From NOEBIE.net
Coming soon, to a country near you: another way for the masters to strip troublemakers of our citizenship. Thanks, Joe.
H.R. 3166: Enemy Expatriation Act. [GovTrack.us] – To add engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality.
This is the chilling account of Lakhdar Boumediene’s rendition and his imprisonment for seven years at Gitmo. He was held without trial, another innocent victim of our War on Terror.
My Guantánamo Nightmare. [NYTimes.com] – The fact that the United States had made a mistake was clear from the beginning. Bosnia’s highest court investigated the American claim, found that there was no evidence against me and ordered my release. But instead, the moment I was released American agents seized me and the five others. We were tied up like animals and flown to Guantánamo, the American naval base in Cuba.
”Any kind of action that relieves people’s distress a little bit, without changing the system, maintains the system. In fact that’s the way the American system – which is very exploitative and very unfair – that’s the way the American system is being maintained…by giving people a little bit, giving enough people, just enough, to keep them from breaking out in open revolt.”
-Howard Zinn
Hat tip to my Fellow Worker, Adam, for posting this quote on Facebook the other day.
Did renewables overtake nuclear power in 2011? Sort of. [The Washington Post] – In 2011, for the first time in decades, the United States got more of its energy from renewable sources than it did from nuclear power. Not only that, but renewables are growing much faster than any other energy source.
Secrets of Empire and Self-Deceptions of Partisans [Dissident Voice] – As a general rule, when the rationalizations of both Bush and Obama supporters are countered with facts regarding their dismal governance, the invectives fly.
12 simple ways to go green in 2012 [CSMonitor.com] – If many people resolve to make their lives just a little greener in 2012 it could make a huge difference.
One of the things that I like best about the Kindle is that I can keep a wide variety of reading material at my fingertips. I find that I read more, because I can steal ten minutes here and there (taking a break at midday, waiting in the car for my daughter to be dismissed from school, etc.), and I don’t have to choose ahead of time what I’ll be reading. If I don’t have time to dig into a chapter of something difficult or laborious, I can read a poem or magazine article. If something isn’t holding my attention for whatever reason, I can move on to something else. My friend, Joel Anderson, calls this “Kindle Assisted Attention Deficit Disorder” but I actually think that the device helps me to keep my attention focused. It’s not like reading on the Web where there are constant distractions, and it’s not like being trapped in a room with a single volume (say, War and Peace).
In any case, I thought that from time to time I’d share some of the things that I’m reading. Most of these will be available for Kindle. Many of them will be available free-of-charge, either in the Public Domain, free to Amazon Prime members, or available from a lending library. I might occasionally share my own thoughts on what I’m reading as well, but would encourage you to read for yourself.
Also, I’d love to know what you’re reading. Feel free to post comments with observations, recommendations or a simple bibliography.
Here’s what I’ve been reading this past week.
Ten Days That Shook The World – John Reed’s masterpiece gives us a firsthand account of Red October.
Leaves of Grass – Walt Whitman sings for soul and body in the finest free-verse America has ever seen.
A People’s History of the United States – From Columbus to the War on Terror, Howard Zinn presents the unvarnished truth. Highly recommended…
Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism – I have been woefully ignorant concerning the Socialists and Anarchists, and am determined to correct this deficiency in my education during 2012. This book is a very tough read, but I’m finding it worthwhile. Essential study on an important topic from authors Lucien Van Der Walt and Michael Schmidt…
2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly – An old favorite…
Sgt. Jared Dillon, a member of the Personal Security Detachment for 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, carries a duffel bag full of cookies, candy and personal hygiene products for the Soldiers of Forward Operating Base Pacemaker on Dececmber 25, 2011. On Christmas Day Sgt. Dillon and the other Warhorse Soldiers traveled to five different forward operating bases delivering gifts and holiday cheer.
Throughout our decade of war in Afghanistan (and, indeed, throughout the war in Iraq), there has been an eerie disconnect between the reality of the situation for those who have been called upon to serve and the experience of the vast majority of the rest of us in American society. It is like we have been sleepwalking.
I, for one, am redoubling my efforts in 2012 to be mindful of our service men and women, of their families, of the Afghan People and of all others around the world who are living with war.
It is way past time to wake up.
What’s Happening in the Persian Gulf Explained. [Mother Jones] – Why Iran is talking tough, the US is maneuvering warships, and gasoline is getting more expensive by the hour.
Good morning. We have a bit more on the subject of hydraulic fracturing today.
Hydrofracked: One man’s quest for answers. [High Country News] – Louis Meeks is an alfalfa farmer in Pavillion, Wyoming. For decades after returning from his service in Vietnam, his well provided the cleanest water for miles around. Then, something happened.
For 35 years, he drew it clear and sweet from a well near the front door of the plain, eight-room ranch house that he and his wife, Donna, own. The water was so good that neighbors used to pull off the road to fill plastic jugs for themselves. But in the spring of 2005, Meeks’ water turned fetid. His tap ran cloudy, and the filmy water shimmered with rainbow swirls. The scent was sharp, like gasoline.
Read the full story from Abrahm Lustgarten here.
Also, I ran across this essay by John Kemp of Reuters, who basically argues that we shouldn’t worry about the risks posed by fracking, because the natural gas companies have been despoiling our environment and poisoning us for years anyway. Nothing new here. Move along.
Here are a few more articles of interest.
An Inside Look At A Fracking Well. [The Denver Post]
How Fracking Might Have Led To An Ohio Earthquake. [CSMonitor.com]
Chinese and French firms pour $4.5 billion into U.S. shale. [Reuters]
Happy Fracking!
