History
LACKING THE WISDOM OF JFK
"Nuclear powers must avert those confrontations which bring an adversary to a choice of either a humiliating retreat or a nuclear war. To adopt that kind of course in the nuclear age would be evidence only of the bankruptcy of our policy — or of a collective death-wish for the world." – John F. Kennedy
The slaughter of an estimated 3 million people in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia during the U.S. war on Vietnam was based on lies.
The bombing of Yugoslavia under Clinton was based on lies.
The incineration of hundreds of thousands in Iraq under W. Bush ...
Reasons to Abolish Nuclear Weapons
“The likelihood of a nuclear catastrophe is greater today than during the cold war, and the
public is completely unaware of the danger.” Former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry
“American leaders have declared that nuclear weapons will remain the cornerstone of US
national security indefinitely. In truth...nuclear weapons are the sole military source of our
national insecurity. We, and the whole world, would be much safer if nuclear weapons were
abolished.” Rear Admiral Eugene J. Carroll, USN (Ret.)
Nuclear Weapons did not go away ...
JUST MONEY SIX
“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, banks and corporations will grow to deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.” – Thomas Jefferson
What Jefferson warned about two centuries ago, has come to pass.
People seem unable to comprehend that money doesn’t exist in nature and somebody has to create money OUT OF THIN AIR.
This ...
The Jefferson Project: Thomas Jefferson’s Death Day and a Fourth of July Remembrance
Back in the mid-1980s, an outfit called Anvil Press published a book of mine. Its title was—still is—Nature’s Unruly Mob: Farming and the Crisis in Rural Culture. The topic (or its urgency) hasn’t gone away.
Anvil Press printed the book as a special issue of its occasional quarterly magazine, North Country Anvil. The magazine was full of larger-issue farm news and analysis, and it made the Anvil shop a hub and gathering spot for farm activists—all this in southeastern Minnesota, in a village called Millville, nestled below limestone bluffs, through which the ...
Profiles in Patriotism
In my writing I have frequently questioned the false narratives and harmful beliefs fostered by politicians and the media on our patriotic holidays. Why is patriotism considered the highest virtue? Why is military service always portrayed as the ultimate in patriotism? Why are other public servants who sacrifice for others not honored as patriots? Why is constructive criticism of our country branded as unpatriotic? Why isn't patriotic fervor used to mobilize people for good change instead of wars?
Historian Howard Zinn taught us that “dissent is the highest form of ...
JUST MONEY FOUR
Money and wealth are not the same thing.
Money is simply a medium of exchange – a legally accepted claim to wealth. Money doesn’t exist in nature and is generally created out of thin air by the central governments of nations. In our modern world 97% of money doesn’t physically exist. It’s just record keeping on computer screens. The distribution of money – who possesses it – determines the allocation and distribution of the wealth of a nation.
Wealth is the physical ability to provide for the wellbeing of the people of a society. Wealth is food, clothing, ...
On Tolerance
Tolerance is essential to our society. But intolerance is increasing in our country. People are increasing divided over religion, politics, ethnicity, race, sexuality and, it seems, just about everything. With the celebration of Juneteenth it seems appropriate to revisit this important topic. This article was originally written in 2017 but is, unfortunately, still relevant.
“Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.” President John F. Kennedy
“Tolerance is giving to every other ...
The Address of an Uninvited Keynote Speaker
I wrote the following in one fell swoop after receiving a call from a young friend. He was relaying a tentative invitation—or the possibility of a tentative invitation—that immediately excited me into eight hand-written pages without a pee break. That was quite an accomplishment for an old man.
Well, the possible tentative invitation fell through. It failed to materialize. I’m not sure why. My inner hermit was relieved. My constricted soapbox manager was, at least for a while, beside himself with deflated bubbles.
But here are the hastily scribbled pages, ...
Manufacturing Enemies
“Once weapons were manufactured to fight wars. Now wars are manufactured to sell weapons.” Arundhati Roy, novelists, human rights and environmental activist.
In order to manufacture wars one must also manufacture enemies. Over the years, our government has been remarkably prolific at manufacturing enemies. Most of these alleged enemies were not a threat to our “national security” in any significant way. Most of these enemies did not have the military, economic or logistical capacity to be a serious threat to anyone. But these enemies did provide the excuse for ...