15 March 2018

United States: The Political Economy of Massacres

[Photo: Students in Minneapolis participate in a nationwide effort to address gun violence, particularly in schools. (Fibonacci Blue, Feb 12, 2018).]

By Prof. James Petras
Source:  Global Research

Editor's Note
It is a deception to talk about guns held by civilians and not talk about the guns of war. Just as the ‘Jeep’ and ‘Hummer’ were (and are) vehicles of war, they now are driven on every street in the nation. There once were laws drawing boundaries between the transfer of military technology into civilian life. Now, it is an open market and any boundaries are only fictive. Myths and fear drive the clasping of guns to breasts (cold comfort for the dead and survivors), and gun owners into the streets to pace menacingly; pugnaciously strutting their guns with an “I’ll kill you before you get my gun” attitude. No one even needs to mention gun legislation before the NRA messaging drives folks to frenzy. I can imagine them laughing as folks stream about here and there, waving guns over the bodies of dead children saying “If there had only been more guns, this would not have happened.” On what planet does that make any rational sense?

Politicians, corporate media, and frankly most victims an protesters do not mention the taffeta boundary between civilian and military weaponry. And even fewer discuss the links between war and guns and the merchants of death who profit from both. Professor Petras’ article is one of the few to go back to this larger picture. Frankly, I believe that what has kept the cameras on high school students across the country is not simply their angst and their passion, but the fact that they are calling the NRA (and those behind them) out onto the streets. Thank Goodness!

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27 February 2018

Shoot!

Child with gun, violence

By Chuck Orloski

SHOOT!

Shoot the bell that signals return to school.

Shoot the flag that pledges allegiance to the 1%.

Shoot the learning-disabled child.

Shoot the father who insisted upon Johnny’ s 10 pm curfew.

Shoot algebra because it stole time from video games.

Shoot prayer at teachers who are permitted to “carry heat” in classroom.

Shoot the Moon which influences A.D.D.

Shoot “Honor Roll” jocks who are not yours.

Shoot bus drivers who get angry with neglected and abandoned schoolkids.

Shoot tomboys who mock cheerleaders.

Shoot the culture that bore Columbine.

Shoot ‘bad’ sperm before it violates an egg.

Shoot a poet who thinks “he knows it.”

 

Chuck OrloskiCharles “Chuck” Orloski lives in Taylor, Pennsylvania and is married to Carol Jean and has two sons, Dan and Joe.  He worked as an Environmental Health & Safety and Project/Emergency Response Coordinator for 22 years until March 2014 retirement, at age 62.  Presently a part-time bus driver for Scranton School District, Chuck has published both articles and poetry at The Greanville Post, Uncommon Thought Journal, Counterpunch, Hollywood Progressive, Linh Dinh State of the Union (Blog), Literary Yard, and Dissident Voice.  He likes to ice skate but dislikes the Northeast Pennsylvania Winters.

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28 April 2017

The Shame of Killing Innocent People

Yemen war

[Photo: Men on the rubble of four homes destroyed in 2015 bombing. (Know Terrorists)]

By Name

Editor's Note
For whatever reason, the United States gave Saudi Arabia a full green light to attack Yemen, and has even engaged in its own shooting spree in Yemen. While purportedly unwilling to hands on intervene in Syria, no such hesitation is evident in Yemen. The outcome is a humanitarian catastrophe that is largely being ignored/buried by the U.S. government. 

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