Saturday, December 21, 2013

Obama and the economy

Please see The Incredible, Shrinking Presidency of Barack Obama by Mike Whitney

"Everything has gotten worse under Obama. Everything. And, not once, in his five years as president, has this gifted and charismatic leader ever lifted a finger to help the millions of people who supported him, who believed in him, and who voted him into office."

Bill

Friday, December 20, 2013

Snowden and snooping

Please see Snowden and snooping by Chas Freeman

"Mr. Snowden justifies his flight abroad on the grounds that, had he remained within the jurisdiction of the United States, he could not have had a fair trial, would very likely have been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, and would have been isolated and silenced to avert informed debate by Americans about the public policy issues his revelations raise. Not so very long ago – let’s say in the time of Daniel Ellsberg – it would have been fairly easy to show that such fears were groundless. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Mr. Snowden has been driven to ground in Russia, a country with an incomparably worse record of lawlessness than ours that he never intended to visit, let alone reside in. If he tries to go elsewhere, he will be hunted down and made to disappear."

Another quote:

"What is not in doubt is that there has been a massive, ongoing failure by our government to conduct its intelligence activities in a manner supportive of our liberties and our alliances with foreign nations. Both oversight and management of intelligence collection programs need urgent corrective surgery. And it is time for a major pruning of the jungle of surveillance programs that national hysteria about terrorism, essentially limitless funding, and burgeoning technical capabilities have combined to produce."

It is only because the Internet exists that we have access to the better thinkers of our time, of which Chas Freeman is clearly one. As you may know preserving the Internet as it is will be very difficult. Please see The End of Free Internet as We Know It? By Timothy Karr



Bill

Monday, December 16, 2013

Carl Sagan interview

Please see this clip from Carl Sagan's last interview His Last Interview, He Made A Warning That Gives Me Goosebumps. by Rajiv Narayan

"Carl Sagan inspired a generation of scientists with his work in and out of the classroom. But he didn't always present science with cheer. In this clip, he passionately defends science with a grave warning. It's something we all need to hear."

Bill

Saturday, December 14, 2013

China, a land of opportunity

The Blob Hits China by Robert Hunziker

In this very interesting and informative article, Mr. Munziker presents an image of China that certainly extended my knowledge of the causes and consequences of pollution in China. Indeed.

Yet another world killer! God, there must be 10 of them by now. Is it me, the biases at the top of the MSM and their alter egos in the alternative media, or are these reports "the way it is" and we have to individually sort it out?

Well, despite all of the most imminent threats to civilization, we're still here.

Back to this article: as well written as it is, it misses a high note: it describes a collection of clearly defined opportunities!

Capitalism sure has it's warts, but one of it's good parts is that it breeds people who think, have ideas, and can find ways to fund at least some of the good ones. How hard do you think it would be to match up the challenges described in this article with ideas and businesses (and jobs) to provide the solutions?

Let's see: how many factories and jobs would it take to build enough solar panels, windmills and hydro-electric plants in China to bring down the number of fossil fuel power sources?

I'm not saying this is *the* idea, but I am saying that at least one person has an even better one. Let capitalism get some respect back by taking on this and the other pollution problems in China and elsewhere.


Bill






Saturday, December 7, 2013

Noteworthy articles

I've limited my attempts at original writing here, simply because there are better informed, educated and talented people writing exactly my sentiments, so my job is made considerably easier by simply reading what they have to say, and when I read something that's particularly relevant or important I will make an effort to quote and link to them here.

Today's examples include these 2 articles:

They Died for Nothing
by Sheldon Richman

"What this means is that the sacrifices of America’s military personnel — not to mention the warcrimes committed against the Afghan people — were for no good reason whatever. It would be wrong, however, to say they were for no reason at all. Many Americans in and out of government have garnered immense wealth and power thanks to U.S. policy in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. War is a racket."


Terrorism 101 by Philip Giraldi

"Osama bin Laden once stated his intention to use the terrorism threat to bankrupt the United States and the evidence is that he may have succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. The cost of Homeland Security, to include the portion of defense and security budgets that are dedicated to counter-terrorism, is immense possibly approaching as much as one trillion dollars a year if state and local initiatives are included in the tally. Against that, only seventeen Americans were killed in terrorist incidents in 2011, most of which took place in war zones to include Afghanistan."

Bill