Goodreads
del.icio.us
The Ekonomics of Fantasyland
by Jim Chaffee, reprinted July 2010
'This wholesale creation of money out of thin air is the basis for Ronald Reagan's famous supply side economics, by which the rising tide raises all boats. But as David Hume might have remarked given his view on printing money, "Aye laddie, but the rising prices have swamped any trickle down to the wee folk, who are drowning in them." He would have been right, and the ensuing inflation can be seen as a form of clandestine taxation of the most recessive variety.'
Crushing Exploitation of the European People - But for How Long?
by Garda Ghista, July 2010
"In mid-May, 2010, European leaders met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) leaders and finally reached an agreement comprising a £750 billion rescue package for the euro. Since then, announcements have taken place every single day regarding ruthless, merciless new austerity measures which the common people of Europe will have to now face. Workers and non-workers alike will be paying heavily for the financial games of the bankers and speculators."
Guide to Ending the Siege in Gaza
by Yacov Ben Efrat, July 2010
'Israel has become a convenient punch-bag. The world is sick of the checkpoint photos, the separation "fence" and the Gaza blockade. These things do not look good. They bring to mind actions by other despotic regimes which have disappeared from the world stage, such as the Apartheid regime in South Africa. The world no longer believes Israel; there is a growing feeling that it is the victim of its own intransigence.'
The Woodrow Wilson Center Desecrates Its Namesake's Legacy and Violates Its Congressional Mandate
by David Boyajian, May 2010
'Wilson enunciated his famous Fourteen Points, based on a just peace, in 1918, before the end of WW I. Point Twelve left no room for doubt: The non-Turkish "nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development." He was referring to Armenians, Arabs, Assyrians, Greeks, Kurds, and others.'
The Arab Sector: Israel's Springboard into the OECD?
by Assaf Adiv, May 2010
"The Israel of today lacks a political or social force that could carry out the revolution needed to integrate the Arabs. Where would such a force come from? From the tycoons, who in the last twenty years have made huge profits from destruction of the welfare state? From the leaders of the major political parties, who cozy up to the new billionaires? (See for instance the newest corruption scandal involving the monstrous Holyland buildings in Jerusalem)."
The Imminent Crash of the Oil Supply: What Is Going to Happen and How It Came to Pass that We Weren't Forewarned
by Nicholas C. Arguimbau, May 2010
'The graph implies that we are past the peak of production and that there are 750 billion barrels of conventional oil left (the areas under the "conventionals" portion of the graph, extrapolated to the right as an exponentional). Assuming that the remaining reserves were 900 billion or more at the halfway point, then we are at least 150 billion barrels, or 5 years, past the midpoint.'
After Peak Oil, Are We Heading Towards Social Collapse?
by Emily Spence, May 2010
'Recently, Glen Sweetnam, director of the International, Economic and Greenhouse Gas division of the Energy Information Administration at the DoE, announced that worldwide oil availability had reached a "plateau". However, his statement was not made known through a major U.S. mainstream media outlet. Instead, it was covered in France's Le Monde.'
Dan Burros: Reason to Believe
by Joel Lewis, May 2010
'Browsing through the Plaza Book Shop in West New York, New Jersey, a title leapt out at me: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF AN AMERICAN-JEWISH NAZI. "Holy crap!" I thought. I had heard of Jews who converted to Christianity. And there were of plenty of Jews, like my family who had changed their names — we went from the Mr. Mxyzptlk—like Lyzzicki to the more manageable Lewis... But to join up with the Nazis....'
American Tea Parties 2010
by Belinda Subraman and Joseph Penton Rose, April 2010
"On Tax Day, April 15, 2010, Belinda Subraman of El Paso, Texas and Joseph Penton Rose of Atlanta, Georgia 'infiltrated' their local Tea Parties, with the hopes of better understanding this sudden organization. We present their observations in video, photographs, and an audio conversation."
Defeat in Victory: The Democrats' Health Care Bill
by Shamus Cooke, April 2010
'The public option grew weaker and weaker as the health care bill evolved. The left Democrats pinned all their hopes on it; they ignored the rest of the health care bill, which slashed Medicare and taxed the "Cadillac" health care plans of union workers, all in the hopes that a miniscule public option would give the lefts some political cover.'
Ghostbusting in Paxil Birth Defect Litigation
by Evelyn Pringle, April 2010
'The assessment found that "at least half, maybe more, of the articles that appear in major journals under the names of the best known people in the field, are ghostwritten when they have to do with pharmaceutical drugs."'
The Phony "Proportionality" Debate
by Lorna Salzman, April 2010
'Israel's response to Hamas rocket fire in the Gaza war caused over one thousand deaths according to Palestinian sources. However, it is not known how many of these supposedly civilian deaths were actually Hamas soldiers. In any case, fewer Israelis were killed in the invasion than Palestinians. As a result, Israel has been accused of using unjustifiable excess force in its response, "disproportionate" to the losses it suffered.'
The Armenian, Assyrian and Greek Genocides: An Inconvenient Truth
by Lucine Kasbarian, April 2010
'The media are also telling us that we should sympathize with Turkey because it feels "humiliated" by accusations of genocide... Do Turkish, Israeli and American officials know what "humiliation" means to the survivors and descendants of the Armenian, Assyrian and Greek genocides who experienced debasement and degradation during the genocidal ordeals and are forced to endure denials and demeaning treatment right up to the present day?
Clunker Healthcare Bill Protects Private Insurers Damages Democracy
by Bill Wharton, April 2010
"At nearly 2,500 pages, the bill contains a myriad of loopholes that will allow private insurers to continue nearly all of the immoral practices that have, according to a Harvard University study, resulted in more than 40,000 deaths per year due to treatable conditions. In fact, private insurers will now receive taxpayer funds to subsidize the sale of junk healthcare plans that the group Physicians for a National Health Program estimates will only cover 70% of people's medical needs."
Throwing Our Energy at Impossible Dreams
by P. F. Henshaw, March 2010
"Still, where is the cognitive path? Humanity clearly believes in and is devoting its most concentrated efforts on making its growth machine more efficient, to grow its way out of the earth's ever more severe physical constraints..."
Copenhagen Failed Us. What Do We Do Next?
by Nicholas C. Arguimbau, March 2010
"In short, the silver-tongued Obama flipped the bird to the enormous majority of U.S. voters, who had voted for him because he promised "change;" to the countless young idealists who'd worked for him, to the United Nations and to the overwhelming majority of climate researchers, who said action to reduce GHG emissions was critical."
The Great Oxymoron
by Ronald West, March 2010
"Nobody in the White Academic world knew how to create a Native Studies Program because in fact to postulate a program as such in the western classroom was oxymoron. Hell, they did not even know that."
Night of the Living Dead: The Party of Palin: An Unguided Anabolic Verboid For Reverdy Gliddon and Karl Johnson
by Jim Chaffee, March 2010
'Note that these people are not fiscal conservatives; fiscal conservatism is incompatible with militarism. Militarists spend whatever is necessary to build military dominance to terrify other nations. That a significant portion of this spending is for bluster value is evidenced by the lack of US military success in actual warfare. Consider the fact that when the US went to war in Iraq, its too-few troops were poorly equipped despite the billions spent on "defense."'
Rampaging Climate Deniers' Losing Battle
by Lorna Salzman, January 2010
'But "alternative" views are not necessarily credible or true. In the case of evolution, creationist belief in a deity is an article of faith reached by individuals outside the scientific process that involves peer review and rigorous independent impartial testing before any claim of "truth" or verification can be reached.'
Kevin Cooper: A Victim of American Injustice
by Stephen Lendman, January 2010
'"There is no way to say this politely. The district court failed to provide Cooper a fair hearing and flouted our direction to perform" the proper tests. It "also impeded and obstructed Cooper's attorneys at every turn as they sought to develop the record." Unreasonable testing conditions were imposed, as well as "refused discovery that should have been available as a matter of course, limited testimony that should not have been limited, and found fact unreasonably, based on truncated and distorted record."'
Legalizing Crime
by Sam Vaknin, January 2010
"Criminal laws pertaining to property have malignantly proliferated and pervaded every economic and private interaction. The result is a bewildering multitude of laws, regulations statutes, and acts.
"The average Babylonian could have memorized and assimilated the Hammurabic Code thirty-seven centuries ago—it was short, simple, and intuitively just."
Resisting an Underlying Moral Vacuum
by Emily Spence, January 2010
"So, even as the "United Nations and Afghan officials have launched an awareness campaign that plans to educate over six million children about the dangers of landmines, which kill and injure over 60 people (more than half being children) in [Afghanistan] alone each month", there is little hope that such programs can be as constructive as originally planned."
What the World Needs to Know about Mordechai Vanunu
by Eileen Fleming, January 2010
"I'm not a traitor. I'm a man with a conscience who did what he did out of a deep belief after much thought and many doubts. But I knew that I had to do it, that I had no choice...somebody had to do it...I contributed my share by making public what the public ought to know and they shut my mouth behind the prison walls."
Report from Cop-enhagen
by David Rovics, December 2009
'A new law was passed in preparation for the climate summit which makes this kind of mass preemptive arrest perfectly legal — all the police need to do is arbitrarily determine that an area is designated as a "riot zone" and then they can arrest whoever they want. Any non-Danes arrested can be held for 40 days (including people who were born in Denmark but are not citizens, a reality for many here that may seem surprising to those in the US reading this).'
What's at Stake in the Deal for Gilad Shalit
by Jonathan Ben Efrat, December 2009
"...should Israel release 450 "heavyweight" prisoners in exchange for just one Gilad? In the TV studios the question swung between the personal and the national: on the personal level, everyone stands shoulder to shoulder with Noam and Aviva, Shalit's parents. But on a national level, many saw the price as too high. And even worse is the lesson the Palestinians may learn from the deal: that it pays to kidnap soldiers."
The Money Dream
by Stephen Muret, December 2009
'"This is the worst crisis in fifteen years," they said in ninety-nine. "This is black Monday. That was black Wednesday." The economic commentators are saying things like "I feel your pain" and "We all took a blow today." And you just shake your head. Nothing in your life has changed. You are at the bottom of the capitalist food chain, way down at the bottom, and you look up at the storms above you and they just don't affect you.'
Towards Resolving Thanksgiving Contradictions
by Emily Spence, December 2009
'I am sure that many European immigrants, who came to America during the last three hundred years, thought that they, too, were carrying out positive actions when they eradicated indigenous tribes at the behest of their community leaders. I am, also, convinced that many of those conducting the killings felt relieved that such a strange scourge (as the "dirty savages" seemed to be) was systematically obliterated.'
Notes from a Season at the Center of the Universe: Cecil Taylor at the Take 3
by Robert Levin, December 2009
"This is 1962. An increasing number of us live with the conviction that a seismic change in human consciousness is both possible and imminent. We also share a belief that the New Jazz, in its break with established forms and procedures, and with its resurrection of ancient black methodologies, is showing the way."
Anatomy of American Ignorance
Part Two by Bill Noxid, November 2009
"These are the people Obama continuously tries to "reach out" to. If Obama himself was being honest about the origin of this country and it's true history ( instead of the self-serving propaganda offered by the American educational system ), he would understand what motivates this unalterable hatred, and would recognize why these people will never accept him as President."
Running out of Fossil Fuels: A Cause for Glee?
by Emily Spence, November 2009
Imagine manufacturers trying to provide enough necessary (as opposed to frivolous) products, such as cans for preserved food, without the inordinate amount of energy that is, currently, being used in their creation. Imagine police, fire, school and hospital departments trying to run without electrical power. Imagine the seemingly endless miles and miles of farms across the globe trying to operate without the provision of manmade herbicides and pesticides (developed out of oil), as well as devoid of their gargantuan planting and culling machinery."
The Goldstone Report: Fierce but Toothless
by Yacov Ben Efrat, November 2009
"As things look now, the Goldstone Report will go to the shelf, the Occupation will continue, and so will Palestinian suffering. To cope with the present reality is more complex than putting people on the stand for war crimes. The reality is that Israel is ruled by the Right, which is nowadays attracting part of the Left. On the Palestinian side, the reality is a war between two rival factions that care more for power than for their people."
IF Stone: An Iconic Radical Journalist
by Stephen Lendman, November 2009
"ABC's Peter Jennings called him "a journalist's journalist." The New York Times featured his death on its front page (usually reserved for the rich and powerful) in a Peter Flint obituary titled, "IF Stone, Iconoclast of Journalism, Is Dead at 81." A quintessential muckraker, he described him as "the independent, radical pamphleteer of American journalism hailed by his admirers for his scholarship, wit and lucidity" over a career spanning 67 years."
A Eulogy for Simon Vinkenoog: Shamanism, Prophecy, and the Poetry of the 20th Century
by Louise Landes Levi, October 2009
"The prophet of the social realms reaches into the utopian
traditions & creates it for his time. The shaman, by definition, liberates
his listener, the qualifications between chant (or mantra), song & the common word are absolved."
The Police Are Rioting: Reflections on Pittsburg
by David Rovics, October 2009
"Ostensibly this great democracy had had the Bill of Rights enshrined in law for quite a long time now. Yet in 1914 a supporter of labor unionism could not make a soapbox speech on a sidewalk in this country without being beaten and arrested by police for the crime of disturbing the peace, blocking the sidewalk or whatever other nonsense the cops made up at the time."
Hearing Voices
by Billy Marshall Stoneking, September 2009
"When the dramatist, Arthur Miller, remarked that he couldn't write a character until he could hear a character he articulated what is probably the single most important insight concerning the nature of mediumistic storytelling: the process of discovering character — of entering a character's inner life, and allowing your life to be entered by it — is and always has been, in essence, an aural experience."
A-Salaam Aleykom
by Yacob Ben Efrat, September 2009
"The words A-Salaam Aleykom go far deeper than their literal meaning. They express reconciliation, recognition, humbleness, and especially, they go hand in hand with Islam and its holy book — The Koran. Obama has decided to fight fundamentalist Islam with its own weapon, The Koran. He came to Cairo armed with verses from The Koran and their latest explanations proving that there is no reason for the schism dividing America and Islam."
Anatomy of American Ignorance
by Bill Noxid, September 2009
"It's generally not hard to find examples of the totality of mind control in this country, but last week produced a couple of rare examples. Arlen Specter's Town Hall meeting was evidently an important "test case" for the organizers of disingenuous dissent, and we got to see a variety of the false arguments. Just look at the two most obvious incidents..."
Why Won't Universal Healthcare Be Provided?
by Emily Spence, September 2009
"This additional difficulty concerned a way to dispose of the bodies since the majority of the deceased persons' kinfolk did not have sufficient funds to carry out burials or cremations. As such, the waterway served another function, which was corpse recipient, and Linda noted that, nearly every day, bloated water-logged remains could be seen quietly gliding downstream."
On America and Nobility
Editor's Note for the July 4th Issue, 2009
"My name is Jonathan Penton, I am a poetry editor from Texas, and I love America. I am variably proud of and ashamed by this love. I am aware that both feelings are pointless. I also love oranges, strawberries, strawberry Cisco, swordfish, chili, metaphysical conceits, and a host of humans who would rather I not. These are simple facts which do not require the adornments of pride or shame."
Constitutional Rubbish
by Joel S. Hirschhorn, July 2009
"Americans need a civics lesson. And so do politicians. Of all the wrong and delusional thinking about the US Constitution the one that is most thoroughly incorrect and routinely used for political propaganda purposes is that there are three coequal branches of the federal government."
