Dissent Mag

Published on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

by Guy Reel

The other day, as I was musing aloud about notion that George Bush is the worst president in U.S. history, an acquaintance interrupted, “What’s been so bad?” I stammered for a moment, unable to get my mind around such a large question. It was sort of like trying to summarize the mysteries of the universe: The topic is so big one doesn’t know where to start. So I decided to compile a handy reference guide to the failed policies, worst decisions, irrational practices and outrageous lies of the Bush administration.In compiling this list, I made the rule that it cannot be an inventory of policy differences between liberals and conservatives; it must differentiate between rational and irrational policies, between truth and lies, between successes and failures. In other words, this should not be a partisan list but an attempt to chronicle the failures, catastrophes and ruinous policies that are apparent to impartial observers. Contributions are welcomed.

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Published on Friday, May 9, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

by Megan Tady

The mainstream media are as likely to report on Pentagon propaganda — and thus, themselves — as President Bush is likely to cede that “mission accomplished” was poor phrasing. That is, it ain’t ever gonna happen.

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By SAUL LANDAU

If you live in affluent neighborhoods you might have conditioned yourself to ignore the significant sector of US society that gets in your face by showing they’re poor, suffering from disease and acute angst – if not worse.

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By Chris Harman

There is a hierarchy of precedents for financial crises. In August, as things began to unravel, the initial comparisons were with the 1998 collapse of Long Term Capital Management. That is, a freak event in which the sins of a few egg-heads temporarily hit confidence. Then, as it became clear that banks were in pain, the comparator became the 1980s and 1990s Savings and Loan crisis that saw bank losses worth 3 percent of US economic output. Now, after a very nasty week in markets, the whispers are that it might even be the big one: the worst crisis since the 1930s.

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Posted: 2008/05/13
From: Mathaba

By Harry R. Davidson, Ph.D.
(Final Call)

The secret societies empowered today are the continuation of the underlying ‘’skullduggery.”

The use of propaganda was historically associated with communist regimes. Today, the attack on Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Senator Obama and the Black Church demonstrates that America’s propaganda machine is working to manipulate the masses into accepting the rule of the elitists. The elites are using psychology, the media and the pseudoscientific of polling to manipulate and take advantage over an unenlightened citizenry.

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by Peter Symonds

Global Research, May 11, 2008
wsws.org

The catastrophe wrought by Cyclone Nargis on the Burmese people has provoked an extraordinary campaign by the US and allied powers, and in the international media, demanding that the military junta open its borders to aid and aid officials as well as to American military aircraft, troops and warships. Once again an attempt is being made to stampede public opinion with heartrending images of desperate survivors and devastated towns, accompanied by an incessant drumbeat condemning the Burmese regime for its inadequate aid efforts, its insularity, and its failure to accept international, especially American, aid.

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