Obama: Fear and the Security Force

In all my life I have never seen such intense emotion surrounding a leader as that evoked by Barack Obama. Even Ronald Reagan, the Gipper himself, didn’t enjoy the kind of prostration of the will offered to the president-elect by hordes of followers. Yet, while people the world over are imbued with “hope” and chant Obama’s slogan “Yes, we can!” – for instance, the French are using their translation of it, “Oui, nous pouvons!” – some of the intense emotion is of a very different species. It is fear. In... Read article

The Power Elite Playbook, Japan, Land of Western Industrialization

Part Sixteen In Japan – “For a thousand years, it was the policy of emperors and shoguns to keep the people ignorant, and to keep taxes high enough so families had to struggle to survive, because this kept them fully occupied and harmless.” [1]   J. P. Morgan was involved in Japan during the Meiji Restoration (1867-1912) which replaced the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate with the restored imperial family. This trade-off of power was merely a cosmetic change. Assets were confiscated from the Tokugawa shoguns and used to... Read article

Some things are bigger than any of us

“One of the good things about everything being so fucked up—about the culture being so ubiquitously destructive—is that no matter where you look—no matter what your gifts, no matter where your heart lies—there’s good and desperately important work to be done.” ~ Derrick Jensen In 1850, the Fugitive Slave Law was passed and both Northerners and Southerners were now legally required to turn in runaway slaves. One year later, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin (or Life Among the Lowly) as a serial... Read article

The Catholic Church’s Roll in World Population Human Misery

One of the biggest obstacles facing humanity in the 21st century augurs into the harsh reality that our species exceeds the planet’s ability to sustain our relentless fecundity. Adding 77 million humans annually, we undermine the planet’s ability to sustain all living creatures. With population stability paramount for humanity, what road-blocks stand in the way of safe, sane and rational use of birth control? Short answer: religions and culture. Religions born in the first and sixth century, i.e., the Catholic and... Read article

Ten Reasons Why Mexicans Captured America

And Americans Lost… Anyone looking at present day Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Houston, Albuquerque, Chicago and New York City—cannot help but see and hear that Americans have lost America. Americans surrendered their language and culture to Mexicans streaming across their borders like a “human Katrina.” Manuel Alderete, Mexican Movement member, Los Angeles, CA, Occupied Anahuac—emailed my office a disconcerting letter titled: “Ten Reasons Why Mexicans Have Already Won; and you Americans have lost.” Anybody... Read article

A Wanted Man in Burma

Antonio Graceffo is a wanted man. His crime? Supporting the Shan people in their rebellion against the ruling military junta in Burma, known euphemistically as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). A former successful Wall Street investment banker from Brooklyn turned travel and adventure writer, Antonio has authored numerous books, including about his adventures bicycling around Taiwan, bicycling across the Taklamakan Desert in China, and his time studying with the monks at the famous Shaolin Temple. More recently,... Read article

A Song for Obama

In my younger days, I considered the Village Voice to be required reading. But—like The Nation, Mother Jones, The Progressive, and so many other once useful publications—I no longer find the Voice to be relevant or remotely radical. However, it’s free in NYC and I ride the subways. Thus, I’ll sometimes grab a copy to peruse as I navigate the subterranean tunnels of transportation. I end up regretting this move…every single time. As I thumbed through the Nov. 12-18 issue, I came across a loathsome illustration... Read article

Paulson the Bungler

Henry Paulson’s time at Treasury has been one pratfall after another. Even so, on Tuesday he managed to out-due himself. Paulson held a “surprise” press conference where he announced that the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) wouldn’t be used to buy troubled assets after all. Instead, the money will used to bail out insurance giant AIG, provide extra capital for the banks to hoard, and now (this is new part) give money to “nonbank financial institutions, like insurers and... Read article

How Barack Obama Will Ensure His Victory in 2012

Even before the election, with the realization that a Barack Obama presidency lay on the horizon, many saw a silver lining in the cloud that drifted into Washington, DC, from the left coast. “The right will be re-energized,” many thought, “and we’ll have a better Republican candidate and improved prospects in 2012.” Moreover, it was figured that Obama will exacerbate a bad situation, causing a meltdown in our economy and emboldening enemies without and within, thereby creating fertile ground for a Republican... Read article

Obama and the Crisis of Expectation

With Obama elected President but not yet inaugurated, the question on everyone’s mind is, “what’s going to happen next?” Millions of people around the world are hoping that a Obama presidency will radically change the course of US politics, and with it, world politics. This is especially true for the huge numbers of mostly young volunteers working for Obama’s campaign, most of whom had never been involved in politics before. And while it is impossible to predict the future precisely, one can make an educated guess... Read article

Driving Mister Barack

As you know, the Empire has selected a new emperor. The Mafia has chosen a new don. The corporation has hired a new CEO. Are you brimming with hope yet? Read on… According to Reuters, (Nov. 11, 2008), President-Elect Barack Obama has urged President-Select George W. Bush to take “measures to help the ailing (automobile) industry on top of a $25 billion loan packaged approved in September.” I could easily discuss—yet again—the unspoken reality that America’s version of capitalism relies entirely on socialized... Read article

A New Political Party Is Needed

Set aside any Obama euphoria you feel. The other important news is that third-party presidential candidates had a miserable showing this year, totaling just over one percent of the grand total with 1.5 million votes nationwide, compared to some 123 million votes for Barack Obama and John McCain. It couldn’t be clearer that Americans are not willing to voice their political discontent by voting for third-party presidential candidates. The two-party duopoly and plutocracy is completely dominant. The US lacks the political... Read article

The French First Lady

Eye Candy and Air… It’s hard to shock a man living in a planetary insane asylum, so it doesn’t raise my eyebrows when I watch a people commit suicide. Nevertheless, I had to shake my head when I read about how Barack Obama’s election has inspired France to consider affirmative-action policies to combat their dreaded “white political and social elite.” Weighing in on this pressing problem is none other than singer, esteemed intellectual and French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy. Writes... Read article

Remember Arafat?

“Let Obama use his clout to end the occupation and dismantle the settlement project. Let him remember that human and civil rights also apply to the Palestinians, not only to black Americans” Gideon Levy, Haaretz News Yasir Arafat died on November 11, 2004. Author Sonja Karkar has written a tribute to the man who–more than any other–embodied the struggle of the Palestinian people. For more than 40 years he fought against Israeli occupation hoping to establish his dream of a Palestinian state. In her... Read article

Part Two: First Change – The Long Emergency

A book review… In Part 2 of James Howard Kunstler’s “The Long Emergency”, we examine America’s prospects for survival in the 21st century. He addresses nature’s ability to “bite back” while humans overrun their carrying capacity and disrupt the planet’s ability to maintain stable environs for all living creatures. Because President-elect Obama cried change, will he address real transformation toward a sustainable society or continue ‘fatuous change’ as he continues ‘consensus trance’? If he... Read article

Acumen on Empty

Electing an Aberration… I abhor the results of two party politics and avoided writing or conversing about it while the marathon mendacity was in progress. However, now that the intended result has been accomplished it deserves comment. United States voters have elected an articulate, well educated, ambitious, resourceful half-breed with little affinity to the majority white citizenry. Half of our new president’s family resides in a relatively backward African nation and most of his allegiance rests with a semi-militant... Read article

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