Allen L Roland

We can no longer blame our leaders, starting with President Obama, for betraying our trust and demand for change ~ for the time has come for Americans to realize that WE are the ones we have been waiting for.

In 2008, I was one of the millions of Americans who voted for change. I felt Barack Obama represented a needed change from the blatant deception and lies of the Cheney/Bush administration.

I was one the millions of Americans who celebrated Barack Obama's victory and the chance for a new people oriented direction in Washington ~ based on integrity, transparency and honesty.

Little did I realize that a great river was beginning to flow.

I am now one of the millions of Americans who feel let down, if not betrayed, by President Obama and his promises of a new transparency in government, a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the closing of guantanamo, the end of torture and renditions, the end of illegal spying of American citizens as well as the prosecution of those who betrayed our constitution.

Full story »

by Phil Rockstroh

I was born, at slightly past the midpoint of the Twentieth Century, in the deep south city of Birmingham, Alabama -- "The Heart of Dixie." My earliest memories are of a time of societal upheaval and cultural trauma. At the time, as the world witnessed and history chronicles, Birmingham could be an ugly, mean place. My father, employed at the time as a freelance photo-journalist, would arrive home from work, his clothes redolent of tear gas, his adrenal system locked in overdrive, his mind reeling, trying to make sense of the brutality he witnessed, perpetrated by both city officials and ordinary citizens, transpiring on the streets of the city.

Full story »

Mary Shaw

Like many other progressive Democrats who are disappointed in President Obama's failure so far to bring about as much social change as we had hoped for, I've been pondering the alternatives.

If John McCain had won the White House, this country would surely be in far worse straits -- perhaps with even more war, even less corporate regulation, and an even worse economy. So obviously we are lucky that McCain did not win.

But what if Hillary Clinton had defeated Obama in the primaries and had gone on to win the White House? How would things be different if she were President?

Full story »

by Stephen Lendman

An earlier article discussed Iraq's dire conditions after seven years of occupation, and over a decade of sanctions, accessed through the following link:

http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/04/iraq-today-afflicted-by-violence.html

It presents a grim overall picture, besides Gideon Polya's September 13, 2010 estimated eight million "War on Terror" deaths, mostly in Iraq, what he calls "avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality" ones, accessed through the following link:

Full story »

By Michael Collins
Part I of III

WASHINGTON - Selected to run by the powerful and wealthy, promising the public one thing and delivering another after elected, the President of the United States is the focus of a new political doctrine - the unitary executive. The office of the president has rapidly become a law unto itself over the past ten years. (Image)

Some time before February 2010, the President of the United States authorized the assassination of a U.S. citizen living overseas. The citizen was identified by the White House as a terrorist.

Full story »

Aetius Romulous

In a world of fragile mortal beings, the corporation is a cyborg.

A corporation is nothing more than a legal construct, a packet of documents and papers that conforms to law (or more properly, has law conform to it). The corporation is a "virtual person" - a cyborg. It has been unchanged in its essential form since the first corporations were designed in the early 17th century. Its purpose was - as it is today - to concentrate the capital of individuals, provide that concentration with legal protections and rights under law and legislation, and to then use that concentrated capital to create profits from projects beyond the scope and reach of individual mortal men.

Full story »

Ellen Brown

“Maybe this is like shock therapy. Maybe this will actually get the lenders to the table and encourage them to work out deals that are to the benefit of everybody.”

--Economist Karl E. Case, quoted in the New York Times  

The hits are coming fast and furiously.  Major Wall Street mortgage lenders could soon be falling like dominos – and looking again for handouts.

On September 20th, Ally Financial Inc., which owns GMAC Mortgage, the nation’s 4th largest lender, halted evictions and resale of repossessed homes in 23 states.  This was after a document processor for the company admitted that he had signed off on 10,000 pieces of foreclosure paperwork a month without reading them.  The 23 states were all those where foreclosures must be approved by a court, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and Illinois.

Full story »

By Von Helman

The college dormitory is often considered a sacred and hallowed place where ones first real in depth sexual exploits often occur usually in a mix of alcohol and deep self exploration, however was violating this sacred and secret dorm room tradition really what has caused this firestorm of controversy and protest on the school campus where recently two friends secretly recorded their roommate engaged in sex?

While originally considered a practical joke the unintended consequences is that a young man committed suicide after discovering his two friends betrayed his trust and secretly recorded him having sex with another man and putting that video live on the internet. So maybe in part the malicious nature of the alleged perpetrators actions of recording and then posting that video on line for millions to see is what caused the outrage but I think it goes a little deeper than that.

This incident raises some very valid questions and ones that are very complex because where was the line crossed? Was it the fact they secretly recorded him, or was it that this recording was filmed in a college dorm room? Or was that line crossed when the video was sent live out over the internet for millions to view? Or “D”, all of the above?

Full story »

by Von Helman

Is it just me, or am I the only one hearing more Americans saying; “I love my country, I just don’t like the government that’s running it” Ok maybe some will ask me where the hell I’ve been because these comments have been going on for some time but I ask hasn’t there always been a worldwide discord between citizens and their governments all throughout history?

The USA is no different when it comes to this discord, especially today with all the political division that’s taken place. More Americans (and even foreigners) are proclaiming shame and anger towards the US government with calls for accountability, reform, and even some for revolution.

I can say my personal list of disdain for the US Federal Government and their actions would be so voluminous that it would crash even the largest server, or take so much paper that it would deplete the Pacific Northwest’s abundance of trees. But I also have to admit I have a certain disdain for the apathy that many Americans have. They mill through life thinking somehow, some way, things will get better or someone else will solve their problems, especially after they witness the consequences of their current politicians in DC, regardless of party affiliation, and more so with the current congress, and the clowns running it.

Full story »

Allen L Roland

This is definitely now Obama's great Recession and his top down decision to bail out Wall Street , at the expense of Main Street, has left millions of Americans in an economic free fall with no real end in sight.

AP reveals that the top-earning 20 percent of Americans ~ those making more than $100,000 each year ~ received 49.4 percent of all income generated in the U.S., compared with the 3.4 percent earned by those below the poverty line, according to newly released census figures. That ratio of 14.5-to-1 was an increase from 13.6 in 2008 and nearly double a low of 7.69 in 1968.

Full story »