30 Articles

Friday, December 30, 2011
Blood Lifestyle: Externalizing the Cost of Human Life
(2 comments) There are numerous external costs for many of the products we consume, such as cheap labor and environmental damage. But one cost that remains invisible is the number of people who died as a result of manufacturing that product. For example, well over a million people in Iraq and Afghanistan have died in order that the U.S. have access to and control over those countries' oil supplies.

Sunday, November 20, 2011
No Light at the End of the Tunnel: Exploiting the Dark Continent
(1 comments) Africa was brutally exploited during the colonial period but after achieving independence, African countries have been further exploited particularly by the United States. This aerticle reveals how the United States politically destabilized and economically impeded ndevelopment in three countries, Somalia, the Congo and Libya. In addition the U.S. is complicit in the commission of major war crimes in these countries.

Saturday, October 1, 2011
Ill-Winds Blowing in the Horn of Africa: US Complicity in the Somali Crisis
(2 comments) A horrific humanitarian crisis has plagued the people of Somalia for a number of years. There has not been a stable government in decades and hundreds of thousands of people languish in refugee camps while 2.85 million people are suffering a food crisis. American interference in Somalia since the 1980s has been, to a large extent, responsible for this crisis as oil and strategic location have driven American foreign policy.

Thursday, August 18, 2011
Intervention in Libya: Humanitarian or War Crime
(2 comments) The so-called humanitarian intervention in Libya sanctioned by the Security Council created an opportunity to save civilian lives. Unfortunately, U.S., UK and France had their own agenda consisting primarily of removing Gadhafi from power. In the process, NATO has killed civilians and bombed infrastructure thereby exceeding the UN Resolution 1973 and therefore the leaders of these countries are guilty of war crimes.

Friday, June 24, 2011
Overlooking the Consequences: World Leaders Ignore Major Planetary Crisis
(2 comments) World Leaders, and in particular President Obama, are wearing blindfolds to block out the consequences of all the crises plaguing the planet from global warming to the danger of nuclear power and weapons. In this satirical, ironic and comical piece, the obvious consequences of these crises should compel leaders to act to at least protect their own children and grandchildren but they don't.

Sunday, June 19, 2011
The Malevolent Government vs. the Beneficent Markets: The Myth of Free Markets
(1 comments) Free markets are the backbone of the American economic system resulting in minimum government intervention in the economy, low tax rates (especially for the wealthy), privitization (healthcare) and a minimum social safety net. The theory of free markets as espoused by our political and economic leaders completely belies the market system in practise. There are many reasons why free markets simply don't exist in the U.S.

Thursday, June 9, 2011
The Emperor Wears no Clothes in Theory: Theories Underlying Major US Policies are Problematic
(3 comments) American domestic and foreign policies are not framed in a vacuum rather they depend on theories emanating from scholars and intellectuals. For example, Milton Freidman's economic thoeries have been considered the gospel since the early 1980s. Presidents and their top adivisors usually choose theories that are in accord with their own ideology. Unfortunately, most of these theories are problematic at best.

Monday, May 23, 2011
When the Chips are Down: Taking Time to Pay attention to Real Issues
(1 comments) Wars, poverty, hunger and many other social injustices and human rights violations plague the human species and possibly threaten the planet with its sixth extinction. If we are waiting for our governments to solve these problems we are wasting our time. Non-violent resistance and non-cooperation are essential to reverse all the negative trends. But people are to distracted by our entertainment and celebrity culture.

Saturday, January 15, 2011
Hiding Behind Illusions: Current Crises Call for a Jeffersonian Revolution
(1 comments) The crises facing America today are greater than those of the 1960s as they threaten life as we know it on the planet. Yet, the resistance, noncooperation and protests of the 1960s were more forceful and aggressive while remaining non-violent. The entertainment/celebrity culture prevalent in America today distracts people with enticing illusions that provide an escape from reality.

Monday, January 10, 2011
Spending and Tax Cuts: American Wealth in a Sea of Misery
(1 comments) Despite America's great wealth, the quality of life for most Americans is very poor. Comparing a number of quality of life factors in the U.S. to other counties demonstrates very clearly that overall wealth is not a measure of quality of life. Further spending and tax cuts will worsen the living standards for the majority of Americans.

Friday, December 31, 2010
Oil is Not Food but Food is Oil: The Imminent Crisis of Food Production Dependence on Oil
(4 comments) Absent from public discourse in discussions on oil-related issues is the world's food production's complete dependence on fossil fuels. Many experts now believe we have passed peak oil and as a result, the world's supply of food will be threatened. As the price of oil rises so will the price of food. Permaculture is one solution but to date, the American government is encouraging oil-based agribusiness with subsidies.

Sunday, December 26, 2010
Welcoming the Summer Soldier and Sunshine Patriot: Suppressing Dissent in America
(13 comments) Suppressing Wikileaks is a violation of First Amendment rights and is part of a larger campaign to suppress all dissent. Presidents have sought to deny First Amendment rights in the past but not on the scale of the last 10 years nor as dangerous. The Patriot Act, Homeland Security, surveillance, and deterring legal protests is leading America down the path to a police state.

Thursday, December 9, 2010
Cutting Benefits: Alice in Wonderland Economics
(1 comments) Congress discussions about cutting benefits and lowering taxes is counterproductive in terms of improving the lives of the majority of Americans while at the same time, lining the pockets of a few. In addition, our entire economic system is flawed because it is based on fossil fuels. especially for food production while peak oil is either past or imminent.

Saturday, November 6, 2010
Opening Pandora's Box: The War on Terrorism
(1 comments) The U.S. has been occupying Iraq and Afghanistan,firing drones over Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen and deploying special-ops assassination squads into numerous countries. It is expected and inevitable that Muslims would strike back at the United States by means of terrorists strikes. What the U.S. is doing in these countries is to commit acts acts of terrorism themselves notwithstanding what ever euphemisms they choose.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Orwellian Partial Withdrawal from Iraq: Genocide is Success
(2 comments) President Obama's speech announcing the partial withdrawal of troops from Iraq suggested a level of success in the mission. The truth is that the U.S. committed genocide since 1991 which was caused by extensive bombing, sanctions and occupation. Iraqi's are not only worse of since 1991, they are worse of since 2003.

Saturday, September 25, 2010
Modify Our Lifestyles and Production Methods or Perish
(2 comments) Civilization ignores the obvious signs that we are destroying the planet at its peril.One of the primary problems is that in economic and social planning,there is no distinction between unsustainable and sustainable growth. Economic indicators such as the GDP, poverty and unemployment rate are very misleading and minimize the alarm about social and economic distress.Environmental indicators are ignored altogether.

Saturday, January 2, 2010
Guns Not Butter: The Impact of a War Economy on the U.S.
When discussing the economic damage in the U.S. caused by defense spending and the various wars in which the U.S. is currently engaged, it is important to place the analysis in a historical context. Since the end of WW II, the U.S. has maintained a war economy which has allocated significant funds to defense spending and war ignoring civilian investments and civilian products. The impact on the economy has been irreparable.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The Canary's Song Remains Unheard in Copenhagen
Obama's enthusiasm over the agreement in Copenhagen is misplaced and misleading. The outcome of the agreement might mean a rise of as much as 3 degrees centigrade while many scientists are calling for a maximum rise of 1.5 degrees. Three factors explain how leaders in the West could be so callous: corporate power still reigns supreme; ideology narrows leadership perspective to market forces; politician's vision is 4 years.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A Tax Increase for What?
(2 comments) Two powerful members of Congress called for a war tax to pay for new troops to be deployed in Afghanistan. It is interesting that these two members of Congress are suggesting the unthinkable, a tax increase. When was the last time you heard a member of Congress call for a tax increase for healthcare, poverty, homelessness, veterans? Washington's priorities are defined by the urgency of this tax increase to support a war.

Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Chimerical Enemy of NATO in Afghanistan
(3 comments) The enemy of U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan is an imaginary enemy, namely the Taliban. Not only did Clinton extend a red carpet to the Taliban and UNOCAL executives, he actively courted them in the hope of building a pipeline from the Caspian Basin to the ocean. After negotiations broke down and it became clear to the Taliban that their regime was at peril, they offered three times to hand over bin Laden.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Not Again has Become Not Another One: Genocide in Ethiopia
Afghanistan and Iraq have filled the air waves with stories of strategy, deaths and progress while atrocities resulting in 4 million dead and millions of refugees is barely mentioned despite the complicity of the U.S. Another looming genocide is currently underway in the Ogaden Region of Ethiopia where the Ethiopian government is determined to destroy these Somalis because of their struggle to join Somalia.

Saturday, March 14, 2009
Serving G. W. Bush with a Supoena for War Crimes
(6 comments) Former President, George W. Bush, will be visiting Canada on March 17, 2009, to speak to the Rotary Club in Calgary, Alberta. The article is an open letter to the Attorney-General, Opposition leaders, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police calling on them to serve G. W. Bush with a subpoena requiring to appear before a judge for possible war crimes. The letters describes the legal principals obliging Canada to serve the subpoena.

Monday, February 23, 2009
Emperor Obama Wears no Clothes: The Afghan Surge
(6 comments) Barack Obama is demonstraing that he will continue the foreign policy of his predecessors. Deploying more troops to Afghanistan and bombing Pakistan can only understood in the context of maintaining the empire.

Saturday, February 7, 2009
The Elephant in the Room. Ignoring Unsustainable Growth
(8 comments) Despite all the debate about the economic crisis and possible remedies, there has been almost talk about the overriding issue; the transformation of our economy from unsustainable growth to sustainable growth. There are many possible effective solutions that are being overlooked.

Thursday, January 15, 2009
Canada's Shameful Vote at the UN
(4 comments) The article is a letter which I sent to the Canadian Prime Minister about Canada's disgraceful vote on the UN Resolution condemning Israel for human rights violations in the Gaza Strip.

Saturday, November 1, 2008
A Letter to Senator Obama
(2 comments) Senator Obama has made a committment to end torture and obey the Geneva Conventions. I am asking him to extend his committment to the United Nations Charter which only allows the use of force under two conditions: approval from the Security Council; and a substantial and immediate threat to the United States. In the second case, the Security Council must become involved asap. The implication is withdrawal from Iraq etc.

Friday, October 24, 2008
The Market System: Even Greenspan sees the Light
(4 comments) The recent financial crisis has demonstrated that the prevailing economic theory over the last few decades is not effective. It only concentrates wealth at the top and adversely affects those at the bottom. Even one of its strongest proponents, Alan Greenspan, recognizes that he put too much faith in free-markets.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Where is Democracy in this Picture?
(1 comments) Elections in America are flawed by the superficiality of the campaign and the influence of corporate money. In addition, the US is one of only 3 countries in the world that doesn't have proportional representation. Other flaws in American democracy include lobbying and the excess power of certain people such as the Speaker of the House.

Sunday, October 19, 2008
Let Them Eat Cake: The Forgotten Class
(3 comments) Neither candidate for president has really offered to solve the problem of poverty. Both seem to focus on the middle class. According to the OECD, the US ranks last or near last in various rankings of poverty. For example, Obama's policies are really window dressing. This article examines 2 of those policies and shows why they will barely make a dent.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008
The Second Debate: What's Wrong with this Picture
Moving beyond the artificial and superficial comments and analysis of the second debate, a careful analysis of the substance reveals absurd inconsistencies and irrationalities and inconsistencies in the words of McCain and Obama. The format and choice of moderator are partly to blame for the ineffectiveness of the debate to enlighten the American people.