Did anyone expect any positive peace-hopeful results from President Obama’s trip to Israel and his obligatory stops at the West Bank and Jordan? Perhaps some were, but only if demented, credulous simpletons, or trusting souls believing that there are people in Washington, elected or selected, with statesmanship and vision willing to risk their careers by promoting neutrality, rather than affection and solidarity for our congenital sister, Israel. Continue reading
I’ve always been convinced that all great conspiracies, at least those which might be regarded as successful, have one thing in common: no identifiable conspirators. We may identify them, but will dare not accuse them for either lack of perceptible proof or the probable dire consequences we would face as disadvantaged accuser(s). In these United States, two such grand conspiracies come to mind in the modus operandi of the two most visible and powerful professions: the AMA (American Medical Association) and the ABA (American Bar Association). Continue reading
It’s been over four decades since I’ve used the adjective transgressive in the context of economics. It was in graduate school, and my professor proved to be not very receptive to my coining of a new word, or meaning in this case, for “any taxation exceeding the boundaries of social acceptability.” In those days, long before the viral expansion of for-profit schooling -–questionably called education—deference, and not just discretion, was the better part of valor. Continue reading
Two events and a book in the past two weeks have brought me a deeper understanding of the subject of collateral damage, and the unmentioned reverse of the coin: collateral reparations. The events: the Presidential Inauguration in the US, and the Confession-sans-Contrition of cyclist-no-longer-hero, Lance Armstrong. The book, just published: Going to Tehran: Why the United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of Iran by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett. Continue reading
As 2012 was coming to an end, Americans became concerned with what was referred to as the “fiscal cliff” . . . while the unrecognized problem all along has been what might be more appropriately called the “fiscal eclipse.” Continue reading
It takes a horrific event, one close to home and which affect people we identify with, to give us a momentary shock capable of re-sensitizing us; taking us, at least in the short term, from a state of indifference to one of genuine concern. This December 14, the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was such an event. Continue reading
It is unlikely that American leaders, from the State Department to the White House to the Pentagon, will seize the Syria-opportunity as a turning point in helping bring calm and stability to the Middle East. Continue reading
We are just a decade-short from a century since Balliol College (Oxford) introduced interdisciplinary studies in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE) as a modern alternative to the study of the Classics. Academic programs in much of the world, adopting the granting of degrees which combined the study of these three fields, have been slowly discarding philosophy in the mix, making the three-strand braid just the enmeshment of two fields: politics and economics. After all, that’s the living reality and we are better served acknowledging it. Continue reading
Congress, particularly that uppity Senate club of multi-millionaires, seems always ready to remind us—the hoi polloi citizenry—that it is much more than the legislative, law-making branch of government. At some historic point, or perhaps at a series of evolving points, this august body became self-appointed guardian of both America’s national security and American morals. Continue reading
Forget about the calming Blue waters of neo-liberalism or the imperial aggressiveness of patriotic Red. This year I have cast my ballot by mail and, for the first time in a dozen presidential elections, I have done so for a candidate with zero as a chance to win. For once in my electoral life I have voted my conscience, and refused to be conned into voting for the lesser evil in either one of the two corrupt parties which control our lives. Finally, one time when I am certain there won’t be any buyer’s remorse. Continue reading
Holy debates, Obatman! For all the personal dislike for each other said to exist between these two ordained priests of American capitalism—often misidentified as Free Market Enterprise—Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have shown to be equally adept at dealing with trivia and secondary issues . . . and equally inept at dealing with every substantive issue. Continue reading
A model nation for democracy, is that what we claim to be? My guess is that many political scientists would place the US as democracy’s anti-model, not exactly the nation to emulate. Continue reading
I am well aware that Calvinists consider patron saints a form of idolatry, but for the most part Christians and many non-Christians alike, some out of faith but most out of habit or circumstance, see with favor having an advocate intercede on their behalf in the many problems that beset their lives. Yes, a patron saint! Continue reading
What needless uproar; what absurd battle of wits among clueless pundits lacking the most rudimentary knowledge of both logic and arithmetic; what a sad picture of blatant ignorance of the true makeup of America’s electorate; what an embarrassing moment for anyone who believes in democracy . . . or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Continue reading
Fifty years ago Pete Seeger, the American folk singer of iconic dimensions, gave us a good start in US protest music with “Turn, Turn, Turn” although it would be 2 to 4 years before its recordings by Judy Collins, The Byrds and The Seegers, had us hum it along, thus placing it in the annals of immortality. Continue reading
Well, the second half of the quadrennial political charade is over, Pres. Barack Obama making his case for a second term in office before a friendly audience of militant Democrats at the convention in Charlotte. Tongue-in-arm Joe Biden, likely to be held accountable for his “America’s best days are ahead of us” remark, introduced the POTUS to give his acceptance speech as candidate Barack Obama; a speech no more sincere or crafted in reality than that given by Republican candidate Mitt Romney a week earlier in Tampa. Continue reading
Almost half a millennium ago, Montaigne, in his wisdom, was telling us that “sometimes it is a good choice not to choose at all.” [Essays III.ix]. He could have been addressing what would eventually be American democracy, its captive politics, and the fantasy that voters are making a meaningful choice when casting their ballots for either Tweedledum or Tweedledee. And those fictional characters of the English nursery rhyme are but the twins in our political midst: Democrats and Republicans, who alternatively control American politics from the Right . . . whether from the Center Right, the Extreme Right, or a point somewhere in between. Continue reading
After two intense weeks of quadrennial Olympic sport events, London emptied itself of 906 medals-–302 gold; 302 silver; and 302 bronze—and declared the XXX Olympiad a great success regardless of what that “idiotic” presidential candidate from America, Mitt Romney, had said during his recent visit to the city. Continue reading
On Wednesday, July 4, Ricky “My-T-Mouth” Johnson, an obscure ghost lyricist in the rap-music world, and also an acquaintance from the early Occupy days, showed up at the porch of my historical townhouse at Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. He had brought his family from Portland (Oregon) to see our famed fireworks’ display, he told me and, knowing that I live here, maybe take time to rap a little about the upcoming presidential election. Continue reading
After having been part of the American electoral process for the past 12 presidential elections, I have made a vow to make my contribution count this 13th time around, and not gift my vote once again to one of the two political parties which duopolistically keep the American voter subservient to powerful interests which corrupt America’s legislative process through their lobbies. During the next four months my columns will follow a consistent theme: why the reelection of Barack Obama will be detrimental, in the long run, to the political and social well-being of the American citizenry; not all its citizenry, that’s true, just the impoverished, or soon to be impoverished, 80 percent majority. Continue reading
Oh, irony of ironies! We have been accusing the Chinese Mainlanders for years of stealing Americans’ intellectual property with predictably inscrutable results. Now that they have come into possession of the American Dream—some might say, lock, stock and barrel—will our embassy in Beijing present the latest rulers of the Mao Zedong dynasty—Mao Tse-tung to those of us who still romanize Beijing as Peking—with a formal complaint . . . asking perhaps, to have our Dream back or, at the very least, have them forgive most of the 1.2 trillion dollars which the United States owes them? Continue reading
The sobs we have in mind are neither short, audible gasps of breath of those who are invested in Facebook stock, nor are they intended as a bastardly reference of those who, inside and/or outside of the company, put together and took to fruition this much-awaited IPO (Initial Public Offering). These mnemonic sobs we have in mind represent simply Shares-Of-Bubbly-Stock. For that’s what those 421.2 million shares of Facebook were: Overpriced, bubbly stock. Continue reading
I have always looked at government subsidies with suspicion . . . trying to identify whether they are designed to assist (those in need) or to render support (for a cause). And looking at housing subsidies has been no different. Continue reading
April 29 marked a score since the “Los Angeles Riots,” sparked by a “not guilty” verdict rendered on four policemen accused of beating a black man, Rodney King, to a pulp. Continue reading
April 15 marks for me an anniversary of another April 15 of 44 years ago, two months short of getting my MBA from UCLA. It was a Monday after Easter and I had just returned from one of those “junkets” that some of us were invited to for in situ job interviews . . . this time I recall, it had been Rochester, NY, courtesy of Xerox Corporation. Continue reading
If nothing else, the papal visit to the “Pearl of the Antilles” concluded last week kept vigil on the all-important question of how to bring an economic-political renewal to a courageous people. A people who gave their soul to a revolution in order to unshackle themselves from economic and political oppression had to live decades of inhumane economic sanctions slapped on them for not having made the “right” political choice after the revolution, as determined by the all-powerful neighbor: the United States of America. Continue reading
A generation ago Bruce Springsteen was socio-serenading us with what soon was to become the iconic song, “Born in the USA.” And now, seven presidential elections later, he’ll likely be sending his message with the song, “We Take Care of Our Own.” Continue reading
If we don’t come to terms in America to the reality around us, we will be doomed; and not just as an empire-holder, but as a serious major player in any future affairs of planet earth. We need to step down from that land of make-believe, and accept once and for all that Americans are neither a special cast divinely placed on this earth to rule it, nor the self-proclaimed virtuous people born with an added limb of exceptionalism. Continue reading
Nothing appears as ugly as unmasked raw propaganda, or seems as fashionable as well-crafted deception. Yet, the catwalk for both forms of propaganda is one and the same, deception wearing the most titillating togs provided by the top fashion house, the House of Public Relations. And the deceptive PR isn’t limited to multinational firms or businesses in general; it is part and parcel of our daily existence, having infiltrated most if not all institutions, totally poisoning politics, and eroding away whatever little honesty might still be left in our elected officials. Continue reading
“Cuba will be free” has been the political battle-cry promise by politicians residing in or visiting Florida, not just Republicans but their not quite identical twins, Democrats. It’s a tradition that goes back to the massive naturalization days which took place during the latter part of the decade which followed the Bay of Pigs’ failed invasion. Expecting Romney and Gingrich to adhere to that time-tested cause was a no-brainer for the top two current contenders for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Continue reading
It is not what the few do but what the many don’t do. That really represents what we are all about, co-conspirators in a sea of silence. Marines who view despicable acts committed by other marines remain silent; the officers, who are well aware of this behavior, condone it, invariably following the “ethical criminal” attitude in war morality of “when in war, shit happens”; and the nation prefers to play the part of Pontius Pilates. Continue reading
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Embargoes, military exercises and other acts of war
Posted on April 10, 2013 by Ben Tanosborn
It’s been almost two decades since the “Kitty Hawk incident” (1994) and the display of American naval power in the Yellow Sea. Since then, no US aircraft carrier has had a presence north of the East China Sea. But that will come to an end shortly as the U.S.S. George Washington is on its way there, not just to show military muscle to the North Korean regime but to “collaterally” test the patience of the Chinese. Continue reading →