Common Debate

What the Aftermath of a Violent Revolution Looks Like

2012-02-11T11:40:00.000-07:00

“Or Your Lying Eyes…” Truth and Fiction in the News Business by Alexander Cockburn. Any struggle to overturn established power consists of two phases. The first is the struggle to overthrow that power. In this face, since the established power is strong and established, the only way it can succeed is if all the various opposition groups come together and struggle together. Its a Them aganst

Vegas Odds

2012-02-08T11:47:00.001-07:00

Want a real poll to tell you what's up in the Presidential elections. One that isn't spun by some media conglomorate or defense contractor or political party or campaign that isn't exactly neutral in the fight? Well, check the Vegas Odds. Obama ------- 5/9 Romney ------ 17/10 Santorum ---- 15/1 Gingrich ---- 30/1 Paul -------- 50/1 Now, just to be clear, that's what the bookmakers have to put

Government of the Rich, By the Rich, and For the Rich.

2012-02-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

Of the rich, by the rich, for the rich by SocialistWorker.org As usual with the socialists, they are outstanding when it comes to identifying the problems we have in our society. But then, when it comes to what to do about it, they are dead wrong. CALL IT the 1 percent election. They may feign interest in the lives of ordinary people in their drive to win votes--visiting small-town diners and

Orwell's Obama

2012-02-05T23:41:00.006-07:00

Obama's Drift Toward War With Iran by David Bromwich This article is an interesting mix of Democratic propaganda and bs about Obama and a nice analysis of the real situation with Iran. And, in many ways that illustrates the confusion that infects the Democratic left. The problem is that they still have this inherent belief that Obama is the great progressive saint that was the campaign image

27 of Kucinich's 35 Article of Impeachment Against Dubya Apply to Obama Too.

2012-02-03T09:12:00.002-07:00

27 of 35 Bush Articles of Impeachment Apply to Obama Posted on February 2, 2012 by WashingtonsBlog Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements, Creating Secret Laws, Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives, Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act, etc. Its too long a list to retype. Aren't you glad you voted

One Million Dead Human Beings.

2012-02-03T09:05:00.001-07:00

Just say that to yourself a few times. One Million Dead Human Beings. One Million Dead Human Beings. One Million Dead Human Beings. And, this wasn't because of some natural disaster. It wasn't because of a drought or a flood. This was the deliberate act of one set of human beings taking actions they knew would cause massive amounts of pain and suffering and death to other human beings. What

More on Obama's Plan for $5 Gas

2012-02-01T09:06:00.001-07:00

No Exit in the Persian Gulf? by Michael T. Klare and Tom Engelhardt, February 01, 2012 Oil and energy expert Michael Klare on the Persian Gulf and where Obama's policies are likely to lead. No one knows just how high oil prices would go under such circumstances, but many energy analysts believe that the price of a barrel might immediately leap by $50 or more. “You would get an international

Obama Wants $5 a Gallon Gas.

2012-01-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

IMF: halt in Iran oil could push crude up 30 pct Yes, the forecasters and analysts at the IMF, not exactly the home of peaceniks, is predicting as much as a 30% rise in the price of crude oil due to the sanctions on Iran and the threat of war that such an act implies. Don't forget that it was the same sort of sanctions on Japan in 1941 that put Japan's leaders into the frame of mind that war

Where does the money go?

2012-01-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

When you are thinking of the trillions of dollars the US government collects in taxes, and then when you are wondering why you can't find a job and you keep driving by storefronts with "For Lease" signs out front, just remember where the money went. US to Grant Extension of $3.8 Billion in Loan Guarantees to Israel The Obama administration told Israeli officials this week that the U.S. plans to

TSA Critic Detained at Airport

2012-01-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rand Paul’s Pat-Down Standoff With TSA in Nashville Ends Sen. Paul, who's been a critic of TSA proceedures and pat down searches, was detained at the Nashville airport by TSA officials. The Twitter account associated with Paul staffer Moira Bagley, @moirabagley, tweeted around 10 a.m., ET, “Just got a call from @senrandpaul. He’s currently being detained by TSA in Nashville.” Paul’s office

DHS and Politics

2012-01-18T11:41:00.000-07:00

Behind Homeland Security's monitoring of web sites from Undernews So, why is the DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, the agency with broad scope and the disturbing name that echos of 1930's Germany, monitoring articles and comments on websites ranging from the New York Times to the Huffington Post? Your tax dollars at work, And, doing more than monitoring "capture public reaction to

SOPA - Internet Blackout

2012-01-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

If I had an easy way to black out this blog today, I'd join the 7,000 other websites that are going black today in protest of the proposed Internet censorship bills known as SOPA and PIPA currently in the Congress. The good news is that massed public opposition seems to be at least slowing down and temporarily preventing these awful bills from going forward. What a stretch. First we've seen

The Lieberman Manuever

2012-01-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

In 2006, a leftist rebellion during the Connecticut Senatorial primaries defeated Joe Lieberman and instead nominated Ned Lamont to be the Democratic nominee for US Senate. However, today Joe Lieberman is still the Senator from Connecticut. This is because he immediately ran as an "independent". The Republicans basically abandoned their own candidate, and threw their support behind Lieberman,

10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free

2012-01-16T08:32:00.002-07:00

10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free by Jonathan Turley, a professor of law at George Washington University. Assassination of U.S. citizens (in company with Nigeria, Iran and Syria) Indefinite Detention (in company with China and Cambodia) Arbitrary Justice (in company with China and Egypt) Warrantless Searches (in company with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) Secret Evidence War

Reality Check

2012-01-15T12:05:00.001-07:00

If you want to know the real chances of something happening, check the Vegas odds. Of course, the Vegas odds don't really reflect those real chances, but just what is needed to get the betting money spread across the choices. But, in politics, where perception is everything, the public perceptions of reality as reflected by the odds the bookmakers offer to get the bets is probably a better

Learning to Spot Propaganda

2012-01-13T11:43:00.003-07:00

One of the keys to living intelligently in this modern media age is being able to accurately spot propaganda. In the old Soviet Union, citizens learned to be able to read between the lines. They learned to spot the obvious propaganda messages that were directed at them. In this modern age, we need to be able to do the same. To somehow figure out what's really going on amongst the lies we

Dirty Trick

2012-01-08T08:25:00.001-07:00

The Stolen War by Uri Avnery What a dirty trick ... denying the generals their war by trying to take away their justification. Probably won't work. Being truthful in the reasons for going and killing more people isn't really a part of a general's DNA. Being a 'leader' and getting the killing and the maiming started by any means necessary is what they look for when picking generals. Why is

(D) is for Liar

2012-01-01T10:42:00.004-07:00

As we move into another election year, just remember, (D) is for Liar. The Dems will say whatever they think you want to hear. But it doesn't mean they'll do any of it. No signing statements to nullify instructions from Congress "While it is legitimate for a president to issue a signing statement to clarify his understanding of ambiguous provisions of statutes and to explain his view of how he

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

To any Christians who read this, Merry Christmas. To all others, may you also have a merry time at your holidays around the winter solstice. Christians celebrate on this day the birth of the man known as the Prince of Peace. A man who came to us to teach us to live peacefully with each other, and to treat each of our fellow human beings as a brother and sister. The man who tried to teach us

A Tale of Two Iraqis

2011-12-25T06:55:00.005-07:00

Iraqi PM chides Sunni provinces pushing for autonomy, warns of ‘rivers of blood’ from the Washington Post. Two Iraqis. The first is the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. He's the one speaking with the quote that made the headline warning of "rivers of blood". It seems the Sunni areas, after being pretty much kicked out of the government by the PM, and who have seen one of their political

Freedom

2011-12-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

The German translates to "Germany is Free". German propaganda always talked a lot about "freedom". Share

One people united

2011-12-24T16:11:00.002-07:00

The German translates to "One People, One Reich, One Fuhrer". Authoritarian propaganda always demands "unity". A free democracy is just the opposite, in that its acceptable for people to have differing views. Share

Wow, A Senator Read the Constitution.

2011-12-04T19:21:00.003-07:00

There's an excellent article up on The Atlantic, Ceding Liberty to Terror, about the recent vote by the US Senate to give the US government gestapo-like powers to sieze and detain anyone. A majority in the US Senate believes that the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights magically dissappear as soon as any government agent or official utters the magic word "terrorist". They don't even have to

Rights Alienable by the Federal Government

2011-11-28T20:58:00.005-07:00

No Free Speech at Mr. Jefferson’s Library by Peter Van Buren An outstanding article on the case of Morris Davis. Morris Davis was at one time the chief military prosecutor at Gitmo. He stated publicly that he would not use evidence obtained by torture. Then a pro-screaming-in-pain-and-mortal-fear general was put in as his commanding officer. Rather than wait for the inevitable order to try to

Obama's War.

2011-11-25T22:15:00.010-07:00

The “Left” and Libya by ALEXANDER COCKBURN Sometimes one gets the impression that God must have a sense of humor, and that God probably does enjoy a good game of dice with the universe. It turns out that one of the big supporters of the Iraq and Libya wars is the, wait for it .... "Paterno Family Professor" at Penn State University. No big surprise really. After all, its not a huge leap from