Category: Aggregated

Athens – I am walking on a wide pedestrian road beneath the Acropolis within 200 meters of the remaining Themistoclean wall and the ancient cemetery to eminent Athenians. One side is lined with splendid neo-classical houses, none of them abandoned but most of them shuttered and locked up. This is the area where once upon a time Pericles, Themistocles and Alcibiades – to name three – trod, orated and debated non-stop. Back in those good old days we Athenians ruled supreme. Reason, logic and restraint placed us at the head of the queue, and genius also helped. I am climbing … Continue reading →

Religion and Legend Religion (noun) A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. In this article, I intend to explore the legends underlying the American religion.  By American religion, I mean to suggest the belief by a large segment of the population in the structures and institutions of government, and the belief that these structures and institutions are used for purposes beneficial to the people.  … Continue reading →

Despite the high stakes involved in the confrontation between nuclear-armed Russia and the United States over Ukraine, the U.S. intelligence community has not updated its assessment on a critical turning point of the crisis – the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 – since five days after the crash last July 17, according to the office of the Director of National Intelligence. On Thursday, when I inquired about arranging a possible briefing on where that U.S. intelligence assessment stands, DNI spokesperson Kathleen Butler sent me the same report that was distributed by the DNI on July 22, 2014, which relied … Continue reading →

In the famous calypso song Coconut Woman, the singer croons…“Get your coconut water, It’s good for your daughter…” While there’s ample truth in that, coconut is good for the rest of the family too. The song continues: “Coco got a lot of iron, Make you strong like a lion.” I’m not sure if there is enough evidence to prove that coconut water could indeed make you as strong as a lion, but researchers are singing praises of coconut water’s many health benefits. Coconut water is the ultimate thirst quencher and offers a tasty alternative to water. People all over the world … Continue reading →

“Silence; We’re Studying for Our Pregnancy Test” (2008), “Your Kids: Dumb, Difficult and Dispensable” (2010), “Higher Education Is A Hard Row To Ho” (2014): The author of such titles is well aware of how stupid, on average, American millennials are. She has been for some time. The 2010 piece aforementioned warned that “the electronic toys our dim, attention-deficient darlings depend on to sustain brain waves are made, for the most, by older people,” and that “the hi-tech endeavor consist in older Americans and Asians uniting to supply young, twittering twits with the playthings that keep their brainwaves from flatlining.” According … Continue reading →

President George W. Bush’s national security advisor, Condi Rice, warned Americans that Saddam Hussein’s (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction could result in a mushroom cloud going up over an American city. No such threat existed. But today a very real threat exists over all American cities, and the national security advisor does not notice. The threat issues from Washington and arises from the demonization of Russia and its leadership. Wolf Blitzer (CNN, March 13) used the cover of a news program to broadcast a propaganda performance straight out of the Third Reich or perhaps from George Orwell’s 1984. The orchestration … Continue reading →

Jesse Ventura has long been discussed as a possible candidate for the Libertarian Party (LP) presidential nomination. Now Ventura is addressing the issue himself. Ventura seems to want to use the Libertarian Party as a vehicle for ballot access without actually joining the party. He plans to run on the claim that if elected he will be the first President since George Washington who is not a member of any party, and joining the LP would obviously invalidate this talking point. Ventura appears to envision an anti-Establishment fusion campaign, because he mentions former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as a potential running … Continue reading →

Extra virgin olive oil has become fashionable in health circles because it’s the predominant fat used in the Mediterranean diet, a diet shown to reduce risk of death for all causes. Italian extra virgin olive oil is considered the best, and it is the most highly sought. The only thing bothersome here is the fact that when you buy a bottle of Italian extra virgin olive oil, you may not get what you think you are getting, because olive oil tops the list for agricultural fraud. An intergovernmental organization known as the International Olive Council (IOC) based in Madrid, Spain … Continue reading →

Iceland has dropped its bid to join the European Union, the Foreign Ministry in Reykjavik says. The announcement follows pledges made by the country’s euro-skeptic government since winning the 2013 election. Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson, the Icelandic foreign minister, said in a statement that he had informed Latvia, the current EU president, and the European Commission that his center-right government had decided to withdraw its application, which was submitted six years ago. “The EU and Iceland have discussed the country’s position on the status of its bid to join the European Union,” the statement reads. “The government does not intend to … Continue reading →

Americans still think the federal government can and should solve problems. This is their default mode. At the same time, they do not think Washington is competent. This is what is sometimes called cognitive dissonance. Lack of trust is across the boards: in the presidency, Congress, and the Supreme Court. Here are the latest findings. Americans’ confidence in all three branches of government is at or near record lows, according to a major survey that has measured attitudes on the subject for 40 years. The 2014 General Social Survey finds only 23 percent of Americans have a great deal of … Continue reading →

The American Empire has been long in the making. A green light was given in 1990 to finalize that goal. Dramatic events occurred that year that allowed the promoters of the American Empire to cheer. It also ushered in the current 25-year war to solidify the power necessary to manage a world empire. Most people in the world now recognize this fact and assume that the empire is here to stay for a long time. That remains to be seen. Empires come and go. Some pop up quickly and disappear in the same manner. Others take many years to develop … Continue reading →

Since American Sniper has become one of the “top grossing films of all time”, garnering a few Academy Award nominations and at least one, if trivial, award, there have been even more reviews written about this insidious and insipid strip of celluloid. Unsurprisingly all of them contain the same swill. I had to return to my own review just to see if I had perhaps omitted anything essential or if anyone might have thought in an at least similar direction. The defensive focus of vocal support for the film is equally and unsurprisingly the condition of “veterans”. In fact this … Continue reading →