May 10, 2008
The Crisis Deepens in Myanmar
The crisis in Myanmar continues to deepen in the wake of cyclone Nagris which struck the Irawaddy Delta on May 3, 2008. The original reports have climbed from 350 dead to well over 100,000. Now concerns are that a second...
May 7, 2008
Beyond Media Revolutions: Is Arab Media Truly Free?
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com On February 12, 2008, Arab League information ministers issued a communique outlining 'tough' guidelines for Arab...
May 4, 2008
Cheney Pushes the Boundaries - Again
Cheney is now arguing that "Congress has no authority over the Vice President." This comes through his attorney, Kathryn Wheelbarger, in response to a request that David Addington (Cheney's former Chief of Staff and legal counsel) testify before Congress regarding...
May 2, 2008
Portland ILWU Strike Coverage
In spite of being told not to strike, ILWU members across the west coast did so anyhow. The spin - both in the Portland paper, and virtually all other corporate media - is that the day shift work stoppage was...
April 28, 2008
Fastened To A Dying Animal
By Phil Rockstroh of Ebullient Skepticism Fastened To A Dying Animal: a short jeremiad regarding that affront to the nation's dignity known as the US election process Here in this crumbling empire once known as the American republic, here in...
April 27, 2008
War on Hunga
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring Note : Hunga is Texanese for Hunger. What is hunger? When the glucose level of the liver falls below a threshold, a feeling is experienced that is called hunger, usually followed by a desire to...
April 25, 2008
Mixed Priorities: Why Palestinian Unity is Not an Option
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com Just days after the Hamas-Fatah clash last June in Gaza, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas looked...
April 14, 2008
Defense Department is a Leaky Bucket
I will follow up on this after I do some more analysis, but I am stunned and horrified by the General Accounting Office report on Defense Acquisitions (205 page report here). The short story is that the DOD overspent its...
April 10, 2008
Recession, Depression, Collapse: What's Fear Got to Do with It?
By Carolyn Baker of Speaking Truth to Power Interesting, isn't it, that mainstream economists need a so-called economic guru like Alan Greenspan to confirm that the U.S. economy is in recession? If the maestro says it is so, then it...
April 5, 2008
Smelling the Coffee, eh America?
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring 81 percent of respondents in a most recent New York Times/CBS News poll believed "things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track," up from 69 percent a year ago and 35 percent in...
March 23, 2008
An Election Without Meaning
By: Peter Phillips: Professor of Sociology at Sonoma State University and director of Project Censored. Access to verifying facts and analysis for the issues mentioned in this article is available at Project Censored. Reprints and postings allowed with credit to...
March 22, 2008
The Coming Uncertain War against Iran
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com When Admiral William J "Fox" Fallon was chosen to replace General John Abizaid as chief of...
March 21, 2008
Hope, Change, and Pissing in the Wind
By: Patrice Greanville and Jason Miller of Thomas Paine's Corner "Of Obama, Democrats, and the Power Elite" CHARISMATIC, ARTICULATE, SMOOTH, AND INTELLIGENT, Barrack Obama is the living embodiment of his vague, ethereal, and tantalizing messages of "hope" and "change." To...
March 20, 2008
I Am Become Death - The Destroyer Of The Worlds
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring On this fifth anniversary of Iraq invasion, George Bush said, "Because we acted, the world is better and the United States of America is safer." With a million dead Iraqis, more than 30,000 dead and...
March 16, 2008
Iraq Veterans Agaist the War: Winter Soldiers
We know we were lied into the war in Iraq. We know we have been lied to about the war in Iraq. The IVAW has gathered this week to tell the truth. They have also created a DVD: Winter Soldier:...
March 15, 2008
Big Bang or Chaos: What's Israel Up To?
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com Why did Israel attack Gaza with such brutality? Did Israeli officials think, even for a fleeting...
March 9, 2008
'Unwavering Commitment' to Inequality
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com Death hovered over Gaza long before locally-made Palestinian rockets struck near the Israeli southern town of...
March 8, 2008
Full Circle at Yale
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring Yale University is an awesome institution. For the academic year 2006-2007 for example, Yale was having on its campus over 13000 undergraduate, graduate and international students. Yale has 275 Campus buildings and its library holds...
March 6, 2008
Personal Survival in a World Gone Mad
Carolyn Baker of Speaking Truth to Power Reviews "Path Through Infinity's Rainbow: Your Guide To Personal Survival and Spiritual Transformation In A World Gone Mad" by Mike Byron. We must leave the old left/right, liberal/conservative paradigm behind us. Smaller government...
March 5, 2008
Darfurism, Uganda and the U.S. War in Africa: The Spectre of Continental Genocide
by Keith Harmon Snow First published: October 29, 2007 at The Centre for Global Research Revised & republished: November 1, 2007 Revised & republished with Global Research: 12 November 2007 Revised & expanded: 13 November 2007 Crosspublished at The Greanville...
March 3, 2008
Bombing Somalia
Why the Hell are we bombing Somalia? Purportedly to take out a "known al-Qaeda terrorist". Apparently, it took three missiles to take out that one "terrorist," and we killed at least 4 people and wounded at least 20 others. The...
February 29, 2008
Abbas Needs a Miracle
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com Time is running out for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas....
February 27, 2008
Dmitry Orlov's "Re-inventing Collapse"
A review by Carolyn Baker. The old normal is that life will go on just like before. The new normal is that nothing will ever be the same Rather than attempting to undertake the Herculean task of mitigating the unmitigatable-attempting...
February 25, 2008
Economy Anyone?
Many important issues have gotten lost in all the circus of the nomination campaigns - Iraq, global warming, spiking oil prices, troops losing and taking their lives, and a sinking economy to name a few. I am sure it is...
February 20, 2008
Outsourcing Will Ultimately Lead to Fascism in America
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions The current outsourcing and downsizing of manufacturing in the U.S. will eventually lead to fascism if past history is a dependable predictor of the future. A decrease in the contribution of a country's manufacture...
February 18, 2008
Congress's Betrayal of the American Worker
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions While claiming to be attempting to increase the number of well-paying jobs in the U.S. (having created laws in the past explicitly designed to do this), the Congress has really been following a completely...
February 17, 2008
US Elections: The Iraq Factor
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com As the race for the United States presidential nominations progresses, the stances of and attitudes towards...
February 14, 2008
Battle for God; Battleground Pakistan
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring The killing frenzy in Pakistan has reached a feverish pitch. In a rapidly darkening scarlet hue, the extremists are marching on suicide-bombing, beheading and maiming innocent citizens on their bloody path to their murky goal....
February 13, 2008
The Dilemma of American Corporations and Workers
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions American corporations have been moving their export-oriented jobs overseas and will not be hiring American workers until differential wage rates decrease substantially. U. S. wage rates, as well as EU wage rates, are considerably...
February 12, 2008
Ante On Private Data Increases Again
The Guardian broke the story that Bush is demanding even more data from Airlines from Europe. The data demands include more information on passengers to the United States, passengers on planes flying over the United States, non-passengers who accompany children,...
February 7, 2008
Cul de sac: 9/11 and the paradox of American power
By Carl Conetta, of Project on Defense Alternatives (Research Monograph #13) Contrary to the popular aphorism, the world did not change fundamentally on 11 September 2001 - nor did the challenges facing the United States change. By 9/11, America's battle...
February 5, 2008
The U.S. Current Account Catastrophe
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions This article will point out the consequences of a continuation of the U.S.'s mammoth current account deficit. Some believe that stock market and direct capital investments will continue to resolve this problem. These investments,...
February 3, 2008
American Monetary Policy Will Ruin the Economy of the EU
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions The FED has been engineering the continuance of a strong dollar and the EU has been forced to follow suit although both countries are facing an ongoing or incipient recession. This article will explain...
February 1, 2008
Review: The Final Empire - Part 1
A review of the new book by William Kotke by Carolyn Baker of Speaking Truth to Power My intention in reviewing this stunning book is to share how it has illumined my understanding that collapse and vision are not separate,...
January 31, 2008
People’s Power in Gaza
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com In a radio interview prior to the US invasion of Iraq, David Barsamian asked Noam Chomsky...
January 26, 2008
The True Miracle of Israel
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com Israelis and their supporters tend to depict Israel as a country of miracles. What else could...
January 23, 2008
The Globalization Hoax
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions Globalization, in theory at least, was an economic philosophy which espoused a more efficient production of the world's manufactures for the benefit of the world at large. It is based upon an economic theory...
January 19, 2008
The Great Coming Together and the Phantasm of Democracy
While there may be diversity of aspect in the "top" Democratic Presidential candidates, diversity of perspective is becoming hard to find. The Nevada caucus has marked a turning point in the Presidential campaign - particularly with the debacle of the...
January 14, 2008
Equal Job Opportunity for American Workers in a Globalized World
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions After reviewing Jeffrey Sachs' public lecture on Globalization and Employment, I have a concern that a few major issues were not successfully dealt with. It is true that workers of the world will benefit...
January 13, 2008
BushCo Still Wants to Attack Iran - Weapons Industry Cheers
This week, two videos were released regarding an alleged incident in the Strait of Hormuz. One video was from the Pentagon (transcript from Newsvine), and the other video was released by Iran....
January 8, 2008
The Iraq Charade
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com In recent months, we have been inundated by media reports bringing good news from Iraq, with...
January 7, 2008
Happy New Year and Row on You Galley Slaves !
By Anwaar Hussain of TruthSpring Chances are that this year too fear will continue to be necessary, merit useless, intellect dangerous and blind obedience vital to the autocratic powers imposing themselves upon the global citizenry....
January 6, 2008
Cloned Meat (dairy and eggs?) Likely Coming Soon
Despite protests from consumers and lawmakers, the FDA is likely to issue their ruling next week. The expected ruling is that cloned meat and livestock products are not substantively different than uncloned, and therefore labeling is not necessary....
December 30, 2007
Machiavellian Musharraf
By Ramzy Baroud (ramzybaroud.net) - author of The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People's Struggle (Pluto Press, 2006), and editor of PalestineChronicle.com The 42-day drama in Pakistan is far from over; the declaration of emergency and the lifting...
December 28, 2007
Going Digital: Who Wins, Who Loses?
Well the digital phase-in starts in February 2008. While many may not notice the phasing out of analog, some certainly will. At the top of the list will be those with older cellphones, and those with Onstar systems from 2005...
December 27, 2007
Bhutto - a "liberal" - assassinated
It is all over the news that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated as she was leaving a political rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Original reports said that she died from shrapnel from a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. The story then changed...
December 24, 2007
Lies, Injustice and the Capitalist Way: We're on the Highway to Hell--Don't Stop Us!
By Jason Miller of Thomas Paine's Corner "We are riding alongside Angus and Malcolm Young on the 'Highway to Hell.'" We "Free World" capitalistic Westerners are a loathsome lot--or to put it more crudely, we suck. When one considers how...
December 20, 2007
America, the Next Great Banana Republic
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions After 30 years trying to defy economic gravity, the US is well on the way to becoming the world's largest banana republic. If the current level of government mismanagement continues, within 20 years the...
December 16, 2007
Stop Something! Start Something!
The Democrats (and all responsible legislators) need to stand up and stop SOMETHING. Now I know the Dems argue that they don't have enough votes in the Senate to get anything through, but don't they at least have the votes...
December 13, 2007
A Flagrant Violation of the Constitution
By: Richard Backus of Uncensored Opinions The U.S. Constitution was the first written agreement in history guaranteeing the citizens government protection of basic human rights as reflected in its Bill of Rights. It was the realization of the fundamental human...
December 5, 2007
Spare Me the "Shock" About Credit Card Rates
Usurious credit card fees are back in the news with feigned shock and outrage about interest rate increases that consumers are getting hit with. Credit companies were testifying before the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Investigations Subcommittee on their interest...
November 28, 2007
Media Concentration
It is time once again to act to protect what little media diversity we still have. The FCC is preparing to offer a new proposal to expand media ownership ... again. I Access FCC Comment section. The comment period ends...
November 27, 2007
Out of Iraq? Outlook Dim.
Back on October 30, 2007, a draft law was put forward to end Paul Bremmer's Order 17, which granted immunity from Iraqi law to Multinational Force (MNF), MNF civilian personnel, Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), Consultants, Foreign Liaisons, Contractors and others....
November 25, 2007
The "War," Contractors, and Civilian Deaths
One of the things that has become increasingly evident is that private "security" firms are critical to the Bush "war on terrorism." The deaths (murder) of civilians in Iraq vaulted Blackwater into the spotlight. Given the news of private security...
November 3, 2007
Torture: The Strategy of Fools and Sadists
I am struggling not to choke on the decision of Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Feinstein (D-CA) to support the nomination of Michael Mukasey for Attorney General. The resistance to Mukasey as a replacement for Gonzales has focused on his unwillingness...
October 31, 2007
Blackwater Immune?
What a surprise, an unnamed person in State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security gave Blackwater guards immunity for there testimony relating to the murder of 16 Iraqi civilians. That individual may have been fired, but no one is stepping up...
October 22, 2007
Mercs in a Corporate World
It is clearly time that folks woke up regarding military contractors. If you missed Bill Moyers interview with Jeremy Scahill, I strongly encourage you to watch it. It is online in two parts on Moyers website at PBS. Scahill has...
October 18, 2007
Cheney's Law
If you missed the Frontline special Cheney's Law, I highly recommend it. I was grinding my teeth for most of it. Cheney's ongoing plan to concentrate power in the presidency is bad enough. However, when you put that in the...
October 16, 2007
TOPOFF 4 Starts, but what about Vigilant Shield?
The TOPOFF 4 exercises started in Guam and Portland, Oregon. There are reports from various sources on how those are progressing. However, there is no news at all out of Phoenix (the third site in this week's scenario). Further, while...
The Coup Started Before September 11, 2001
For some it is no surprise that the illegal surveillance of U.S. citizens began prior to September 2001. The Bush administration went into office with the plan to "transform" the power of the president with its attempts to implement the...
October 13, 2007
Rice Worried by Putin?
I couldn't help but choke upon reading "Rice Worried by Putin's Broad Powers:" This from one of the crew who have pressed the concept of "Unitary Executive" for the United States?...
October 9, 2007
Back to Burma - and the Opium Trade
I know that some may have thought that my bringing the opium trade into the discussion of the conflict in Burma was a bit "out there." Apparently, I am not out there alone. Larry Chin has an article International narcotics...
October 7, 2007
More Corruption - Corporatized Medicare
I know that most of you groaned along with me when Washington decided to "privatize" Medicare and the prescription plans. Well, now we know we were right to groan. The New York Times reviewed 91 Medicare provider audit reports and...
September 29, 2007
Iran Strikes Back Labeling CIA and U.S. Army Terrorists
I am pretty sure that Iran did not get this idea from me. Iran's parliament has declared the CIA and U.S. army "terrorist organizations."...
September 16, 2007
Very Bloody Oil
Many people have been saying that the invasion (and occupation) of Iraq is about oil. I believe that there is more than oil involved, but certainly oil was a driving motivator. Now we can add Alan Greenspan to the list...
August 29, 2007
So-called Military Contractors Lean More Towards 'Military' than 'Contractor'
A lot has been written about the increasing role of "military contractors" in Iraq. Blackwater, CACI, and others have made headlines. So many contractors are being used by both the U.S. military and intelligence branches that Amnesty USA (5/23/06) claimed...
August 23, 2007
What To Do With an Administration that Refuses To Follow the Law?
What do you do with an administration that refuses to follow the law? Apparently not a damn thing. We have a situation where the Constitutional balance of powers have been disrupted, and where the opposition party cannot even rally all...
August 19, 2007
Transfer of Military Tech To Police. Welcome to the Police State.
It seems that the militarization of police forces in the United States is taking giant leaps forward with military robots and spy satellites on the newest toy list. While the militarization is not new - it has been going on...
August 4, 2007
Feeling Disheartened
I am feeling disheartened these days. Maybe it's the midsummer blues, or maybe it is the ongoing debacle in Washington. The corporate media's discovery that the nation's infrastructure is in the gutter would be humorous if it weren't so sad....
July 29, 2007
Friend or Foe Business Is Business
Our old friend Mikhail Gorbachev is accusing BushCo of creating chaos to extend an empire. The question is whose empire and to what end? The empire that BushCo and the neo-cons are pushing is an empire of corporate and economic...
July 28, 2007
Leaning Towards Cover Up
In Refusal to Testify - Hubris or Cover-up?, I felt that the refusal of the White House to release documents on the firing of U.S. attorneys, and the no-show of Bolten and Miers, was probably equally hubris and cover up....
July 26, 2007
Refusal to Testify - Hubris or Cover-up?
There are those who are trying to minimize the issue of the firing of the U.S. attorneys as political comedy, and no big deal. It is a very big deal when the Department of Justice becomes an arm of politics...
July 19, 2007
Will Someone Be Our Friend In Iraq?
Stephen Hadley - the National Security Adviser - asked Congress to keep all options open in Iraq. Now, what options might those be? Everyone seems to complain about the lack of "progress" in Iraq. However, that progress seems to be...
July 4, 2007
I Knew a Dog Named "Scooter" Once
I knew a dog named Scooter one. He had a problem with "cling-ons" when he defecated. He would then "scoot" to clean himself up. Scoot on the grass, scoot on the rug, scoot across the bed. It was effective for...
June 25, 2007
How to NOT Find Employees
Check out this presentation by lawyers from Cohen & Grigsby on how corporations can get around immigration laws to get workers visas, by "proving" there are no US workers for the job. YouTube Link...
June 22, 2007
Release of 1973 CIA Investigation - A Strategic Move?
Michael Hayden, current head of the CIA, has decided to declassify a CIA report on its "indiscretions" ... that was completed in 1973. It is a big deal that this administration is going to release any information - such a...
June 19, 2007
Uncivil Liberties
If you have been considering investing in "Uncivil Liberties and the Empire's War on Its Citizens," then check out Carolyn Baker's review. She also goes well beyond a review of Mercer's film, to place it within a larger context of...
June 17, 2007
They Knew. Lies to Cover a Rogue Administration
"From the moment a soldier enlists, we inculcate loyalty, duty, honor, integrity, and selfless service," Taguba said. "And yet when we get to the senior-officer level we forget those values. I know that my peers in the Army will...
June 15, 2007
In Pursuit of Immigrants. Whose security? Whose Interest?
They stand in icy water; in crowded conditions; wet to the skin for 18 hour shifts. They work for one of the largest food processors in the world. They are paid below legal wage, and not paid overtime. Now, 167...
June 11, 2007
Light on the Hill to Eye of Sauron
While I doubt that the United States was ever quite the "Light on the Hill" as romanticized, we did once stand for some things that were worth being proud of. There were times when - even in war - we...
May 31, 2007
Just Say 'No!' to Coal
There needs to be a call to action. Big Coal (like Peabody Energy Company aka Peabody Coal Company) is pushing hard to get us (via the government) to make massive investments in coal, and coal to liquid fuel legislation. The...
May 29, 2007
New Opium Crops - In Iraq
One would have thought this would have been big news, but somehow it has largley escaped the U.S. corporate media. Patrick Cockburn, however, writes Opium: Iraq's deadly new export. While apparently in the beginnings of cultivation, the poverty and chaos...
May 26, 2007
Human Lives - Collateral Damage to A Political Calculus
The Democrats caved in and supported the supplemental occupation funding demanded by the Bush Cabal. The arguments apparently being that they a) didn't have the votes to overcome a veto; b) they didn't want to be blamed for the...
May 18, 2007
James Comey Testimony
Just in case you haven't seen it. Here is James Comey's testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee (8:12): also at YouTube Here is the link to the pdf of Comey's testimony...
War Without End & Now ... The Permanent Soldier
George Bush told us that the "War on Terrorism" would be a "generational" war. It seems clear that means "war without end" which brings to mind George Orwell's 1984. (Of course, there are a lot of things about the Bush...
May 13, 2007
The Consequences of a Globalized, Industrialized Food Supply
The United States has seen the chickens coming home to roost regarding the consequences of a globalized and industrialized food supply. The issue arose in relationship to animal feed. It started with a recall of dog and cat food because...
April 14, 2007
Time to Boycott and Contact Circuit CIty
Circuit City has decided to lay off 3400 Associates who make above the "market range." That range is in the vicinity of $7.75 an hour. The rationale from the Circuit City press release reads: "The company has completed a wage...
April 11, 2007
The Next Round of Destroying America
The questionable firing of Federal Prosecutors by Gonzales (a.k.a. Bush administration) and replacing them with Bush loyalists has brought to light a much deeper manipulation - the placement of a select cadre within the DoJ in civil service positions. Charlie...
April 8, 2007
Free Market Capitalism Is Not the Answer
I have a feeling this may be a multi-part article as the various aspects of this stretch so broadly. First let me say that the capitalism of today is not the capitalism I was taught. The capitalism I was taught...
March 23, 2007
ChoicePoint and Elections
Carolyn Baker's article Godfather Government: A way of life is not a scandal generated a response from ChoicePoint denying that it has (or continues to have) any relationship to data gathering activities for the 2000 election. Ms. Baker. has published...
March 22, 2007
Undocumented workers and the war effort
Remember the March 2007 raid of Michael Bianco Inc. in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Over 300 Immigration and Customs agents raided the factory and detained 361 undocumented workers. (According to Ali Noorani in a March 9, 2007 article in Boston.com -...
March 13, 2007
Send in the Troops. What Troops?
Bush has decided to send and additional 8,200 troops in Afghanistan (3500) and Iraq (4700). This is in addition to the 21,500 troop "surge." I believe it is also in addition to Petraeus' call for 2200 more MP's and 7,000...
March 10, 2007
FBI Abuses Expanded Powers - And Other Abuses
Well, I can't decide what to write about today so here are the things that have drawn my attention. It is no surprise to most of us that the FBI "abused" its powers. But then, the DoJ who outed the...
March 9, 2007
Fight the FCC!
From the folks at FCC FU (There is also a heavy metal version at the FCC FU site) Thanks to Kelly for finding this one!...
February 27, 2007
Is the US Funding Sunni Extremists?
According to a new report by Seymour Hersch, the Bush administration is diverting funds (without authorization) to fund Sunni extremist groups. This is apparently being done for two reasons: 1) strike at Iran and Iranian influence, and 2) counter the...
February 22, 2007
Confronting Iran
The Project for Defense Alternatives has created a great resource page - Confronting Iran: Critical perspectives on the current crisis, its origins, and implications. The rhetoric and lies are running hot and heavy as BushCo. is seemingly fixated on stirring...
February 20, 2007
The Rebirth of the Company Town
I grew up thinking that the company town was dead. It went out with worker protections and unions. By "company town" I don't mean that there was one major company that employs most of the workforce, but that the company...
February 19, 2007
Un-President's Day
Carolyn Baker has a nice article over at Speaking Truth to Power titled Un-President's Day: Until you change how money works, you change nothing. In the article, Baker aptly labels the US economic system as a "tapeworm" economy, and recommends...
February 12, 2007
Fabricating the case against Iran
I'd like to direct you to an interesting article by Larry Chin published at Speaking Truth to Power titled Fabricating the Case Against Iran. Chin argues that the US is on a war footing on Iran and will launch an...
February 11, 2007
States Fighting Real ID
A small, but growing, number of states are stating to resist Real ID Act....
January 30, 2007
Attack Iran? What Reality Are We In?
Well, Bush has been moving threateningly towards striking Iran for the last the last two years. With the movement of the fleet into the Gulf and pointing threateningly towards Iran, the threat drew closer. Now we have a report coming...
January 29, 2007
Privatizing War - Growing the Military
In President Bush's State of the Union Address he brought up a new idea - the civilian reserve corps. The purpose of this civilian reserve seems relatively vague - to ease the "burden" on the military. However, that covers a...
January 28, 2007
Down In Flames over Plame?
AND YOU MR CHENEY Unfortunately, it likely won't matter....
January 27, 2007
Winning Iraq - There IS A Different Plan
Bush says that there is no plan other than his plan for Iraq. Obviously that is not true - remember to Iraq Study Group. However, there is an other plan, and a much more detailed plan than Bush's "surge." It...
January 25, 2007
We're Surging - The Hell With You
The corporate media has been bad mouthing the "non-binding" agreements being put forward in the House and the Senate against Bush's sending of over 20,000 new troops to Iraq. However, I do not feel that the non-binding agreements are necessarily...
January 19, 2007
Taking Liberties - Spying On Us
Over the last six years we have become very accustomed to the loss of our Constitutional protections and civil liberties. So there seems little reaction when we find out that both the Pentagon and the CIA are spying inside the...
January 15, 2007
Iranian Consulate Raid - Spin Zone
The U.S. network news reports conveniently leave out the information that target of "the raid" that resulted in the continued detention of "five Iranians," was an Iranian consulate. It was not just "some place." It was a particular place. It...
January 12, 2007
Worried About New Bush Wars?
Are you worried about new fronts in the Bush wars? Iran and Syria for example? You are not alone - Senators fear Iraq war may spill to Iran, Syria. From the January 10th speech by George Bush, to the mobilization...
January 9, 2007
Israeli Nukes and Threats
An article in the Times Online - Revealed: Israel plans nuclear strike on Iran - has set the wires abuzz. This should not be a huge surprise since back in November 2006 Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh shot off his...
January 8, 2007
Troop Surges and Bloody Oil
I doubt that anyone will be surprised this week if Bush announces that 20,30, or 40,000 more troops will be in Iraq. The "surge" will likely come from extending the tours of those already in Iraq, possible redeployment and extension...
January 5, 2007
Who Is Mike McConnell?
For some unknown reason Negroponte is moving over to the State Department to be the top deputy to Rice. This would seem to be a demotion for Negroponte, but perhaps Rice will be moving on at some point. Replacing him...
January 3, 2007
Troop "Surge" in Iraq?
Everyone is expecting for Bush's "new" strategy in Iraq to be a "surge" in the number of troops deployed there (CSM, BBC). While the "surge" plan is likely to not be popular on either side of the aisle, the plan...
December 31, 2006
Cloned Meat Supposedly Safe
As you have likely already heard, the FDA (U.S. Food & Drug Administration) has determined that cloned meat and milk are compositionally no different from non-cloned meat and milk (FDA Press Release). I would urge people to submit their comments...
December 28, 2006
Iran: Sanctions and Response
The UN Security Council's Resolution 1737 essentially demands that Iran suspend nuclear activities and submit to IAEA transparency. To that end, it poses technology import restrictions and restrictions on a variety of agencies, businesses, and individuals. It does not either...
December 23, 2006
UN Votes For Sanctions On Iran
[Updated on 12/25/06 with link to Resolution 1737.] On December 23, 2006, the UN Security Council voted for further sanctions on Iran (Resolution 1737). Thus far, I have not had any luck actually finding that document; however, from reading the...
December 20, 2006
Winning Iraq?
What does "winning" mean when it comes to Iraq? For that matter, failing "winning," what would "success" be? I must say, that as far as the United States goes, I have no idea what yardstick Bush and his politicos might...
December 10, 2006
Iraq, The Study Group, and Bush's 'Stay the Course'
The Iraq Study Group released its report on December 6, 2006. It has generated tremendous commentary and response. Much has been made of the 79 recommendations made in the report. However, one must wonder if they have generated so much...
November 29, 2006
There Must Be Limits On What Is Considered Terrorism
The government is stretching the legal definition of terrorism way too far. First it was extended with the U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. Then a number of states jumped on board with ecoterrorism legislation. Now the we have the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act...
November 22, 2006
Amicus Brief Filed For Al Marri and Berman
A friend of the court brief has been filed for Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri and Mark Berman. Both men are under indefinite detention as "enemy combatants. Eight former administrators from the Department of Justice are signatories of the brief....
November 19, 2006
Gitmo Grows and Halliburton Gains
The Pentagon released a "presolicitation notice" for a $125 million contract to expand the Guantanamo Bay detention facility (Gitmo) again (AP, 11/17/06.) Apparently they were waiting for the passage of the Military Commissions Act which removed habeas corpus, allowed torture,...
November 15, 2006
Bush Banks On Lame Ducks
Bush is counting on the lame duck session of the Republican dominated Congress to pull his bacon out of the fire. He got part of his agenda, as well as some cover for crimes against humanity, with the passage of...
November 12, 2006
The Architecture of A Totalitarian State
While the nation heaves a sigh that hopefully a check on the power of the Bush White House has been put in place, huge threats to our freedoms and our nation are already in place. The U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act is still...
November 11, 2006
Iran Is Still In the Crosshairs
As the Democrats promise to turn their attention immediately to Iraq, we have a legislative lull in place. It has been widely written that Bush and the neocons want to add Iran (and possibly Syria) to their "successful" regime changes....
November 4, 2006
Haggard, Bush, and the Unholy Alliance
It is very interesting to me what the corporate media is not discussing about Reverend Ted Haggard and the Bush Administration. Rev. Haggard has been accused to seeing a male prostitute over a period of three years, and of purchasing...
October 29, 2006
Shell's Portland Oregon "Town Hall Meeting"
I attended one of Shell's "National Dialogue on Energy Security" town halls on October 27th. This is part of a 91 city tour by Shell President John Hofmeister and a few staff to have "discussions" across the nation. Portland, Oregon...
October 26, 2006
How Can We Stand For This? Torture USA
I must say that I felt like screaming or vomiting or both upon reading Tom Regan's CSM article "Cheney Confirms Use of Waterboarding." It discusses a radio interview that VP Cheney did with WDAY Radio in Fargo, N.D. on 10/24/06....
October 22, 2006
Iraq: Still No Good News
It is difficult to see how the spin masters of the Bush administration can spin anything positive out of Iraq with both a general and a diplomat bearing equally bad reviews on U.S. performance....
October 19, 2006
Habeas Corpus To Habeas Corpse
President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 on Tuesday 10/17/2006. With that signing, both the rules of human treatment of prisoners and captives, and the rule of habeas corpus became things of the past in the Untied States....
October 15, 2006
Finally An Acknowledgement of Oil's Role in Darfur
The International Crisis group has released its report on ending the Darfur crisis. Central in those findings is sanctioning the oil industry....
October 14, 2006
Abramoff "Scandal" and the Coalition of Corruption
The Abramoff scandal continues to unveil itself with the latest crook - Representative Bob Ney pleading guilty to influence peddling. However, Ney is just one in a aolition of corruption. Among the many "players" in the scandal are top names...
October 11, 2006
654,965 Civilians Dead Due to Iraq Invasion
There are a lot of ways to measure the cost of the war in Iraq. According to John Murtha, the first 9 months of 2006 ran up a bill of $982 billion - on track to go over $1 trillion...
October 7, 2006
Who Gets Nuclear Power?
Who gets nuclear power and who does not? Who decides? The first is the million dollar question. The second seems to be the United States. However the decision making on who can and can not have nuclear power seems almost...
October 1, 2006
A Nation Lost
Is it despotism? Is it totalitarianism? Is it fascism? Maybe it is just somewhere on the way to all three?...
September 23, 2006
Win-Win-Lose The Constitution
It is being called a "compromise," but that seems to be in name only. The "rebellion" by key Senate Republicans against Bush's wishes for constitutional right to torture, hold prisoners without charges or access to courts, approve military tribunals and...
September 17, 2006
What Counts As A War? Israel, Lebanon, and Palestine
The news regarding the status of things in Lebanon following the 34 day "war" have become scarce. Instead, what news there is has shifted to the political fallout in Israel over that conflict. Unrest is high, and it seems clear...
September 16, 2006
Tortured Times
Back on September 9th, I raised concerns about the current legislative push before the October recess. Well today, part of the President's agenda came to a head with Bush responding to the Senate Armed Services Committee "rebellion" (transcript)....
September 11, 2006
September 11 - An Infamous Day
Five years ago this morning I was watching the morning news when they jumped to the burning WTC tower 1. Within minutes, I watched another plane crash into tower 2. There seemed no doubt that this was deliberate. Like the...
September 10, 2006
The Haunting Past Is the Daunting Present
The "Iran Problem" is on the table with the US pushing the UN Security Council for sanctions, and Russia blocking sanctions. I get a haunting feeling of deja vu, or perhaps the past is never the past....
September 9, 2006
The Current Legislative Push Is Significant
The politicians are back in Washington for a flurry of activity before the mid-term elections, and Bush is out stumping for funds and to reinforce GOP tactics. While we could sit back and say that all the activity is for...
September 6, 2006
The Meaning Of Things
I recently re-read Sherri S. Tepper's book The Visitor (2002). While I recommend Tepper as an exceptional author, and think this is a great book, I am not writing a book review, but addressing an idea that comes up in...
August 26, 2006
Free Speech Being Challenged?
This story could end up being pivotal in terms of both free speech and censorship issues. The US government arrested and charged Javed Iqbal - an American businessman originally from Pakistan - for providing customers in New York with broadcasts...
August 25, 2006
Trying To Start a Conflict?
Looking at the news regarding Iran and Syria, I have to wonder if the plan isn't to try and goad a response that could legitimate an attack by the U.S. (and/or Israel) on either one - or both. Certainly Israel's...
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