People who worked at Open City at the time might recall Vladimir doing a lot of work with this image, yea, it was iconic, too real, way out there…because it is us barenaked with everything reduced to the pure moments before death, a trajectory of beauty and crippling fear, a
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Dead Wild Roses: Bombs Away – Tom Engelhardt
Insightful essays not your bag? A window looking into current events as they happen, and not how the handlers say they happen a bit too much? Then don’t subscribe to Tom’s Dispatch. This excerpt from ‘Bombs Away’ by Tom Engelhardt “1. Success and Failure: Without a hint of exaggeration, you
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Obama: On Bended Knee To The Saudis
I’ll defer to others much better versed than I am in the vagaries of international politics to offer a more informed analysis, but the recent deference of the U.S. toward Saudi Arabia warrants a closer look. Despite, or perhaps because of, an unfortuna…
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The Paris Attacks In Contex
Propaganda, hysteria, ultra-violence and imperialism, as usual “A people unaware of its myths is likely to continue living by them.” – Richard Slotkin I have been too horrified by the predictably violent and insane reaction of the Western pow…
Continue readingBlevkog: Omar Khadr is a rescued child soldier and should be treated as such
The release of Omar Khadr, on strict conditions, has reignited the debate over his capture and imprisonment in Guantanamo Bay. The Conservative Party, ever in campaign mode, is always looking for a political issue to use to charge up their base, and his release, which they opposed and continue to
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: About That Islamic Terrorism, Who Are We Kidding?
Well those damned Muslims have us in hysterics now. Rupert Murdoch says this is on all Muslims. Bill Maher says ditto. But wait. There are two strains of Muslims – Sunni and Shia. Our Muslims of choice, those we consider our allies, are Sunni – Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi
Continue readingA. Picazo: Of Torture And Tortured Logic
This op-ed appeared in The Ottawa Citizen on December 18, 2014 The executive summary of a nearly 7,000 page report into the C.I.A.’s Detention and Interrogation program under the Bush administration confirmed not only what has long been public knowledge – that America did, in fact, engage in torture – but also revealed that, despite
Continue readingPity the Americans—running an empire ain’t easy
Running an empire is tough. There are always tribesmen out on the fringes who fail to appreciate that you are bringing them civilization. In their lack of gratitude, they act up, and you are forced to send in the legions to bring them to heel. Such has been the case
Continue readingLeft Over: Shakedown in Yankeeland
ANALYSIS American shakedown: Police won’t charge you, but they’ll grab your money U.S. police are operating a co-ordinated scheme to seize as much of the public’s cash as they can By Neil Macdonald, CBC News Posted: Sep 11, 2014 5:00 AM ET Last Updated: Sep 11, 2014 5:00 AM ET I
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Welcome to the 1,000th Politics, Re-Spun Editorial!
Steve Harper, the greatest threat to Canadian security in the modern era. Happy August! Happy Day! I have a few comments about this, the 1,000th editorial at Politics, Re-Spun. But you can read them below, about my sabbatical plan, new visions for this almost 12-year-old website, and other things. But
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: What Does Soft Fascism Look Like These Days?
We don’t see brown shirts and jackboots, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t seeing the de-democratization of our society. In Vancouver this month, armed police with guns drawn, raided a house because they suspected people inside not of being terrorists, but of spray painting “No Pipelines” all over the place.
Continue readingAlberta Diary: It’s time to recognize the market-fundamentalist elephant in the airport security screening room
Some of the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority’s sub-contracted passenger screening supervisors at Edmonton International Airport. Fortunately for them, theirs won’t be the heads that roll. Below: Skylar Murphy, the 18-year-old brainiac with a recreational pipe bomb; the proverbial elephant in the room. Canadian airports really do have a security
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: The deeper reasons for the “war on drugs”
There is a deeper reason for the war on drugs, which is the central reason for the policy, even outweighing profits from private prisons and seizure of property by law enforcement officers, both of which no doubt are also significant and strong motivations for keeping the “war on drugs” going.
Continue readingPaul S. Graham: Remembering the first 9/11
Salvador Allende Forty years ago, on September 11, 1973, the military forces commanded by General Augusto Pinochet, overthrew the democratically elected government of Chile led by Salvador Allende. Thousands of people were killed. Many thousands more were imprisoned. The coup d’etat was swift, brutal and merciless. It was carried out
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Pat Roberston Commemorates 9/11
And he does it in his inimitable way by offering his ‘insights’ on Islam and the consequences of godlessness: Recommend this Post
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: The First and Second 9/11 – The Hidden End of Chilean Democracy
Greetings gentle readers, should we not consider the first 9/11 and also mourn for its victims? The first 9/11 essentially ruined Chile as a country; Chile was thrown backward into dictatorial hell where thousand of its citizens were systematically abducted, tortured and murdered. Why we choose not to mourn
Continue readingDead Wild Roses: We Are What We Loathe – Chris Hedges on 9/11
Chris Hedges went to ground zero during the attacks on the World Trade Centre. This is part of the article that he wrote in 2011 – I returned that night to the newsroom hacking from the fumes released by the burning asbestos, jet fuel, lead, mercury, cellulose
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: You Aren’t Sufficiently Critical of the #Media
You need to trust the media less. Almost a year ago, and before the last US presidential election, Gallup determined that there has been a stunning decline in citizens’ mistrust of the media [see below]. It crossed over from mostly trust to not so much trust around 2004-2005. If you
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: MexAmeriCanada, Version 2013
Welcome to the United States of MexAmeriCanada. Represent! I was just thinking a few days ago how I haven’t used the MexAmeriCanada tag for a while. Did I cause this to happen, in some cosmic kind of way? In the old days it was Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin
Continue reading350 or bust: God Bless Us, Everyone
Bill Maher’s 2001 Christmas message is just as timely and wise now as it was 11 years ago. For the second year in a row, I will allow Maher, an agnostic who is highly critical of organized religion, to have the last word on Christmas Day here on 350orbust.
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