An alternative voice in search of truth and justice.
21/04/2019
Bernie Sanders, one of the most popular presidential candidates in the US, has come under fire by most mainstream (and likely all conservative) media outlets. The New York Times is one of the interesting ones, as many people look to them as the peak of ‘leftist’ media. The problem with that is that they are only ‘left’ if you believe the likes of Obama and Clinton are ‘left’. Just like in 2016, Sanders faces an uphill battle against the DNC establishment.
20/04/2019
Notre Dame, a building with much spiritual, cultural, and historical value to the people of France, burned. The world (i.e. the West) wailed in dismay, and well over $1B has been raised for the rebuilding effort (if only the Church was so generous with its obscene wealth?). But there is a hypocrisy that many appear to have overlooked in all of this – what about our planet?
19/04/2019
A few days ago, I read an article by the Guardian explaining how Game of Thrones was racist, which I shared and had an old work friend respond with some points to back the article. While I agreed with some of the points made (not all of them), there was one that interested me because it related to something I’ve written before about written history – context.
18/04/2019
A short piece today as I was driving for most of the day to go visit a friend interstate and had little time to write – but I still want to keep up the 1 post a day average! And what better way to keep it short by talking about the US in the Middle East?
Continue reading “The US Definition of Peace in the Middle East”
16/04/2019
When you listen to people across the ‘political spectrum’, from the left (meaning legitimate left, like Noam Chomsky, not the American DNC ‘left’) to the right, there seems to be a very clear and distinct difference in the way they communicate. Not just that, but also in the legitimacy of the arguments they put forward when debating or advocating for something. What you tend to find, when you compare certain people on a particular topic, is that one side (the left) comes off as intelligent, while the other (the right) delves into an arrogant sense of perceived intelligence.
10/04/2019
Trump, with the glowing approval of both national security advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has now designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organisation. In a symbolic retaliation, the Iranian government in turn declared the United States Central Command a terrorist organisation, and President Rouhani made a statement calling the US a major sponsor of terrorism. And round and round we go.
06/04/2019
When I say that that US has not changed, what I am referring to is their international dealings and foreign policies. For sure, there are small but relatively substantial differences between the Republican Party and the Democrats within America itself, but outside America who cares. To paraphrase Noam Chomsky, the Democrats have shifted to become the Republicans of the late 1900’s, and the Republicans themselves are no longer a political party so much as they are the most dangerous organisation in human history.
28/03/2019
David Draiman’s song Out of Line, featuring Serj Tankian, is easily my favourite song on his album Device. It doesn’t hold back on its criticism of abusive power, which remains undefined but can be applied to any autocratic or plutocratic institution. From the chorus:
“You try to justify the pain that you’ve wrought,
But you’re out of line, you’re out of line.”
It is safe to say in recent months, many have stepped out of line.
21/03/2019
One of my optional university units this semester is about the media, detailing how it works and its role in society. This week the topic was the media’s relationship with power structures and other institutions, like political and corporate powers. While the modules mostly focussed on Chomsky and Herman’s book Manufacturing Consent, which I actually read three years ago (and was my introduction to Chomsky), there was a link to a documentary called Outfoxed, which wasn’t necessary to watch but I ended up looking at it anyway. It is, as the name suggests, about Fox News in the US, and despite being made in 2004 is still a relevant analysis of how the “news” organisation functions.
19/03/2019
This must have been the title of the clickbait advertisement the Trump administration saw and decided to click on when the International Criminal Court rocked up to investigate US war crimes in Afghanistan. Because only the innocent attempt to obstruct justice, right?
