The Plug Nickel Times is proud to bring you website links to select opinion articles that you may not find through your local media. All links are offsite unless otherwise noted - followed links should open in another browser window. Links can become dated or otherwise fail to function, for this reason we quote the actual headline of an article. This may allow you to find an alternate copy of the article through a news index or search engine. Some sites we link to may require a registration process to view an article - this website may be useful to you in those instances. Comments, corrections and submissions are welcome - an email link is at the bottom of the page.
June 2007
June 30, 2007
Beavis and Butthead in London jihad by Thomas C Greene
"But the guys with the guns and cameras and listening devices have been on a roll since 9/11, embarrassing their clip-board-toting rivals in the race for public money, even though, collectively, they've taken or made meaner far more lives than they can ever hope to protect with their strategy of violence in the name of peace, and fascism in the name of liberty.
To keep the billions rolling in, they've got to produce a terrorist every now and then. Only real terrorists are hard to come by, so clowns and stooges with harebrained schemes end up doing bin Laden's perp walk periodically.
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So why is this such big news? Because clowns have got to be passed off as terrorists. Because a vast industry depends on terrorists, real and imagined, to justify its existence. We live now in the grip of the security-industrial complex, and that hungry beast demands to be fed. We feed it money hand over fist, and in return, it feeds us fear biscuits, which we are expected to accept with gratitude."
Synthetic Environments for Analysis and Simulation
June 27, 2007
Quote of the day:
(with editorial license)
"Many walked by asking, 'who is Ron Paul' to which supporters gladly offerred liberty oriented responses."
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{{{brrains}}}
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"Such is the spontaneous order surrounding America's most prominent ambassador of peace and freedom."
(from the LRC blog)
Somewhere in Arizona... (at an airport terminal dedicated to Barry Goldwater...)
The Occupation Troops by Lew Rockwell
Bush Directive for a 'Catastrophic Emergency' in America: Building a Justification for Waging War on Iran? by Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
"9/11 and the threat of a second major attack on America are ostensibly part of the building block of the US National Security doctrine. While, the threat of an impending 9/11 type attack by 'Islamic terrorists' is a fabrication, extensive media propaganda, supported by covert intelligence operations, has ensured that the 'Global War on Terrorism' or GWOT is widely accepted both by the supporters and opponents of the Bush administration."
BIS warns of Great Depression dangers from credit spree by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
"The Bank for International Settlements, the world's most prestigious financial body, has warned that years of loose monetary policy has fuelled a dangerous credit bubble, leaving the global economy more vulnerable to another 1930s-style slump than generally understood.
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"The levels of leverage employed in private equity transactions have raised questions about their longer-term sustainability. The strategy depends on the availability of cheap funding," it said."
Do bear in mind that this article is written from the perspective of the global banking industry...
Sunni interviews Wally Conger in her most recent Salon.
The war against law-abiding citizens by Garry Reed
"At one time or another, governments have made it officially illegal to be a witch, an African, an Indian, a Jew, or a pothead. At one time, all of these groups were 'law-abiding citizens.' Against whom should the powercrats declare war in the future? Perhaps against you, today's 'law-abiding citizen?'"
I'd like to recommend a few science fiction short stories by Gavin Grant. My first exposure to his writing was last year when Strike the Root linked over to a piece entitled "We Are Never Where We Are". A few weeks ago I tracked down more of his work and enjoyed these three:
Editing for Content
Heads Down, Thumbs Up
Softly, With A Big Stick
