"When johnny comes marching home again
Nobody understands it can happen again
The sun is shining an the kids are shouting loud
But you gotta know its shining through a crack in the cloud
And the shadows keep falling when johnny comes marching home"-The Clash (1978)

I desire to share two videos and collection of music wrapped in collage about Pax- Americana and Pax-Britannia dating from 1978 through 2008.

As Americans and British go through the 6th year of war in Iraq and the 8th year of the so-called War on Terrorism, it is fascinating to watch "If I Were A Terrorist: A James Pence Video!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1EXKLVgEx0

This is now one of the most popular and most controversial videos in America's heartland, i.e. the place that brought you the Oklahoma City bombings, WACO, and the Columbine High School Massacre.People are demanding a representatives who act and represents them, especially in their calls for impeachment and relief from crony-capitalism-as-usual in the nations' media and businessesUnemployment and Under-employment in America, for example, has been underreported in Kansas and other Heartlands states for decades. People are on edge about jobs flying south of the border, especially high tech jobs, like those at the new Ford plants in Brazil.  http://info.detnews.com/video/index.cfm?id=1189

Brits are now facing an economic downturn for the first time in a decade.

By the way, the e-mail which delivered that Detroit News report above included the comments, like:

"One look at this [video]and you will instantly be able to tell what is wrong with the manufacturing plants of the US car makers and why there will probably never be another American car manufacturing plant built in the US. The video also points out why more companies will go off shore to escape the spiral death grip of US unions. This seems to be sad but true. An excellent presentation."

I think British unionists see the issues here when they observe the video from Detroit-I know Americans do.However, I don't think all the politicians get it.Meanwhile the conservative Eisenhower Foundation has issued this other important report on America's state of the commonweal: http://www.eisenhowerfoundation.org/formulate_economic.php

I see in this recent report and in the two videos above that issues of the American work world & issues of chronic underemployment are present in an already overwhelmed America. The giant sucking sound south of the border that Ross Perot spoke about may be partially-then again perhaps not. As many people from all over the globe still want to come to American and realize the American dream.http://www.naturalnews.com/011530.html and http://www.goodthingsaboutbritain.co.uk/yourviews.htm

This is why Americans (and Brits) should not throw in the towel on the system but work to radically improve it in the next few months-and years. 

THE MUSICAL PORTION OF THIS COLLAGE

Recently, in response to two decades of rap and hip hop dominating my radio, I have begun to listen again to the lyrics of THE CLASH and other singers from my high school and college days-i.e. the period of the late 1970s and early 1980s, when America and Britain last faced years of major recession, stagflation and deflation.

NOTE: In America, the bad economy had all actually started over a decade earlier when the spending on the Vietnam War took the USA off the gold standard and eventually made the dollar linked to petroleum prices. This is what MLK had warned America about, but instead of listening to him, he had become maligned and was shot in 1968.

Now, we reap the consequences of the excesses of bad governance and misguided economic & development policies of the last 40-plus years (and as we are having another endless war).

Meanwhile, as part of this historical collage, it is time to talk about what music began to hit America's airways in the late 1970s and 1980s-i.e. British moans and groans came our way. At this same junction in history, Bruce Springsteen would write his sad BORN IN THE USA.

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