The End of Empire

The ever-sensible Chalmers Johnson:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/30-11

"Unfortunately, few empires of the past voluntarily gave up their dominions in order to remain independent, self-governing polities. The two most important recent examples are the British and Soviet empires. If we do not learn from their examples, our decline and fall is foreordained."

Health Care Insurance Misconceptions

Krugman on Medicare, single-payer, and Obama's "socialism":

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"...government involvement is the only reason our system works at all."

Update: Every misconception has a source; this one, our collective failure to take seriously -- in contrast to the rest of the industrialized world -- universal, single-payer coverage.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/30-16

Update: Some good sense from Dr. Ornish on turning our current system of "sick-care" into something more closely resembling health-care:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-dean-ornish/resuscitating-health-care_b_255224.html

GOPers, Soulless Vampires, and other Profit-mongers

Maher on Profiting sans profit:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-maher/new-rule-not-everything-i_b_244050.html

"If conservatives get to call universal health care "socialized medicine," I get to call private health care "soulless vampires making money off human pain." The problem with President Obama's health care plan isn't socialism, it's capitalism.

And if medicine is for profit, and war, and the news, and the penal system, my question is: what's wrong with firemen? Why don't they charge? They must be commies. Oh my God! That explains the red trucks!"

On the Wrong Side of History, Again

Chris Hedges on Afghanistan:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/20

"The only way to defeat terrorist groups is to isolate them within their own societies. This requires wooing the population away from radicals. It is a political, economic and cultural war. The terrible algebra of military occupation and violence is always counterproductive to this kind of battle. It always creates more insurgents than it kills. It always legitimizes terrorism. And while we squander resources and lives, the real enemy, al-Qaida, has moved on to build networks in Indonesia, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Morocco and depressed Muslim communities such as those in France’s Lyon and London’s Brixton area. There is no shortage of backwaters and broken patches of the Earth where al-Qaida can hide and operate. It does not need Afghanistan, and neither do we."

Update: 7/24/09

So far, Obama-Biden offer more of the same:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/world/europe/24afghan.html?_r=1&hpw

Pallin' around with Palin

David Michael Green on Palin:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/18-2

"But here, near as I can tell, is what I think she was trying to say in her rambling resignation speech:

1. I can "progress" Alaska and America with or without a title.
2. I'm wasting my precious time here on Earth as Governor, defending against false accusations.
3. Therefore I'm not going to run for a second term.
4. Therefore I'm not going to finish my first one either, like some governors do, as a "lame-duck" going off on junkets and stuff.
5. (Oh, and by the way, the troops in the military are really, really great people. Not that that has a damn thing to do with anything, but if I talk a lot about them it'll score me lots of points with idiots, just like it did for Bush.)

....She loves her job, but she's going to sacrifice it all for the people of Alaska. You know, the one's who asked her to actually serve all four years of her term when they honored her with the highest office in the state."