Badfellas

We have been witness to the USA flaunting elemental standards and legal principles in recent years. It has arbitrarily imposed its will and wishes on nations and individuals. The fundamental principles that have existed since the Magna Carta have been perverted. We have entered a very dangerous time and the danger will remain long after the soldiers drag their tired bodies out of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tyranny flourishes unbridled in the world of street gangs, organized crime, and in fascistic dictatorships. Those with the most violent means rule. They use fear to impose their will on others. There is no notion of democracy, justice, or fair play. Imagine a world run by the Mafia or the Hell's Angels.

The modern world has developed systems and legal principles to ensure that power cannot be used arbitrarily. The founding fathers in America developed a system where checks and balances prevent any individual or group of individuals from exercising arbitrary and tyrannical power. But, as we have seen in America and in other societies, a determined group of leaders can run roughshod over these legal principles and render them meaningless.

There may be some good that comes out of these dark days. Bitter experience may provide us with wisdom if we examine the causes and take steps to prevent future recurrences. The bitter experience of the Nazi horror of the 30s and 40s have provided us with insight and legal principles to help prevent the same thing from happening again. The arbitrary abuses of monarchs through the ages have provided us with the wisdom to embrace democratic principles. Tyrants have compelled us to covet and embrace freedom.

And now, today, we have yet another horrific series of episodes ongoing. We must find the gold in this cesspool of murder, torture, and oppression.

Resuming the Authority of Law

When authority is abused there must be a means to deal with that. We must develop the means to stand up to the war pigs and the cruel tyrants of the world. We must develop an international body based in strict legal principles and unwavering responses to ensure that no person must endure the pain of helplessness in the face of cruelty. If an assessment indicates that there is a moderate or high risk, the authority of the offender must be curtailed or removed.

Generally, the state and state functionaries have no problem is stripping power that has been granted to people that are otherwise powerless. Parents, for instance, and especially parents with little economic means, may have their authority over their children removed if they abuse that privilege. In cases where the risk of abuse or neglect is assessed to be high, parents may lose all their authority and the children may be removed from the home. While this example may not be ideal, it makes the point. And the point is, those granted with power and authority must be curtailed if they abuse what has been granted to them.

Then there is George W. Bush and the American State. They can do what they want with impunity. They thumb their noses at the law and run amok like the genuine gangsters they are. And the rest of us sit back and watch, hardly able to digest this grotesque display of murder and mayhem. Helpless.

But we are only helpless because we believe it is so.

We only need to return to the most basic notions of universal justice to remedy this situation. To take a step back. The alternative is a future of savagery.

The stripping away of capricious and arbitrary rule for those that abuse it is a principle that must be universalized. No society and no person should be afflicted by the horror of being forced to live under their cruel dictates of an abusive tyrant. If a police force or a police officer tends to abuse Asian or Black people, the force must be altered to the point the risk is either low or non-existent. If an individual officer does it, he should no longer have that power. If a teacher abuses students, his or her power must be removed. And so on.

And if a state deems itself ruler of the planet, we must have the courage to not only remove them, but to install systemic processes that will prevent it from happening in the future.

As it is, the United Nations and the World Court are ineffective and that must be changed. The influence and power that some nations have at the United Nations renders the organization toothless. The status quo is not protecting people from terror and abuse.

The United Nations and World Court must be endowed with a strict set of legal principles regarding governance of nations, waging war, and the abuse of power. It must not be subject to political meddling. It must be endowed with the means to strip away power from the individual or set of individuals that have used their priviliged position to bully societies and individuals. America must be unseated from its assumed throne. And all other tyrannical states must be called to answer for their crimes. We do not have to tolerate this.

We simply cannot accept a future where those with the most firepower, money power, and psychotic minds get to rule the rest of us. It is the stuff of nightmarish futuristic fiction. But it is not fiction. We have entered the nightmare. The line has been crossed.

Canada's Shame

Imperialist history is rife with buried and known stories of young men sacrificed for nothing. Not for freedom, not for democracy, not for defense. They die for rulers that are hell bent on increasing their own wealth and power.

Those that die reside on a social margin that is similar in some respects to the marginal utility curve economists use. They live on a concentric circle that is neither too far away from or too close to the center of power. This particular class of young flesh is utilized because sacrificing young men too close to the centre of power is too bitter a pill for the rulers to swallow. It is unseemly, politically, to send youngsters that reside on an upper rung of the social ladder to their deaths. Those that are too far away from the ruler, politically, economically, and socially, will simply not fight. But the suffering young men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq are neither too close or too far away from the epicenter of American hegemony.

Human Sacrifices

Today's unfortunates in Afghanistan are Brits, Canadians, Dutch and Americans that are working class for the most part. And of those, Canadians and Brits are increasingly relied on to take part in suicide of either the mind or body. On top of that there are soldiers from about 30 nations making minimal contributions. They are paying lip service to the Great American War Machine because they have politicians with enough courage to at least push back when Uncle Sam tells them to kill.

Several months ago British and Canadian soldiers were ordered to place their minds and bodies in Kandahar and Helmund Provinces in Afghanistan. They were ordered to do so by George W. Bush; Blair and Steven Harper are mere mouthpieces. These politicians are not men. They are simple mindless lackeys that willingly sacrifice young men and women for no other reason than to further their own personal ambition; to curry favour with their betters. The Canadians and the Brits replaced American troops that had been in these volatile provinces. Undoubtedly, American intelligence informed the Americans to push more ideal sacrifices on front line. Bush needs to sacrifice more foreigners and less Americans. It's a political thing. There is no doubt Canadians and Brits would be in Baghdad if the Americans had the power to put them there. But they don't and for that we can thank Blair and Cretien. More to the point, we can thank British and Canadian opposition to Bush's madness.

Afghanistan is now facing the deadliest violence it has seen in five years. That's when the Americans invaded. The Taliban are back and they are determined to drive out the invaders. The same people that have driven out the mighty USSR and the same people that have driven out any and all foreseen invaders throughout history are angry, determined, and more sophisticated than ever. The heat is ratcheting up. These past few months have seen British and Canadian soldiers attacked and dying with increasing regularity. In Kabul, just this past week, a suicide bomber hit a convoy of American military vehicles killing at least 16 including American soldiers. The powerful blast delivered a concussion that shattered windows throughout downtown Kabul. Afghanistan is becoming another Iraq. Another killing field. Another hell on earth. It will get worse.

German soldiers are fortunate enough to have sufficient opposition to German meddling in Afghanistan to place them a step back from the more unfortunate British, Canadian, and Dutch troops. As a result, they are placed in the more placid north where the risk is minimal. They are unfortunate enough to have politicians that are willing to dance to King George's tune to the extend they can get away with it.

The strain is bound to increase and pressure will be placed on Merkel, by Bush, to send Germans and other NATO members into hell and into suicide. There will also be pressure as a result of strained international commitments in Lebanon, thanks to Bush's stupid foray where he ordered Israeli sacrifices to crush Hezbollah. Pressure will be especially applied to Harper in Canada to increase troop commitments in the heat of the battle.

Last week NATO defense lords agreed to bolster military resources in Afghanistan. These lords, like the politicians in the imperialist hinterland, are mere servants to big oil and weapons manufacturers. NATO is only fulfilling 85% of America's demand in Afghanistan. They are demanding an additional 2,500 troops as well as attack choppers.

Lest We Forget

On July 1, 1916 the Newfoundland Regiment was ordered, by British imperialists, to suicide themselves on the Somme and attack a well fortified German army. It was a suicide mission that would make Osama bin Laden blush. In half an hour the Newfoundlanders were decimated. Of the original 801 soldiers only 68 made it back. Most were slaughtered before they even got over their own front lines. By November, 620,000 of allied forces were killed to gain 10 kilometers of territory. The Newfoundlanders didn't know at the time that they were the most disposable in the eyes of French and British commanders. One Newfoundland soldier, Frank Mayo, wrote, “Tell all friends that the 1st Newfoundland is O.K., and never feels downhearted. We will make you all proud of us some day.” It would be the last thing he ever wrote. They were sent over the top a few days later.

As a result of this, Newfoundlanders, loyal citizens in a British colony, felt deeply betrayed. They were used as cannon fodder. They died in vain. They were sacrificed. This is but one of many examples of young men (and today, women) that have been ordered into death for no other reason than they were the most expendible.

Canadian, Dutch, German and British politicians are in the midst of a tug of war. On the one hand, the Americans are pulling them in one direction, screaming demands to get in there and die and kill. On the other hand, there is you and me, the people on the street pulling in the other direction. This is a struggle we can't afford to lose. We can't allow the quislings, the Blairs and the Harpers, to sacrifice the lives of young men and women in America's efforts to slaughter and dominate Islamic countries - for oil and oil pipelines.

Canada had done rather well over the years. Canada has stood the pressure from the war machine to the south when they demanded that Canadian blood be shed for big oil in Iraq. Canada said 'no'. Neither did Canada allow itself to be bullied into the slaughter in Vietnam. Canada had won respect the world over for being a voice of reason and peace. But now, today, all that is being torn to shreds. Canada has shamefully allowed itself to use its sons and daughters to slaughter Afghan sons and daughters. And for what?

This is nothing but political cowardice and it is a reflection on more than just the politicians.

Jon Benet's Reflection

Try to avoid garish and crude American trash mags if you can; fact is, you can't. We can't escape the horrible display of the exploitation of the murder of little JonBenet Ramsey. Since the spotlight has shined on an alleged killer, this story is impossible to avoid. It's everywhere. The question that comes to mind is; Why?

The child was murdered. The same media that serve to sexualize children, to exploit them, are all agog now over the arrest of her alleged killer. But it is not JonBenet Ramsey they are concerned with. It is the murder of, as they say, the little "beauty queen". The real JonBenet was a little girl with all the same attributes of any. Naturally, she went along with the attention and the demands that she performed for the adults around her. She naturally and innocently found direction from the adults in her world. She had no way of knowing that she was being shamelessly exploited as a child sex object. Underneath all the grotesque tack, she was a real child who trusted the adults around her. Erase the tack, the paint and make-up, and we would naturally find a wonderful little girl.

We can't blame everything on capitalism; not everything. But the exploitation of JonBenet Ramsey as well as the exploitation of her murder is married to capitalism. More generally, we can blame the cult of personality, the worship of tacky idols, and the drive to turn children into plastic people and to sexualize them for a buck. How capitalism owns the blame may not be as straighforward as we may think. It may be a little deeper, a little more complex, than the simple drive to make money.

The Alienated Identity

It's a fairly safe assumption to suggest that the child would have grown, had she not been murdered, to learn to value herself as a commodity.

To make the point, let's consider two opposing social poles. First, let's consider small hunter gatherer societies. We can also think of family, local community, or any intimate social grouping. In hunter-gatherer societies, human beings are valued for their intrinsic humanness. There may be small pecking orders of authority and so on, but even individuals that provide little or no product or services maintain value simply for being who they are. Just 'being' is qualification enough to be valued. The same is true of families. Babys and the old are given loving care and attention with no expectation of reciprocity. Human nature on its own is truly an honourable and compassionate phenomena.

On the other end of that spectrum is capitalism.

How humans are valued within the world of capitalist culture is rooted in the process of developing capital. From the get-go, all participants and processes are mere means to the end, which is profit. And in the process, humans learn to value only that which contributes to the acquisition of money.

If we consider money itself, we may notice that it is without any tangible value. Its value is completely abstract. It has only exchange value and no use value. It is of the world of phantoms and illusions. It is not part of the tangible world of things and people.

The relationship between money and identity and status is complex and it begins in the process of the manufacture of commodities. As commodities themselves are valued within this context for their potential to make profit - money, so too is the worker him or herself valued and commodified for exactly the same reason. To the extent that we accept this identity, we become alienated from ourselves. We also become alienated from other people and from the tangible world of things, family, and community.

The aspect of the individual that is 'worker' is constrained, owned, exploited, and enslaved. But it is through this psychological construct that the human individual is most valued. He or she may or may not have a good credit rating, or a lot of money, or be poor. The difference has perhaps the greatest impact on who we are, how we get along, and especially, how we are valued in capitalist society. The worker has no choice but to sell his or her labour and time to an owner who has immense control over the workers life.

Beyond that, the individual accepts and owns this key aspect as a defining characteristic of who he or she is. The worker is a cop, a plummer, a teacher, or a lawyer. It has tremendous impact on the identity of the individual. Aside from mere psychological affect, the role of the worker and his or her status in capitalist society has more tangible aspects. That is, depending on how much we make will mean whether we can do things and have things - or not. To be with money in capitalist society means that we are secure, free, and valued. People treat us well if we have money and display status symbols such as jewelry and expensive cars. On the other hand, if we are without it, the state will demand to know the intimate details of our lives and demand to know them in order to grant subsistence for ourselves and our children. There is no freedom for people that must rely on the dole in capitalist society. Poverty in modern capitalist society is brutal.

There is a price we must pay for status; for buying into the face and role that capitalism has provided for us. That price is alienation.

Like the ethereal phantom that money is, so is the identity that emanates from it. It is alienated from the world of human emotion, compassion, and human value. This identity is at odds with human value and will act in the interests of profit to the point actually harming or murdering people to that end. Unfortunately, there is no need to point out examples. We see them every day.

The Rich

Workers strive, in many cases, to shed worker identities and to get real. Look behind the scenes in any workplace and you will see the phony face of 'thank you ma'am' and 'can I take your order' replaced with swearing, comical antics, and human revelry. It is an alien and imposed facade and imposed by a force that is explicitly in control and demanding. It isn't much wonder workers resent it.

But then there is little JonBenet Ramsey.

JonBenet was being fitted with the workers cloak before she could read. She was to be exploited like a sideshow clown.

But there is a big difference. The clown suit and face paint was never to come off. It was aimed at actually becoming her. JonBenet would eventually contort her desires, habits, and behaviour, to meet the most unnatural of standards. Her future was to actually become that beauty queen. As a female in that world, she would eventually be a coveted prize that rich men would bid for so they could have a status symbol with them at dinner parties. She would become a human Porche or Rolex watch. The plastic smile that was being carved into her face would have to stay, no matter how torn up, confused, and alienated she actually felt inside.

From that, she would find no escape. There would be no back room antics where she could let her hair down. She would eventually assimilate the characture into who she actually is. And like all rich people, she would learn to value others based soley on their status and wealth.

She would find, in this world, the strange irony of having the freedom to buy and own what she wants and at the same time, experience no freedom at all. Trapped she would have been in a world of vulgar values, overt pretense, and deceit. Strange it is that this is coveted by workers and non workers in the very human world of the lower classes. Stranger still is the desire for working classes to clamour for details of the hidden lives of these human aberrations. Perhaps it is the betrayal of the of the mirage of the gods of capitalism that sells. The media fascination of the rich has much to do with the fact that media is owned by them. But there is also the appetite within the lower classes to see them, to be close to them, and the desire to become one of them.

The rich are living embodiments of that strangest of all commodities; money. Their personalities and their grotesque facades are just as ethereal and paradoxically, as powerful, as money.

If we are proletariat, we may think the wealthy classes are rife with happy inhabitants. After all, they are rich. But then, when we read those contemptible rags, filled to the brim with stories about Donald Trump, Michael Jackson, or any rich person that they uncover, it doesn't look so un-human or plastic. In reality, they are all exactly the same as the rest of us. Their human-ness will never go away; try as they may. They will be lonely, they feel pain, and they will all die. Reality is inescapable. And for those that aim to distance themselves from reality, we may assume that their lives are marked with tremendous suffering. Their foe (reality) never loses and it always wins.

And in reality this little girl was murdered. Not a beauty queen. And it is likely her vulgar sexualized and imposed facade had something to do with it. In reality, some monster thought he was killing a beauty queen. But he killed an innocent little girl.

Bold Proclamations of Lebensraum

The utterances of Coni Rice and Tony Blair since the Israeli slaughter in Lebanon began are nothing short of alarming. What is also alarming is the muted response. State functionaries the world over appear to have barely noticed. The myriad of political wizards residing in popular media have also seemed to pass off these comments as if they are irrelevant. Are they really that blind and stupid?

No modern state since the Nazis in Germany has expressed intent to take over the world. America's intent to do so has been expressed in deed since 9-11 and recently, it has been expressed explicitly in word.

Rice stated that the map of the Middle East is to be re-drawn; that these are the birth pangs of a new Middle East. She said, "This is a different Middle East. It's a new Middle East. It's hard. We're going through a very violent time." She has explicitly stated that they will give birth to a new Middle East. She implies a Middle East fashioned in the likeness of occidental mores and values.

Blair's utterances are no less alarming. He makes the following grand proclamation in a speech to The World Affairs Council in Los Angeles on August 1st: "We are fighting a war, but not just against terrorism but about how the world should govern itself in the early 21st century, about global values." Please take a moment and consider what that languages suggests; the mentality it reflects. He actually said that he; the infamous American poodle, and his master are at war with Middle Eastern values. This mentality is the mentality of genocide, of lebensraum.

Blair wants us to swallow the lie that it is a certain interpretation of Islam that causes extremism. But if we look at it, we will see that it isn't Islam at all that is the genesis of violence in the Middle East. It is always rooted in foreign (read European and American) meddling in a place where they really have no business whatsoever. Blair has also said that they need to wage war against extremism as he presides, alongside Bush, over the World Order that intends to dominate and control foreign lands through the use of terror, concentration camps, and mass slaughter. Hezbollah, for instance, is a reaction against their aggression. It is very important that we, those of us that live under the relatively safe umbrella of American hegemony, understand that.

In 1938 - 39 the same kind of bizarre and psychotic speech was ignored.

Undoubtedly, the worst feature of Nazi Germany's reign of terror on the world had been their indiscriminate mass murder of civilians in order to terrorize, cower, and take over other nations and other parts of the world. They had to crush people that would be naturally opposed to their ideological bent and their designs on securing power. The Nazis were imperialists of the worst kind.

And undoubtedly, the worst feature of modern America is its reign of terror on the world and their indiscriminate mass murder of civilians in order to terrorize, cower, and take over other nations and other parts of the world.
Clearly, there is an agenda, a conspiracy, a plan, to dominate the world militarily, politically, and economically.

Psych-ops

We have entered a time that is similar in many respects to the onset of Germany's foray to dominate the world militarily. The question on everybody's mind is; who will be next? The events play out and as they do expectations gradually change. Disbelief that had been psychologically suspended turns to the realization that we are entering a time of unrestrained war and terror.

Through the process, we become ever more jaded. Reports of concentration camps and extraordinary rendition are given a collective ho-hum by media commentators, law makers, and by much of the population. Reports of carnage and massacres are commonplace. The atrocities in Lebanon have shocked the world and again, this will redefine normalcy.

But this is not 1939 and America is not Nazi Germany. What the future holds remains to be seen. But judging by what is being said and what has already occurred, its a pretty safe assumption to suggest that in many respects, much of what the Nazis did will be repeated; is being repeated. There is one large difference however. Hitler was up against equally powerful and ruthless states and it was the Soviet Union that done him in. Today, the maniacs are not facing Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt. They are facing Iran, Syria, and North Korea. In other words, they can act with impunity. And act with impunity they do. Even media commentators are hard pressed to take a stand against this global war for oil. Consider the statements made by Rice and Blair. They are statements that are nothing short of bizarre and still they are swallowed, tacitly supported, and tucked neatly away in the collective consciousness; again, serving to change the context of normalcy.

America is not a fascist state, it is a democratic state. Bush is not the maniac Adolph Hitler was. There are substantial differences, not least of which is the observation that Nazi Germany depended on the charisma and personal power of one mad man. What is happening in the world today is far more predictable and systemic. We can't blame Bush. What is happening today is practically written into the script of history. If Bush wasn't at the helm, this all may have waited a few more years, but it would occur nonetheless. Bush is simply an imperialist on speed and 9-11 provided the green light for plans that had already been in the works.

What is in the works is the American state is manifesting the full and fiercest expression of capitalism; imperialism. It had to come; eventually. It's here.
For many of those that have been brought up believing in Superman and the Justice League of America, in liberalism, and in freedom and democracy American style, world events must seem quite bewildering. Each new day the mind must rationalize a new atrocity, a new ugly face on the once kind and benevolent Uncle Sam. As the mind stretches under the strain of cognitive dissonance, it will snap; one way or another. You will either accept the new America or you will become enraged and defiant. If you have a choice, may I recommend the latter. The former will leave you a bitter savage and eventually, you, yourself, may have blood on your hands.

Accepting the imperialist designs on global conquest brings contemporary events into the light of day. The more naive views, the views that have been touted by spin doctors may result in tremendous confusion and bewilderment The spin, this pablum that has been provided by the imperialist state aims to allow the truth to slowly sink in. It is propaganda and it is psych-ops. The sudden truth would be too much a shock to the system.

Like the frog that is dropped in boiling water, the violence to the system is too violent and reactive. But like the frog that sits in water that is slowly heated to the boiling point, it doesn't notice the change and slowly dies without a struggle. The same thing is happening to innocent naivete.

Control of the Middle East

The need to control petro-dollars require world capitalism to take control of the Middle East. On a more strategic and political level, the Middle East is not only ground zero in terms of oil wealth, it is also strategically placed centrally, on the doorsteps of Asia, Europe, and Africa.

In the short term, America intends to extend its footlhold into Lebanon; though it will not succeed. The Americans will not accept UN resolutions for peace that are short of the de-clawing of Hezbollah. So far, they have succeeded in removing Syrian influence in Lebanon to a large degree. They are hoping that the present obscene slaughter will result in America gaining de-facto control of Lebanon; control through proxies such as UN bodies, the Lebanese government, and the Lebanese army. In a greater regional conflict the last thing they need is a force like Hezbollah ready and willing to open a front on Israel, a nation they have come to depend upon to secure control of the Middle East.

Iran and Syria find themselves alone on the level of governors of Middle Eastern states. But the Muslim street is with Iran and Syria and vehemently against the dictatorial heads of state in the rest of the Middle East. So much for the myth of democracy. America will not tolerate democracy in any shape or form in the Muslim world. Hezbollah, a popular entity in Lebanon, is in the process of being made impotent. It is precisely what the American State will not tolerate; an expression of the local population. The people of Lebanon and the Palestinians in Gaza are being collectively punished for voting contrary to America's wishes.

The Americans aim to take control of the Lebanese army. A clever strategic move if they can pull it off. But they won't. In their insane massianic glee they barely touch reality. They may install a NATO/UN force in southern Lebanon but if they do, pray that neither you or anybody you are attached to is on the job. They will be attacked by people that are defending themselves; by people that don't accept control by foreigners. And those people that are defending themselves will be, predictably, called terrorists. Like the Nazis, American foreign policy is deeply rooted in utter and complete idiocy. That, more than anything else, is their own worst enemy.

They will also re-draw the map of Iraq. They have already ripened conditions for it by ushering in civil war. Iraq will be split in three; a nation for the Sunnis, a nations for the Shi'ites, and to Turkish chagrin, a Kurdish nation. The grand plan will require the domination of the bulk of Shi'ite regions, including Iran. It is they that live on the seas of oil. There are jobs opening up for dictators in the Middle East. It's an extremely dangerous position where you don't even know if your boss will kill you, but it comes with benefits.

Our Responsibility

It is our responsibility to demand peace, to fight imperialism, and even to put an end to it. For now, let us concentrate on peace. People have started to hit the streets again to demand the end of war. We can't comfort ourselves in the notion that we can't make any difference. People are being murdered - today.

It's crucial that we notice each and every atrocity and that we notice it when the likes of Blair and Rice make Nazi-like speeches about taking over the whole Middle East. It's important that we stay awake and not allow ourselves to be jaded to the point where we accept the wholesale slaughter of civilians and allow it to be justified with the flimsiest reasoning. They are intentionally deploying psych-ops through mass media and through their actions and pronouncements. And to some extent, it is working. It's hard to continue to be outraged when atrocities occur repeatedly, every week, every month, every year.

Isn't it strange how alarmed we may be when we hear of a serial killer on the loose but at the same time, state madmen are slaughtering people by the thousands and we treat as if it's just 'the news'. The horrors happening today are very real.

But remember, today, in Lebanon, in Iraq, and in Afghanistan, there are people living in the depths of hell and if you ignore it, you are no different than the coward walking by a victim being raped or murdered and doing nothing. Doing so makes you a coward in the house of imperialist hegemony, no different than those Germans that turned their faces away at the slaughter of Jews.

Think about that before you slip into sleep tonight. And think about the women and children in Lebanon and Iraq and Afghanistan that can't sleep at all.

Israel's Plight

There is no high tech weapon in the world that can defeat hate. Evidence of this is that the most militarily sophisticated machine in the world has been bogged down in a war of attrition for the past three years against Iraqi citizens that build weapons from under their kitchen sinks. And the more they kill Iraqis, the more hate they manufacture.

Israel, no stranger to hatred in the Middle East, has suddenly taken the spotlight away from America. The Israelis however are in a much more perilous position than the American state or the American people. The Israeli people have been duped. They have been duped by their own politicians and by America. The Israeli State receives three billion dollars annually from America as their foothold in the oil rich Middle East. A foothold that will soon become obsolete and will be disposed of.

The fallacy of serving death and destruction to the Lebanese, the Palestinians, and to Muslims in general, places the Israeli people in an extremely precarious situation. Israel is surrounded by approximately one billion Muslims; a population that is increasingly willing to do anything to rid their region of the Israeli war machine.

The people of Israel have been sold a bill of goods that will result in either their destruction in one fell swoop, or, in a best case scenario, their sons and daughters for generations will be fending off a constant barrage of attacks. This bill of goods is provided by and sold to them by the American State. Beside the three billion dollars in military aid they receive from America, they buy even more in weaponry from arms sellers.

The notion of using fear, death and destruction to ensure security is as daft as it appears to be. This approach has been in place for decades; and what is the result? Israel is in more danger now than ever. And as time goes by, the danger increases. The futility of this is clear. It's not like this scenario is new. Israel has been trying to secure themselves through force for decades and it is now in a deeper and more dangerous hole then ever before.

In 1978 Israel invaded Lebanon in order to maintain security. They secured a 12 mile strip of land in southern Lebanon as a buffer. In 1882 Begin and Sharon tried to crush the PLO with a new and deeper invasion. In this bloody mess, the Israelis allied with right wing fascists in Lebanon and slaughtered thousands of Palestinians. The Americans also supported this fiasco and shelled poor Palestinian settlements. All in all, they manufactured sufficient hate that the Americans were chased out, running for their lives. Out of this, Hezbollah emerged a powerful and potent force that had not only driven out the Americans, but the Israelis as well.

And now, in 2006, Israel, at the behest of the USA, is repeating the same mistakes all over again. And now, the situation in the full Middle East is far more unstable. And now, the Muslim populations are far more politicized and organized to fight. Now, if you are Israeli, is no time to bang war drums.

America has clearly become far more ambitious in their designs on control of oil and petro-dollars. They have become far more savage than any modern state has been in living memory. To suggest that they are using Israel to further its aims is not unreasonable. There isn't any doubt, especially in light of their recent public proclamations. They have brought Israel onto their own front lines in a global war for oil.

The Breaking Point

In the Middle East, America holds in place numerous dictators that operate against the wishes and interests of their own populations and in the interests of themselves and in the interests of America. This is a growing source of tension and the spoiled royals of Saud, the quisling dictator in Pakistan, Musharraf, as well as all the rest of the tyrants in that region are up against increasing hostility. The mad American State fully intends to install dictatorial puppets in Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. Even without this developing pressure in the Middle East, there is increasing strain between the dictators and the people. It is tension that will eventually break. It may snap in a unified Muslim rebellion where they are all thrown out in one movement or, it may be a matter of ongoing and disparate rebellions. In any case, the situation is bleak for the people of Israel. America will cut and run eventually, as they do, when the situation gets to a certain point. And long before they do, they will abandon Israel.

The alliance between American corporate interests and the anti-Arab racist politicians of Israel provides the Israeli politicians free reign to slaughter Palestinians with impunity. Their reasoning is that if life is miserable enough in Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinians will leave and settle in Jordan, Lebanon, and elsewhere. What it is doing is manufacturing hatred, to the extreme, not only in Palestine, but all over the Islamic world and even in the non-Islamic world. What few understand is that this is not the work of the Israeli people, but part of the systematic push to subjugate the peoples of the Middle East, a push from the unholy alliance between Washington and the racist politicians in control in Israel.

Condi Rice's recent statement that America intends to create a new Middle East is an admission that they intend to explicitly dominate the region. They will change the map of the Middle East and first on the list is undoubtedly Iraq. The civil war they have created will make gerrymandering seem a brilliant stroke in peacemaking. In so doing, they will punish the Sunnis into a future of poverty and at the same time, have better control of petro-dollars from Shiite regions. That is the plan.

As America deals with increased hostility, that hostility will be directed toward Israel. Israel finds itself in increasing danger as America grows ever bolder in its quest to control the economies of the world. But Israel in not an American state and when it is no longer feasible for them to funnel billions into Israel, Israel will be on its own. If there is a notion that America will remain loyal to Israel when the going gets tough, the nature of monopoly capitalism is out of focus.

America will not succeed in their subjugation of the people of the Middle East. It's a matter of time. The specious and forced politics of the Middle East naturally builds tension and resistance movements; movements that are becoming ever more politically and militarily savvy. The Saudis vast military expenditures will not save them. The Egyptian puppets will fall under the weight of increasing Islamic radicalism. The military dictator in Pakistan will assassinated or forced out. Whatever is installed in Iraq will have to endure war until it is gone. The royals in Kuwait will have to flee to America when the people of Middle Eastern nations organize sufficiently to rise against the dictators. The King of Jordan will be right behind them. This American adventure will make Vietnam a tea party in contrast.

At some point, America will abandon Israel. Then what? What will be the fate of the Israeli people? The Americans can go home.

The Logic of Peace

Much Israeli support for war and a strong defense is grounded in noble sentiment. They see themselves surrounded in a sea of hate and are fearful for their sons and daughters, their neighbours, and themselves. They want protection and the mafioso of the planet is offering it up on a silver platter. Uncle Sam smiles and provides all the latest weapon gagetry and dictates to Israeli leaders what to do. It's not hard to see how and why the people get sucked into this nefarious deal with the devil.

If we examine the situation in a purely logical way, we may suggest that Israel is arming itself and attacking enemies as a result of the hatred that exists, locally, against them. Further deepening the hatred is going to result in what? Peace? Do the people of Israel want their sons and daughters to live like this into the distant future? If so, how long will it be before something really horrible happens to the land and the people of Israel?

For the sake of the future, for the sake of not only peace for the children of Israel, but for the well being of the Lebanese, the Palestinians, and the people of the Middle East in general, tireless efforts must be made to forge peace and stop the violence. Unity between Israelis and Palestinians must be established. Hate mongers and fear mongers on both sides have been in control for far too long. It's time to stand up against them and it's time to stop being duped by American madness.

Peace is possible. If you were told in 1980 that the mighty USSR would fall without a shot being fired, you wouldn't believe it. If you were told that peace would happen in Northern Ireland, you wouldn't believe it. Peace is not only possible, but there is no choice. Think of the alternative. What is it? To implant more stooges loyal to America that are against the people from Afghanistan to Morocco? The reality for Israel is that it exists within a sea of Islam, and the potential for peace in that sea is tremendous. If you don't believe that, pick up a Koran. The sons and daughters of Lebanon and the sons and daughters of Israel and the sons and daughters of Palestine deserve peace. More than anything else, you all deserve peace.

Although, at this point, conciliation may sound absurd, but it isn't. In fact, there is no choice. And peace, realistically, is more than just the cessation of violence. It is also the cessation of silent violence; the violence of hunger, oppression, racism and so on. There are many Israelis that hunger for it and there are many Palestinians that hunger for it. Get on the internet, get together, make in happen in spite of the politicians, the hate mongers, and the Americans. It is time to scream for peace, as many of us here outside Israel having been doing since the Americans started slaughtering Muslims. It is no time to walk peacefully and silently and merely show a good example. It is time to jump up and down, to face the politicians and the war mongers and to demand an end to the collective, nationalistic, insanity that will result in the death of your family members and neighbours as well as a lifetime of fear and trepidation for those that continue on. Nobody should have to live this way.

This is not to suggest that all the problems are the fault of Israel. In fact, there is no time to assign blame. Let historical wrongs, on both sides, stand in history. To end the legacy of violence, is to develop a future; period. There is only time to accept responsibility and to be generous, to accept your enemies as brothers. Because, at the end of the day, the average Joe in Israel and the average Joe in Palestine have far more in common with each other than either of them do with Bush, Bin Laden, or Sharon.

A New Front: Not a New War

The bombing and upcoming invasion of Lebanon is not a new war. It is a third and massive new front on an ongoing gambit aimed at subduing the whole of the Middle East. Afghanistan, Iraq, and now Lebanon are flash points in American designs on ideally positioning themselves in the middle of the global chessboard. Control of this area is important at a time when Asian thirst for oil is growing.

The USA is installing, as Chomsky puts it, "a unipolar world" where the USA aims to subdue all. Nothing will be able to challenge its absolute power. In such a world, the USA takes on the role of the UN. There is no need for a proper United Nations because the USA is to be the Imperial World Ruler. With the role of world dictator secure, it will deal with opposition with ruthless brutality and efficiency. This has started. The UN has been deemed irrelevant by the New World Order. Kofi Annan is a lost voice in the wilderness while the real politics of American international domination dictate real politics. As for ruthless brutality, the USA has been busy redefining what is acceptable in terms of state ruthlessness over the past several years. At this point, we wouldn't be surprised at anything except perhaps for the use of nuclear weapons.

The Middle East is to be subject to the rule of the Chalabis, the Allawis, and future quislings. The ongoing authoritarian rulers, the kings and tyrants in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others are secured by American support. Threats to them are designated as terrorist. The Shah of Iran was planted and secured by American oil interests. The people of Iran have overthrown through a popular uprising. America is hell bent on not only preventing a recurrence, they aim to secure, subdue and pacify the whole region. The problem for them is, the more they try, the more elusive the goal becomes.

It is a gambit and a gambit that is doomed to fail. Just as they have underestimated the resolve and determination of Iraqis, they are in for lesson they will never forget in Lebanon. Pity the people that live there on both sides of the borders; the Lebanese and the Israelis. It is they that will pay the price.

Lebanon

The war hawks have aimed at the weakest targets they can find. Contrary to expectations, the America/Israeli war machine's next target was the relatively impotent Lebanon as opposed to Syria or Iran. But we might have guessed and would have if we respected the law of American cowardice properly.

Lebanon has been a pro-Western nation for the most part. That it also houses many Palestinians and Islamic populations has been an important factor - alongside that military weakness. The fact that it is/was a democratic nation has also been an unpalatable and intolerable condition. They need a King, a Shah, or a tyrant of any stripe. For these reasons, Lebanon had to be subdued and completely humiliated. It will be surprising if the Americans back away prior to the installation of a dictatorship or a bloody mess that will demand they run. Contrary to what they spin, democracy is the last thing the Americans want or will tolerate.

Lebanon is not only guilty of harbouring non-compliant Muslims. It is also guilty of not being hawkish enough against it's own Islamic population as well as neighbouring Muslim populations. Lebanon is also guilty of having Hezbollah elected and holding over 30 seats within it's government, including members of cabinet. The same Hezbollah that ran the American Marines as well as Israel out of Lebanon. The Americans naturally demanded that the organization disarm.

Obviously, weak nations are under threat of war by the Imperial US of A. Lebanon has no military to speak of. They cannot manage Israel, which is armed to the teeth by the USA. This condition begs all nations to heavily arm themselves as a deterrent. This is another desirable condition in the world of imperial capitalism. Those that are marching around the world slaughtering people also happen to be the same folks that profit from weapons sales.

Various Israeli talking heads suggested recently, a nation has a right and responsibility to protect it's people. By admitting this, they absolve Hezbollah. They also absolve pretty much all other so-called terrorist organizations including the resistance in Iraq, the resistance in Afghanistan, Hamas and so on. They are inadvertently excusing hostile and aggressive actions against their own people. They are demanding it.

When a society is invaded and the people slaughtered and tortured by a foreign war machine, you might expect a response. What choices do the people and particularly the Islamic people of the Middle East, and at the moment, Lebanon face? Can we blame Hamas? Can we blame Hezbollah and the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan? Can we say with a clear conscience that these people do not have a right to defend themselves. The answer is clear and the answer is 'NO'. Hezbollah is a result of American and Israeli aims at trying to destroy Lebanon. This invasion confirms, with no shadow of doubt in the minds of Muslim people, the necessity of Hezbollah.


All War All the Time


Condoleeza Rice recently said that a cease fire would be a false promise. In other words, the is promoting the doctrine of 'war is peace'. She is talking about pre-emptive war. They have crossed the line and lowered the standards for future war rationalizations. The Nuremberg Tribunals had defined what is most unacceptable. To paraphrase; 'The act of initiating war by invading another country is the supreme war crime containing within it all other war crimes'. To quote Chomsky, "Preventive war is, very simply, the supreme crime condemned at Nuremberg". Collectively, we cannot afford the Americans and the Israelis define what is acceptable. We cannot afford a future of barbarism.

Although this is part of a grand American global domination war, the micro situation between Lebanon and Israel is ostensibly different than the situation between Iraq and America. As a result, the rationalization is different. What is similar between Israel's rationalations and America's is the notion of preemptive war. Within that context (the aim to dominate the world), we may witness more war fronts opening to prevent future terrorist attacks. Ironically, this is precisely what is needed to not only to make resistance movements desirable, but necessary.

The most dangerous aspect of accepting pre-emptive war, especially in this climate, is that is opens the planet for continual war.

The potential rationalizations in the future are endless and few could be as flimsy as what we've seen thus far. This war will not stop until the Americans feel too much pain to continue. There is no way they are going to subdue the Muslim populations. If they actually hold that assumption, then they are assuming that other societies are as weak of character as they themselves are. Whether by design or through stupidity, they are creating conditions for more war; for all war all the time. At the moment it isn't painful for America. In the future it will be. As it is, this state of endlesswar may be supported by much of the American population. This will remain the case until a critical mass in that country realize that they have no business in Iraq, Afghanistan or Lebanon. And when a critical mass of Americans die for profit, and when average Joe American realizes this, America will retreat. They will have no fighters.

It is absolutely tragic and sad that this condition exists.

But 'all war all the time' will end. The question of when is up to the people of America.

America's Slaughter in Lebanon

Unthinkable.

We are used to watching the mass slaughter of Iraqis and Afghanis and people in Latin America and other so-called third world regions of the world.

Lebanon was apparently promoted to first world status. Wealthy vacationers and business elites go there to relax or do business. It was supposed to be off the limits of carnage, atrocities, and in your face war crimes.

But this is exactly what we are witnessing now. And make no mistake. America is behind it.

But why?

Well, for one thing, Osama bin Laden appears to hold Lebanon close to his heart. He said in October, 2004, that the twin towers were hit in revenge for the massive and brutal killings by America and Israel in the 1980s. His point is in no way controversial. There is no debate that Israel and America slaughtered thousands in Lebanon in the 80s.

Bin Laden said in 2004, "And as I looked at those demolished towers in Lebanon, it entered my mind that we should punish the oppressor in kind and that we should destroy towers in America in order that they taste some of what we tasted and so that they be deterred from killing our women and children."

But perhaps more to the point is Hezbollah. It was Hezbollah that massacred several hundred American marines sending America running with its tail between its legs. A mighty embarrasment to the almighty US of A.

Recent history suggests, quite strongly, that America is not above collective punishment, revenge, torture, and war crimes of many flavours. We like to think of America as cold psychopathic killer and operates under strictly pragmatic motivations. This may still be the case although it looks as if the almightly is as neurotic as Woody Allen. America has been sending a mesage to the world and the message seems clear. They are telling the world that they are not above revenge attacks, war crimes, and collective punishment. Collective punishment, for instance, persumes that the locals will not tolerate their own local fighters such as Hamas, Hezbollah, or al Qaeda. It has very cold and calculating reasoning beneath it.

So then, perhaps we can maintain our image of America as a cruel and calculating psychopath. So cold and calculating that they promote themselves as reactionary and passionate. This promotes the super-state as quite dangerous as neurotics. The truth however is that they are far more dangerous than that. They are beating their own myths to death. Myths that may get in the way.

For instance, the myths of democracies not warring against each other and of modern capitalistic nations being just and fair are taking a beating. Hezbollah and Hamas were democratically elected and modern capitalistic states are unbelievably brutal.

On one hand, those of us that are cynical had not believed the myths to begin with. But for those that protect themselves under a cloud of pie in the sky naivity, you'd better prepare yourself for significant cognitive dissonance. But don't worry, your masters will soon educate you about the wonders and benefits of fascism or some quasi-fascistic ideology.

We should wonder how long Hezbollah and Bin Laden will continue to play into the Americans hands. If they do, they will attack an American sacred cow; again.

MWC News

MWC News must grow and diversify. I don't mean MWC exclusively. I mean all independent progressive media.

The notion of a free press is not just a nice compliment to free and democratic societies. It is fundamental. It is necessary.

Independent media provides a measure of balance to the weight of commercial mainstream media. But that balance weighs heavily in favour of a single special interest. That special interest is private capital. Therein lies the rub. That special interest necessarily have the wherewithal to publish their views in their interests for their ends. They are organized, they have an agenda, and they have money; an endless supply of it.

And they are actively working against the rest of us.

Mainstream media is attractive and slick. They know how to appeal to the ordinary news junky and the ordinary news consumer and they do it well. They spin stories with simplistic and appealing angles and story lines. They make salient issues that promote their own interests and completely shun perspectives that show them for what they are.

Perhaps the most significant obstacle to independent media is funding. Independent media are competing against those with mega money and power. This practical problem has to be addressed. Funding is not a problem for the mainstream; integrity, dedication, and quality are problems for them. They provide quality bells and whistles, but their analysis and content are garbage. We have our strengths and weaknesses and they have theirs.

The good news is that we are becoming more and more relevant. That is, the quality of independent media is growing and word is getting out.

Resources

Exploiting commercial revenue may not be the ridiculous notion it appears to be at first glance. Going commercial, that is, using adverizing revenue, may be an appealing option. We live within a context of capitalism and fixating ourselves within idealistic constraints is akin to picking a fight with a bully and tying one arm behind our collective back. But in practical terms, it is no answer. Advertizers would necessarily hold power over editorial policy. Even if this was not done explicitly, it would be done covertly. Editors, if faced with a story or information that may shine an uncomfortable light on the funders, would downplay, spin, or scrap the information. They could be used however. Money addicts are whores of a sort and if it makes money for them, they will use any and all ideological bents. It wouldn't be an issue for most advertizers. If it is widely read or watched, and popular, they will get in on it. The very large dark side of this is that we would lose at least a measure of independence, and we would be climbing into bed, however superficially, with a demon.

In Britain the BBC is funded through the television license that all television viewers in Britain must pay. This provides BBC with the singular luxury of providing relatively unbiased and quality news programming. The BBC is linked however to the British State and is governed through legislation. In that way, it is similar to the CBC in Canada which shrinks through time as the Canadian State is increasingly dominated by the political right. Still, the BBC is a refreshing change from American, Canadian, or British bubble-gum news sources. The farther we get from the centre of American power, the more diverse the opinions are in media; or so it seems. Asian, mainland European media or African media may put out stories that are highly critical of capitalism, of states, and provide intelligent analysis.

A problem with concentrating alternative media is that it would be subject to ideological or private interests. It would be a coveted jewel and jewel thieves would be salivating at gaining control of it. This problem could be controlled through functional and structural planning.

There is something amazingly democratic and potent about the freedom that exists now with technology being what it is. We are collectively doing a wonderful job of presenting news, analysis, and a myriad of opinions through MWC, Democracy Now, Counterpunch, and many, many more.

Democracy Now

Democracy Now is a multi dimensional news outlet with written media as well as radio and television. It does not accept corporate or government funding and is funded by its users and through foundations. Democracy Now is the idea. We should build upon and diversify this grand idea. Not to compete with or muscle in on its territory but to provide more diversity. Democracy Now is well named and what it does is patently democratic. Further to this, it promotes and heightens the quality of democracy in America and worldwide. It has had guests such as Hugo Chavez, Noam Chomsky, Bill Clinton, Bill Moyers, Howard Zinn, John Perkins and continually provides us with compelling and stimulating articles and programs. Democracy Now is based in America and has a tendency toward an American left wing perspective. It has quality and it has its limitations.

This will take much effort from talented and resourced individuals and organizations to build MWC into a complementary multi media news outlet but that is what I'm proposing. The key here is solidarity and we need to bring together people with common and not specific goals. Individuals with specific goals may prove to be a hindrance to efficiency and news content.

MWC News has nowhere to go but up. There is a huge vacuum in the wake of glib and superficial mainstream media. A media that cannot satisfy those that want real answers and intelligent analysis.

In some ways I have (unintentionally) tested MWC News with articles and opinions that could be quite controversial. They were not cut. Editoral discussions on changes have been open and frank as well as educational (thank you Shahram). This is an incredibly free and high quality outlet with much potential.

This outlet has a very good basis for building on, and hopefully in cooperation with other sources such as Democracy Now we will continue to build MWC as well as a substantial network of progressive media.

The Death of Great Britain

In England today you can't miss the ubiqutous Red Cross. St. Georges Flag is everywhere; in pubs, fluttering on cars, hanging from windows. The World Cup is on and England is fully English. It's almost enough to make a Catholic Scot light a match. But just hold on a minute. There is more to this than meets the eye.

Something is missing. It is a rare sight to see a Union Jack; that flag that has been pushed in the faces of Scots, The Irish, The Welsh, as well as Canadians, Indians, Australians, Kenyans and people in countries all over the world. People that hated and despised the British had reasons for their hate. They were crushed under the weight of the cruelty of British imperalism. They are insulted by that busy mess of crosses and are reminded of the slaughter and domination over their own ancestors. It is understandable and even forgivable if they react with venom over the sight of John Bull's pompus shirt.

There is something more to this than a preference over one flag over another. This isn't just a matter of aesthetics. The English have had it. They don't want to be reminded of their past. The English people have no fundamental complaint with their neighbours.

There are two aspects to nationalism. One is a sense of unifying communities and a celebration of culture. The other a sense of xenophobia and forcing others to submit to their culture. A willingness to dominate others to favour the upper strata.

In England today there is an unmistakable Englishness and it isn't what you might imagine. Strangely enough, this is a unifying and accepting sentiment. It is not racist or exclusionary. It is not imperialist. It brings people together in common union whether they are from Newcastle, Liverpool, London or Yorkshire. It brings together English people with Angle, Saxon, and Norse roots. It also brings inhabitants of England that are Jamacian, Iraqi, Canadian, Irish, or even Scots into the fold. All are welcome to fly the Red Cross and to cheer on the English team.

There is also another sentiment; an unmistakble Britishness. This sentiment is one of White Anglo Saxon and royal domination. This sentiment only unifies as long as those that are oppressed surrendur and pledge alliegence to British Royalty and the upper classes. It is the sentiment of Ian Paisley and it is the sentiment of racism and imperialism. In history it has brought together quislings in Scotland, Ireland, America, and quislings all over the world. These quislings sold out their own people and turned on them to gain favour of a power that would ruthlessly dominate and crush all defiance and opposition.

Through centuries of domination and oppression all over the world it might be expected that the English people take pride in global conquest. The history of what they modestly term 'Great Britain'. Some do, no doubt. But most don't. Most English people are decent and have no desire to force Scotland or any other country to be part of them. They are different than the Scots, the Welsh, and the Irish, as any Scot, Irish person or Welsh man or woman would be quick to point out. The English have quite different roots. The sight of Prince Charles wearing a kilt, a once outlawed fabric that was outlawed by his own great grandparents, is just a confusing curiosity to most. To the Scots that have been cleared and victims of genocide, it is a horrific affront to their culture and history.

English football fans do not wear kilts. The English do not wear kilts, full stop.

A trip to Scotland or Wales or Ireland will inform you that the natives in these lands have no desire to be thrown into some imperialistic soup called Britain. A trip to England will feed you exactly the same information. England is properly England and it has it's own ever evolving culture. Yesterday it was Germanic tribes and Roman settlers mixing with the natives that created what we now call English. Settlers from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales later arrived to fight off famine and British oppression. Nowadays arrivals from Pakistan, Africa, mainland Europe, and all over the world arrive every day to continue to shape and mould the ever evolving soul of the English. You will see black faces, brown faces, and white faces all across the country cheering on the English team. For better or worse, these foriegners are here and they are here to stay.

St. Georges Flag may stir up a fear of English nationalism. It isn't much wonder. The English have the national karma of their own past. But that past is a past under the Union Jack. A symbol of war and conquest. The Red Cross that flutters, flutters from the ground up. It flutters from the people of England. No matter what it may have been in the past, today it is a working class source of English pride and it has no intent to exclude anybody. It comes from a sentiment that is inherently English. It comes from a sentimant of openness and acceptance. The English are breaking with their imperialist past and we that are not English should accept it as a symbol of peace. We can put the past behind us. The working class in the cities and towns and the working classes in towns and cities all over the world must remember that our histrory is filled with opprssion and hate. The English people are making a peace offering with this red cross on a white background. The people of England are not hooligans. They are no different than the Irish or Spainards or anybody else.

It is time for us, the decendants of those that were hurt by English imperialism to bury the proverbial hatchet. You don't have to cheer for England in the World Cup. But now, like never before, we got to respect them. They are us.

We've Arrived: The Highest Stage of Capitalism

It is far less controversial today to suggest that monopoly capitalism has taken control of societies and over the lives of individuals then it would be a decade ago or three decades ago. It has become quite obvious. Large corporations and the ultra wealthy have command of most governments. Within the scope of American hegemony, politicians have unabashedly put policies in place under the dictates of big money. In other parts of the world the IMF and The World Bank have grabbed governments and their citizens by the collective throat in a stranglehold that literally squeezes the life out of many and impoverishes most.

In the 1980s, big money demanded that governments slash social spending. Governments marched in step to the dictates of Wall Street. Now, in the so-called new American century, pressure is still pushing governments to cut social spending. This is done with much less alarm than in the 80s or 90s. They have succeeded in cutting the expectations of the working classes and the process of cutting distribution to those in need is done with far greater ease. Contrarily, spending on death and military machinery is rarely criticized as it is hyped up under the fabricated threats of terrorism.

What can we make of this? What can we make of the impulse to spend money to kill but not to feed and take care of people? Has Satan himself taken control of the planet? The answer is not to be found in such superstitious drivel but may be just as, or more, frightening.

A Caustic Blessing

The answer is that capitalism has matured to a point where it no longer has a single humane sentiment left. It has become an abstract psychopath. It has matured to a point where it's impact on societies is far more detrimental than beneficial. Early capitalism may have taken us out of the inertia and stagnant mood of feudalism. But this revolutionary force itself is turning in on itself and on all of us. We are coming or we have come to a point where we must seriously consider revolution against capitalism itself.

In the last century, the policies of John Maynard Keynes served to distribute wealth to make life palatable for most in modernized capitalist societies. This was in response to the communist threat emanating from the USSR as well as from the working classes within capitalist societies themselves. Besides Keynes' apparent benevolent initiatives, much effort went toward convincing us that communism and any true socialistic governance would necessarily result in dictatorial tyranny. On the other hand, capitalism was a golden arched gateway leading to a kingdom of materialist heaven. They built a ring of modern buildings near the Berlin Wall to show the poor sods on the other side what they are missing in the Land of Oz. Propaganda was aimed mostly at showing the wonders of life under modern capitalism and the misery and drudgery suffered by those that dared rebel against their legitimate masters. Many remain convinced that wealth distribution of any kind will result in totalitarian horror.

The revolutionary impact that capitalism has had on humanity cannot be overstated. It has transformed the physical landscape. It has also transformed the way we do things and perhaps most profoundly, it has changed our minds. The impact of our financial life on who we are and how we behave is rarely studied but if we look at any single dimension of this we can see that it is profound. For instance, if we are either the victim of financial devastation and experience sudden poverty after a life of opulence or conversely, if we suddenly become wealthy after a life of poverty, our experience of the world and our own lives is altered dramatically. Status and wealth mean freedom in capitalist society. If we are poor, freedom is, as the song says, just another word for nothing left to lose. The rich can move things and people around in arbitrary and capricious shifts of mood. The poor cannot do anything but beg an employer to buy their labour, their time, and their fleeting glimpses of freedom.

That massive transformation into capitalist society may seem small when we consider the reality of the average Joe selling his life in order to eat. But consider the material deprivation of life under feudal conditions and then Joe appears in far better shape. Joe has also left behind the mental shackles of feudalism. We no longer blindly consider those with wealth 'our betters' and we no longer march to war when the master tells us to kill to secure his place. We have, as a result of capitalism, become far more rational beings than our feudal ancestors had been. The 60s social revolution was not a socialist revolution, but capitalist psychology usurping the tired archaic dictates of religious and traditional values. In some ways, capitalism has been a great blessing to most of humanity.

Now, as capitalism matures and morphs into monopolism, we increasingly find ourselves living under the dictates of the ruling class and they are ruling with far more arbitrary and ruthless whips and chains than they did in the relatively genteel Fabian socialist past. They no longer aim to ply us with social programs and trinkets (unless there is profit in it) and are more inclined to rule with an iron fist. It seems as if the feudal lord is returning to make our lives more miserable and frightening than ever. There has been a colossal shift in the past few decades.

Monopoly Capitalism

The question arises at this point; Why not return to the quasi-socialism of the past? The answer is, it can't be done. And even if we could, the we would resume another trajectory toward the barbarism of the present. There are iron laws inherent in capitalism and as a result of the nature of this system, it's death is indigenous to it. We are plunging headlong into the future whether we like it or not. Unfortunately, we are on a collision course.

Consider two aspects of monopoly capitalism and the impact it is having and will have on us. First, the tendency to the centralization of capital and the impact that has on the lives of the ruled (us) and secondly, consider the impact of the internationalization of production.

In its adolescence, capitalism was a matter of various businesses competing with each other within a given society or nation. Although trade always gave enterprise an international flavour, nations worked through relative sovereign authority. Although large corporations influenced policies, sovereign nations could defy the extreme right and popular socialistic policies could be legislated into law and policy. In its early adolescence, there was a national cohesiveness within the scope of that nations particular capitalism and the will of the electorate held a measure of sway. This remains the case in European nations to a greater extent than in America. But America is the most evolved from a capitalistic sense and that is why it is the most backward in a humane or socialistic sense. They lead and unfortunately, we will follow.

As maturation evolves, the whole system becomes more dynamic and anarchistic. And as it evolves, the system also becomes increasingly hungry. What was true yesterday is not true today and what is true today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Within capitalism, there are a number of iron laws. First and foremost is the maximization of profit. This iron law leads to numerous other iron laws. Competition amongst sellers tends to cut profit margins and as a result, there is a strong tendency for capitalists to form cartels. This capitalist solidarity provides them with the power to control prices and to dominate markets. As a result, free wheeling competitive free enterprise is crushed and replaced with large corporations that dominate and control enterprise as well as government polices. How corporations control government is a question for another essay. For the time being, let us presume this assertion is correct. It is hardly controversial. Another tendency of capitalism speeds up the killing off of small enterprises. That is, the boom and bust cycles that are a result of over-production (another tendency of capitalist production). When the economy goes sour, it is an opportunity for the big fish to eat the small fish.

Consider one field of enterprise and the control that it exerts over business and over society; the media. At this point, there are several very large entities that control American as well as international media. Their influence goes well beyond the enterprises they control. For example, their influence over the thinking and beliefs of citizens is immense.

The tendency to grow in wealth and power is a natural and necessary feature of capitalism. Money is a money magnet and a large concentration of it grows as if it is a beast from a 'b grade' horror flick.

Those that have control of capital also have control of industry as well as government policies. The IMF and the World Bank are the most deplorable and outlandish examples of this. They can not only dictate the way business is done, they can also dictate government polices. And dictate they do. Governments that do not abide by their demands face punishing retribution far more ruthlessly than the mafia could have ever dreamed of. But it is not just the World Bank and the IMF that do this. It is a natural feature of the power of financial capital.

Competition Between Demons

The contrast between China and America indicate cleavages in modern day massive monopoly capitalism. China has a state apparatus that controls capitalism and American has a capitalism that controls the state (many states). The differences are substantial although they are both societies under the control of large corporate/state monopolies. China's is, for time being at least, insular in their nationalism. American capitalists would sell out America in a New York minute if it meant more wealth and power for the shareholders and as a result, American capital may flee overseas with much greater ease. China appears to remain chauvinistic to some degree. It is only a matter of time before the corporations in China control the state as opposed to the other way around. Again, it is the nature of the beast.

As it is, there is competition between these super-states or more accurately, trading blocks. This is an extremely dangerous situation. It is one of the reasons for the huge military expenditures of both nations and it is why thousands are being slaughtered in Iraq and Afghanistan. It may and probably will result in major global conflict in the near future. What may stop major world wars would be a merging of Chinese and American capital (as well as European and Russian).

Capitalism needs to grow and to grow constancy in order to maintain itself. It has grown beyond national boundaries and nations are increasingly under the control of large trading entities. The earth is a limited entity as are its resources, including labour. These large trading blocks not only promise to impoverish us and increase the terms of exploitation, they also promise to slaughter us is wars that will make the past world wars look like skirmishes.

The competition that exists in the world today is not what we generally think of when we think of the word, 'competition'. It is more a matter of survival for entities that must continually grow and dominate and the larger they grow, so does their need to dominate. It is not competition between this grocer and that grocer. It is competition among chunks of monopoly capital. A beast that is far more terrifying than anything invented by spook story writers.

We must realize and not forget that all of their wealth and power has been appropriated from us, the workers that have built and transformed the world have been the creators of their wealth. Every dollar, pound, and yen that they horde in their vast vaults has been created by workers that mine the ore, melt it down, fashion it into commodities, and transport it for sale onto shelves and sell it to consumers.

The ruling class has become traders of ghosts; entities that are ethereal as dreams. They are gamblers in the large casinos called stock markets. They are gambling addicts as addicted as any crack user and far more dangerous. Their function, value, and utility in our societies is nil. Even the managers of enterprises are us, the workers that make this human world function. We are not only better off without them, we cannot afford to keep them. They are the ultimate parasite and are ruled by their own lust for power; their own pathetic and pernicious addiction. And we are the workers, the managers, the soldiers, and we are humanity. Throw away the delusions and we have the power, all the power, and they have none. They have served their purpose. The time to say good-bye has arrived.

The Ship is Sinking

There will be hell to pay once the dust settles.

A small band of terrorists got real lucky, if we can call that luck, and managed to murder thousands of Americans.

On September 11, 2001, the planes that crashed through three buildings destroyed far more that three buildings, four jets, and several thousand innocent lives. They also destroyed the principles that had been the foundation of the American state and the foundation of American society. The legitimacy of the the reasoned rule of law that had characterized America has been replaced by laws of fascistic convenience. If their intent was to destroy America, they pulled it off beyond their wildest dreams. But America has been destroyed not by the 9 - 11 terrorists as much as Americans themselves. Cowards shrieked and paniced and watched for the sky to fall; it didn't.

There is now an emerging groundswell of sobriety as the dust settles. People are waking up by the thousands and it will soon be millions. The drunken hysteria is fading and the sun is coming up. The drunken orgy of killing continues but many that were caught up in the confusion of the moment are realizing that American was founded on ancient principles and not on the brutality of cowards. Those principles were penned at a time of threat from a foriegn imperialist state.

While it is true that American had often behaved badly and perhaps didn't deserve a reputation for justice, freedom, and democracy, it still held this noble esteem worldwide. The reputation that it had gained has vanished. The big difference now is that new laws have become legal rot within the body of American law and have sickened the integrity of the nation. The Patriot Act is an affront to the founding fathers of America. It not only undermines and subverts the Constitution but renders it a worthless scrap of paper.

Those that are hawks and those that scream for more protection against 'terror' have done far more to subvert the spirit of America than a thousand box cutter terrorists could have. They are still busy and working hard to build a fascist empire of terror and tyranny. They not only subvert the spirit of America, they are its nemesis.

The Spirit of America

The spirit of America had raised the bar and challenged the world to live up to the noble ideals of truth, justice, and freedom. In spite of the Vietnams, the communist witch hunts of the 50s, and all the crimes commited under the American flag, the spirit of America did not die. It perservered through generations of cowards that not only acted pragmatically for gain and profit, but it also perervered through deliberate attempts to destroy it.

In spite of it all, the spirit of America is far from dead. It can be found in the music of Bruce Springstein, Ani Defranco, and Neil Young. It can be found in the writings of Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, and William Blum. It can be found in the artistic creativity of Michael Moore and Oliver Stone and it can be found on the streets of Washington and in towns and cities and homes all over the planet. It can also be found in Palestine, in Israel, in China and in Iraq. You will not find the spirit of America in the KKK or the BNP and you will not confine it to America or to capitalism or to socialism. You can beat it and twist it but you can never kill it because it really isn't the spirit of America. It is the spirit of humanity and it has been around since hunter-gatherers hunted and gathered. America just gave it a clear basis in legal legitimacy.

Across the globe people have been appalled and astounded, but not altogether surprised, at the reaction of the Bush Administration to the 9-11 attacks. It has been widely understood that those with control of the American state are ruthless and pragmatic. Murder for profit is nothing new and using the state to steal and control resources in foriegn lands has become an expectation. Even torture and illegal detentions have been used to secure 'American interests'; in other words, corporate profit.

What is new is the open advocation of police state tactics not only in foriegn countries, but within the United States as well. What is new is the open promoting of arbitrary arrests, torture, and murderous collective punishment as we have seen in Fallujah and many other places. What is new is the the open and aggressive attack on the freedoms that have not only defined America, but all modern and progressive societies.

A Painful Hangover

There will be, inevidably, a reaction to the reaction. A negation of the negation of the fundamental principles of the rule of law over the excesses of imperialists and cowards. In fact, it has never been absent. So far, it has come mostly from the left and from sincere intellectuals on the right. But it is about to move into the mainstream as the rats scurry off the decks of the sinking ship of Bush's so called war on terror.

The Patriot Act will be scrapped and the torture camps will be emptied with nothing left but a cold wind and bitter memories blowing through them. The carnage will end and tired and disillusioned troops will make their way back home and they won't expect a hero's welcome and they won't get one. Like an orgy of perversion, those that partied hard and participated in this horrible debasement not only of the American Constitution, but of humanity itself, will be exposed for their abominable and cruel acts of opportunistic brutality. And those that urged them on will fall silent under a blanket of shame.

Like the Germens that followed their Furher in the 30s and 40s, they will slip underground. Their families and friends will be ashamed to be associated with them. Their names will live on in infamy in this age of freeflowing information. They will never live this down. Even past their deaths they will not escape judgement for making the beginning of the new millenium the darkest of dark ages; especially for the long suffering people of Iraq.

Some of them still rattle on and demand more war in Iran and more draconian laws to enure that 'Americans' are protected from terrorists. Some demand that democracy and freedom be installed all over the planet at the point of a gun and with the threat of B-52s. They are no different than masianic manics spreading communism, democracy, Islam, Christianity or any other ideology of salvation to the world. What they all have in common is that they know what is best for everybody else and they will slaughter as many as need be to entrench their salvation deep into all societies, forever. What they also have in common is that they are the starkest perversions of what they aim to promote.

And in the End...

The strange irony of this dark age is that those that scream and wage war for America are the antithesis of what America had been. Those that are ostensibly anti-American are true to the principles and foundation of it.

It may be that this is the beginning of an age of tyranny that will last many generations. But we can be optomistic. Even when information could be controlled and communities and societies were isolated from one another, greater ideals and visions defeated the enemy in time. Nowadays, we have the means to share information and ideas around the globe in a split second. The fog of ignorance that tyrants of the past relied on has vanished.

The end is near for the enemies of freedom, equality, justice, and democracy. When the nightmare is over, we will stand tall and drink a toast to one another for having fought a noble fight. And those that have disgraced themselves will be silent.

They will, all of them, have an enormous debt to pay.

The Oil Wars

We will soon witness another major war crime. America will bomb Iran. It's not likely that they will invade on the ground after the punishing reaction that the people of Iraq have delivered to the occupiers. But Uncle Sam will do what he does best. He will slaugher the people of Iran from a place near space where the USA can wage war with impunity. Like a video game, the bombers will not even have to see the blood and the charred corpses of babies and their terrorized parents.

The propaganda campaign has been shifted into high gear in the past few months. We've seen this script when they invaded Iraq and prior to that, it was the Taliban in Afghanistan. Prior to that we've seen urgent and hysterical calls to take out the demons in Yugoslavia, Haiti, Grenada, Lybia, Panama, Nicaragua, Lebanon, Vietnam, Chile... it would be easier to list the countries that they have not aimed to control through violence and meddling. As we watch them invading and killing, we can watch patterns emerge. One pattern is that they usually have no qualms about telegraphing their punches. That is, they build it up as if they were promotong a new, huge blockbuster movie. And in some ways, it is like a big blockbuster movie. The chicken-hawks can prepare their favourite armchairs and popcorn and watch the bombing begin on the evening news. CNN, Fox, and other large mainstream media achieve Neilson ratings as if they were brodcasting the World Cup when Uncle Sam has blood dripping from his teeth. It's quite a show these Americans put on. Quite a show indeed.

The Americans want to punish the people of Iran for rejecting McDonalds and Wal-Mart and for throwing out their installed puppet; the Shah. That is purely political and on its own wouldn't be sufficient, especially at a time when the world is heavily war weary. But pressing economic considerations are pushing them to attack in this war weary time. They need to control oil as much as possible and Iranian oil is located next to China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the Red Sea and it also happens to be in the Islamic Middle East. Control of Iranian oil is a powerful position to hold on the global chessboard.

Control of oil is important. Saudi Arabia has a lot of control of oil and at the moment, they have turned down the taps to raise the prices. Between OPEC and the large oil companies, they have the power to raise or lower prices simply by turning the taps on high or on low. They have immense economic leverage.
Both China and India are embarking on their own paths of capitalism and mass production of all things buyable. The demand for oil in these countries of several billion people is rising and will rise more rapidly in the near future.
American oil billionaires are salivating over the propects of getting their hands on exploiting that vast energy resource as they have done with Iraqi oil resources.

The Nuclear Ruse

There is a lot of bluster coming from Washington about the threat that Iran presents to the world. They are spinning the same cartoons they spun prior to the massacres in Iraq and they are suggesting that Iran threaens to obliterate America and Israel in a nuclear holocaust.

They will not say that they are atttacking Iran for oil. They will never say that. They will never say that because that is the truth. Instead, they will spin out the big lie and it will be delivered to your living room courtesy of mainstream media.
As it is, there are five states that can own nuclear weapons according to the Non Proliferation Treaty on nuclear weapons. They are France, China, Russia, The UK, and the USA. Three states have them that should not (Israel, Pakistan and India). The USA provides nuclear bombs for use by four European countries as well as Turkey. They also arm Israel to the teeth and Israel has hundreds of nuclear weapons as well as delivery systems, enough to evaporate Iran in a very short time.

The bottom line is that if Iran were to use weapons of mass destruction against Israel, the USA or pretty much anybody else, it would be suicide for them.
Iran can legally enrich uranium to 3% and it would require enrichment to over 90% to make weapons grade uranium. Experts agree that Iran is not a nuclear threat. But this will not stop Bush and his media acolytes from whipping up war fever through lies and stories of impending doom.

American Security

Bush has been using the threat of what might happen if America doesn't commit this atrocity or that atrocity in its own defense. They have removed the fundamental freedoms of not only Americans but of Canadians, Brits, Australians and many other Western nations under the guise of security. They have used fear mongering to attack Afghanistan and Iraq and to arrest people for no reason whatsoever. They use private bounty hunters to gather up Arabian men and lock them away and throw away the key.

They have crossed the line into tyranny. On the 'freedom and democracy' side of that line there are no pre-emptive strikes or arbitrary detentions. It isn't possible.

The excuse they use is that Iran (or whomever the enemy of the day is) will develop nuclear weapons and that since it is a rogue state it is potentially violent, they must take protective measures. But it is not Iran that has invaded other countries and it is not Iran that wages war with impunity. It is not Iran that invades, assassinates, and massacres people because they 'might' be a threat; someday. These charges will stick to America and they will stick to Israel.

If any nation fits the definition of 'rogue state', it is the USA. It also has come to fit much of the criteria for 'fascist state'.

America compels nations to develop nuclear weapons through their threatening and belligerent behaviour. They are not about to attack North Korea because North Korea may have nuclear wepaons. Neither would they attack the Soviet Union or Russia. But they will badger and harrangue nations that do not have nuclear weapons. They have proven that over and over again. They take a special interest in those nations if they happen to be standing on a sea of oil.

The biggest threat to American security is the actions of the American State on behalf of the oil billionaires that run it. As Noam Chomsky said, if the Americans want to put an end to terrorism, they should stop it. And if they do stop it, the threats and the monsters under their beds will go away.

The Fox Box

The incestious relationship between the Bush White House and Fox News has emerged from it's transparent closet. Former speechwriter for Bush senior, Tony Snow, has left Fox News to resume his intimate position within the Bush family. He will now work as Bush junior's press secretary.

Only the most naive of the American population can take Fox News seriously. They lie, they spin, and they bully. Even their claims about themselves, claims such as their view of world affairs as unbiased, are utter lies. This does not fall within the realm of opinion unless we want to toss out dictionaries and agree that words, such as 'bias', have no meaning. They claim that they are not conservative, an utterance that only further confirms their lack of integrity. Fox makes many such utterances.

Created by ultra billionaire Rupert Murdoch a decade ago, Fox has developed a slick system of bells and whistles to capture the attention of those with severe attention deficits. They make plenty of pretty sounds and shifting visuals and the analysis is never anything that the average ten year old can't manage. They present the world in cartoonish hues of black and white. They present a world view where the good guys are fighting the bad guys and proceed to cheer on the good guys and hackle and jeer the bad guys. They wave plenty of flags and hype up war and patriotism. They are a dog and monkey show the likes we have never seen before.

They also have a host of manic hyper-conservatives that would make Gobbels blush. Names such as Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity have become synonmous with the raving loonie right. They also have prepetual guests like William Kristol that appear to patiently urge the Bush Administration to attack more countries - NOW.

For all its financial might and connections, the quality of what is delivered by Fox appears to be dredged up from the bottom of the barrel. They have plenty of stories about runaway brides, a missing teen in Aruba, and various other personal dramas that appear to be quite meaningless. But even in those stories there are implicit mesages. Messages that suggest that even though hundreds of murders occur within the USA each week, this particular girl is more valuable. If she were Black or poor, she would never have been paraded on national news ad nauseaum.

On the political front they are nothing more than vulgar apologists for all things right wing. Their news and opinion shows operate within such a tight frame of reference that the term, 'exlusive' takes on a much more literal meaning than is common. They exclude all but those that don't question assumptions that reflect mindless justifiations for the brutal policies of the Bush Administration.

There is a method to their madness beyond cheering on and hyping up endlesswar and neo conservative economic policies. The folksy good old boy political opinions that had been relegated to barber shops and dimly lit pubs have now found a slick outlet to provide them an air of legitimacy. This not only serves to entrench those backward right wing ideas but it also serves to convince vulnurable souls that the answers are contained within that lumpen outlook. Fox is nothing more than a prvatized, contracted out, wing of the Bush Administration and the appointment of Snow into a key White House stint will lend Fox an apparent guise of credibility.

In America there is very little in terms of credible media. Ted Turner's CNN had been operating as the number one simpleton apologist for the neo-con right but Murdoch shoved his elbow in Turner's face and is benefiting the rewards for unquestioning loyalty to the madmen that rule the planet. The American media operate within a very tight box and there isn't a lot of space in there. Outside that box lurks terrorists and terrorist sympathizers, communists and liberals, and foriegn ideas. The cozy realtionship between Murdoch's baby and those with power sends the mesage to the more 'liberal' outlets like CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC that cowering and begging and tossing away objective credibility pays off.

THE FUNCTIONS OF MEDIA

Ideally, the media functions to inform the public. If there is a danger that a dam might burst and destroy your town, the media have a respnsibilty to inform you about it. Mainstream media however function to spin and to operate slick smoke and mirrors games. We must be aware of this to keep from being seduced by it. We need to understand the nature, not only of Fox, but of the whole kit and kabootle. The past few years they have been screaming that there is a dam about to burst a barrage of terrorism toward the West but as they cry wolf over and over again, we respomd with a collective roll of the eyes. If we really want to know about fragile dams, we must turn to the ever growing world of alternative media.

The functions of mainstream media are not what they appear to be. They are not simply out to make profit. They are that and much more. The marriage of the corporation to the state complete, it is natural for the corporate media to mouth the interests of both. Mainstream media has become a tool of those that want to tell you that the Western world is in deep, deep danger. In a similar vein to Hitler’s fire in the Reichstag, the oil/ arms billionaires that run the White House want us to be terrified. They want a green light to make war and they want a green light to funnel billions of tax dollars into their own pockets through the sale of weapons systems. As a result we see very agitated talking heads that spew drivel about the threat of the month. At the moment it is Iran that threatens to turn the USA into a charred pile of nuclear dust. It also serves their sinister designs to remove the rights and freedoms that have been built by successive generations of progressive organizers and thinkers. Political opinions are now being criminalized. In the past few years politicians have been telling us that extremist views cannot be tolerated and they pose a threat to us all. This, coming from the most extreme of all, the neo cons. Welcome to the Matrix. Wecome to Fox et al.

The corporate media is working diligently to indoctrinate the citizenry, especially in the United States. It is in the United States where this process is magnified and as a result, people outside the USA may be affected to a lesser degree. This is not aimed to slight the citizens of America. But it the Americans that have the misfortune of inhabiting the deepest recesses of the belly of the imperialist beast.

CORPORATE CONTROL OF MEDIA

The probem is that there is a single special interest group that have control of the media. That interest group is the billionaires that not only own the media, but they also control weapons maunuafacturing, oil, and most states on the national level. The most significant being the American State apparatus.
Here, Chomsky explains who sets the content and the agenda for mainstream media:

“...The New York Times and CBS, for example. Well, first of all, they are major, very profitable, corporations. Furthermore, most of them are either linked to, or outright owned by, much bigger corporations, like General Electric, Westinghouse, and so on. They are way up at the top of the power structure of the private economy which is a very tyrannical structure. Corporations are basically tyrannies, hierarchic, controled from above. If you don’t like what they are doing you get out. The major media are just part of that system.”

Chomsky also makes the point that the media has a specific motive and that motive is the audience itself. That is why news stories are very short and their patterns are quite simplistic. Short attention grabbing sound bites or pleasing optics are important. The main thrust of the business is not to inform, the business is about grabbing an audience and people are the product. Chomsky continues:

"Take the New York Times. It’s a corporation and sells a product. The product is audiences. They don’t make money when you buy the newspaper. They are happy to put it on the worldwide web for free. They actually lose money when you buy the newspaper. But the audience is the product. The product is privileged people, just like the people who are writing the newspapers, you know, top-level decision-making people in society. You have to sell a product to a market, and the market is, of course, advertisers (that is, other businesses). Whether it is television or newspapers, or whatever, they are selling audiences. Corporations sell audiences to other corporations. In the case of the elite media, it’s big businesses." (Lifted from: http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/articles/z9710-mainstream-media.html)

According to Peter Phillips, “The eleven largest or most influential media corporations in the United States are General Electric Company (NBC), Viacom Inc. (cable), The Walt Disney Company (ABC), Time Warner Inc.(CNN), Westinghouse Electric Corporation (CBS), The News Corporation Ltd. (Fox), Gannett Co. Inc., Knight-Ridder Inc., New York Times Co., Washington Post Co., and the Times Mirror Co. These eleven major broadcast and print media corporations now represent a major portion of the news information systems in the United states. For many people their entire source of news and information comes from these eleven corporations."
(Source:http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media/Media%20Censor_ProjCensor.html)

General Electric is in the business of making battlefield computer systems. Their director, former senator Sam Nunn (who also directs Chevron/Texaco) isn’t likely to promote journalists that research his connections or to report any stories that work against the interests of NBC. He is not likely to be happy about his reporters making anti war statements either.
Steve Mizrach points out, “Opinion in our society must be carefully shaped and molded within certain careful boundaries: those who transgress those boundaries are libel to wind up "extremists," "ideologues," "fanatics," or "agitators. Now that dissidents in the U.S. can no longer be labelled 'fellow travellers' of the Moscow-run Commie conspiracy, the task has become more urgent. And how is it that consent, that most valuable of social products, is manufactured?”
(Source: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Media/Consent_AmerStyle.html)

The following tactics are employed by what we may regard, realistically, as the enemy (mainstream media) They shape opinion and employ sycophant mouthpieces that have been schooled within the hallowed halls of the university of corporate indoctrination.

These are bolstered by spin doctors, or, PR devils. “PR managers, known as "spin doctors" when working in government, are able to carefully craft speeches and advertisements which evoke powerful images in the American psyche, frequently using "power words" such as freedom, fairness, liberty, justice, and peacekeeping for policies which dominate, discriminate, imprison, exploit, and terrorize much of the rest of the world.” (Mizrach)

Mizrach also points out the real purpose of public opinion polls is not so much to measure public opinion as it is to shape it. They also use scholars and think tanks to tell us what and how to think.

Together, these tools are used against us. They are more threatening an enemy to the citizens of Western nations than an army of bin Ladens. They are used not only to shape public opinion. They are used to lie to us and to indoctrinate the impressionable and the young. They are being used to send young people to go overseas and kill and they are being used to strip away the freedoms and rights so many have died for.

The importance of alternative news outlets and the provision of real news and opinion that has not been programmed can't be overestimated. There is a lot happening in the world at the moment and there will be a lot happen over the coming years and decades. We are in a fight and this media ground is a battle we cannot afford to lose as common citizens. Fortunately, we have the technology to wage this war and we have the smarts, the soldiers, and the energy to defeat Fox News along with the rest of that bourgoise rabble. Here in the world of alternative media, we are free and their isn't a damn thing Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch or George W. Bush can do about it. But we can't underestimate their power either. If they are stupid, they are stupid like a fox.