Links With Your Coffee Wednesday
Avoid waiting for your comments to be approved register using TypeKey if you choose not to use typekey I have to approve your comments. That may take only a few minutes but often takes several hours.
If you leave a comment please follow the rules. Criticize ideas. Do not criticize people. This means do not substitute criticism of the person for criticism of the idea. Do not make off-topic comments. Repeated abuse of the rules will result in your commenting privileges being revoked or your comments being deleted.
"All truth is simple." Is that not doubly a lie?—Nietzsche
The U.S. military has lost control over the volatile al-Anbar province, Iraqi police and residents say. . ."We are talking about nearly a third of the area of Iraq," Ahmed Salman, a historian from Fallujah told IPS. "Al-Anbar borders Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and the resistance there will never stop as long as there are American soldiers on the ground."
Salman said the U.S. military is working against itself. "Their actions ruin their goal because they use these huge, violent military operations which kill so many civilians, and make it impossible to calm down the people of al-Anbar."
The resistance seems in control of the province now. "No government official can do anything without contacting the resistance first," government official in Ramadi Abu Ghalib told IPS.
Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin's wonderful new book explains why music is a critical step in human evolution and why the songs we loved as teens remain stuck on "play" in our heads.
Reclaiming The Issues: Islamic Or Republican Fascism?
In the years since George W. Bush first used 9/11 as his own "Reichstag fire" to gut the Constitution and enhance the power and wealth of his corporate cronies, many across the political spectrum have accused him and his Republican support group of being fascists.
Over U.S. Objections, Israel Approves West Bank Homes
And why not, there will be no price to pay. The Israel Lobby will see to that.
The Construction and Housing Ministry published advertisements on Monday seeking construction proposals for the largest settlement activity undertaken by this government. Israel has also promised President Bush that it will pull down more than 20 illegal outposts created since March 2001, but has not done so.The Bush administration’s position is that Israel should not expand settlements in the West Bank, because it makes the process of a final agreement harder. In general, much of the world considers Israeli settlements in territory seized in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem, to be illegal, which Israel disputes."
And finally a nation of morons
Comments
If the GOP gains ten seats in the House this Fall, then I'll say that maybe we're moving toward some kind of authoritarian regime. But we are not now, nor are likely to be in the near future, living under a facist government.
On any given day in any democracy, there are politicians (left and right) who are trying to do things which if successfull could lead to a dictatorship. Bush and his friends have tried more of this stuff because their base is fine with it, and they've gotten away with some of it because of 9/11. But facism isn't a situation where politicians are just pulling a few fast ones, but where the whole society is being reordered and mobilized, through the direct operations of the state and party, for the crushing of all dissent and for war.
Sheldon Wolin, a political theorist I have great respect for, called our current situation 'inverted fascism'--instead of the government mobilizing everyone for state activities including war, it's discouraging them to participate through fear. If that were true, it wouldn't be fascism (rather a kind of lazy, decadent mere dictatorship), but at any rate it isn't true. There's more participation on the left now than there was 10 years ago. There's more out-and-out Bush bashing, GOP bashing, evangelical-bashing and war bashing than there was 3 years ago. The Republicans are likely going to take a big electoral hit for it. This is fascism? No. It's not a good situation in our country or in the world, and we should be vigilant about it, but let's try to be a bit more creative and find a better word for it than 'fascism'.
Were a nation of morons? i never woulda guess a nation that could actually RE!-Elect bush is stupid..... thanks fox news.
This is Your Brain on Music-- excellent link/topic. It would be interesting to hear about research into the "Apollonian" (and Dionysian) aspects of music. What does it do to your brain if you're on something cooked up in a Hinde-meth lab, as opposed to being on Rap, Techno, or (my favorite) disco?
Post a comment