Epiphany Blog

Republican Dementia or is it just Gross Neoliberalism?

Afrothetics — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 18:22:51 EDT

All you need to know about Neel Kashkari is that he frequents the The American Enterprise Institute, you know the one that authored the report for U.S. dominance in the Middle East, leading up to the Iraq War. Who is Neel Kashkari, you ask? Mr. Kashkari, an assistant secretary of treasury and a former Vice-President at Goldman Sachs, has just been given the keys to the vault containing your $700-billion (U.S.) financial rescue money. He is the "king's man" in every sense. "I am a free-market Republican" has said; in other words, a gold-digger. Do you really expect him to promote the interests of the American people?

Silence of the Political Lambs on the Global Food Crisis

Afrothetics — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:27:31 EDT

Are you starving yet? The silence of our political leaders about the global food crisis and the impending food security crisis in the United States later this year is truly deafening. Worse, our presidential candidates waltz and sing about crises in energy and ever-increasing fuel prices over which they have no control because they believe in the "free market", where ever that is, but not a word about the food crisis. And, that's the good news. The bad news is that not a single governor of any state to my knowledge has called for his or her state legislators to pass emergency food legislation and create a plan of action to actually help their residents when, not if, there is a problem. Not a single major urban mayor, to my knowledge, has stepped up to prepare for the inevitable hunger crisis among their electorate, unless you count gun control.

The Global Food War

Afrothetics — Sat, 17 May 2008 09:42:04 EDT

An organic farmer residing at Yavatmal in the state of Maharashtra in India writes about the peril of Monsanto genetically modified seeds in that country. Folks, there is a war on food producers worldwide orchestrated by American agri-business and subsidized by your tax dollars. Get informed and involved. Our political campaigns use nonsense to divert the American electorate away from the many real issues that we, as a nation, need to be addressing. Food security is one of the most important. Read the report below.

Linking Food and Oil: A Bad Marriage Made in the USA

Afrothetics — Sat, 03 May 2008 12:47:06 EDT

This week, at a news conference for the launch of the ISIS report on food futures, the Rt. Hon Michael Meacher, MP, paid tribute to Food Futures Now as the most authoritative and comprehensive statement of an alternative for a better world agricultural and ecology that he has yet seen. He also supported the findings of the recent International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD), which are much in line with those of Food Futures Now, and maintained his stance on genetically modified (GM) crops by saying, “GM is not the answer, whatever the question was.” He made an explicit link between the recent food riots in over thirty countries around the world and the reckless investment and subsidies by the US Government and international agencies that have misdirected a further thirty million tons of maize grains to biofuels.

On Chris Matthews of MSNBC

Afrothetics — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:10:34 EDT

Question: Is Chris Matthews the Michael Scott of political talk show hosts? And if so, does that make MSNBC the Dunder Mifflin of cable news? Read more >>

Vets Call for Bush Impeachment

Afrothetics — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 11:05:54 EDT

IVAW members seized the National Archives Building on March 19th, 2008 in front of hundreds of surprised museum visitors. Response from visitors including teachers, students, vacationers was highly positive, though there were a few horrified faces in the crowd. IVAW read the terms of their Citizens Arrest Warrant and stood their ground for 90 minutes. They were allowed to leave without being arrested in a spectacular civil disobedience display. Next stop was the Justice Department, where the call for Bush and Cheney's impeachment was repeated, then to the White House where similar demands were made. Read more >>

Protecting the Right to Vote

Afrothetics — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 10:58:01 EDT

Art Levine writes: "the Republican Party's ongoing nationwide campaign to suppress [the Democratic base of] low-income minority vote by propagating the myth of voter fraud. Using various tactics -- including media smears, bogus lawsuits, restrictive new voting laws and policies, and flimsy prosecutions -- Republican operatives, election officials, and the GOP-controlled Justice Department have limited voting access and gone after voter-registration groups such as ACORN. Which should come as no surprise: In building support for initiatives raising the minimum wage and kindred ballot measures, ACORN has registered, in partnership with Project Vote, 1.6 million largely Democratic-leaning voters since 2004. All told, non-profit groups registered over three million new voters in 2004, about the same time that Republican and Justice Department efforts to publicize "voter fraud" and limit voting access became more widespread. And attacking ACORN has been a central element of a systematic GOP disenfranchisement agenda to undermine Democratic prospects before each Election Day. Read more >>

In God We Trust...All Others Must Take the Drug Test

Afrothetics — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:33:26 EDT

When I was in the 11th grade and discovering both a subject (history) and a teacher (American History) to which I could relate, a classmate tells me "I hate history." It was an expression that I was to hear throughout my days as a student and as a professor. To most of my peers, history was about dates and events that meant nothing to them. Given the general trend of anti-intellectualism throughout U.S. history, it is therefore not surprising that conservatives continue to rob the Republic of its most valuable resources. More recently, I heard a similar myopic view on Public Radio when a student informed an interviewer that "climate change" had little to do with his life, his goal was to finish his college degree.

Life is Neither a Race Nor a Zero Sum Game

Afrothetics — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:39:42 EDT

Below is a preface to a discussion about the Swedish model of economic development that was given several years ago by Lars Engqvist, Swedish Minister of Health & Social Affairs. His succinct statement contains several strong arguments that apply to the current wrong-headed social conservative and neo-liberal thinking that's gotten the U.S. and much of the western world in its present economic crisis. Too much wealth concentrated in the hands of a few is a direct indictment of the predatory nature of capitalism when the state fails to properly regulate transactions between its citizens. You know the old adage: "Money talks, BS walks."

In Texas and Iraq: Women at War

Afrothetics — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:29:06 EDT

In London, his award-winning novel, Edward Rutherfurd provides a vignette of the process of Christianization in England in which the once polygamous Anglo-Saxons were forced to convert and adopt monogamy as their primary marital union. Rutherfurd offers us insight in to how this process affected women and their families in the union between Cerdic, a merchant who dealt in all sorts of goods, including slaves, and Elfgiva ("the faeries' gift"), his wife, who is refusing to convert. Rutherfurd writes:

Are you being starved...yet?

Afrothetics — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:03:27 EDT

Food and its availability – or food security – is the issue, one of the most important global issues facing humans in the next decade. In the USA, it will be directly affected by rising energy and fuel costs, inadequate public policy, predatory economics, social inequality, and a financial meltdown. And then, there is climate change. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Institute of Science in Society (United Kingdgom) writes: "2008 has been designated the year of global food crisis by the United Nations [2-4]. The crisis has been building up over the past decades, but things have come to a head. Agricultural production has fallen below consumption for 7 out of the past 8 years, and world grain reserves are at the lowest since records began in the 1970s. To a large extent, this is a long-term trend reflecting the failure of industrial Green Revolution agriculture, and this very failure has been used to promote genetically modified (GM) crops as the new “doubly green” revolution [5] (Beware the New "Doubly Green Revolution", SiS 37)." Read more here >>>

The answer is: "Yes, they are!!!"

Afrothetics — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:08:02 EDT

And the question is: "Is the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration stubbornly (stupidly) addicted to American military power?" Tom Englehart of TomDispatch.com writes: "Since the Soviet Union vanished in 1991, only one nation has made itself at home everywhere on Earth; only one nation has felt that the planet's interests and its own interests were essentially one; only one nation's military garrisons and patrols our world from Greenland to the tropics, from the sea bed to the edge of space; only one nation's military talks about its vast array of bases as its 'footprint' on the planet; only one nation judges its essential and exceptional goodness, in motivation if nothing else, as justification for any act it may take."

Commemorating Ethical Humanism and MLK

Afrothetics — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 23:17:12 EDT

In the 21st century, state terrorism is the most well-armed, most publicly financed, most organized, most legal, and most lethal instrument of terror in history. This type of terrorism--militarized terrorism--has existed everywhere predatory humans have assumed they had the right to determine life over death. The United States, Russia, Israel, and China are its primary practitioners in the world today. Today, we commemorate the counter-weight to militarized terrorism--ethical humanism. Today, all across the United States and many parts of the world, the memory and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be honored and celebrated, and so will the legacy of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who inspired Dr. King in his approach to non-violent protest against state-sponsored terrorism.

Pledge Your Support for Constitutional Authority

Afrothetics — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:37:46 EDT

Over the past seven years, under the pretense of the "war on terror," the Bush White House has dismantled the Constitution and misappropriated the national treasury, concentrated power in the President, and undermined the rule of law. THIS IS ILLEGAL AND UN-CONSTITUTIONAL.

Please visit the American Freedom Campaign and sign the American Freedom Pledge to protect our Constitution and oppose giving any President unchecked power now and in the future.

Click the following link to add your name to the American Freedom Pledge.

Tell Congress to investigate Bush’s lawlessness

Afrothetics — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:22:11 EDT

On April 1, the Department of Justice declassified and released a 2003 Office of Legal Counsel memo advising the Pentagon that laws and treaties forbidding torture and other forms of abuse did not apply to U.S. interrogators because of the president’s wartime power.

What kind of harm, you might ask, would be prohibited under the standard established by this memo? Very little, it turns out. It declared that an interrogation technique must "shock the conscience" in order for it to be illegal. But it gets even worse. The memo also asserted, "Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification."

The American Killing Machine

Afrothetics — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:55:06 EDT

Does anyone believe that Iraq's erstwhile PM Nuri al-Maliki acted independently in Basra last week without getting the support of the U.S. military first? Or that the presumptive Republican nominee for president, John McPain, traveled to Iraq just to cheer on the troops? Of course, it was just coincidental that following his visit, the Maliki surge on al-Sadr's Mahdi army in Basra was launched and "the Iraqi government" called for U.S. aerial fire power to support this effort? Not very likely.

Many in the American media continue to refer to the Maliki government as the "legitimate Government of Iraq" with its "legally-constituted security forces" who are at war against "illegal, foreign-backed, insurgent and criminal militias serving leaders who openly call for the defeat and humiliation of the United States and its allies in Iraq and throughout the region." Isn't the Maliki government supported by a "foreign-backed, insurgent and criminal military" also? Namely us. It's no wonder that Americans are either ambivalent about Iraq and the political motivations of George Bush and John McCain with respect to their own involvement or just turned off with concern over their own daily struggles in an ever-worsening recession. However, Americans cannot afford to be ambivalent about the outcome of this illegal overseas invasion by our government and its continued attempt to create "enemies" by keeping the stew boiling in Iraq so that its disastrous and dishonorable policies can continue. No, we must end this war as quickly as possible. And, then we must deal "legally" with the criminals who launched it.

Andy Stern of SEIU is who we thought

Afrothetics — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 23:14:38 EDT

Way back in 2005, Andy Stern, president of Service Employees (SEIU) International, was hailed as a new type of labor leader for the 21st century. Guess not. Recently, members’ grievances against SEIU officials have been mounting. It started after Stern "merged many locals into mega-locals, removed elected leaders, and appointed his own agents in their place." To counter what members describe as a top-down corporate style, workers are joining newly founded national reform groups, the largest of which is SMART (SEIU Member Activists for Reform Today), which claims members in 11 other states and Canada. What does this mean for the Obama campaign in the short-term? More information about SMART | Read more>>>

The cost of ignorance

Afrothetics — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:47:57 EDT

Dahr Jamail writes: "In his final State of the Union address in January, George W. Bush proudly held up the newly formed "Awakening Groups," known locally in Iraq as the Sahwa, as examples of both Iraqi cooperation and independence. Members of these groups now total nearly 80,000, and are paid $300 of U.S. taxpayer money a month to not attack occupation forces. These groups are referred to as "Concerned Local Citizens" by the military, as though they are comprised of concerned fathers and uncles who suddenly became keen to collaborate with members of a foreign occupation force which has eviscerated their country. In reality, most of the Sahwa are resistance fighters who are taking the money, arms, and ammunition, whilst biding their time to build their forces to move, once again, against the occupation forces which now support them, in addition to planning to move against the Shia dominated government. Furthermore, it is widely known in Iraq that many of the Sahwa are al-Qaeda members, the irony of which is not lost to Iraqis, who heard the U.S. propaganda as to the reasons the Sahwa were formed: to drive al-Qaeda from Iraq and to promote security so as to enable political reconciliation within the government in Baghdad by providing the space for this to occur." Read more>>>

Cognitive Distancing

Afrothetics — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:35:04 EDT

As the American invasion of Iraq returns to sectarian violence between Iraqis, the attention span of most Americans have turned to our economic struggles at home. This is a mistake, because both the Iraqi civilian population and the U.S. economy are cut from the same cloth -- collateral damage in the ideological decisions made by Bush administration and its congressional partners in crime both to go to war and to deplete the nation's Treasury so that helping Americans other than the wealthy would not be a consideration under George Bush's campaign strategy for "compassionate conservatism."

Roland Martin (CNN) on Race, Faith and Politics

Afrothetics — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:34:46 EDT

Will Hussein posted an article by Roland Martin on his Obama blog, entitled "A Deeper Look Into the Rev. Wright Controversy," Mar 22nd, 2008. It's a must read. Roland Martin is revealing himself to be a very talented and articulate journalist during this campaign season. Click here...

Precipitous Deficit: United States Human Rights Record, 2007

Afrothetics — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:41:34 EDT

The quality of life in the United has been steadily eroding over the last 30 years, with a precipitously dangerous increase in this trend under the Bush administration as a result of an ideological commitment to a perverse type of neoliberalism, one that favors financial institutions and services over the needs of the nation's citizens. Key facts and figures relative to the Human Rights record of the United States for 2007 are as follows:

Individual Security

About 1.41 million violent crimes were reported nationwide in 2006, an increase of 1.9 percent over 2005. Of the violent crimes, the estimated number of murders and non-negligent manslaughters increased 1.8 percent, and that of robberies increased 7.2 percent.
Throughout 2006, U.S. residents age 12 or above experienced an estimated 25 million crimes of violence and theft. The violent crime rate was 24.6 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, for property crimes it was 159.5 per 1,000 households.
Males experienced 26 violent victimizations per 1,000 males age 12 or older; females, 23 per 1,000 females age 12 or older. Blacks experienced 33 violent victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older, higher than 23 for whites.
One violent crime was committed in every 22.2 seconds, one murder committed in every 30.9 minutes, one rape in every 5.7 minutes, one robbery in every 1.2 minutes and one aggravated assault in every 36.6 seconds.
About 30,000 people die from gun wounds every year. Still far less than for other causes, such as automobile accidents, access to health care, and food security.
Among students age 12-18, there were about 1.5 million victims of non-fatal crimes at school in 2005. In the same year, 8 percent of students in grades 9-12 reported being threatened or injured with a weapon in the previous 12 months.

Equal Rights, Equal Protection, Shared Future

Afrothetics — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:54:55 EDT

Today, on the radio while driving to a job, I heard a report that some Americans still believe that equal rights for other Americans ("the others") has gone too far. I guess the same folks who believe that habeus corpus does not apply to everybody are the same segment of the electorate that support George W. Bush, social conservatism, neoliberalism, torture, crimes against humanity, and world ownership. Actually, I was pleased to hear some reality of American life, what Senator Obama called the "mind-set" that got us into the U.S. military invasion of Iraq, rather than the mind-numbing personal pettiness on which the media loves to focus. Of course, many lack an intelligent grasp of the issues that our nation faces. And, it's easier to dabble in gossip and innuendo than facts and concepts. With the former you only need a mouth on autopilot, as opposed to the latter where a brain under mature control is required.

The Jailing of a Nation

Afrothetics — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:24:01 EDT

American citizens are less free today than ever, victims of our own government. Under conservative domination of U.S. politics since 1980, the United States has regressed to a period most recognizable in 17th century England with respect to incarceration of its citizens. For drug offenses alone, the U.S. now imprisons more people than western Europe does for ALL offenses, even though the region has a larger population. According to the International Centre for Prison Studies at King's College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.

Corrupting American Institutions

Afrothetics — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:13:18 EDT

In a recent essay, "NPR News: National Pentagon Radio?," Normon Solomon questions the authenticity of journalists for public radio who become collaborators with administration policies rather than reporters of the American invasion and continued occupation of Iraq. Solomon writes: "While the Iraqi government continued its large-scale military assault in Basra, the NPR reporter's voice from Iraq was unequivocal on the morning of March 27: 'There is no doubt that this operation needed to happen.'"

A fool is...As a fool does

Afrothetics — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:57:44 EDT

Just when you thought that George W. Bush could not deliver any more hideous fantasies about his administration's stumbling, bumbling in Iraq, today's White House press conference was the worst yet. Even as the world's media ran clips of the fighting in Basra and announced ensued fighting in Baghdad. Even as the American military and intelligence community are attempting to take out the one leader that can unite the Shiites, this president walzed and smiled his way behind a podium and mountain of deceit to exclaim that all is well. Don't worry, be happy. Who is he kidding? Oops, I forgot about his rightwing base of 19% who will accept any messenger but truth.

Strangling the Nation's Food Chain

Afrothetics — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 23:56:08 EDT

When asked about the future of biofuels and alternative energy solutions, Benjamin Sovacool stated the obvious when he reminded us in 2006 that "the energy problem is a people problem...and finding a solution means changing peoples' conception of energy's central role in society." Experience will show that stating a reasonable delineation of the facts probably will not do that. Behind the movement to push the nation towards a biofuel economy are large immoral, unethical, and predatory corporations, along with a bunch of opportunistic farmers who have learned to get whenever the getting is good. Ethanol mania is just another in a long-line of schemes designed to wring wealth from rural landscapes. The biofuel industry is not sustainable without severe harm to the food chain. Here's what we know today or have known for more than a decade about bio-fuels:

Never say you're Sorry or Getting it right on Iraq

Afrothetics — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:15:09 EDT

Tom Englehardt write: "Just imagine: You run a flagship national newspaper, the New York Times. It's the fifth anniversary of President Bush's catastrophic invasion of Iraq. Your own record of reportage in the period leading up to the invasion was not exactly sterling. So, for a change of pace, you decide to turn most of your double op-ed page in your Sunday "Week in Review" over to people who can look back thoughtfully on the misapprehensions of that moment."

The Past is never past

Afrothetics — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:53:00 EDT

Today, in the New York Times, columnist Roger Cohen, in a very personal and poignant essay, tied together two threads from distinct, yet similar histories, the United States and South Africa. Both nations are humanistically dysfunctional, controlled by hidden and demonstrative predatory political and economic superstructures under which their respective political elites exhibit a psychopathic scavenger strain of intelligence. Throughout human history, almost every law and method that human ingenuity could devise has been employed by them to reduce people to serfdom and other forms of subordination – to make them the slaves of the State if not of individual owners – through actual systems of slavery, bastardization of the law, segregation, social welfare programs, or by other means of economic subordination and impoverishment. It is only in these two nations that one locates also the malignancy of "white supremacy" as a insidious cancer.

Murder by Proxy

Afrothetics — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:58:32 EDT

In 2005, a distraught, but courageous parent, having lost her child in Iraq, attempted to rally the American people to stop the invasion and slaughter there. She mobilized a few hundred people and camped in at a ranch near Crawford, Texas. Weekly, she was joined by others to challenge this President and the Congress to stop its imperialistic and adventurous military activities in the Middle East so that no more Americans would die in vain or their parents feel the deep sense of loss she felt when the youthful future of her own blood was senselessly lost. The commander-of-woe refused to even meet with her. Unable to muster up enough public support, Cindy Sheehan and the many other patriotic men and women were left hanging in the wind as the world wondered what had happened to the people of America. Worse, not only was Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war protestors unable to mobilize millions of Americans to march on Washington to express their Constitutional rights, the American electorate gave this idiot president a second term.

Chomsky on U.S. World Ownership

Afrothetics — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:55:45 EDT

Noam Chomsky, a noted linguist, author, and foreign policy expert, was recently interviewed on U.S. policy toward Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an honorable military veteran, has similar views to those of Noam Chomsky, but has articulated them differently. During the interview Chomsky, commented on the opposition to the war in the United States, commenting that opposition to war in Iraq in the United States is "based on two principles. The first principle is: 'we totally reject American ideals.'" And, the second, Chomsky said, is based on the assumption "that we own the world." An excerpt from this interview with Michael Shank of Foreign Policy in Focus is printed below and, as usual, Chomsky has some illuminating observations about America's status in the world.

A Rational Defense Budget We Can Defend

Afrothetics — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:30:54 EDT

Reducing military expenditures will be one of the most necessary and difficult policy decisions that the next president and his administration will have to make. It will not be easy, but there are many well-seasoned experts in the field who have studied the military budget and analyzed its line items. One of these is Miriam Pemberton, who sent her recommendations in a letter to the editor of Foreign Affairs Magazine. Read her comments below.

My Country is Dying by Anonymous

Afrothetics — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 20:47:48 EDT

My country is dying, slashed and battered by those who prefer ignorance to information.

My country is dying, scarred from the lies of those that care about nothing more than profits.

My country is dying, bleeding the blood of valiant men and women that should have never seen a war.

My country is dying, bruised from a media that has forgotten what truth is.

My country is dying, hemorrhaging money to fuel corporate greed, lust and war.

My country is dying, lapsed into a coma of suspended disbelief, by countless lies from politicians.

My country is dying, burned by politicians that will use any lie to put down their opponent.

My country is dying, back broken by a lack of caring for the poor, the struggling and the hungry.

My country is dying, plagued by illness from lack of medical attention.

My country is dying, festering with fear thrust upon her by those that would control her.

My country is dying, choking from the inability to see truth and act upon it.

My country is dying, brain dead from countless diatribes of ‘reality’.

My country is dying, gasping for breath through the thickening haze of pollution.

My country is dying, a victim of her keepers lack of care, a victim of ‘me’ instead of ‘us’.

My country is dying and the many that have gone before must surely be wondering what their sacrifice was for.

My country is dying and it seems there’s nothing I can do to help her.

[Reprinted from Just My Rant, March 5th, 2008.]

Getting Smart about Citizenship in this Economic Disaster

Afrothetics — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:50:27 EDT

In "Getting Smart About Cuba," Lisa Weinmann has produced a thought-provoking and must-read overview of the current state of Cuba and Cuba-US relations. Her comment that "The Cuban people have a right and deserve an opportunity to participate in the evolution of their country without the corrupting influence of outside interests" should be a hallmark of U.S. foreign policy.[1] Alas, it's not and the current crop of presidential candidates are not up to speed with imaginative possibilities either.

New Priorities Vigil--Indianapolis

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:13:50 EDT

Dear Obama Friends,

Wednesday, March 19 is the 5th anniversary of the tragic invasion and occupation of Iraq, but President Bush and John McCain keep telling America that we should remain there for years to come. The facts tell a different story--that 5 years of war have been an enormous tragedy and we need to end it now:

Nearly 4,000 American soldiers have been killed--and many more Iraqi civilians.
120,000 vets from Iraq and Afghanistan have potential mental-health problems. Nearly 68,000 have potential post-traumatic stress disorder.
And Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the war will cost over $3 trillion--money that should have been used to help those suffering at home.

Nationalism as Hypocrisy

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:24:28 EDT

John Feffer, writing for World Beat, tells us in "Hooray for Nationalism" that nationalism is getting an extreme makeover to distance itself from the traditional branding associated with Nazism, Fascism, and other far right mischief, such as genocide and preemptive invasions of sovereign countries, and that might not be good. War, war, perpetual war, you can hear the pathological untruths coming round the bend. But, first the neoliberals must convince the foreign policy establishment and the academics that there is something to discuss before the converted and the media will begin dispensing the anesthesia for our brain surgery.

The High Costs of Blind Patriotism

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:09:43 EDT

Because of the preemptive invasion of Iraq and its disastrous aftermath, Americans should have learned the high costs associated with blind patriotism, but the political elite in our country are not through with their plans to numb the brains of our citizens with misinformation and dense propaganda. Prepare for some consistent mind-numbing static regarding nationalism, which has already been associated with "illegal immigration." For those who say that there is no left and no right, that it's all about everyone being American, let me state a position: there is a class war going on and you are in it whether you want to be or not. It's not a choice. Secondly, let me make it simple: left=liberty and freedom and includes the green movement, social justice and equity and peace; right=poverty and prison and includes all flavors of conservative, the owners of production in the military-industrial complex, any war related services, and far right-wing cowboys (mercenaries). If you are in the center, stay there, but you will one day be forced to pick a side. Michael Zweig, writing in The Nation Magazine, tells us why in the "The War and the Working Class" here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080331/zweig

Cost of Iraq War

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:37:45 EDT

The Nation Magazine has published a graphic image of the high cost of the illegal, preemptive invasion of Iraq, the amount of taxpayer lucre the corporations and CEOs have earned from Iraq's misery, and what these funds could have purchase for a typical American City, Cleveland, Ohio. Click here to view the Chart. A picture is worth a trillion dollars.

Arundhati Roy: What does it mean to be Anti-National?

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:56:16 EDT

In India, those of us who have expressed views on nuclear bombs, Big Dams, corporate globalization, and the rising threat of communal Hindu fascism-views that are at variance with the Indian government's-are branded "anti-national." While this accusation does not fill me with indignation, it's not an accurate description of what I do or how I think. An anti-national is a person who is against her own nation and, by inference, is pro some other one. But it isn't necessary to be anti-national to be deeply suspicious of all nationalism, to be anti-nationalism. Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people's minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead. When independent, thinking people and here I do not include the corporate media, begin to rally under flags, when writers, painters, musicians, film makers suspend their judgment and blindly yoke their art to the service of the nation, it's time for all of us to sit up and worry... In the U.S. we saw it during the Gulf War and we see it now, during the War Against Terror. That blizzard of made-in-China American flags.

Iraqi citizens Death Toll nears 1.2 Million Since U.S. Invasion

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:46:09 EDT

The propaganda expressed by John McCain and other apologists for the U.S. Invasion of Iraq that the surge is working is patently untrue. In other words, this view is a lie so as to hide the truth from the American people. And, as Ray McGovern, says the U.S. has no intention of leaving Iraq any time soon until the oil has been fully exploited: "Contrary to how President George W. Bush has tried to justify the Iraq war in the past, he has now . . . admitted that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was aimed primarily at seizing predominant influence over its oil by establishing permanent . . . military bases. He made this transparently clear by adding a signing statement to the defense appropriation bill, indicating that he would not be bound by the law’s prohibition against expending funds: “(1) To establish any military installation or base for the purpose of providing for the permanent stationing of United States Armed Forces in Iraq,” or “(2) To exercise United States control of the oil resources of Iraq.” To gain any objective perspective on Iraq, Americans must read and listen to news from Europe. Of course, when one of their own, such as Rev. Wright, speaks truth to power, and many Americans put their hands over their ears, it's not likely that many will seek out truth unless the candidates begin to be real themselves. Listed below are a few reports for personal digestion.

2007 Violence in Afghanistan Worst Yet

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:30:04 EDT

The Chicago Tribune reported today that violence in Afghanistan is increasing, with much of it stemming from the struggle against the Taliban. In addition, the war is helping to promote the drug trade as people have no other options. Only 10 cents out every dollar in aid finds its way to the average citizen, the other 90 cents is eaten up in corruption.

2008 Suicide Bomb Attacks in Pakistan

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:20:34 EDT

Several reports out of Pakistan believe that recent suicide bombings in 2008 are due to the government's cooperation with the U.S. military. Pakistanis have expressed real concerns about fly-overs by U.S. military's UAV’s (unmanned aerial vehicles) and even greater concerns about the direct action some of these vehicles have taken - with or without the knowledge and cooperation of the Pakistan government that may have violated Pakistan's airspace. Reports are that the U.S. Army wants to send around 100 trainers to work with Pakistan's military and paramilitary forces. The Associated Press compiled the listing of suicide bomb attacks in Pakistan this year which follows, and citizens have been advised to expect more.

A Pledge for your Allegiance

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:40:19 EDT

Since its creation in the 1850s, the USA Pledge of Allegiance has offended many segments of American society, yet the established churches and the military-political elite continue to try force Americans to accept the current verson without quivocation. Instead of creating a pledge that the overwhelming majority of Americans can honor, U.S. citizens are beaten over the head with words that are neither meaningful, in my opinion, nor tenable. It's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Neoliberalism and the Unfettered Class War in America

Afrothetics — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:15:09 EDT

Early one morning, a traveler comes to the junction of a crossroad, where two men are bound together, one of them with his foot on the head of the other. The traveler asks, what's wrong. The dominant man says that the subordinate man likes a foot on his head because it makes him feel that he belongs. The traveler then asks the man on the ground whether everything is ok. The subordinate man cries weakly, "Help!" The traveler then looks more keenly at the dominant man, who is about 6' 4" and weighs close to 300-lbs, sighs and says, "I wish that I could help," and walks away.

Can Obama Implement a Moral Economy?

Afrothetics — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:27:32 EDT

During one of the debates between the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, and Barack Obama, the latter was critized for having referred to Reagan's ideas as being transformative in American politics during a media interview. Obama clarified his statement that he did not view Reagan's ideas as good ideas relative to the health of the country and had been at odds with those ideas in his work as a community organizer, only that the ideas were transformative nonetheless, and that the next president needed to be able to affect the American people similarly. As most of us know, ideas, mostly bad, are commonly tossed about in a political campaign, and are often times not taken seriously because there is so much static and noise that the candidates toss at the electorate that many people tune out. But, of the two Democrats who mocked Senator Obama that evening, Hillary Clinton should have known better, and here's why.

Peas in a Pod: Clinton-Spitzer-Ferraro-Clinton

Afrothetics — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:33:34 EDT

As the world watched the fast-falling, quick-talking, and obviously in for a penny, in for a pound now former Governor of New York, and a Clinton supporter, Eliot Spitzer, you can't help but think that we could be looking at a similar Clinton meltdown should she somehow convince the party's powerbrokers that she is the more formidable candidate. Of course, said powerbrokers would have to be insane, but insanity is not a new concept for a party that likes to implode victory into defeat. And, of course, there is Bill and Geraldine to account for. Keith Olbermann of MSNBC captured this lunacy in his for the ages commentary last night. You can view it here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23601329#23601329. Whoa!

The Politics of Ugly

Afrothetics — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 20:52:10 EDT

As the days of the campaign get uglier by the Clintons' attempt to bogart the nomination process, the sorry thought is that the politics of ugly has not reached its zenith yet. Meanwhile, the Bush administration continues to dismantle the Constitution, which I somehow believe that Hillary Clinton would like to emulate on her way to history. Here are some things that should have us working even harder on behalf of Barack's candidacy as we look towards Pennsylvania.

But Can We Talk About It?

Afrothetics — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 15:37:25 EDT

It's a well-known adage, "You can't please everyone." When author Susan Jacoby traveled the country to lecture on the history of American secularism, the subject of her 2004 book, Freethinkers, she made an important discovery: Anyone who came out to see her already agreed with her. The idea that no one was willing to hear a contradictory viewpoint — to see, as she says, "if the devil has horns" — inspired her new work, The Age of American Unreason.

"Old-School" Democrats going down with the Clintons

Afrothetics — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 14:42:52 EDT

As former Lady-of-State, Geraldine Ferraro, attempts to defend the indefensible, it should alert us that some of the "old-school" democrats are willing to go down with Hillary no matter how their actions affect the party now or in November. Sad, too. Controversial comments on Barack Obama by the former vice presidential candidate in which she suggested that Sen. Obama would not be where he is if he were white, and then made it worse by saying: "If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color), he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." Let's celebrate this fact, Geraldine: "The country is caught up in the concept." But, guess what, the spirit of the "concept" Americans are caught up in has little to do with Obama's ethnicity, but his character, his faith in the American people, and his life history of making a commitment to those less fortunate than he, which includes maybe 250 million Americans and counting. Of course, everyone is invited to support the "real" democratic party, even those democrats with amnesia.

Feds Bail Out the Wealthy...Again!

Afrothetics — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:38:51 EDT

On Tuesday, the central bank said that it would lend up to $200 billion in Treasury securities to a select list of top investment banks, known as primary dealers, that regularly trade with the Federal Reserve in its open-market operations. This strategy is nothing but a bailout of the wealthy. Saving banks and investment companies from themselves will not help the American economy nor the homeowners who have invested in bad paper, including mortgages. It would have been far more reasonable, at least to me, to have given each state, $4-6 billion each with federal oversight to address the problems driving down local economies, such as the sub-prime loans and unemployment. Alas, I must be dreaming. We do not have a government for the people...yet.

"Race" Baiting and the Clinton Campaign

Afrothetics — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:03:48 EDT

Since South Carolina, the Clinton's have introduced the "race card" to attempt to bait Senator Obama into becoming the "black" candidate, the type of person that paranoid "whites" fear in their worst dreams. Republicans have already started doing the same thing with their references to Obama's name and perpetuating lies about his faith, which should not be an issue IF you respect the Constitution of the United States.

Now we know why the caged bird sings!

Afrothetics — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:48:09 EDT

In reading and listening to the news reports today about pharmaceuticals in US drinking water, my first thought was: why should we be surprised? The terrorists that we have to fear are the very people who have been "breaking" government since they announced they were going to do it and were voted in to do exactly that. I said then that the majority of Americans were on drugs to have elected Ronald Reagan. And, living in California during the 70s, I knew a little something about what drugs could do to the human mind. However, I do not know what they could have possibly been on to elect George W. Bush to a second term. So, it must have been the water since the drug companies have certainly profited during his executive excesses.

Where did the "Superdelegates" come from?

Afrothetics — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:37:59 EDT

Many Democrats do not understand how the so-called "super delegates" came to be. It an interesting progression that has taken place since 1968 when party leaders sought to maintain control over the nomination process after the convention that year. Unfortunately, as Dr. Wilmer Leon points out in the article below, the changes the party made has not always served the party or the democratic process very well. In fact, what is clear, just as in this primary season between Senators Obama and Clinton, there seems to be nothing that can effectively replace good leadership and quality judgement. Democrats, Leon writes continue to " snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."

Turning Bad Economics to Good -- Invest in People

Afrothetics — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 00:29:45 EDT

Last month (Feb. 20), Walden Bello examined what impact the increasing oil prices and the eroding financial markets would have on global capitalism and the U.S. econony, observing that

"Skyrocketing oil prices, a falling dollar, and collapsing financial markets are the key ingredients in an economic brew that could end up in more than just an ordinary recession. The falling dollar and rising oil prices have been rattling the global economy for sometime. But it is the dramatic implosion of financial markets that is driving the financial elite to panic."

Who's the man now?

Afrothetics — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 22:47:54 EDT

Today, on the Huffinton Post, Gary Hart in an op-ed asked the question about Hillary Clinton that all who have had any dealing with her already know, she has a Queen Bee personality. About Clinton breaking unspoken party rules with respect to hosing down a democratic candidate, Hart said:

"For her ... to claim that Senator Obama is not qualified to answer the crisis phone is the height of irony, if not chutzpah, and calls into question whether her primary loyalty is to the Democratic party and the nation or to her own ambition."

Confronting an Impending Economic Meltdown

Afrothetics — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:56:27 EDT

Several years ago, I posited that unless policymakers in the United States started paying attention to the Bush administration's failed policies in every sector of the Republic, it would be the American people who would pay the price. The bullheadedness that currently exists in the White House and among its sheep in Congress makes it ever more urgent that a discourse on the economy occurs. Still today, the White House mouthpieces are saying it's all good.

Well, surprise, more lies. Warren Buffett has suggested the nation is in a recession. All economic indicators point to the fact that it's not all good, and today CNN interviewed an economist who painted a not too pretty picture about the folks in charge of the Fed and the fact that Ben Bernanke may not know what he is doing because he is using the wrong tools to address the problems, akin to using water to put out an oil fire. Of course, I've grown very cynical as has many Americans that the Bush administration uses language and mouthpieces to deflect truth, something the Clinton campaign also has installed in its political rhetoric.

The Power of Words and Constitutional Law

Afrothetics — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:02:09 EST

The Constitution of the United States is a relatively small document when one recognizes that it represents one of the world's most important attempts at establishing a society govern by its peoples on the basis of merit rather than bloodlines. In the 21st century, the USA has fallen far behind many democratic states of Europe in achieving this goal. What the Constitution does show is the power of words where the founders were able to construct in a single sentence the past, present, and future of a nation to peacefully govern its affairs. On the other hand, it's no more than a piece of paper when those elected and sworn to uphold its rules and promote not only the health and welfare of its people, but to insure that the integrity of its principles are applied to themselves as well as to the public. There have many derelictions of duty in this area, but none so much as has occurred in our own time with respect to the Bush administration. Read carefully below Sections 8 and 9 which detail the powers of Congress. Which ones to you feel Congress has failed to uphold?

Staying in Iraq: Honoring Dishonesty

Afrothetics — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 22:12:51 EST

Whenever a discussion regarding withdrawal and disengagement from Iraq occurs, the GOP and John McCain call up the "honor card" and Democrats continue to take the bait. McCain's argument is that if we leave Iraq without "victory" we will dishonor our military. I do not agree. In fact, to stay in Iraq is to dishonor our military and our military tradition, which up to the Korean War had been used inconsistently by presidents for gunboat diplomacy. However, for rogue activities against sovereign leaders that did not kowtow to US demands, including regime change, the US intelligence service has been the tool of choice.

Affirmative Action Works!

Afrothetics — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 18:43:04 EST

Today, in the news, Norway establishes a new standard of social integration for women, achieving, at 40%, the highest proportion of female non-executive directors in the world. This achievement was engineered by the introduction of a compulsory quota two years ago after several years of voluntary compliance had failed to lead to a sufficient number of female board members. 463 "ASAs" - publicly listed companies over a certain size - were told to change the composition of their boards to include 40% women or risk dissolution.

Flag Lapel Pins and Fake Patriotism

Afrothetics — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:27:08 EST

Kellogg Brown & Root, the overly compensated corporate contractor in Iraq ($61 billion or eight times the receipts of its nearest competitor) and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., was reported by the Boston Globe today as having "avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in the Cayman Islands," a noted tax haven for US corporations seeking to avoid US taxes.

On Social Equity and Competition

Afrothetics — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 13:19:55 EST

I attended and earned degrees from a world class university that was founded by a world class capitalist, which resides fittingly in the shadows of the largest penis complex ever constructed to house a high level rightwing think tank on its campus in the name of Herbert Hoover, the erstwhile president who was on duty and helped to launch the Great Depression in 1929. The proximity of the latter to the former is illuminating for what it says about the maintenance of the status quo that conservatives seek to ram down the throats of the rest of us. It is also illuminating about what it might say about the aftermath of the tragically flawed Bush adminstration.

Patriotism in Vermont

Afrothetics — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 18:40:22 EST

Chalmers Johnson has written that: "One of the severe side effects of imperialism in its advanced stages seems to be that it rots the brains of the imperialists. They start believing that they are the bearers of civilization, the bringers of light to "primitives" and "savages" (largely so identified because of their resistance to being "liberated" by us), the carriers of science and modernity to backward peoples, beacons and guides for citizens of the "underdeveloped world." — Imperialist Propaganda: Second Thoughts on Charlie Wilson's War

The issue is the military economy

Afrothetics — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:14:14 EST

Recent reports reveal that the United States "maintains more than 700 bases around the world and is pushing to set up even more." What are these bases doing, how is the Pentagon rethinking their functions, and how can we reduce this military footprint? Last month, the Bush administration announced a proposed military budget of $614 billion, not counting the full cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, for a total "public consumption only" budget of about $1.2 trillion. This represents the highest level of spending since World War II, even though our most dangerous adversary is a dispersed terrorist network measured in the tens of thousands, not a nuclear-armed Soviet Union whose armed forces were measured in the millions.

Do we really want a whiner as President?

Afrothetics — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:06:08 EST

The last few weeks of the campaign has made several things clear, the prospect of Hillary Clinton as president of the USA is scary. Here are some reasons why:

Hillary Clinton is a whiner.
Hillary Clinton is a fighter -- the windmill swinging variety that flails with everything that's in her hoping to hit something, but she has no real plan of action.
Hillary Clinton is emotionally extreme and when she feels wronged, strikes out.
Hillary Clinton feels she has been wronged because she is a woman and wears this victimization like a medal of honor.

Whose hands do you want on the Red Phone?

Afrothetics — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 12:45:23 EST

For those of us who support Senator Obama, this is, of course, a rhetorical question . However, my first thought when I saw the s0-called 3AM ad reviewed on MSNBC was:

This is not how the process works
She can't even manage her campaign staff, how is she going to make critical decisions at 3AM?
Why is the phone ringing so long? Oh, she must be at Camp Clinton.
Why is she at her desk fully dressed at 3 AM?
Well, of course, this is really who she is: an egocentric who believes that she is "fully capable" of making a unilateral nation-threatening decision at 3 AM by herself. No advisors, no other input is necessary. Never fear, Hilliary is on the job.