Letter to the editor of the Daily Beacon, 11.09.09

I am not sure if this letter ever appeared in the U. of Tennessee student newspaper.  If it did, I missed it.
I am writing in response to Amien Essif’s November 9 column, “Media miss drama of demonstration”.  In it, he distinguishes the political environments of Europe from ours in the United States, and his distinction [...]

My interview with The Pakistani Spectator

I would like to inform my readers of an up and coming Pakistani website called The Pakistani Spectator.  Its webmaster, Ghazala Khan (who may or may not be a descendant of Genghis), is committed to the free flow of ideas throughout the world.   It is people like Khan who–more than the overpaid CEO’s [...]

Ignorance v. Oklahoma: state sovereignty, and its frightening media blackout

I heard a rumor today that Oklahoma’s state legislature had declared sovereignty from federal mandates it considered beyond the national government’s constitutional powers. On blogs and independent news outlets around the world, the news of Oklahoma’s resolution was making its rounds. The state invoked the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution:
“The powers not [...]

Iraqis have a voice, “but nobody listened.” Will you?

I have written a book; and if it cannot be refuted, it cannot be condemned. But I do not consider the prosecution as particularly leveled against me, but against the general right, or the right of every man, of investigating systems and principles of government, and showing their several excellencies or defects.” – Thomas [...]

A Nation of Fences (05.23.08)

I have heard several Israeli residents complain of the unwanted attention their nation receives from the U.S. media.  The most hated countries in the world, they realize, are the ones to which America pays the most attention: Iran and their own.  They want sovereignty and independence–they want to be left alone–but they seem fairly disinterested [...]

Patriotism and Partisanship in America

“I do not believe that any two men, on what are called doctrinal points, think alike who think at all.  It is only those who have not thought that appear to agree.” – Thomas Paine
“I am a Democrat.”  What does this mean?  “I am a Republican.”  What does this mean?  Does anyone even know anymore?
I [...]

The skeleton shelf: how the media chooses who loses

We the people are under fire from corporate media. Their intent is uncertain, but whether for indiscriminate profit or intentional distraction, media sources are bombarding us with smoke bombs of emotion, which steadily stupefy the American voter.
Take Jeremiah Wright, for example. We are asked to listen to a prominent preacher shout obscenities about our country, [...]

Sean Hannity’s new corruption culprit: bloggers

“It’s absolutely bad for the culture.” – Sean Hannity on blogging, 04.07.08
The  criticism can be understood on a level of mere survival, because as its availability becomes universal, the Internet’s blogosphere will render obsolete Mr. Hannity’s line of work, reducing him and people like him to what they always should have been: ordinary.
The great irony of Mr. [...]

Breaking the Matrix

In 1776, Thomas Paine released the pamphlet Common Sense to the people of America. It was a call to action for the proletarians, and it outlined the idea that freedom works–an idea the newspapers of the time conspired to hide. Hundreds of thousands copies were passed around the colonies during that year.
Today, [...]