Thanks to Ron Paul, the Conservative movement is having an identity crisis. The old guard of the Conservative movement, which also happens to be the Republican Party establishment, still clings to the old creation myth of the Conservative movement. Namely, that there was no opposition to the New Deal-Liberal consensus until William F. Buckley and National Review came along in 1955, saving America from the American left, social democracy, moral turpitude and inter... (more)
It’s been a year of populist uprisings, economic downturns, political assassinations, and one scandal after another. Gold prices soared, while the dollar plummeted. The Arab Spring triggered worldwide protests, including the Occupy Wall Street protests here in America. Nature unleashed her forces with a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan, flooding in Thailand and Pakistan, a severe drought in East Africa, and a famine in Somalia. With an unemployment rate hovering around 9.5%, more than 4 m... (more)
There is a segment of the electorate that greets Congressman Paul’s continual harking back to the Constitution, and to the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, as follows: Sure, those were good ideas, then; but nowadays, things are far more complicated. We lived a relatively simple bucolic life as a nation in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. We travelled by horse and buggy, at best. There was no television, no computers, no Al Qaeda, no cars, no weapons of mass destruction; the... (more)
September 11, 2001, is another date that will live in infamy. The tragic events that occurred on this day have forever changed the United States, and the world. Like similar events in history, it served as a catalyst, creating a flurry of new rules, regulations and, as we now see, serious restrictions on the freedoms we once had. Just as Pearl Harbor launched America into WWII, and the burning of the Reichstag building in Germany granted untold powers to Hitler, 9/11 has allowed America ... (more)
In the debate about the American “Stop Online Piracy Act”, some have hailed the decade-old American DMCA as a law that was somehow beneficial for the development of new services on the net. This is not only a complete misconception, but a very dangerous one at that. The DMCA was basically a wet dream come true for the copyright industry, and the “safe harbor” provisions have gradually shifted the environment to suppress free speech and expression in favor of the suppressing industries: the copyr... (more)
For many years, the state has been attempting to disarm the citizenry. While not understood by the mainstream, the success of these efforts has far exceeded the imagination of most. Those who own guns, and live in remote areas, don’t fully grasp the problem, as they are somewhat insulted from the norm. But many, especially those who live in the cities and more populated areas, know that they are heavily restricted, and for the most part accept this condition of helplessness voluntarily.<... (more)
Political Scientist and MSNBC contributor Melissa Harris-Perry has called for renewed faith in democracy. According to Harris-Perry, recent events have damaged public confidence in the democratic process.
Our faith has been badly damaged by governors who crush unions, by a Congress that will not govern, by a military that tortures, … by CEOs who slash jobs as profits rise, by a system that seems irreparably broken. But building a c
This article was originally published in December, 2002. A previous version of it was published on December 25, 1966, dedicated to Harry’s then 9-year-old daughter.
It’s Christmas, and I have the usual problem of deciding what to give you. I know you might enjoy many things – books, games, clothes.
But I’m very selfish. I want to give you something that will stay with you for more than a few months or years. I want to give you a gift that m... (more)
A quick note on Christmas!
I would hope no one finds our site too depressing, it's certainly not my intent!
The site covers very negative news, but I certainly don't think the world is some horrible place!
The world is full of amazing things, just look at the computer you're using, or maybe the super awesome smart phone or tablet!
The world is full of awesomeness, that just isn't the focus of our site! We focus on all the horrible things the state is doing in order to:
A. Bring these crimes to people's attention
B. Draw a contrast with how awesome the rest of the world is thanks to capitalism!
It has been seven years since the end of the second siege of Fallujah -- the US assault that left the city in ruins, killed thousands of civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands more; the assault that poisoned a generation, plaguing the people who live there with cancers and their children with birth defects.
It has been seven years and the lies that justified the ... (more)
The United States has done a remarkable job over the years convincing you that the folks in law enforcement are here for no other reason then to "protect and serve." The words sound honorable and are meant to instill trust and confidence. You see this worn out, duplicitous motto emblazoned across every squad car in every small town across America. But it has become just another slogan that means nothing at all any longer.
In an earlier essay I wrote about buzzword... (more)
When Obama ran for the presidency, it was no secret that he was an occasional marijuana user in his youth and still a regular cigarette smoker. He made no attempts to rebuke his history of drug use and he seemed sympathetic to marijuana users, especially for legal medical purposes. In fact, he took the position that he would leave it up to the states, and because of that he garnered many endorsements and votes from medical marijuana users.
While big government statists in both the Republican and Democrat parties remain mystified over Ron Paul’s surge in the polls in Iowa, the ones who seem most confounded by this phenomenon are the members of the mainstream media, who themselves are statist to the core. They just can’t figure out how it’s possible that increasing numbers of people are gravitating to the Paul campaign, especially when the mainstream media has either ignored Paul’s campaign or done its best to ridicule Paul’s libert... (more)
Despite a proclaimed opposition to new taxes, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker has advanced a policy that amounts to a new and draconian tax. People will have to pay the state for the “privilege” of free speech and assembly. To exercise those rights in or outside state facilities will entail permits at least seventy-two hours in advance and potentially prohibitive fees. The policy took effect on December 8 and is expected to be completely phased in by December 16.
A superb advertisement for Ron Paul from RevolutionPAC.
__
Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of "keeping us safe... (more)
Condemnation of President Obama is intense, and growing, as a result of his announced intent to sign into law the indefinite detention bill embedded in the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). These denunciations come not only from the nation’s leading civil liberties and human rights groups, but also from the pro-Obama New York Times Editorial Page, which today has ... (more)
The outpouring of grief, goodwill, and teary encomia that has attended news of Christopher Hitchens' passing would—if he was anything like the persona he presented in print—have turned his stomach. He loathed sentiment, welcomed combat, and delighted in inflicting hard truths. In that spirit, it must not be forgotten in mourning him that he got the single most consequential decision in his life horrifically, petulantly wrong.
In its obituary, the New York Times quoted Hitchens' f... (more)
Should we just get it over with and change the spelling of America to "Amerika"? Every single day, the United States of America is becoming more like North Korea. In North Korea, the citizens are told that everything that they do needs to be monitored, tracked, recorded and very tightly controlled so that everyone can be kept safe. No dissent is allowed at all. If government officials in North Korea even suspect that you are thinking the wrong thing, your entire extended family can be shippe... (more)
The House has overwhelmingly passed HR 1540, frightening legislation that codifies the president’s totalitarian power to detain militarily terrorist suspects indefinitely without meaningful due process, including U.S. citizens captured on American soil. This legislation has many other horrible war-on-terror provisions, but the solidification of the Bush-Obama claim of imperial prerogative over imprisoning any soul in the world the pre... (more)
The U.S. Lies about the top-secret U.S. Stealth Drone the Iranians have now put on world display completely intact is typical of the U.S. Big Lies about almost everything important to their Global Empire, obviously including the existence of that U.S. Global Empire. First they denied it in non-denial denials in case the Iranians did have it, then they said it crashed somewhere unknown to the U.S., then they said it must have drifted by malfunction into Iran, then when the Iranians showe... (more)
“Eventually, we’ll have to put an end to this, one way or another.”
Sheriff Kelly Janke of North Dakota’s Nelson County uttered that ominous sentence in mid-September, during what the local media giddily described as a stand-off with local farmer Rodney Brossart and his family. By that time, Sheriff Jan... (more)
I like to think of myself as a pleasant and easy going person, but I just couldn’t help from being overcome with rage and disgust as I sat in my grimy holding cell this past Friday. The legal fees, the hassles, the boredom and the fact that I probably just lost my job definitely had me upset, but it was just the blatant corruption of the situation that I found to be absolutely sickening. The sheer arrogance and hubris exhorted by the mercenaries that were holding me and several others hostage.... (more)
US Attorney General Eric Holder is in hot water again over Operation Fast and Furious, in which federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives lost track of hundreds of guns they had encouraged firearms dealers to sell to suspected traffickers. It's the big sequel to BATFE's Operation Wide Receiver in which multiple guns were sold to suspected cartel buyers under BATFE surveillance in 2006 and 2007.
But the plot thickens, and goes in a direction that p... (more)
Years ago, at its inception, the Internal Revenue Service, was duly deputized as the primary government agency responsible for collecting all personal and business taxes. The IRS, as it is referred to by most, has, over the years, grown into a mammoth operation. Steadily and methodically expanding, and with the use of new technology, has become very, very proficient at keeping track of what working Americans earn, and conversely, how much earnings should be returned to feed the king’s co... (more)
Punishing politicians for corruption is like scolding the Black Death for killing folks.
So we can empathize with the fury, despair and "why-me?" shock that must have roiled Illinois’ former Congresscriminal and governor, Rod Blagojevich, at his arrest, trial, and conviction, let alone his sentencing last week on nebulous charges that boil down to … governing. Show me the politician who doesn’t swap favors and peddle influence as tirelessly as normal people breathe. ... (more)
For all the evidence of how the War on Drugs has failed society, there's equally as much evidence of how it is a great success to those who continue to support it. The drug war has many advantages if you wish to control society and expand your empire. It also enriches several industries that would otherwise have a very difficult time staying solvent without it.
Here are ten ways the War on Drugs is a wild success:
Military-Industrial Profits: As the Vietnam... (more)
Recently there's been a deal of talk about "sovereign default", ie the possibility that whole governments might go belly-up. That would be (alas) only in the sense of deciding not to pay their financial obligations. Something that's not supposed to happen, because every time you and I go to visit our money we are reassured by that pretty sticker on the teller's window, about how bank accounts are well insured. All backed by the "full faith and credit" of the FedGov. Ha!
Now that the 9-year military occupation of Iraq is presumably coming to an end, it would be appropriate to reflect on the Iraqi people who died as a result of the U.S. invasion and occupation of the country.
How many Iraqis have died in the process? We don’t know. The reason we don’t know is that the U.S. government did not keep count. Unlike U.S. soldiers killed over there, the Iraqi people were not deemed sufficiently important to keep track of how many were dying.
When the Center for American Progress’ Think Progress blog recently compiled all of the inspiring foreign policy successes of our nation’s strong and resolute Commander-in-Chief, they listed — alongside the assassination of a U.S. citizen without due process and increased deference to Israel — what they hailed as the President’s having “supported democratic transition in Egypt.” President Obama... (more)
