Search Results for: ukraine

Here Comes Ukrainian Hemp

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So the United States wants to buy hemp from the Ukraine. I suppose we should be happy. Anytime the U.S. government gives a country money that is not earmarked for weapons, we probably shouldn’t too closely examine the unelected neo-liberals and neo-Nazis handling the cash.  Nobody pays attention to the Saudi government or the oil, wars, and terrorism it provides in exchange for U.S. largesse.

Of course if the hemp buy is part of a larger package deal that impoverishes the Ukraine for read more

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The War Activists

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War activists, like peace activists, push for an agenda.  We don’t think of them as activists because they rotate in and out of government positions, receive huge amounts of funding, have access to big media, and get meetings with top officials just by asking — without having to generate a protest first. 

They also display great contempt for the public and openly discuss ways to manipulate people through fear and nationalism — further shifting their image away from that read more

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On Putin Ruining the World

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It is absolutely appropriate to condem Russian militarism in the Crimea. I recently did so on Russian TV and was yelled at for my trouble. But it must be noted that:
 
1. The United States promised Russia years ago that NATO would not expand “an inch” eastward (see account by President Ronald Reagan’s ambassador to the USSR in the New York Times of April 20, 1999);

2. NATO has rapidly expanded eastward (having already added the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, read more

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Will Obama Denounce MLK as Memorial Dedicated?

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That sounds like a crazy question, doesn’t it?  Why would President Obama denounce Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Well, the reason I ask is that he’s done it before.

Really?  But surely he wouldn’t do it on such a solemn occasion? 

Well, the time he did it before was in a Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech.

When President Barack Obama joined the ranks of Henry Kissinger and the other gentle souls who have received Nobel Peace Prizes, he did read more

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Obama on Libya: What Would MLK Say?

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President Obama on Monday said he would “never hesitate” to use the U.S. military “unilaterally” to defend “interests” and “values,” including “maintaining the flow of commerce.” Fear of exactly that led the founders of this republic to give Congress the exclusive power to declare war. James Madison did not believe any single individual could be trusted with such power:

“The strongest passions and most dangerous weaknesses of the read more

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The Art of Demonization

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One of the oldest excuses for war is that the enemy is irredeemably evil. He worships the wrong god, has the wrong skin and language, commits atrocities, and cannot be reasoned with. The long-standing tradition of making war on foreigners and converting those not killed to the proper religion “for their own good” is similar to the current practice of killing hated foreigners for the stated reason that their governments ignore women’s rights. From among the rights of women encompassed read more

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Be the Peace You Want to See on Earth

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By David Swanson

“And the bewildered herd is still believing
Everything we’ve been told from our birth
Hell they won’t lie to me
Not on my own damn TV
But how much is a liar’s word worth
And what happened to peace on earth”
–Willie Nelson

When President Barack Obama joined the ranks of Henry Kissinger and the other gentle souls who have received Nobel Peace Prizes, he did something that I don’t think anyone else had previously done in a Peace Prize acceptance read more

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A Debate on Violence: Ted Rall and David Swanson

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A Nonviolent Exchange of Views in Four Parts
1. Don’t You Know That You Can Count Me Out – In
By David Swanson

Ted Rall’s new book “The Anti-American Manifesto” advocates for violent revolution, even if we have to join with rightwingers and racists to do it, and even if we have no control over the outcome which could easily be something worse than what we’ve got. We have a moral duty, Rall argues, to kill some people.

Now, I much prefer a debate over what radical read more

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Don't You Know That You Can Count Me Out – In

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Ted Rall’s new book “The Anti-American Manifesto” advocates for violent revolution, even if we have to join with rightwingers and racists to do it, and even if we have no control over the outcome which could easily be something worse than what we’ve got. We have a moral duty, Rall argues, to kill some people.

Now, I much prefer a debate over what radical steps to take to a debate over whether it’s really appropriate for President Obama to whine about people’s read more

Don't You Know That You Can Count Me Out – In Read More »