Reality Frame

What will it be like, in the future?

2012-01-06T02:58:00.000-08:00

Assuming that the collapse of the American experiment in democratic republicanism is indeed just around the corner, what can we expect in the world of the future? It's said that only fools and charlatans - or neoconservatives - predict the future ("We will be welcomed as liberators!"), but we're going to run the risk of being called as such, and hazard a guess as to the general outlines of an

Octupy to March In Pasadena Rose Parade

2011-12-30T22:02:00.000-08:00

Octupy participants practice at Pasadena's Singer Park in preparation for their appearance in the world-famous Pasadena New Year's Rose Parade. Photo credit: gpfoto The at least 160 or so Occupy camps around the country may be abandoned and the thousands of Occupants dispersed hither and yon (to the no doubt immense relief of the financial 1% being protested against), perhaps even

Michael Moore - Where do we go from here?

2011-11-23T16:06:00.001-08:00

Michael Moore reports: his past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and goals of the movement. It was attended by 40+ people and the discussion was both inspiring and invigorating. Here is what we ended up proposing as the movement's "vision statement" to the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street: We

Financial Rat Indicted

2011-10-27T18:21:00.000-07:00

Breaking news from the Financial Times: Financial Rat Indicted "Rajat Gupta, the former head of McKinsey [Group hedge fund], will face criminal charges as soon as Wednesday for allegedly passing Goldman Sachs earnings data to Raj Rajaratnam, the hedge fund manager, while serving on the bank’s board, people familiar with the matter say." The aforementioned Raj Rajaratam was convicted earlier

Occupy LA brings RESULTS

2011-10-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

Citizens gather together at a strategy meeting at Occupy LA Photo credit: gpfoto BAM. Occupy LA brings results, by ghod! Local independent television and former PBS affiliate KCET reports: "Other than general statements of support, City Council members did not debate the merits of Occupy LA's goals or the main crux of the resolution, which supports "the continuation of the peaceful

The War of the Royalists vs. Everybody Else

2011-10-10T14:30:00.001-07:00

During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt reminded the American people of the existance of the economic royalist class, how they unworthily captured control of the democratic process, and if we are to remain a free people, we must fight back. Do not doubt that it is truly a war of one narrow class who would be masters of the world against the larger other, that of the greater body of

Global Economic Downturn: A Crisis of Political Economy

2011-08-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

By George Friedman Classical political economists like Adam Smith or David Ricardo never used the term “economy” by itself. They always used the term “political economy.” For classical economists, it was impossible to understand politics without economics or economics without politics. The two fields are certainly different but they are also intimately linked. The use of the term “economy”

U.S. and Pakistan: Afghan Strategies

2011-06-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Newman, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion,4th Infantry Regiment, U.S. Army Europe, watches the sunrise after a dismounted patrol mission near Forward Operating Base Baylough, Zabul, Afghanistan, March 19, 2009.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Adam Mancini/Released)By George Friedman U.S. President Barack Obama will give a speech on Afghanistan on June 22. Whatever he says, it is

U.S. - Pakistani Relations - Now What?

2011-05-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

Marines assemble for night-ops Photo Credit/USMCBy George FriedmanThe past week has been filled with announcements and speculations on how Osama bin Laden was killed and on Washington’s source of intelligence. After any operation of this sort, the world is filled with speculation on sources and methods by people who don’t know, and silence or dissembling by those who do.Obfuscating on how

Are Bin Laden death pictures fakes?

2011-05-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Are the death pictures of Osama Bin Laden fakes?Not to be a party-pooper, but people are beginning to question the authenticity of the death pictures of Osama Bin Laden that CNN and other news outlets have been using on the web and in broadcasts.Among others, posters on the infamous prankster site 4chan are claiming to have found the source images for two of the images being touted by CNN as

Never Fight A Land War In Asia

2011-03-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

By George Friedman U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, speaking at West Point, said last week that “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should have his head examined.” In saying this, Gates was repeating a dictum laid down by Douglas MacArthur after the Korean War, who urged the United

Volunteers of America

2011-02-19T23:32:00.000-08:00

Friday 18 February 2011 by: William Rivers Pitt, t r u t h o u t | Op-Ed Peaceful protesters outside the capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin. (Photo: Rob Chandanais / Flickr) Did you hear about the uprising? Not the one in Tunisia, or Egypt. No not the one in Libya, though what has been happening there is certainly riveting. Thousands of

Mubarak Resigns - Military is in Charge

2011-02-11T13:02:00.000-08:00

Egyptians of all religions and class celebrate in Tahrir uponnews that Pres. Mubrak has resigned. Photo by Alan Buu/Lightmediation.Feb 11, 2011, Cairo. Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman delivered the following statement Feb. 11: “In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate, citizens, during these very difficult circumstances Egypt is going through, President Hosni Mubarak has decided

Possible Military Coup In Egypt

2011-02-10T17:47:00.000-08:00

So far, the military has enjoyed good relations with the protesters.That could change very rapidly. Photo by Alan Buu Red Alert: The Egyptian Military's Options February 10, 2011 The decision by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak not to resign seems to have shocked both the Egyptian military and Washington. CIA Director Leon Panetta spoke earlier as if his resignation was assured and a

Taking Stock of WikiLeaks

2010-12-15T23:56:00.000-08:00

By George Friedman Julian Assange has declared that geopolitics will be separated into pre-“Cablegate” and post-“Cablegate” eras. That was a bold claim. However, given the intense interest that the leaks produced, it is a claim that ought to be carefully considered. Several weeks have passed since the first of the diplomatic cables were released, and it is time now to address the

How Carly Fiorina Wrecked Hewlett-Packard

2010-10-14T05:26:00.000-07:00

“The Job-Killing Touch”: How Carly Fiorina Wrecked Hewlett-Packard and the Bell Labs, and Set American Science Back By Decadesby Richard Rapaport Wednesday, 29 September 2010 09:50That Carly Fiorina was a one-woman wrecking crew during her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard is a scandal that the Republican Senate standard bearer is spending millions to try and blunt. Running on her executive

2010-05-31T18:16:00.000-07:00

Flotillas and the Wars of Public Opinion By George Friedman | May 31, 2010 On Sunday, Israeli naval forces intercepted the ships of a Turkish nongovernmental organization (NGO) delivering humanitarian supplies to Gaza. Israel had demanded that the vessels not go directly to Gaza but instead dock in Israeli ports, where the supplies would be offloaded and delivered to Gaza. The Turkish

Nazi Tourette's

2010-05-16T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cBack in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette'swww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party current-events

Arizona - avoid it

2010-04-29T17:26:00.000-07:00

current-events

Russia Brings Kyrgyzstan Back Into the Fold

2010-04-15T02:57:00.000-07:00

Click image to enlarge Kyrgyzstan and the Russian Resurgence By Lauren GoodrichThis past week saw another key success in Russia’s resurgence in former Soviet territory when pro-Russian forces took control of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz revolution was quick and intense. Within 24 hours, protests that had been simmering for months spun into countrywide riots as the president fled and a

Terrorism - Where We stand

2010-01-06T17:40:00.000-08:00

The past year was relatively quiet on the blow-up-an-American front, but the New Year has already started out with a bit of excitement. Personally, I think that a lot of people got hysterical, although a good deal of that can probably be chalked up to general anti-Obamaism and overall Republican idiocy. Nevertheless, the threat to Americans is quite real, and one would have to be deliberately

Justice Anti-Trust Div Weighs in on Health Care Reform

2009-10-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

The U.S. Department of Justice has stepped into the battle over health care, giving ammunition to congressional Democrats who want to shake up the health insurance market.The department made its foray today during a Senate hearing about the federal antitrust exemption that health insurers have enjoyed for more than 60 years. Democrats say a repeal of that exemption would help consumers by

Some Answers and Questions About Iran Nuke Program

2009-10-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

Two Leaks and the Deepening Iran CrisisBy George FriedmanTwo major leaks occurred this weekend over the Iran matter.In the first, The New York Times published an article reporting that staff at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear oversight group, had produced an unreleased report saying that Iran was much more advanced in its nuclear program than the IAEA had thought

Max Weber on the Press

2009-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

This is an excerpt from a lecture Max Weber gave back between the Great Wars entitled "Politics as a Vocation." In this lecture, he is generally talking about the role of professional politicians, the civil bureaucrats that serve them, and the style and character of the rulers themselves. After the following critical digression about the slop that "boulevard sheets" deem it fit to present to us,

Relief for SoCal drought?

2009-07-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

current-events

Muppets, avec fireworks

2009-07-02T23:37:00.000-07:00

current-events

The Real Struggle in Iran

2009-06-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Protesters in Tehran: Several hundred thousand government opponents took to the streets of the Iranian capital. Photo: Der SpeigelThe Real Struggle in Iran and Implications for U.S. DialogueBy George FriedmanSpeaking of the situation in Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama said June 26, “We don’t yet know how any potential dialogue will have been affected until we see what has happened inside of

Citigroup pulls another fast one

2009-06-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

In a bid to maintain the title, "Masters of the Universe," Citigroup Inc. is increasing the base salaries of many of its employees - reportedly by as much as 50 percent for some workers - as it raises the stakes in the game of financial chicken with the Obama administration.Taking a bead on the center stripe of the financial two-lane blacktop, "[t]he Obama administration reacted by pledging to

Iran: Democracy In Action

2009-06-15T17:14:00.000-07:00

Democracy in action: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been decisively re-elected to the Iran presidency. The West's liberal chauvinism and cultural illiteracy has prevented so-called "experts" from accepting the reality on the ground; the Shi'ite theocracy is approved of by the majority of Iranians, despite the neo-liberal American fantasy that "democracy' equates to the American Way.Western

Internet an awesome threat - Jay Rockefeller

2009-05-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

The oligarchy is getting restless again. Now they're worried (and justly so: email spam is evil incarnate) about the internet. Although, if you've been reading about ISPs such as AT&T capping internet usage by overcharging their customers for what is essentially a public utility, the following should come as no surprise.current-events

Obama's Strategy and the Summits

2009-04-07T06:35:00.000-07:00

Obama in Europe / File Photo: GettyBy George FriedmanThe weeklong extravaganza of G-20, NATO, EU, U.S. and Turkey meetings has almost ended. The spin emerging from the meetings, echoed in most of the media, sought to portray the meetings as a success and as reflecting a re-emergence of trans-Atlantic unity. The reality, however, is that the meetings ended in apparent unity because the United

AIG Bonuses: Here's what happened

2009-03-18T13:26:00.000-07:00

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has sent a letter to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank sketching out what his office has learned so far about the bonuses paid out to the thieves at AIG who (quote) brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout.(unquote)STATE OF NEW YORKOFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL 120 BROADWAY ANDREW M. CUOMOAttorney General NEW YORK, NY

Pakistan: A Bogus Threat

2009-03-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

US soldiers with Alpha Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment walk in a line during a patrolat Mullagora village, close to the border with Pakistan in KunarProvince, February 24, 2009. Photo/REUTERSBy Scott Stewart and Kamran Bokhari On March 5, the Saudi Embassy in Islamabad reportedly received threatening e-mails warning of attacks on Saudi interests in Pakistan. According to English-language

New photo Website

2009-03-07T15:46:00.000-08:00

We've been somewhat behind the times in updating this blog, because my photography has been taking up more and more of my time, not to mention my day job.Short and sweet, we have a new World Wide Web site featuring my recent photo work (sample above). Blogger's OK for some things, but we really need to see some pictures much bigger than Blogger can handle, which is why we are now a 'Dot Com'!

Olbermann: Bush's 8 in 8

2009-01-18T23:27:00.000-08:00

While Bush is scrambling around trying to find his "legacy," some have accused him of being an incompetent idiot. The fact is that he succeeded rather well in his goal of shredding the Constitution and making Congress irrelevant.For someone who didn't spend much time in the White House, preferring to whack innocent shrubbery at his Texas "ranch," he managed to get a lot done, even if every single

Unusual weapons shipment to Israel

2009-01-12T00:47:00.000-08:00

U.S. Seeks Ship to Move Unusually Large Amount of Weapons to Israel January 10th, 2009 Colin Powell, October 2008: “There’s going to be a crisis come along on the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now.” And now, a freakishly large U.S. arms shipment is due to arrive in Israel in two lots, the first on 25 January and the second by the end of January.

Palestine peace not likely under Obama

2008-12-28T14:41:00.000-08:00

Israel continued bombing Gaza into a second day. Over 215 are reported dead, including children and other civilians. Photo: BBCHow Can Anyone Believe There is 'Progress' in The Middle East?By Robert FiskSaturday, 27 December 2008 "The Independent" -- If reporting is, as I suspect, a record of mankind's folly, then the end of 2008 is proving my point.Let's kick off with the man who is not going to

The Death of Deep Throat

2008-12-22T22:22:00.000-08:00

Hal Holbrook, as seen in this still from the 1976 motion picture "All the President's Men," portrayed Mark Felt ("Deep Throat") in a cinematic retelling of the Watergate affair, based on the investigative reporting of Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. For [Deep throat] to have been able to guide and control the young reporters’ investigation, he needed to know a

What Was Mumbai About?

2008-12-02T01:09:00.000-08:00

A policeman walks with an elderly man after shootings by unidentified assailants at a railway station in Mumbai November 26, 2008. Photo: Reuters/IndiaThe United States might well want to limit New Delhi’s response [to the Mumbai attack]. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to India to discuss just this... It is possible that New Delhi will make a radical proposal to Rice,

Obama: First Moves

2008-11-24T19:57:00.000-08:00

Everything Obama is doing with his appointments is signaling continuity in U.S. policy. As we have written previously, when Obama’s precise statements and position papers were examined with care, the distance between his policies and John McCain’s actually was minimal.By George FriedmanThree weeks after the U.S. presidential election, we are getting the first signs of how President-elect Barack

Paulson is outsourcing the bailout

2008-10-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is breathtakingly major bad news. From WaPo: The Treasury Department this week plans to start outsourcing the management of up to $700 billion in troubled securities, using special contracting authorities that enable it to retain private portfolio managers, custodians and other financial services consultants without following standard acquisition procedures. The department’s quick turn

Economics is Politics

2008-10-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

The Political Nature of the Economic CrisisBy George FriedmanAre the resources of the United States sufficient to redefine financial markets in such a way as to manage the outcome of this crisis, or has the crisis become so large that even the resources of a $14 trillion economy mobilized by the state can’t do the job?Classical economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo referred to their

Paulson wants your money

2008-09-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

You! Fork it over!Well, the vote on that bogus bailout plan certainly was a squeeker, but apparently the citizens knew which side was up, even if Congress didn't. Reports from representatives' offices say that the incoming emails, phone calls and passenger pigeons was roughly 100-1 against a bailout, and this was without any community organizers rousing the citizenry.Of special note are the

US Command Ship Docks in Georgia

2008-09-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

USS Mt Whitney (LCC/JCC 20)USS Mt Whitney has docked at Poti, Georgia, that country's main Black Sea port, and within shooting distance of Russian forces.In August 2008, Mount Whitney was deployed to the Black Sea in support of Operation Assured Delivery to allegedly deliver humanitarian aid to those affected by the Russian-Georgian war and became the first NATO ship to "deliver aid" to the port

Third Wave: The Coming Crash

2008-09-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Actual photo from the last Great DepressionPhoto (c)1937 by Margaret Bourke-White All signs are that the United States is headed straight into an economic meltdown and a second Great Depression, and inquiring minds everywhere are asking when this coming economic crash will hit and what it will be like. As to the first question, the gold standard of economic gurus - Nouriel Roubini - has

The New Reality Of A Multipolar World

2008-09-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

The Medvedev Doctrine and American StrategyBy George Friedman/Stratfor The United States has been fighting a war in the Islamic world since 2001. Its main theaters of operation are in Afghanistan and Iraq, but its politico-military focus spreads throughout the Islamic world, from Mindanao to Morocco. The situation on Aug. 7, 2008, was as follows: The war in Iraq was moving toward an acceptable

Kucinich busts a move

2008-08-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

The just concluded Democratic Party convention was pretty much a meat and potatoes affair, but Dennis Kucinich (D,OH) blasted one out of the park.I'd previously been of the opinion that if I heard the phrase "Wake up, America!" one more time, I would strangle someone, but Dennis said it like it should be said. Now I think it should be said more often, and with the passion that Dennis gave it

Groping through the fog of war

2008-08-18T12:49:00.000-07:00

A carrier group of the US Navy on patrol in the Persian GulfThe events of the last several days, occurring under the cover of the opening of the Olympics in China, may be the foreshadowing of the "October" surprise that has been predicted by the blogosphere for some time now.We saw the pushing of legislation to impose massive sanctions on Iran, still gathering steam on Capitol Hill, and the

US ARMADA ENROUTE IRAN?

2008-08-13T01:18:00.000-07:00

Massive US Naval Armada Heads for Iran, MaybeAuthor's NoteShortly after this article was released on August 13, US military sources as well as Stratfor (a Strategic Studies Think Tank) stated that the various press reports (UPI, Middle East Times, Kuwait Times, Debka) regarding the naval deployment to the Middle East were incorrect.According to the press reports (see UPI, August 11, 2008), the

The true legacy of Solzhenitsyn

2008-08-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

St Basil's Cathedral, the Kremlin, Moscow.The following article is reprinted, with permission, from Stratfor.Solzhenitsyn and the Struggle for Russia's Soul August 5, 2008By George FriedmanThere are many people who write history. There are very few who make history through their writings. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who died this week at the age of 89, was one of

Will the government go bankrupt?

2008-07-22T15:00:00.000-07:00

Does the black cloud of a depression hang over the nation?Recession blues got you down? Well, there is some good news; the United States government can't (and won't) go bankrupt. It says so right here:The NYT has a good discussion of how the United States government has been out front in criticizing other governments for not allowing financial institutions to go bankrupt, but is now rushing to

Happy Birthday, US of A

2008-07-03T19:52:00.000-07:00

Caught in the crossfire in a fierce battle near the village of Al Faysaliyah,Army medic Pfc. Joseph Dwyer carried an injured Iraqi boy to safety.GI in Iconic Photo Dies of OverdoseJuly 03, 2008Fayetteville (N.C.) ObserverPINEHURST -- Joseph Patrick Dwyer, a former Army medic who became famous after he was photographed helping a wounded Iraqi boy, died June 28 from an apparent overdose. He was 31.

Why We Fight, Part III

2008-07-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it:Big Oil and the War in Iraq"IT TOOK five years, the deaths of 4,100 US soldiers, and the wounding of 30,000 more to make Iraq safe for Exxon. It is the inescapable open question since the reasons given by President Bush for the invasion and occupation did not exist, neither the weapons of mass destruction nor Saddam Hussein's ties to Al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terrorist

A Cool, Confident Couple

2008-06-05T02:06:00.000-07:00

The other day a friend of mine sent me a threatening letter promising that if I didn't immediately send all my money to the Obama campaign, I would burn in hell forever, with the ghost of Hillary Clinton eternally sticking a pitchfork in my ass.So, for the very first time in my life ever, I sent in ten bucks to a political campaign. Which I could ill afford, BTW.The next day, as I reconsidered my

More on the Puppet Media

2008-04-27T18:26:00.000-07:00

In the following article from Consortiumnews.com, Robert Parry, who broke many of the Iran-Contra stories while working for the Associated Press, argues that American news outlets are corrupt and reform is impossible. The recent revelations about the talking-head generals is just the tip of the iceberg; our only chance to get the facts that we need to keep government in check is to find new ways

Blackwater: In through the back door

2008-04-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

It may not look like it, but this is a licensed educational facility. Only one problem, though:It's Blackwater in disguise!Hired guns are hiding out in this import/export building,just two blocks from the US/Mexican border From the Calitics website:Just when we thought we had won, Blackwater snuck in the back door and set up shop in San Diego with hardly anyone noticing. Citizen Oversight

What the Iraq War is About

2008-04-23T22:27:00.000-07:00

Paul Craig Roberts has been wrestling with our incomprehensible foreign policy since he left the Reagan administration way back when. He's been very busy writing articles critical of the this administration since they took power, and rightly so. Now he's published an article (What the Iraq War is About) in which he proclaims that the "real reason" we're in Iraq is not for the oil, but to support

The Man Who Brainwashed America

2008-04-21T21:53:00.000-07:00

Doggerel by FidoNow that the New York Times seems to have found its cojones, it's probably time to drag out some old news which will go a long way to explaining why the American people have seemed to be shellshocked, and so reluctant to embrace the simple fact that they have been had.There is an advertising agency in Washington, D.C. which holds a Top Secret clearance. The boss of that ad agency

NYT on the Generals' Revolt

2008-04-20T22:35:00.000-07:00

Coming as it does after years of promoting Judith Miller and other liars on their front page - which some have seen as either craven kowtowing to the power elites or else burying their heads in the sand - the editors of the New York Times seem to have thrown caution to the wind and published a scathing article critical of this sitting president's conduct of the Iraq occupation, and specifically

Mike Gravel for President

2008-04-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

This guy is as crazy as I am, and I heartily approve this message.current-events

The walls will shake

2008-03-28T01:58:00.000-07:00

Gentle Readers, the following has come to my attention.Plan Jericho Also known as Plan B.current-events

I'm hopeful, but not holding my breath

2008-03-27T12:15:00.000-07:00

Photo: (c) Darren Abate/WireImage“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.” - Bobby Kennedy, US Attorney GeneralThey say that cynicism is the armor of sentimentalists, and I confess to grudging agreement with that opinion. Intellectually, I'm a

White House: Mum's the word on the US dollar

2008-03-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, Dana Perino, the bubble-headed bleach blonde who masquerades as the White House Press Secretary, let it be known that she is not allowed to talk about the shrinking dollar, under penalty of getting shitcanned.Maybe if we don't talk about it, the problem will go away.current-events

Arthur C. Clarke has passed

2008-03-19T02:00:00.000-07:00

Arthur C. Clarke, famed science fiction author, has passed away in his adopted home of Sri Lanka. He was 90 years young.Mr Clarke invented the concept of a world-circling satellite communications system in a paper published in 1945. He then went on to write some of the best short stories and novels of science fiction that the genre has produced, including Against the Fall of Night, The Other Side

A financial crisis unmatched ...

2008-03-18T01:56:00.000-07:00

The market is slipping at the rate of 1,500 points per month.For those of my Gentle Readers who are not aware of my reading habits, it should be known that I subscribe to a number of financial newsletters, such as MarketWatch, The Financial Times, The Economist, RGE Monitor, etc. Lately, as I peruse the contents of my inbox, I feel like I'm standing on the Lip of the Abyss, and I'm getting

The Third Wave: The coming crash

2008-03-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

Actual photo from the last Great DepressionPhoto (c)1937 by Margaret Bourke-WhiteAll signs are that the United States is headed straight into an economic meltdown and a second Great Depression, and inquiring minds everywhere are asking when this coming economic crash will hit and what it will be like.As to the first question, the gold standard of economic gurus - Nouriel Roubini - has predicted

Get ready for the resource wars

2008-03-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Time is running out for us all.We live in a dangerous moment of history. Irony of ironies, Americans in the near future may be conscripted en mass into the armed forces as America declares resource wars on the rest of the world in order to escape the consequences of the two Iraq wars, which now include a second Great Depression (breaking news).If you're now scratching your head pondering what I'm

US misses Al-Qaida, kills cows instead

2008-03-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Tomahawk TLAM missiles (as seen here in a submarine launch) cost about $600,000 each.This is pretty sick:US fails a fourth time to hit al-Qa'ida suspect in SomaliaIndependent.co.uk / WebBy Steve Bloomfield in NairobiSunday, 9 March 2008A US missile strike in Somalia, aimed at a man described by the Pentagon as a "known al-Qa'ida terrorist", succeeded only in hurting six civilians and killing

Department of The Lost Paperwork Theory of Recent Trends in Economics

2008-02-24T18:58:00.000-08:00

Relief for some homeowners facing foreclosure may be available via the Lost Paperwork Defense. In other words, "The dog ate the bank's paperwork!"Deutsche Bank Foreclosures Tossed Out of Ohio Federal Court - “They Own Nothing!” current-events

Profits are up but I'm down

2008-02-23T03:50:00.000-08:00

Time to Recycle: A Blast From the Past (Tuesday, October 31, 2006)Slavery ... was justified on humanitarian grounds, not entirely without reason: owners of property tend to treat it more carefully than those who merely rent and can discard it without loss. "Under slavery, after all, the native is bought as an animal," a senior administrator in Portuguese Angola argued. "His owner prefers him to

Election Madness

2008-02-21T13:21:00.000-08:00

By Howard ZinnFrom The ProgressiveMarch 2008 Issue There's a man in Florida who has been writing to me for years (ten pages, handwritten) though I've never met him. He tells me the kinds of jobs he has held-security guard, repairman, etc. He has worked all kinds of shifts, night and day, to barely keep his family going. His letters to me have always been angry, railing against our capitalist

Seven Steps to Revolution

2008-02-21T13:12:00.000-08:00

By Sara RobinsonFrom ourfuture.org"Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." -- John F. KennedyThere's one thing for sure: 2008 isn't anything like politics as usual.The corporate media (with their unerring eye for the obvious point) is fixated on the narrative that, for the first time ever, Americans will likely end this year with either a woman or a black

Feds decide to hide economic data

2008-02-17T17:04:00.000-08:00

Another ominous sign in a season full of ominous signs: the US Department of Commerce will shut down their website, www.economicindicators.gov, effective March 01, 2008. This is the central clearing house that economists and commodities futures traders rely on for various crucial reports, such as Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services, Gross Domestic Product, New Residential

Cutting of Internet cables no accident?

2008-02-10T16:55:00.000-08:00

Countries affected by cut cable shown in red. Kish Island is in the Persian Gulf, upper right.Map courtesy DailyWireless (dot) orgMostly ignored by big media here in the United States, the recent flurry of undersea cables being cut across the Middle East and the Mediterranean have all the earmarks of military action, possibly as a means to stall the opening of the Iranian oil bourse, originally

State of the Union

2008-01-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

Shaker Heights is already hit by the sub prime mortgage meltdownThe Shrub gave his State of the Union speech last night; I didn't watch it - what the fuck does he know? Instead, I re-read this article:The streets are empty. Trash rustles down the road past rusted barbecues, abandoned furniture, sagging homes and gardens turned to weed.This is Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland and a town

Charting the Bush legacy of lies

2008-01-25T02:43:00.000-08:00

Here's a handy little chart graphically showing just how badly the Shrub and his minions have screwed this country since they stole the reins of government.Click on image for larger view.Tip o'the hat to ThinkProgress.orgcurrent-events

The best press money can buy

2008-01-19T13:47:00.000-08:00

A salute to the Sunday morning talking-lapdog shows.current-events

Moyers on King and Johnson and why presidents matter

2008-01-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

current-events

With friends like these...

2008-01-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

"When you use Facebook, you may set up your personal profile, form relationships, send messages, perform searches and queries, form groups, set up events, add applications, and transmit information through various channels. We collect this information so that we can provide you the service and offer personalized features."It's a win-win situation, folks. We get your vital statistics, and you get

Reports of Iran patrol boat incident may be bogus

2008-01-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

A typical Iranian Tir Class patrol boat used in the Straits of HormuzThe recent incident of Iran patrol boats allegedly harassing a US warship on patrol in the Gulf of Hormuz may be over-hyped - may in fact be completely bogus, according to a report on Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!Goodman interviewed Gareth Porter, an historian and national security specialist. Mr Porter raises serious questions

Shrub to promote democracy and peace in Middle East. Right.

2008-01-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Shrub's destinations on his "peace" tourThe Shrub is on his way to the Middle East to engage certain parties in his efforts to "bring peace" to Israel / Palestine. And who is he going to be talking to? Well, his itinerary includes the heads of state of the following: Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.Commenting on his upcoming attempt to leave a "legacy" by his "

Do something positive for the New Year

2007-12-29T20:06:00.000-08:00

Want to do something positive for real change? Well, when you get the refund from that mink-lined toilet seat that your rich aunty gave you for Christmas, send the cash to these guys.You'll feel good, the future will be a better place, and you get a cute laptop for yourself, too.How about that? Current-events

New Orleans citizens locked out of city council meeting

2007-12-29T18:25:00.001-08:00

Hmmm, this is not good.With so much going on in the news recently, I missed this the first go-around. It seems that - on top of all their other woes - New Orleans citizens were locked out from a court-ordered city council meeting called to allegedly discuss the demolition of 4,500 housing units by HUD. Protesting citizens who managed to be present inside the council's chambers were tazered and

On Peace for the Holy Land

2007-12-27T21:12:00.000-08:00

Michel Sabbah(Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)Again this year, we celebrate Christmas still searching for a peace that seems impossible. Nevertheless, we believe that peace is possible. Palestinians and Israelis are capable of living together in peace, each in their own territory, each enjoying their security, their dignity, and their rights. But to attain that peace, it is necessary to

Crazy Evel is dead! Long live Evel!

2007-12-01T00:54:00.000-08:00

Evel strapped into the X-1 Skycyle prior to his Snake River debacleEvel Knievel passed away yesterday at the age of 69.Even if you didn't buy into his particular brand of insanity (he set a world record for breaking 40 bones during the course of his career) you had to admire the man's ambition and stick-to-itivness; for instance, his attempt to leap the freaking Snake River on a rocket-powered

This loathsome campaign

2007-11-30T14:02:00.000-08:00

The Parade of FoolsIf, for some bizarre reason bordering on insanity, your pay grade or your corporate affiliation you were forced to watch the Republican presidential debate from St Petersburg, Florida last night, well, I pity you and pray for your swift recovery.The collection of batshit crazy fucks on display on that stage defies probability as well as the power of words to describe adequately

Love, Insanity & Hope on the Internet

2007-11-29T00:46:00.000-08:00

How many personalities does this guy have?George Partington: Where do you get your faith in the public and in democracy?Chris Locke: I'm a little wary of invoking democracy maybe, but I guess that's what it is. I think that through this medium more than anything else has enabled me to connect with people. As I was saying a few minutes ago, here's EGR, this zine where I am screaming and yelling

Friday chores

2007-11-16T14:18:00.000-08:00

It's Friday, Gentle Readers; time to clean out the office fridge.current-events

Conn, sonar: Oops

2007-11-11T04:16:00.000-08:00

A Chinese Song class sub at dockside Chinese Sub Pops Up Undetected in U.S. Navy Exercise The Cleveland Leader Nov. 11, 2007 Recently, when a Chinese submarine popped up undetected in the middle of a Pacific Ocean exercise, dangerously close to the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, American military chiefs were left dumbfounded and red-faced, according to a UK newspaper, The Daily Mail. [...] "By the

AT&T former employee to detail gov't spying

2007-11-08T00:53:00.000-08:00

Your federal tax dollars at work:In summer 2002, Klein was working in an office responsible for Internet equipment when an NSA representative arrived to interview a management-level technician for a special job whose details were secret.[...]His first inkling that something was amiss came...when he opened the door to admit a visitor from the National Security Agency to an office of AT&T in San

The writing on the latrine wall

2007-11-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

Photographer Peter Agtmael photographed graffiti on the bathroom wall at a major traffic point for U.S. troops, the Al Salem Air Force Base in Kuwait.There's more at BagNewsNotes.current-events

Forget Iraq: The weather will kill us all

2007-10-30T17:05:00.000-07:00

Rising sea levels will create new seashore in North AmericaThe rich world's policy on greenhouse gas now seems clear: millions will die.Our governments have set the wrong targets to tackle climate change using outdated science, and they know it - George Monbiot (Tuesday May 1, 2007)The nay-sayers and the doom-mongers ought to gather in one room and have a big food fight over their precise (and

Hillary laughs and Iran gets bombed

2007-10-18T03:00:00.000-07:00

For some time now I have been tracking the developments as this administration pushes for a strike on Iran, if not a full-blown bombing campaign. While real progressives shy away from any expansion of the conflict in the Middle East, it has become increasingly apparent that many leading figures, including, evidently, the entire Senate (with only a couple of exceptions) buy into the notion of some

Out to lunch

2007-10-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Recent personal events, not to mention the sheer exhaustion that comes from hating everybody in Washington, DC, individually and collectively, have caused me to forsake the petty world of politics for the nonce and consider other things, such as Life, meaning, and contemplation of the Void.You can see the fruits of my ruminations over on my other blog, Marching Morons.

I Love A Man In A Uniform

2007-09-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

General David Howard PetraeusBy now everyone who spends any time at all on the Internet knows that the right-wing blogosphere is screaming that MoveOn.org labeled General David Petraeus a "traitor" in a recent New York Times advert.In fact, they did no such thing, as can be seen by reading the ad itself, here (pdf). Bear in mind that MoveOn.org is no fan of military men, while, we - and I include

Gonzales is under investigation for (gasp) perjury

2007-08-31T16:49:00.000-07:00

Department of Justice official Glenn Fine has revealed that he has an open and on-going investigation into the slimy wetback's persistent lying to Congress.What's to investigate? He's a weasel, as you can plainly see from the photograph above: while he distracts Vermont senator Patrick Leahy, his mini-me clone is preparing to slip a shiv into Leahy's back.'Nuff said.current-events

The Cold War!! It's on again!!

2007-08-20T15:17:00.000-07:00

Cold War air warrior returnsThose pesky Russians, no doubt as a response to the Shrub's attempt to plant a Missle Shield on their very doorstep (namely, in Poland and the Czech Republic) have resumed Bear aircraft overflights. These flights, once the bane of SAC and NORAD, had been suspended with the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall.With a range of thousands of miles (approx.

Am I crazy, or just very, very angry?

2007-08-17T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Shrub is going to come on the TV here in just a few and tell me how great it is to be an American. I couldn’t agree more. It’s great to come home from your second part-time job at the Wal-Mart to a house full of ignorant, doped-up kids, only to turn on the news to watch another piece of American infrastructure drop into a river, taking several fellow taxpayers with it.It’s just swell to learn

No worries, Mate

2007-07-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ft Devin, Mass. detention centerThere are only two months to go until General Petraeus presents his assessment of the Surge; Senate Repugs are battling Dems to a standstill in the ongoing debate about defunding the troops preparatory to a withdrawal from Iraq; and we're hearing lots of paranoid noise across the Internet about a possible false flag operation that would allow the Shrub to assume

Those darn furriners!

2007-07-11T21:55:00.001-07:00

Shiva LingamThose darn furriners are invading the Senate with their heathen religion, gosh darn it.Read this and then bless the Rev. Wildmon for catching wind of this brazen attempt to take over our government and for his passing us the Good Word before it's too late. Oh, and please to disregard Mr. Barton's bad grammar; he's doing the best he can with his home schooled education.And oh-oh,