May 22, 2004
Fascism USA
Merriam Webster Dictionary fascism: a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and...
May 2, 2004
Falluja: Smart Move, Retreat, or Vision of the "New" Iraq
As US troops pulled back from Falluja on April 29th, they were replaced by Major General Jassem Mohammed Salah and roughly 200 former Iraqi military forces (Iraqi general receives hero's welcome as US marines leave Fallujah, SpaceWar, 4/30/04). That number...
May 1, 2004
What happened at Abu Ghraib?
Comments from Abuzaid in Iraq, Bush, and the Pentagon, all express disgust over the abuse (I'd call it torture) of prisoners being held at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. We are told it is "under investigation." Actually, it has been...
March 24, 2004
The Empire Frame of Mind
There is so much (supposedly) coming to light about Sept. 11, 2001; Bush House spin on the "march to war;" Israel targeting Hammas leadership; US setting up permanent military bases in Iraq; and on and on. Certainly these are somewhat...
March 23, 2004
Power Play?
With the hearings by the 9/11 Commission going on, and all kinds of questions being asked, it seems like a good time to repost and article I did in May of 2002. "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" -...
March 21, 2004
An intersting budget analaysis
There is a very interesting analysis of Bush's ideas of fiscal restraint by Edmund Andrews in the 3/21/04 NY Times - Managing the Deficit With Plans to Spend. Many have been screaming for some time about the massive growth of...
February 25, 2004
More of the same for Haiti
The US lack of stabilizing action in regard to the events in Haiti is nothing new. In an excellent article in the Independent (2/23/04), Throttled by history, Gary Younge lays out a synopsis of Haiti's history. The bicentenial of Haiti's...
February 4, 2004
Environmental collapse - sooner not later
There is an interesting article in the February 9, 2004 edition of Fortune Magazine - CLIMATE COLLAPSE - The Pentagon's Weather Nightmare (UTJ Permalink - by David Stipp. The Pentagon is apparently taking "climate change" seriously even if the White...
January 30, 2004
Halliburton not on Iraq Oil Ministry List?
ABC News has "broken" a story on those who were allegedly "bought off" by the Saddam Hussein between 1997 and the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 (1/29/04 Ross, ABCNews.com, Saddam’s Gifts - Supporters Received Lucrative Oil Contracts)....
January 6, 2004
BSE - it sounds like the truth, but there is a problem here
updated 1/09/04 See end of article. There is an article in today's NY Times that is well worth reading With Diseased Animals, Disposal Isn't Simple. (Please see addendum at the end of this Uncommon Thought post). Denise Grady discusses the...
January 2, 2004
Water and oil do mix
The current form of globalization is based on petroleum. Massive ships ply the oceans transporting food, goods, raw materials, and yes - oil - from one place on the Earth to another. Central to "efficient" transport is the Panama Canal...
December 21, 2003
Who captured Saddam Hussein?
Well, the cat is out of the bag so to speak. Saddam Hussein was captured by Kurds, not US forces. Here is the story as best I can determine by looking through a number of articles (see full list at...
December 7, 2003
Two stories of globalization
One of my favorite toys as a child was Etch A Sketch. I was never very good at it, but my Mom was great. She could do full pictures on the darn thing. I watched her and saw what was...
November 30, 2003
Desperate Measures - suicide or terrorism?
The world, and particularly the people of the United States, are told that we are involved in a global "war on terrorism." We are led to believe that this war is focused in ideological differences and envy. In the US...
November 27, 2003
UN World Hunger and AIDS Reports: Monopoly Capitalism at Work
The UN has released statements on its latest findings on the global AIDS crisis (HIV/AIDS deaths and new infections highest in 2003, says UNAIDS UN News Centre 11/26/03), and hunger (Hunger increasing around the world after earlier decline - UN...
November 13, 2003
Other Fears: The Naming of Our Disconnect
We live in frightening and unstable times. War with deadly weapons may start at any moment and spiral out of control. Plagues can emerge from nowhere and travel the globe in two or three days. The earth shudders on the...
