liberation, he made cigarettes "torches of freedom". In 1954, he conjured a communist menace in Guatemala as an excuse for overthrowing the democratically-elected government, whose social reforms were threatening the United Fruit company's monopoly of the banana trade. He called it a "liberation".
Bernays was no rabid right-winger. He was an elitist liberal who believed that "engineering public consent" was for the greater good. This was achieved by the creation of "false realities" which then became "news events"...
Read more at this month's Hot-Link:-
John Pilger, September 2nd 2010
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"I too have been a close observer of the doings of the Bank of the United States. I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You are a den of vipers and thieves." ~ Andrew Jackson (1834)
Socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor
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Religious freedom is an absolute right and so is freedom from religion.
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The world consumes around 86 million barrels of oil every day. When the price of a barrel rises by $3, it generates an additional $94 billion dollars per year for.......someone?
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Roughly a fifth of the earth's oxygen is produced in the Amazon rainforest, or "one breath in five".
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In 1842, following a visit to America, Charles Dickens wrote of the capital, Washington:
"Despicable trickery at elections; under-handed tamperings with public officers; and cowardly attacks upon opponents, with scurrilous newspapers for shields, and hired pens for daggers".
Nothing changes, it seems.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The No-Fly List: 21,000 people so dangerous they're not allowed to fly, yet so innocent they can't be arrested." ~ Bruce Schneier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
About
RJ Adams
Illinois
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"Even Little Sparrows"
by
R J Adams.
Recalling life as an animal welfare inspector in 1970's England, Even Little Sparrows is now available for immediate download as a revised and updated eBook, while still obtainable from the publisher and leading bookstores in its original paperback format. Over 300 pages of heart-rending, yet often hilarious anecdotes weave a poignant love story around the lives of characters dedicated to caring for the sick and unwanted of the animal kingdom.
For more information, and to purchase your copy - click on the bookcover - NOW!
SPECIAL OFFER! - and only for Sparrow Chat readers!
Obtain your copy of the eBook (1.2Mb) absolutely FREE just by clicking on the link.
(NO credit card charge will be levied)
Mars Award for fighting spirit and unflinching opposition to the wrongs of this world - awarded to "Sparrow Chat"
by TWILIGHT
Twilight September 2, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Re your previous post, and this one, have you seen John Pilger’s latest yet, RJ?
http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/09/pilger-iraq-false-war-public
At last, someone mentions the at least 1 million Iraqi deaths;
False reality It is not known how many Iraqis have died. They are “countless”, or maybe “in the tens of thousands”.
Fact As a direct consequence of the Anglo-American-led invasion, a million Iraqis have died. This figure, from Opinion Research Business, follows peer-reviewed research by Johns Hopkins University in Washington, DC, whose methods were secretly affirmed as “best practice” and “robust” by the Blair government’s chief scientific adviser. This is rarely reported or presented to “charming” American generals. Neither is the dispossession of four million Iraqis, the malnourishment of most Iraqi children, the epidemic of mental illness, or the poisoning of the environment.
I kept shouting at the TV and Obama the other night – “what about the million or so Iraqi deaths? Don’t you care?”
R J Adams September 2, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Twilight – no, I hadn’t seen Pilger’s article. Thanks for pointing me to it. Sadly, a few of the negative comments that followed it illustrate perfectly the effectiveness of Bernay’s techniques.
For me, it’s not so important for the exact numbers of dead Iraqis to be known. What is inhuman and unacceptable was the US administration’s cold, calculating, decision to make no effort to count the dead- they were simply pigeon-holed as ‘collateral damage’. That one act defined for me America’s attitude towards anyone not ‘American’: surplus to requirements; dispensable; no more than ‘collateral damage’.
The truth is that the vast majority killed were not ‘collateral damage’. They were the direct result of a bungled military operation led by inept, uncoordinated, military officers and politicians whose bloodlust after 9/11 would only be sated by taking an innocent nation and ripping it apart as a terrier would a rabbit.
Now, they pretend to walk proudly away like the bullies they are, content to leave a bloody mess behind them, but stand ready to move back in (indeed, they’re still there!) once their Iraqi puppet politicians have brought the rabble to heel.
wisewebwoman September 3, 2010 at 7:47 am
I was appalled at BO’s statement of turning the page on these millions of slaughtered, homeless, poisoned, innocent people while he patted The Shrub on the head for his brave stance even though he, BO, did not endorse it AT THE TIME. All that’s missing is the codpiece.
We are gone too far, RJA and there is no turning back. Make like Walden’s Pond. Fast.
XO
WWW
PS I am having awful trouble accessing here. I’m now on Windows 7 – don’t know whether this has anything to do with it?
R J Adams September 3, 2010 at 9:52 am
WWW – sorry your having problems. Are you still on the dreadful dial-up? If so, Windows 7 may be the problem. If not, 7 should really be faster than XP. My wife uses ’7′ on a new laptop. Personally, I’m not a fan (I speak of ’7′, not my wife!) but it does seem to browse faster on broadband. Let me know if you continue to have problems.
wisewebwoman September 3, 2010 at 5:39 pm
No I’m now on turbo stick, called HSPA elsewhere, I believe. It has resolved itself today with your blog. Prior to this it was asking me for a password to access your website and my first thought was: “they” are spying my old pal!
It’s gone now.
XO
WWW
PS I’m the only one in the world who liked her Vista…