Tag Archives: commentary

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No Romney 2012

Who will you vote for in the US presidential elections? I won’t vote at all since I’m not an American, but if I could, I definitely wouldn’t vote for Mitt Romney. In fact, I’d probably do my best to ensure no one else votes for him either. It would quite frankly spell disaster if Romney, or someone like him, called the shots in the White House. Let’s take a quick look at what Romney has planned…

What should be done about climate change and environmental protection?

- Abolish government aid for the development of renewable energy and instead invest in oil and gas
- Expand drilling for oil and gas, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- Do nothing about climate change, since it is “unclear” what is causing it
- Weaken the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency

What should be done to make the world safer?

- Increase military spending
- Prevent further nuclear arms reduction programs
- Attack Iran, if necessary, to prevent the development of nuclear weapons
- Play hardball with China, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela.
- Keep Guantanamo detention centre

What should be done to safeguard the American dream?

- Deregulate most things, including Wall Street, corporations and gun control
- Keep the Patriot Act and other “freedom” laws
- Weaken the powers of the unions
- Keep current minimum wage levels
- Remove “Obamacare”
- Prevent the US from becoming like Europe (whatever that means?)

So there you have it. The very epitome of American conservatism. And this could be the next president of the world’s most powerful state. It worries me a great deal that people with such views can make it to the very top of politics in this day and age. We really should have learnt a bit more along the way.

The United States is not a third world country. It’s citizens are not restricted to only one side of a story. They have the internet and access to millions of books in their public libraries ready to educate them in all sorts of topics. Still, over 40% of Americans currently say they will vote for Romney. How is that possible?

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Lesson not learned :: supporting state terror

When trying to set a good example, it is vital not only to speak empty words but also to ‘practice what you preach’ as the old saying goes. It is therefore delightful to see pro-democracy, pro-peace and pro-freedom all-star USA selling $30 billon worth of weapons of ‘stability’ to Saudi Arabia. The Saudis after all share the same interest in democracy, peace and freedom, especially for its own people.

Hang on, I meant to say authoritarian rule, terror and suppression. Amnesty details grave abuses in Saudi Arabia, including imprisonment without trial, torture of prisoners, public flogging and extreme suppression of women. Not exactly the most obvious, and certainly not the best, choice of ally for said purpose. Then again, this ally is the largest exporter of petroleum in the world and happens to have access to the second largest oil reserve on earth.

This particular deal is only one part of a much larger agreement to supply the Saudis with military aircrafts, missiles and bombs totalling $60 billion. That’s a whole lot of peace (and a great deal of money for America’s arms industry!).

The justification for supplying the 7th most authoritarian regime in the world with such an abundance of weaponry is, according to the official tagline, to secure stability in the region. But what sort of stability is this? One where Iran is further pushed into a corner and oil can continue to flow freely?

The US government condemns selected regimes world-wide for human rights abuses and oppression, while at the same time supporting countries who exercise exactly the same kind of state terror. How is this supposed to set a good example for the rest of the world? More importantly, how strategically wise is it to arm such a regime, when this has been done before and failed miserably as witnessed with the Taliban and Saddam Hussein?

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US 2012 Elections – Bachmann Worst Candidate Ever?

Here’s a brief list of why Michele Bachmann is one of the worst (the worst?) US Presidential candidates ever:

- Supports the Tea Party movement
- Supports exploration of oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
- Rejects Global Warming. ‘Carbon dioxide is natural; it is not harmful’
- Opposes the Environmental Protection Agency. ‘the EPA will have doors locked and lights turned off’
- Rejects Evolution. ‘It’s just a theory’
- Supports teaching of creationism in schools
- Supports abolition of federal minimum wage, because it would ‘virtually wipe out unemployment’
- Opposes national health care
- Opposes social security and Medicare
- Supports nuclear strikes on Iran
- Opposes same-sex marriages
- Opposes abortion in case of rape or incest

Michele recently won the Iowa Ames Straw Poll, narrowly defeating Ron Paul.

This is worrying.

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Anders Behring Breivik – A Lesson in Conservatism

Just before Breivik’s attacks he released a 1,500 page manifesto entitled ’2083 – A European Declaration of Independence’ outlining his mission to rid Europe of Muslims and the ‘Cultural Marxists’ in power. Obviously I had to download and read it, and it sure is an interesting read. Not because I like his ideas, but because it’s always good to know what the crazies are up to.

Bascially, Breivik argues that all of Europe’s current problems have been caused by Muslim immigration and corrupt leaders, the so called ‘Cultural Marxists’. The only solution is to conduct a kind of cultural cleansing by executing these Marxists and expelling all Muslims from Europe, after which a new order will be established based on ‘Culturally Conservative’ values…

Most Europeans look back on the 1950s as a good time. Our homes were safe, to the point where many people did not bother to lock their doors. Public schools were generally excellent, and their problems were things like talking in class and running in the halls. Most men treated women like ladies, and most ladies devoted their time and effort to making good homes, rearing their children well and helping their communities through volunteer work. Children grew up in two–parent households, and the mother was there to meet the child when he came home from school. Entertainment was something the whole family could enjoy. (p. 12, 2083)

Conservatives are a peculiar breed. Breivik is clearly fond of the 50′s and envisions his new Europe to be very much like this romanticised version of the early post-war years. Culturally, at least. He uses the example of a 1950′s family that travels into the 2000′s only to return to the 50′s in shock and horror over what’s become of their idyllic Europe. Nothing wrong with that of course. I’m sure there were a lot of good things back in the 50′s that might’ve gotten lost along the way.

What I find disturbing about his view, and indeed the entire Conservative ideology, is the counterproductiveness of it all. Head back to the 50′s and I’m sure you’ll find people longing for the 1900′s. In the 1900′s people were probably dreaming of the 1850′s. And so on back to the time when people romanticised tree-dwelling.

Every era has its share of good and bad. Compared to the 50′s, or any other time for that matter, our time probably has a pretty similar amount of good and bad, whatever that may be. People unfortunately have a tendency to focus too much on present negatives and only remember past positives, conveniently forgetting what things were really like, thus creating this sense of ‘things used to be better’.

For some, this kind of thinking can lead to a desire to bomb the world back in time, as witnessed in Norway and many other places around the world. Fortunately, most conservatives will simply try to prevent progress from happening, or at the least slow it down. Personally I don’t understand this kind of thinking. Living in the past is a waste of time. Trying to conserve the present even more so. Everything changes all the time and no matter how hard you try you’ll never succeed in keeping things the way they are.

Instead of bringing back the past, why not use all of our collective knowledge and  experience to create a better world, based in the present with a long-term vision for the future. Present-day problems require present-day solutions. That’s not to say that everything past needs to be rejected. Certain things are timeless and can be applied at any time and any given situation. But cultural cleansing is certainly not one of them…

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Boycott Mainstream Media

If you trust Mainstream Media to provide you with objective and truthful news, you’re bound to get scammed over and over. Sure, they’re supposed to be factual, critical and even balanced. But are they really? In most cases we find they’re actually extremely one-sided.

The world doesn’t just consists of war, death, corruption, economic crisis’, natural disasters, disease and impending doom. If that were the case, what would your life look like? Think about it! Are things really as horrible as we’re made to believe?

Mainstream Media will report on anything that will ignite your fears and make you pay attention (emphasis on pay). Why is that, you ask? Because being factual isn’t as profitable as playing on peoples fears and prejudices.

Media outlets are in the end nothing but corporations destined to do whatever it takes to make a profit. So even though their main focus should be on delivering independent and factual information, this objective is always a slave to the strive for profits.

That’s why I choose to ignore Mainstream Media. And so should you. If you really want to know what’s going on, start paying attention to your surroundings. Does anything align with what you’ve been told? It might do so on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you’ll be surprised…

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Apocalypse FAIL

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Apparently the world ended 4 days ago… Anyone notice? Not me either.

The Evangelical community is at it again with spot-on predictions of when our world will come to an end. The only problem is that the world didn’t end last Saturday, or back in 1994, as some elderly prophets may have predicted.

But don’t worry – the end is still near. This was all due to a miscalculation, so it’s probably still a good idea to give up all your belongings and wait for that giant earthquake. The next big date to mark in your calendar is October 21 this year. Surely, third time must be the charm, and this time it couldn’t possibly fail, right?

Honestly, I understand some people may feel the need to make predictions about this and that, maybe because they’re bored or slowly losing their grip on reality, but why do people listen to this crap? A guy who’s already been wrong before about the entire world coming to an end is probably not the most reliable source of information.

Sigh, sigh, sigh…

 

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Obama the Outlaw

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I don’t know whether to laugh or cry, but what’s the deal with all these conspiracy theorists questioning Obama’s birth? Are you for real? Just because a black man made it into the white house he’s obviously a fake, a man of the “new world order” and why not a muslim terrorist while were at it.

Consider this post from The Independent published last weekend:

“Birthers”, or people who believe the President was not born in the US, making him constitutionally ineligible to govern, nonetheless have in a few short years emerged from the fringes of far-right politics into the limelight of the mainstream. Today, they represent roughly 50 per cent of registered Republican supporters

Fifty percent! That’s apparently a quarter of the entire US population who believe that Obama was indeed born somewhere else. Never mind that his birth has been confirmed by the Hawaiin state government, two microfilm records of local newspapers announcing his birth, hospital records and his birth certificate.

No, these are obviously fake. All a facade for Obamas plot to enslave the Americans (and probably the world) using his Communist national health care reform. Really? Come on people!

If you’re interested in conspiracies, read up on the last global financial crisis. That’s a “conspiracy” worth investigating.