The Greanville Journal

BY SUSAN ROSENTHAL

Naomi Klein plowing through her research notes while writing The Shock Doctrine, an important book, but one that, as our reviewer shows, is marred in some significant respects. Klein, in the manner of so many liberals (”left-liberal” in her case)–is a far better diagnostician of the horrors and cynicism of capitalism than a therapist. Her curative recommendations fall way short of what needs to be done.

Book Review: Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Metropolitan Books, September 18, 2007, 576 pages, $28 (US)

Correction: The original version of this review incorrectly identified Naomi Klein as a co-founder of the American Freedom Campaign. This was a mistake. Naomi Wolf is the co-founder. The text has been revised accordingly. My apologies to Ms. Klein and to my readers — Susan Rosenthal

It’s often been said that we are the majority, and they can’t put us all in jail. Naomi Klein proves otherwise. It’s true, they can’t put us all in jail, but they don’t need to. Klein is the anti-globalization author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. In her bold new book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, she explains how “radical capitalists” use shock treatment to impose anti-human policies on unwilling populations. [Read more →]

Tags: Revolution & Counter-revolution, War Propaganda, Capitalist Ways, Susan Rosenthal, Ideological Combat, Socialism & Communism, Book Reviews, The Left & Pseudo Left, Middle East, Imperial Policy by susanRosenthal
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Eloquent caption indeed, despite the typos and the clueless technician at CNN.

BY STEVEN JONAS
UPDATED: OCT 17, 2007 The Political Junkies.net Column No. 167

The US government use of torture is in the news once again, and as long as BushCheney are in power it will be, off and on. For they have made its use into US government policy. Of course, they describe whatever it is that is being done as “not torture.” They then go on to say that a) “we can’t give you any details because: a) it’s classified and b) anyone who spills the beans will be “aiding and abetting terrorism and terrorists” (as if such persons didn’t already know from first-hand experience with Georgite torture at the hands of either US torturers or those of allies such as Egypt). This is done, and was done in a picture-perfect version by the White House Press Secretary in response to the revelations of the current secret program of torture carried out after Bush said “we-don’t-torture,” because that’s what they want to have the discussion on: “what’s torture?” [Read more →]

Tags: American Politicians, Unredeemable Scum, Anti-War Work, War Propaganda, The US MIlitary, Capitalist Propaganda, Toxic Culture, Fascism US Style, Indecent Plutocracy, Appalling Hypocrisy Annals, Imperial Policy by Greanville
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The Iraqi resistance may merely want the Americans and other westerners out of Iraq, but bin Laden’s goal is more ample: to rid the entire Middle East of “crusader” influence. Though bin Laden is an unapologetic religious fundamentalist, it is his nationalist “foreign policy” that gains him as many supporters among the Arab masses as his strong beliefs in the infallibillity of the Koran.

BY PEPE ESCOBAR

The ultimate nightmare for White House/Pentagon designs on Middle East energy resources is not Iran after all: it’s a unified Iraqi
resistance, comprising not only Sunnis but also Shi’ites.

“It’s the resistance, stupid” - along with “it’s the oil, stupid”.
The intimate connection means there’s no way for Washington to
control Iraq’s oil without protecting it with a string of sprawling
military “super-bases”. [Read more →]

Tags: American Politicians, Anti-War Work, Warmongering, War Propaganda, The US MIlitary, State Crimes, Obstinate History, Middle East, Zionist Footprints, Imperial Policy by Greanville
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Like most global corporate media conglomerates, TIME-Warner (which includes CNN) is unrelenting in its promotion of war and idealization of military duty. A new Nuremberg should one day include media barons and their top hirelings as defendants for high crimes against humanity.

BY JOHN STEPPLING // DIALOGUES FROM VOXPOP

Editor’s Note: Our special blog on culture and politics — and countless other topics— VOXPOP uses a dialog format between its co-editors, Guy Zimmerman and John Steppling, both playwrights. This is just one of many excerpts from what is truly a unique public epistolary.

Guy—

The entire MoveOn.org ad spectacle was a perfect example of both the trivializing of American politics, and of the seemingly endless adoration this society has for the military. It was also yet another blow to free speech. The erosion of the first amendment (and the second, and the….) is now at critical mass. Is there any free speech anymore? Well, only in a prescribed fashion, in limited less than public ways. The mantra of this worship of authority and militarism is “support the troops”. I will say again, no, I don’t support the goddamn troops. I feel compassion for those young men and women foolish enough (and economically coerced enough) to join up, but I don’t support them. [Read more →]

Tags: Ideological Combat, Warmongering, War Propaganda, The US MIlitary, Capitalist Propaganda, Toxic Culture, American Way of Life, Bourgeois Democracy, Imperial Policy by Greanville
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