The Jaded Prole

A Progressive Worker's Perspective on the political and cultural events of our time.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Economics of Calamity

Ever wondered why anyone would deny the reality of Global warming as vociferously as some do and why business interests in particular seem so intransigent on the issue? Could it be because any realistic approach to doing what is necessary to preserve the biosphere requires the end of capitalism? Are profits for the few really worth the destruction of civilization and maybe life on earth? Do capitalists really have a choice or is the system itself a juggernaut out of control? What should we do about it? What can we do? Here is an interesting article exploring the economic realities of our ecological crisis.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Green Party Candidates Speak

Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente are genuine progressive candidates worthy of support. If Progressives can't support an alternative to the corporatocracy than we won't have one and we won't be heard.


Saturday, July 19, 2008

Rove Welcomed With Trial In Virginia Beach

Monday, July 14, 2008

Why an Attack on Iran is Unlikely

Scott Ritter lays out the recently displayed reality of Iranian Military strength that makes an attack by the US or Israel unlikely. The consequences, not just for the region but for the US and world economy outweigh any possible gains -- including the delusional neocon goal of entrapment in endless conflict would be outweighed by the military, economic, and diplomatic losses and the Joint Chiefs know it.

What will likely continue, thanks to the authorization of leading Dimascraps, is the infiltration and disruption within Iran by US operatives including our military as reported by Seymour Hersh. Even that however is courting further disaster.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Leiberman Must Go!

Despite leaving the Democratic Party to run for Office and serving as a neocon ally of the present criminal junta, Leiberman maintains a powerful position as a Democrat. It's time for him to be removed by popular demand -- read more and sign the petition.

Sunday, July 06, 2008

Mission Accomplished

Aside from the exorbitant and unproductive costs of our foreign occupations and the export of productive industry, our US economy is grinding to a halt because of the rising price of the oil upon which our society depends. The following article from Truthdig shows this to be an utter failure for this incompetent and criminal administration and if anything, a victory for Bin Laden! --

In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of 9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances against the U.S. that Americans “have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims” by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should be $144, bin Laden demanded.

Ten years ago today, the price of a barrel of oil was just $11. Heading into this holiday weekend, the price of a barrel of oil rested at $144 — a thirteen-fold increase.

One month after 9/11, the New York Times wrote of possible “nightmare” scenarios that would deliver bin Laden’s goal. Neela Banerjee warned that among the “misguided decisions” that would put oil supplies at risk would be “that the United States attacks Iraq.” The Times included this quote in its story:

“If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he’d turn off the tap,” said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. “He said at one point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel” — about six times what it sells for now.

Bin Laden didn’t have to become king of Saudi Arabia to achieve his goal; in fact, Bush’s policies delivered it for him. The Bush administration’s catastrophic decision to invade Iraq, sink the nation into debt to pay for that war, and consequently, weaken the dollar have all caused oil prices to soar astronomically.

Testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee last May, Anne Korin, the co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, reminded Congress about bin Laden’s goal:

About ten years ago, Osama bin Laden stated that his target price for oil is $144 a barrel and that the American people, who allegedly robbed the Muslim people of their oil, owe each Muslim man, woman, and child $30,000 in back payments. At the time, $144 a barrel seemed farfetched to most. […]

I would like to impress upon this Committee that $144 a barrel oil will be perceived as a victory for the Jihadist movement and a reaffirmation that the economic warfare component of its campaign against the West is a resounding success. There is no need to elaborate on the implications of such a victory in terms of loss of U.S. prestige and our ability to prevail in the Long War of the 21st century.

Indeed, ten years later, a mission accomplished for bin Laden.

Friday, July 04, 2008

Independence?

I haven't been making any comments here recently as I've been too busy with other things like getting out the Blue Collar Review and trying to survive four months of unemployment. I have taken training to do what I like (that might pay) and if I can find a job with it (bartending) I might make it. Just as likely, given the economy of a failed system, I won't.

As Today is the fouth of July, I'll repost a still relevant piece I wrote a few years ago:

Undeclaration

It was a good idea      once
inalienable rights and the abolition
of tyranny      but
we've mucked it up,   this great
American Experiment
our own inbred aristocracy madder
that noon-baked Englishmen with
crimes and usurpations running amok,
torn bodies and new hatreds in every
casbah      tentacles
in every pocket and a
knife at every throat
and we wage slave
descendants of the free
sinking in the refuse of yesterday's bargains
punch clocked and jackbooting our way
to the fossil record at the speed of credit
with no payments 'till January --
a toxic spoor of ruined
places, broken lives and gulags.

We had a bad run but it's time
to come clean,
to admit our failure    to
examine the bloody Manifest
of our imagined Destiny.

Time to Repent
for mass graves and wars of false premise,
for all those dictators, our murky turkeys lurking
in every hot satrapy with trained goons keeping
bloody order and a quota of disappeared.



Time to admit
it was all a mistake
made in the bravado of our youth and
rejoin the Commonwealth
Stop seeing stars and turn in our
bloody stripes
be British again
take tea and healthcare   claim
our place      lordless
in the house of commons where
Empire is only a memory
best forgotten.

On another note, if we are to celebrate the fourth of July, "Independence Day" as a day of nationalism -- a variety of separatism, then let the Fifth of July be known as Interdependence Day -- a celebration of our mutual dependence on each other globally and across species lines. Let's pause to appreciate the entire web of life and the many hands, backs and minds that make our lives possible.