Typically, people argue to defend what they do (or believe), attacking opposing views where they can, and ignoring arguments they haven’t considered. Continue reading
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Author Archives: Paul Balles
Right to resist oppression
In August 2004, Richard Hugus, critic of progressive injustice, wrote an article on the “Lies of the Israeli Peace Movement.” Continue reading
Who are the terrorists?
When Helen Thomas told a rabbi that the Jews should go back to where they came from, he asked where that would be. Continue reading
Online freedom under threat
On November 23, British inventor of the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee, warned that “Internet surveillance by British and US spying agencies has posed a threat to online freedom and the future of democracy.” Continue reading
Untamed nature: Is the world ready for another tsunami?
Since the beginning of recorded history, mankind has struggled with the destructive forces of nature. Continue reading
Israeli hawks resisting deals
To the Israelis, any deal made between the world powers and Iran would be a bad deal. Continue reading
Israeli settlers burning and uprooting Palestinians’ olive trees
This is the olive picking season. Like other harvests, it should be a season of joy. However, the land-grabbing occupiers of Palestine have imbued Israeli youth with the destructive arrogance of conceited, swaggering, self-loving Jews. Continue reading
Israel benefits as world loses
What started off as Arab Spring has turned morbidly into Arab Fall. What began as a seasonal description became directional and self-destructive. Continue reading
Islamophobic injustice
Sami Al-Arian’s story is one of the most appalling tales of brutal, horrifying, unjust treatment of a Palestinian victimized by Americans. Continue reading
Filtered, slanted and censored media
Twenty years ago several journalists expressed concern that the number of major news sources in America had diminished to fifty. Today, conglomerates have bought up most of those news sources; and the number of major news sources controlling the media has been reduced to six! Continue reading
Mass media madness
Television anchors and their guests waste hours of viewer’s time. Continue reading
Dealing with deceivers
Most of us have favourite causes; and many will go out of their way to defend those causes. Continue reading
The practice of preemption
We’re now living and dying in an age of preemptive actions. Continue reading
Indulging in fallacies
“Apparently, you are too stupid to comprehend the difference between an insult and an ad hominem argument,” someone argued. Continue reading
America’s bridges are falling down, falling down . . .
SEATTLE, Washington—An Interstate 5 bridge collapsed into the Skagit River, dumping two vehicles and a trailer in the waters north of Mount Vernon. A law-enforcement source said 150 yards of the interstate dropped into the water. Continue reading
Protected by guilt and fear
How do most Americans react to criticism of Israel? Those who know little about the history avoid discussion. Continue reading
Wake up call for America
I’m tired of politics, of the injustices, the corruption, the assassinations, the gross illegal behaviour of the strong, the plundering of the poor and the indignities wrought on the weak. Continue reading
Hypocrisy of US war on terrorism
“I don’t have a single American friend,” said Tamarlan Tsarnaev “I don’t understand them.” Continue reading
Greatest purveyor of violence
In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967—a year to the day before he was murdered—the Reverend Martin Luther King called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” Continue reading
Worldviews of America
Terms like justice, democracy, freedom and moral accountability are generalized with varied meanings for different people. They also mean something different for citizens of other countries who want to live in America. Continue reading
Shift in war hawks
Watch out for a shift in war hawks. Before the Iraq war, at least a dozen in the U.S. administration and major media spread enough propaganda to silence the majority of Americans. Continue reading
The social cost of Israeli aid
Josh Reubner, Grassroots Advocacy Coordinator for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation says “Israel stands to lose approximately $250 million of its $3.1 billion military aid package from the United States under the terms of the sequestration.” Continue reading
Future thought
A book that gave cause for thought in1970, Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock, predicted some difficult tomorrows. Toffler presented clear evidence of how the speed of change had increased drastically as human progress pushed forward. Continue reading
Harnessing the imagination
One of the most dismal futuristic images I’ve seen was recently painted by Chris Hedges in the opening of an article he entitled A Time for “Sublime Madness.” Continue reading
Paranoia run wild
Thinking ahead is one thing. Preemptive thinking is paranoia run wild. Continue reading
Who are the real terrorists?
The US Code defines terrorism as a crime that appears to be intended to (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by assassination or kidnapping. Continue reading
Deadly drones and the blowback they are engendering
Relatively little has appeared in the mainstream media about recent drone warfare. Continue reading
Murdering the truth
Judging from the latest Israeli attacks on Gaza with its bombs and missiles, Palestinian journalists have been doing their best to get the news reported. Continue reading
End military suicides by silencing the war drums
Some of the important news gets reported quickly and is then forgotten just as hurriedly. The following, from CBS Chicago, reported on May 10, 2012, provides an example of an under-reported event. Continue reading
Greatest threats to democracy are ignorance and apathy
Yesterday I was angry. Today, I’m tired; but I refuse to be apathetic. Continue reading
Who is the middle class?
It’s sad that Barak Obama had to be the first black to be elected president. Continue reading
No escape from surveillance
Posted on January 22, 2014 by Paul Balles
Judging from all the reports, America’s National Security Agency (NSA) can do just about anything involving the communication of just about anyone. Continue reading →