Author Archives: RagBlog

Report Says Firm Sought to Cover Up Iraq ShootingsBy JOHN M. BRODERPublished: October 2, 2007 WASHINGTON, Oct. 1 — Employees of Blackwater USA have engaged in nearly 200 shootings in Iraq since 2005, in a vast majority of cases firing … Continue reading →

Drowning in Mirrors: Political Science and Truth of ConsequencesBy NORMAN SOLOMON Contempt for the empirical that can’t be readily jiggered or spun is evident at the top of the executive branch in Washington. The country is mired in a discourse … Continue reading →

The Justice that Jena Demandsby Xochitl Bervera, October 01, 2007Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) I want to tell you about Emmanuelle Narcisse. He was a tall, slim, handsome young man who was killed by a guard at … Continue reading →

The Rise of the Have-NotsBy Harold Meyerson The American middle class has toppled into a world of temporary employment, jobs without benefits, and retirement without security. 10/30/07 “American Prospect” — — Last week over lunch, a friend in his 30s … Continue reading →

Israel’s Toy SoldiersBy Chris Hedges 10/01/07 “ICH” — — If you are a young Muslim American and head off to the Middle East for a spell in a fundamentalist “madrassa,” or religious school, Homeland Security will probably greet you at … Continue reading →

Shifting Targets: The Administration’s Plan for IranBy Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker08 October 2007 Issue The Administration’s plan for Iran. In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the … Continue reading →

John Carlos Speaks Out on the Jena 6: Soldier in WinterBy DAVE ZIRIN When 50,000 people — many young, many poor, overwhelmingly African- American — marched in Jena, La., last Thursday, the political impact was felt around the country. Marching … Continue reading →

Gentrification Rears Its Racist Head: Ethnic Cleansing in San FranciscoBy DON SANTINA “They want to kick you out so they can build housing they know you can’t afford and allow rich San Franciscans to enjoy it. They don’t feel that … Continue reading →

These three references following represent the state of the art in thinking on peak oil so far as I am concerned. We now know that oil will peak within about five years (2012), partly because of a convergence of opinion … Continue reading →

Alfonso Cuarón, director of “Children of Men”, and Naomi Klein, author of “No Logo”, present a short film from Klein’s book “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.” For more, click here. Only a crisis, actual or perceived, produces … Continue reading →

If you thought you had reason to be paranoid in the ’60s, you ain’t seen nothing yet. And what’s even more insulting is that it’s really just more big corporate Amerikkka, with a little globalization thrown in (meaning that a … Continue reading →

BACK IN IRAQ: THE ‘WHORES OF WAR’ America’s hired guns in Iraq have been called ‘the coalition of the billing’, but Blackwater mercenaries are accused of more than just taking the money. Investigations Editor Neil Mackay examines the links between … Continue reading →