15 Articles

Saturday, August 16, 2008
McCain, Georgia and a New Cold War
(1 comments) The US is heading towards a new cold war, and McCain hopes to be elected in its wake. But the confrontation with Russia was engineered by people like Cheney, and by McCain's advisor, Randy Scheunemann, and can be defused, if enough people know what's really happening. Obama has an opportunity to calm the tension and save the US from a long and bankrupting conflict.

Friday, July 18, 2008
Peak Oil Happened Already
(1 comments) What does "peak oil" mean, and what can we do about it? We face two very different responses: one will lead to a pretty ugly world, and diminished living standards, the other would lead to a more peaceful, richer, but less materially intensive world.

Thursday, July 10, 2008
Iraqis Say Get Out of Iraq!
Get Out of Iraq! Lots of people have said that, both in the US and world-wide (and 70% of Iraqis) but now it's not just the Iraqi man in the street, it's the Iraqi Man himself: Prime Minister Maliki. But that's not the end of the story. Just remember: the US overthrew Ngo Dinh Diem because he wasn't following US directives. Maliki and the whole Iraqi parliament could be at risk if Bush-Cheney don't get their way.

Friday, June 20, 2008
Oil, Who Profits?
The runup in oil prices breeds winners and losers: oil companies win, speculators win, gas stations don't. Further, the only reasonable response is to conserve, cut back when you can, and for the nation to invest in alternative fuels and technologies. We are entering the Post-Oil Age.

Thursday, June 5, 2008
If Smiles Mean Something: McCain vs Obama
(12 comments) What's in a smile, a painful one, or a fresh and spontaneous one? Between them, McCain and Obama demonstrated both kinds, which may say something about the campaign to come.

Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorializing The War Dead
(4 comments) Memorial Day remembers the War Dead, but the rhetoric that they "died for Freedom" is wildly out of tune with what is happening now, in Iraq, or with what happened in Vietnam a generation ago. They died for Empire, and for driving the US into bankruptcy and second-class status as a nation.

Monday, March 17, 2008
Crane Collapses Amid Building Boom in NY?
A crane collapses and we discover that NYC is in the midst of a building boom--while the rest of the world deals with the "sub-prime melt-down."

Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Hillary or Obama: Experience or Inspiration?
While Obama's Senatorial career is short, it is not slim. Therefore, there must be some other reason why he and the MSM present him as inspirational, while they and Hillary present her as experienced.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
Why Obama is the Most Progressive Candidate
(2 comments) Obama is progressive not because of his specific policy proposals, some more moderate than Hillary's, but because of the movement he has unleashed, and the rhetoric he can employ to steer it.

Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Military: A Political Machine
(5 comments) The best explanation for the huge defense budget (as large as it was in WWII) is not two smallish wars/occupations, but that the Defense Establishment is the most effective political machine that ever existed: more than half a trillion worth.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Recession, the "R-word" and the "D-word"
(4 comments) Is it a recession or a depression? The world's economic distress is caused by the unequal distribution of the proceeds of growth in the last decade, and by the US de-regulation of banks and other businesses. To resolve global economic problems the US needs to re-regulate and also promote a more equitable distribution of wealth.

Monday, January 14, 2008
Give 'em $150 For a Sheep
What the US really owes Iraq: it isn't a commitment to continuing occupation; it isn't piecemeal compensation for property destruction and the deaths of loved ones. How much for the life or your husband, wife, son, mother or daughter? How much for the country that has been destroyed?

Monday, January 7, 2008
Words and Obama
Obama points to the power of words to inspire: it's his kind of leadership that the nation needs to undo the Reagan-Bush legacy. Neither Bill, nor Hillary offer or offered inspirational leadership; that was Bill's tragedy. It is what Obama promises, and it seems he has the wherewithal to deliver.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007
What Are Americans Up To?
America doesn't know what it's up to: Bush is for more war; the GOP supports him slavishly, but the Democrats are too timid to oppose him courageously. Yet that's what people want, what Iraq needs and what the world needs: no more American Empire bestriding the world like a clumsy collosus.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Global Immigration
(2 comments) Global immigration is a reality. Illegal immigration, an inevitable consequence, has been used politically to pit workers against each other. A liberalized immigration policy would make possible major advances for everyone, even other workers.