Stalin was right

Stalin said that the person who counted the votes determines the winner.  He was right;

http://www.ukprogressive.co.uk/breaking-retired-nsa-analyst-proves-gop-is-stealing-elections/article20598.html

This is very troubling.

Kill lists now official US policy

There is no longer any doubt that the US President is acting as if he has the right to order the murder of anyone in the world without any public notice, presentation of evidence, or opportunity to appeal these death orders.  Read Glenn Greenwald's article about this obscene practice:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/24/obama-terrorism-kill-list

'They hate us for our freedoms' ...

Here's an example of how the brave security boys in Afghanistan are representing the west:

http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/17/video-shows-drunk-stoned-us-security-contractors-while-on-duty/

I'm so glad Canada was part of this process!  (Hint: ... irony ....).

"Debate" among those with lots to hide

Just in case you were left with a feeling of unease regarding the 'spontaneity' of the US Presidential debates, here is the reason things seem so stilted and phony:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/16/presidential-debate-issues

Nobody is allowed to ask the right questions, nor refute BS in real time.  It's all a pleasant show for the kids (the great ignorant mass of the citizenry), like the way fighting relatives behave when meeting up at grandpa's funeral.

Opportunity knocked flat by 'defence'

Here's an good explanation of why defence spending is so obscene:

http://warisacrime.org/content/all-war-local

The concept is that of opportunity costs.  Money is finite (there ain't no golden goose) and if you choose to spend money on stuff that is only useful to destroy things, then you do not have that money available to spend on something useful, like schools, hospitals, roads, infrastructure, etc., etc.

Glenn Greenwald and questions of bias:

Glenn analyzes the debate show last night to expose the important bias inherent in the actual questions that were asked.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/12/raddatz-debate-objectivity

It's the old "When did you stop beating your wife?" problem.  The questions assume as fact things which are usually blatantly wrong, and ask for responses to the question which do not deal with the actual problem.

Questions for the Presidential candidates

Here's some things that will not be asked of either Romney or Obama, for reasons which are not obvious to most North Americans who do not understand where the true power lies in our societies:

http://original.antiwar.com/engelhardt/2012/10/11/dont-ask-and-dont-tell/

Maybe you should ask these questions of yourselves to try and understand what it is that you cheer about as you 'support the troops'

Time for some introversion ...

Some astute thoughts about the contradictions that are accepted by most western people in order to justify the horrific acts committed by our governments:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/10/11

Is the them vs us paradigm so ingrained as to force our brains to accept winning by murder as the only solution to competitions at the international level?

Omar Khadr, some thoughts

Maher Arar puts forward some ideas about Omar Khadr's return to Canada after his sojourn with the US military:

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1266158---i-miss-being-trusted

If you have forgotten, Mr. Arar was also a guest of the Canadian-government-supported US system for a while.

Some things just need saying ...

... and Phil Giraldi says it very clearly:


http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2012/10/03/why-i-dislike-israel/

You certainly don't hear very many express these concepts.  Stuff to think about and rebut, perhaps?

If Iran has nukes ...

... it won't be attacked by the US and Israel.  So says the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/02/iran-nukes-deterrence

Iran has not started a war with anyone anywhere in the last 150 years.  Why start now?  It should, however, have the right to defend itself, even from the US and Canada, if attacked by them.

Two of the Good Guys, ...

Wylie and D'Arcy, discussing their world and its foibles:

Time to drop NATO as an entity

Interesting article from The Guardian (UK-based) supporting the comparo with CNN headlines in the entry from Oct 2, below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/02/why-british-soldiers-dying-in-afghanistan

I would love to see something like this is any Canadian or US newspaper, but I guess we couldn't stand the truth, if it ever were to be told to us.

Maybe I should have a cellphone after all ...

I really wanted to join the navy when I was a kid.

http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/02/us-navy-can-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-spy/

 I wonder when the "iSpyOnYou" app will be ready?  It would be a shame if iPhone afficianados were not included in the info 'sharing'.

US versus European news media

Nice to see that the important things are right up front in CNNland, isn't it?

What if every choice is bad?

This discussion by Justin Raimondo grapples with the problem faced by a voter when both candidates are despicable.  How do you prioritize your thinking in order to pick the candidate for whom you should vote, or if, indeed, to decide if there a benefit to not voting for either?

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2012/09/30/race-for-the-white-house-2012-whom-to-root-for/

He makes a strong case exposing the 'war' metaphor so commonly used these days, as a sham excuse to loot the citizenry and destroy their freedoms.  I would suggest that a state that chooses to start a war is actually committing a form of slow suicide by virtue of using its own finite supply of people and property for destructive rather than constructive purposes