“I don’t have a single American friend,” said Tamarlan Tsarnaev “I don’t understand them.” Continue reading
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Author Archives: Paul Balles
Greatest purveyor of violence
In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967—a year to the day before he was murdered—the Reverend Martin Luther King called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” Continue reading
Worldviews of America
Terms like justice, democracy, freedom and moral accountability are generalized with varied meanings for different people. They also mean something different for citizens of other countries who want to live in America. Continue reading
Shift in war hawks
Watch out for a shift in war hawks. Before the Iraq war, at least a dozen in the U.S. administration and major media spread enough propaganda to silence the majority of Americans. Continue reading
The social cost of Israeli aid
Josh Reubner, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation says “Israel stands to lose approximately $250 million of its $3.1 billion military aid package from the United States under the terms of the sequestration.” Continue reading
Future thought
A book that gave cause for thought in1970, Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, predicted some difficult tomorrows. Toffler presented clear evidence of how the speed of change had increased drastically as human progress pushed forward. Continue reading
Harnessing the imagination
One of the most dismal futuristic images I’ve seen was recently painted by Chris Hedges in the opening of an article he entitled A Time for “Sublime Madness.” Continue reading
Paranoia run wild
Thinking ahead is one thing. Preemptive thinking is paranoia run wild. Continue reading
Who are the real terrorists?
The US Code defines terrorism as a crime that appears to be intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping. Continue reading
Deadly drones and the blowback they are engendering
Relatively little has appeared in the mainstream media about recent drone warfare. Continue reading
Murdering the truth
Judging from the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza with its bombs and missiles, Palestinian journalists have been doing their best to get the news reported. Continue reading
End military suicides by silencing the war drums
Some of the important news gets reported quickly and is then forgotten just as hurriedly. The following, from CBS Chicago, reported on May 10, 2012, provides an example of an under-reported event. Continue reading
Greatest threats to democracy are ignorance and apathy
Yesterday I was angry. Today, I’m tired; but I refuse to be apathetic. Continue reading
Who is the middle class?
It’s sad that Barak Obama had to be the first black to be elected president. Continue reading
America invents real-life matrix
They were lawless, brutal, unforgiving and a model for the governments they both battled and served. A few notable figures perfected terrorism unlike any before or after. Continue reading
Presidential debates notable for what wasn’t discussed
The coming U.S. elections have monopolized the attention of the American mainstream media and voters. Continue reading
American values
In a eulogy for American poet Robert Frost, John F. Kennedy said, “When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” Continue reading
Fodder for extremists
Four joint hosts of an MSNBC programme called Cycle decided to open a Pandora’s Box and discuss some of America’s problems in the Middle East. Continue reading
The assembly line culture
My father managed a branch of a steel pipe making company in Pennsylvania. I was about ten or 11 the first time he took me on a tour of his company. Continue reading
The meaning of altruism
When I was a college freshman, I became completely enamoured with Ayn Rand. As a literary heroin, she surpassed so many of my early heroes. Continue reading
Contagious paranoia
Five years ago I wrote an article on mass paranoia. At the time I argued that U.S. and Israeli paranoia threaten to lead the entire world to oblivion. Continue reading
To bomb or not to bomb
Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Barak have been working hard to find sympathy for their craving to bomb Iran. Continue reading
An American Spring?
The coming elections in America have become a contest between candidates who both try to be the leading panderer to Israel. Continue reading
Fighting the vampire within
Early warriors massed on bloody battlefields with everything from sticks and screams to swords, bows and arrows, muskets and cannons. That scene remained both disgusting and ridiculous. Continue reading
Double standards of mass murder
A Virginia college, a Colorado high school, a Texas military base, an Arizona strip mall, a Colorado movie theatre—all have become part of a recurring event in America: mass murder. Continue reading
Theft of a nation
A recent story from a small American town in Pennsylvania reported a bank robbery by a 35-year-old who allegedly held up a Citizens Bank branch. Continue reading
Wake up call for America
Posted on May 14, 2013 by Paul Balles
I’m tired of politics, of the injustices, the corruption, the assassinations, the gross illegal behaviour of the strong, the plundering of the poor and the indignities wrought on the weak. Continue reading →