Author Archives: John Stanton

A nation that refuses to take care of all of its mothers and all of its young children has no future. Continue reading →

On 24 February, US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel held a press conference to announce some of the details of Pentagon’s 2015 budget. Beyond the news of cuts in war-fighting machinery and personnel—and the pox of “irresponsible” sequestration on the federal government—Hagel made a point of indicating that the world is becoming an increasingly volatile place. He also seemed to express a bit of disgust for nation building of the type attempted by the USA in Iraq and Afghanistan. Continue reading →

Get the cure before you become part of the swarm. Continue reading →

The USA and European Union (EU) continue on their downward trajectory in the 14th year of the 21st Century. The perpetual state of war against terror, drugs, immigrants, the press and whistle-blowers moves on uninhibited. Another war, this time named Austerity, is being waged by USA and EU leaders against the middle and lower classes. Youth are particularly hard hit with the average unemployment rate in the EU at 23 percent. In the USA the figure is 17 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But never mind that. Continue reading →

The documentary “Black Fish” reminds one that “intelligence” and the human species do not necessarily equate. And it shows just how humanity’s bloodthirsty ignorance knows no bounds even in its dealings with a peaceful, incredibly intelligent and social species like the Orca (Killer Whales). They have not once killed a human being on the high seas, but have done so at SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc., after the abuse and torture that they have suffered over the years. Some of their human counterparts are captives in Guantanamo Bay. Continue reading →

Glenn Greenwald’s Snowden dossier concerning the American Leviathan’s practice of harvesting, storing and analyzing the information/conversations of its own and the world’s political, military, economic and cultural gatekeepers is fascinating. This is so not due to the technological sophistication and global reach of the USA’s intelligence capabilities, but for what it implies about the current state and future of the collective nation-states known as Western Democracies. And it undercuts nearly every ideal in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, leaving the dry, functional and core text of the US Constitution as the last mooring line to—paraphrasing Russell Crowe in the movie The Gladiator—“The dream that was once the United States.” It also challenges the foundations of the “free” market and “free will”: but more on that in a moment. Continue reading →

All the media bluster and folly surrounding whistleblower Edward Snowden is detracting from critical thinking that Americans must engage in and act upon. At this moment, benefits from the Snowden data dump appear to be accruing to the US government and its assorted defense related corporate interests. If the American national security apparatus is to be checked and balanced, structural changes must take place. Substance must be ascendant, form can come later. Continue reading →

At one time, it seems decades ago now, the general thinking in the USA was that President Barack Obama would jolt the American political system into actually doing something beneficial for its citizens rather than spying on them, building F-35 aircraft, upgrading nuclear weapons, spending trillions of dollars (US) on national security, cutting unemployment benefits/food stamps, fomenting war with Iran, Syria, China and Russia; and dragging out the war in Afghanistan. Continue reading →

The American Suicide Gunman has joined the ranks of the Jihadist Suicide Bomber. Both are products of their cultures. Continue reading →

What’s the point in Stars and Stripes flying full staff anymore? What joy or pride is there in looking up at the American flag when it seems that each week it is lowered for this and that death, current or past? And knowing that over the last three decades or so, most of those deaths and sacrifices would turn out to be at the altar of dismal failure (except for those promoted or who profited in stock and US dollars). Continue reading →

“After the industries of death brought about by the gas chambers and concentration camps, the industries of life now offer the possibility of a genetically modified human race, calling into question humans born of blood and sperm and therefore the wild, the natural part of humanity. The “naturals” would become the new savages with augmented people leading a new humanity shaped less by political totalitarianism than bioengineering. And now we have entered the question of hyper racism. The deadly consequences of the great ecological fear are extremely disturbing. We are at risk of seeing not military dissuasion established between powers, but civil dissuasion between people. Continue reading →