Category: ThinkableWords

Words that induce thought…

The Honduran Coup

I’ll simply cite the final two sentences Yves Engler chose to end his latest ZNet Nightly Commentary, The dominant Canadian media’s coverage of the coup in Honduras has been atrocious, and I’ll urge everyone to read it;

“The Canadian media’s coverage of the coup demonstrates the importance of independent media. We need to support news outlets willing to challenge the powerful…”

And with such a valid statement ringing true, I’ll direct you to Democracy Now’s coverage of the “Honduras Coup.”

Do yourselves a favour, and check it out…

Cops and Criminals?

I’ve some hesitancy with using the above analogy when referring to how we age and our bodies fight disease, but in terms of making such a complicated scenario simple, it does the job. If you pretend, of course, each — cops and criminals — fit in to their literal definitions of conduct. And you’re in no way swayed by reality;

“Imagine that within your body is an ongoing battle between cops and criminals.  And, in general, the cops are winning.  They patrol randomly through your body, and when they happen to come across a criminal he is promptly removed.  The cops can always defeat a criminal they come across, unless the criminal has been allowed to sit in the same spot for a long time.  A criminal that remains in one place for long enough (say, one day) can build a “fortress” which is too strong to be assailed by the police.  If this happens, you die…”

This article, “Your body wasn’t built to last: a lesson from human mortality rates,” is fascinating…

Quite the Piece’s of Work

Yesterday Jeremy Scahill had his latest article, Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder, published over at The Nation. Might I suggest you wander over and take a peek. Both, the article itself and Erik Prince, are quite the piece’s of work, each in their own right.

Appearing in one of the “sworn statements” Jeremy’s article is concerning;

“Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Many of these men used call signs based on the Knights of the Templar, the warriors who fought the Crusades.”

“Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince’s executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to ‘lay Hajiis out on cardboard.’ Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game. Mr. Prince’s employees openly and consistently used racist and derogatory terms for Iraqis and other Arabs, such as ‘ragheads’ or ‘hajiis’.”

Subsequently Jeremy has made appearances, discussing what he wrote, on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Democracy Now. While you’re at it, check them out, too…

What Are The Chances?

I received this in my inbox, courtesy of Z Nightly Commentaries, today. When Wall Street Is The Prolem, Is Bernanke The Answer? Spelling errors aside — oversights, I’m sure — this one excerpt, at least, is worthy of attention;

“In his recent press conference, after which President Obama would be called to task for lambasting the police in Cambridge Mass. for acting ‘stupidly’ — a comment he later withdrew — he also charged that Wall Street knew what they were doing when they made predatory loans. No one called him on that, not even Wall Street. […] If it was a smear, you would expect an uproar from the Wall Street-Real Estate complex responsible for millions of families losing their homes. After all, this is a mass problem, not a mere incident. Also, a large proportion of those targeted were people of color. Their lives have been handcuffed, not just their wrists. If you are looking for a case of mass racial profiling, look here…”

I wonder if CNN will consider Danny’s suggestion, to “consider this as a theme for Black In America 3?” What are the chances?