1. human beings are animals, and have a fundamental drive to survive and prosper, to maximize procreation. they regard other humans as competitors, to be driven off, enslaved, or killed.

2. human society attempts to shape and control the selfish drives of individuals for the prosperity of the society… Read full post »

sunday nov22 'flashback' on slate:

 an oldie, but goodie. the man is a national treasure, the equal of chomsky and funny too. can't think why he hasn't won a pulitzer, and is vastly more worthy of a nobel peace prize than some i could… Read full post »

both are rising, and for the same fundamental reason: unfettered greed. it has been the aim of the rich in america to maintain, increase, and enjoy their wealth without interference from political considerations. the constitution was written with that goal in mind, and the process of insulating slave… Read full post »

the messenger is woody harrelson, in a movie role as the modern american version of the angel of death:  it is his duty to knock on doors and tell the people that answer, that johnny won't be marching home. or sometimes jenny, nowadays.

[shows the immediate benefit of treating women  fairly… Read full post »

why not skip from 'apprehension' to 'punishment?'

it would work like this: the police would pick someone up, for whatever reason they wished, and imprison, or shoot, as they think best 'for the nation.' if someone outside the national boundary causes trouble, the army performs a simil… Read full post »

if they weren't government officers implementing 'rendition' policy. that makes kidnapping and torture o.k. except in italy-where they better not go back to.

people working for the government of the usa are utterly without shame. many are utterly immoral. quite a few are violent sociopaths.

i used t… Read full post »

i'm not the only one, it turns out, who is unhappy with the jolly little war game players who are flying bombs into people's homes, with the excuse someone there might not like the usa. as though anyone could dislike the usa, and not be evil...

this is what the local… Read full post »

why can't they get anything done? a brief insight from greenwald's latest:

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 Feinstein isn't merely a typical (though particularly destructive) Democratic Senator, but also a very typical Washington insider, as her substantial personal… Read full post »

or, why i don't need to give obama any time to fix things.

are comic strips eligible for  nobel literature prizes? if not, maybe the peace prize would be apropriate.

doonesbury is a remarkable talent! Read full post »

... if you own a bank.

the problem with reporting on the emperor's new clothes, lack thereof, is that people don't cry out "why yes, now i can see there ain't any!"

what normally happens is, it turns out the people you are speaking to are deaf, as well as blind. this keeps raising the possibility that… Read full post »

because you are all living in dreamland.

read gg's column on ashcroft/preventive detention today, and tell  me if this is what your social studies teacher told you about the american way of life.

they are coming for you, folks...

and it is not a matter of 'bad apples.' there… Read full post »

louis16 lumbered us with hopelessly inadequate terminology for discussing politics. the seating arrangements at his parlement, about 'economic meltdown'[plus ca change...] seized the serious conversation ever after.

i'm not sure academics know better, the few i talked to were 'angel on pinhead' count… Read full post »

this 'war of necessity' needs some explaining.

unless the reasons are so depraved that silence is the best argument king obama can come up with...

in a little village in a mountainous region of china, lived a man called "old li." there's one reason, already. in china the word for 'old' is also a term of respect. but this is about a bigger question.

li, like his fellow villagers, was a subsistance farmer, but he did… Read full post »

.. about health care reform. he is serious about getting re-elected, though.

here's a link to a good discussion of hcr on the lehrer news hour. like several others, it exposes the simplicity of national health care in other countries, the national savings available, the superior results that are ever… Read full post »

i waste most of my os time arguing for democracy, as that is the only important question before the american people. without it, you can do nothing, you are a tradesman without tools. but today, a different tune..

occasionally, i amuse myself by injecting a bit of double entendre into my… Read full post »

in the late 60's. not on purpose, but a disinclination to fast, and an importunate draft board[remember them?] impelled me to 'serve.'

i had no strong feelings about bringing democracy to south east asia, my feeling was that democracy was a good thing, so glad we had it, and others should… Read full post »

sea levels are rising, and ultimately may be a very pressing problem to americans.

but the rising water today is, the realization that in many respects, obama intends to continue with the same policies of torture, rendition, and indefinite secret detention that appeared to outrage 'progressives' when… Read full post »

there was a time in western societies, when war was a matter for all. the king, if there was a king, led from the front. often there wasn't a king, and the purpose of the war was to repair that lack.

in time, kings got rich enough to support  their own… Read full post »

if you have finally seen through the charade of american oligarchy, what can one person do about it?

you can be the 2nd american revolution.

write the following email: 

"i will vote for you and your party after you publish your plan to amend the constitution to establish citizen initiative as… Read full post »

..was how i charcterized america, in a recent rant. read this, and see if you don't agree.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/08/22/nhs/

this is the brits in action, and the contrast with america's apparent inability to even get public insurance, lest the undeserving poor should live longer th… Read full post »

"power corrupts, absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely" - lord acton

this is the fundamental law of politics, and human society in general. if you want to live in a just society, power must not be concentrated in a few hands. only democracy can even hope for justice.

"power grows out… Read full post »

there is some discomfort in the ranks of the smugly 'progressive' bloggers here at os, due to the fact that saint obama has turned out to be a politician.

gulags continue, rendition continues, torture continues, no prosecutions are initiated, the rich are rewarded for looting the economy, and decent… Read full post »