Practical policy decisions to alleviate hunger and poverty in Africa

There is a memorable quote from a prominent American republican, John Bolton, who served a brief stint as the United States ambassador to the United Nations. In the famous statement, John Bolton said in 2003, “The Secretariat building in New York has 38 stories. If it lost ten stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference”. While his negative view of the United Nations was centered on protecting the hegemonic power of the United States in the international system and his comments were hypocritical considering the inherit traits of government organizations to be inefficient, his remarks on the United Nations were also fairly accurate.

If the problem of world hunger and poverty was not so serious for the nearly one billion people who are hungry and malnourished in the world, recent statements about budgetary shortfalls by Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme, would be almost laughable.

It is disgraceful how the leaders of UN agencies like Sheeran at the World Food Program and Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, can continue to plead to the world for donations for the poor ,while they earn six figure incomes with generous fringe benefits and other perks. Like any bureaucracy and government run institution, these institutions are poorly run, over staffed with politically connected people, and will pursue their own interests first while in the process denying help to the very people, these organizations are supposed to help.

Take the following example where the head of the World Food Programme gave a press conference on how the world is falling far short in feeding its most critically hungry by only pledging 3.7 billion dollars of the 6.7 billion dollars needed to fund the World Food Programme (WFP) for 2009. In a press conference on 29 July 2009, the head of the United Nations leading humanitarian agency said that the agency had only received 1.8 billion dollars in funding, was forced to cut back programs, and rations to the 108 million people it serves. The Executive director went on to claim that the cutbacks would have a "destabilizing" impact in parts of the world still reeling from dramatically higher food prices and less income due to the global financial crisis.

Instead of asking the world for more money, perhaps Ms. Sheeran and Mr. Diouf could actually be leaders of their respective organizations and make decisions aimed at helping the people they were hired to help, instead of just taking care of them selves. One of the most practical steps that any donor would greatly appreciate would to relocate the organizations to an African country, instead of being based in the high cost Euro zone of Rome, Italy, and to implement new oversight and accountability mechanisms cutting down on graft and corruption.

Any first year economic development student would agree how practical it would be to have the headquarters of the UN Agencies responsible for food aid and development to be located in an African country in an agricultural area. Ideally, the new headquarters would be located in the countryside and next to a working farm, which would show farmers from developing countries all the different ways to grow and harvest crops.

Along with showing new farmers the latest technological advances in farming, another element of the new location should have an area where private companies selling farm related machinery can display their products. Any successful venture to alleviate hunger and poverty has to involve the participation of the private sector.

There is no problem with food scarcity in the world; there is a problem with wealth distribution and economic opportunities.

War is the great auditor of institutions

The institution of the military is one of the most trusted and respected institutions in America and the newspaper The Stars and Stripes, is considered the official record of the U.S. Armed Forces. Although The Stars and Stripes newspaper may appear to be the mouthpiece for the Pentagon and would never report anything negative about the military, a recent news story first reported by the Stars and Stripes dispels all these preconceptions and biased opinions. The story reported by the Stars and Stripes involves a private corporation, The Rendon Group, who was hired by the Pentagon to produce background profiles on journalists covering the war. While this story was alarming enough, making the issue more disturbing is the total lack of reporting the story has had in the mainstream press. A cursory review of the major news web sites such as CNN, Fox News, ABC News, and CBS News showed that none of the these news organizations reported on this story. While stories such as Obama visiting an ice cream store (ABC), and accusations of U.S. Senate leader Harry Reid pressuring a newspaper to be forced out of business (Fox News) are getting published. This lack of news coverage on an important media story covering their own field is an indication as why the American press ranks as the 41st most free in the world. The story by the Stars and Stripes is also indicative of the dissent military members have of the civilian leadership at the Pentagon due to the mismanagement of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The military contract awarded to The Rendon Group was known as the Media Analyst Contract, and upon winning the contract the private corporation begun to evaluate journalists with pie charts breaking down their coverage of military operations into percentages of “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.” The report in the Stars and Stripes reported that as recently as 2008 military public affairs officers in Afghanistan had used reporter profiles compiled by the private public relations firm in Washington, D.C., to decide whether to grant permission to embed with troops on the battlefield.

Although the Pentagon has been on the defensive since the story was first reported, it is truly enjoyable to read that the Stars and Stripes, one of its own newspapers, was the first news outlets to report the story. The fact that the Pentagon’s own Stars and Stripes news outlet was the first newspaper to report the story, also indicates the growing frustration and displeasure many members of the military have towards the civilian leadership on how they are being exploited and sacrificing so much, while most Americans continue to do nothing for the war effort.

Due to the editors and journalists at the Stars and Stripes willing to report on the issue of journalists being profiled for possible future discrimination and denial of access, the Pentagon has canceled the contract with The Rendon Group. The journalistic integrity of the Stars and Stripes demonstrates the ever widening moral divide between the civilian and military institutions.

As articulated in Andrew Bacevich’s latest book, The Limits of American Power, the military has to endure more and more extended tours of duty, not due to the shortcomings of the military, but from the inept management of civilians back in Washington D.C. In his chapter The Military Crisis, Bacevich criticizes senior Pentagon bureaucrats such as former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith for preventing the troops on the ground from doing their job properly.

To underscore his point, Bacevich also quotes former Major General John Batiste, who became one of Donald Rumsfeld’s most vocal critics. Upon retiring, Batiste said,

“Rumsfeld’s dismal strategic decisions resulted in the unnecessary deaths of American servicemen and women….and he (Rumsfeld) was responsible for America and her allies going to war with the wrong plan.”

With military operations continuing with no end in sight for Iraq and Afghanistan, the internal unrest and contempt sowed by these civilians within the military establishment and voiced by retired generals is now appearing to come out in the open with the news story first reported by the Stars and Stripes.

The Stars and Stripes story is also interesting due to the fact that members of the military are indoctrinated from their days in basic training not to question authority and to respect the chain of command. The discipline, commitment, and fortitude of military members are some of the reasons why Americans often consider the institution of the military more favorably than the institutions of the Congress and the media. Perhaps journalists and editors working for some of the leading newspapers and the cable news outlets could learn something from these polls.

It is also important to remember the relatively low ranking the United States currently has for press freedom and protection of its journalists as compared to other countries in the world. Currently ranked 41st for press freedom in the world, the lack of national news coverage and the willingness of the corporate airheads to discuss this latest attack on the free press, is an indication as why the United States has such a low ranking for press freedom.

Although the Stars and Stripes story may be a small victory for a free and vibrant press, the more important issue of this story is how the American public should question the neutrality of reports from journalists embedded with the military.

Rape and sexual assault in the military

Due to the important issues of rape, domestic violence, and murder in the military, like the New York Times, the blog is also dedicating two postings about this issue. Unlike the New York Times however, Opinione is not beholden to any corporate master or government entity and will be able to truly exercise all the privileges that the First Amendment offers. While it is unclear and may never be known why the reporters in the series Women At Arms did not discuss the high incidences of rape in the military, the blog will offer some disturbing but important information more Americans should be aware of.

The high rates of rape and domestic violence in the military is a well-hidden topic well off the public’s radar screen. The issue is politically sensitive due to the fact that it would tarnish the image of the troops in the field and debunk the popular phrase used by political leaders that when soldiers commit crimes, they are just a few bad apples. Only rarely do the violent crimes committed by military members make into the mainstream press. The four murders committed by Special Forces and Delta Forces soldiers in the summer of 2002 when they killed their wives is one such rare public news story of the violent crimes committed by soldiers. While this story was written off as the mysteries of marriages in the military, a 1999 report found that incidents of domestic violence in the military rose from 18.6 per thousand soldiers in 1990, to 25.6 in 1996. During the same period in the general population, the rate of domestic violence was on the decline. Some studies have suggested that domestic violence in the military is two to five times greater than among civilians.

With that information as a focal point, one can understand why it is alarming why the New York Times journalists who wrote the stories on women in the military failed to mention any of this data. The journalists and the New York Times missed an opportunity and a responsibility to discuss the issue of rape and domestic violence that women face in their news articles. This lack of reporting on the high rates of domestic violence and rape, made the articles come across as a recruiting piece for the military. Further highlighting the pro-military aspect of the story, the reporters of the story failed to include information on a non-profit organization called the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN).This organization is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that works to improve the welfare of current U.S. servicewomen and to assist all women veterans. Failing to include information on this organization or to get a quote from one of its members, questions the neutrality of New York Times, and the over all motivation and hidden agenda of the series of articles recently published by the New York Times.

The next article in the NYT series Living and Fighting alongside Men, and Fitting In, discusses the issue of sexual harassment and rape a little further and discusses only in passing how sexual assaults to US women soldiers are under reported and often not followed up by military leaders. The poor quality of the issue of rape by US male soldiers and against their female counterparts is evident when the report implies that women soldiers stationed in Iraq have to fear the Iraqi civilians and troops stationed on US military bases in Iraq more than they have to from their male US counterparts.

Sexual harassment in a still-predominantly male institution remains a problem. So does sexual assault. Both are underreported, soldiers and officers here say, because the rigidity of the military chain of command can make accusations uncomfortable and even risky for victims living in close quarters with the men they accuse.
As a precaution, women are advised to travel in pairs, particularly in smaller bases populated with Iraqi troops and civilians. Capt. Margaret D. Taafe-McMenamy, commander of the intelligence analysis cell at Warhorse, carries a folding knife and a heavy, ridged flashlight — a Christmas gift from her husband, whom she lives with here — as a precaution when she is out at night on the base.

While new data should be available for the current decade, in 1996 the Department of Defense surveyed all the women in the military to find how many had experienced a rape or attempted rape. The survey found that nine percent of Marine women, eight percent of women soldiers in the Army, six percent of women serving in the Navy, and four percent of US Air force women had experienced a rape or attempted rape that year. The VA administration classifies these attacks on women as “military sexual traumas” or MSTs.

With about 200,000 women in the military, the numbers from that 1996 survey would indicate that about 14,000 sexual assaults or attempted assaults happen each year. This would also indicate that the military has more than just a few bad apples.

The liberal New York Times- not as liberal as you think

Perhaps one of the reasons why more Americans do not see the dangers of perpetual war or the need to cut military spending is becuase of the constant glorification of the military in Hollywood films and positive news stories about the military in the news media. Just as Dwight D Eisenhower first warned the American public to be “an alert and knowledgeable citizenry” to guard against the abuse of power by a “military industrial complex”, the American public should also be on the alert and be aware of the “military entertainment complex”.

A recent example of how the military entertainment complex is weaved into the American consciousness by publishing positive stories about the military, is an article in the New York Times on the role women are playing in the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the two-part news series entitled “Women at Arms” the series of articles by the New York Times; explore how the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have profoundly redefined the role of women in the military. After reading these two articles however, it was clear that either the reporters did not do enough research in preparing for the story or the New York Times did not want to discuss the issue of rape and violence women encounter while serving in the military.

In the article G.I. Jane Breaks the Combat Barrier, the New York Times avoids the issue of rape in the military by only mentioning the issue in passing during the final one third of the article.

In addition to the dangers, military life is grueling in other ways, especially for mothers juggling parenting and the demands of the military, which require long absences from home. And while the military is doing more to address the threat of sexual harassment and rape, it remains a persistent problem.

The statement that the military is doing more to address the threat of sexual harassment and rape implies that it is merely a threat or that it posses the same level of threat that a typical New York Times female reader faces. Highlighting the pro military angle of the story is how information reported by a fellow New York Times journalist and op-ed columnist Bob Herbert was not included in the news series, Women At Arms. In his March 20, 2009 article, Herbert writes:

New data released by the Pentagon showed an almost 9 percent increase in the number of sexual assaults -- 2,923 -- and a 25 percent increase in such assaults reported by women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan [over the past year]. Try to imagine how bizarre it is that women in American uniforms who are enduring all the stresses related to serving in a combat zone have to also worry about defending themselves against rapists wearing the same uniform and lining up in formation right beside them."

The analysis of the first article by the New York Times on the role of women in the military demonstrates the advantage of reading blogs such as Opinione. The analysis highlights how independent blogs enhance the quality of information on an important subject. News from Internet blogs and independent news outlets often include hyper-links to information backing up their opinions and analysis, which further increases the trustworthiness of them. By simply hyper-linking a phrase or a keyword in a news story, the reader can quickly check the validity of the data or further research issues that interests the reader. The hyper-link feature of the Internet further enhances the level of knowledge the reader and keeps the disinformation and other false information from spreading.

Although Republicans and conservatives in America often refer to the New York Times as the iconic symbol of the elite liberal media, this analysis highlights the fact that the even the elitist Gray Lady of the American liberal left has been influenced by the military entertainment complex.

Another Important Milestone in August

During my military service in the United States Navy, my ship went on two six-month deployments. The first deployment was part of the Sixth Fleet Marine Amphibious Group Task Force (MAGTF 2-86) and the other six-month deployment was part of MAGTF 2-88 in the Persian Gulf. These two deployments along with a three-month shake down cruise to Guantanamo Bay Cuba in 1987 earned me five military medals, commendations, and ribbons. Up until a few years ago, these over seas deployments were the longest periods of time I had lived outside of the United States. Although I will not receive any medals or commendations for it, 25 August 2009 marks the four-year anniversary of the last time I was in the United States.

While most people will think it is not something to boast about or mention, as a political analyst, the time living outside my home country has been very rewarding. Due to America’s unique position in the international system as the world leader and the hegemonic military power, analyzing the United States from my social perch in Europe has allowed me to see both the very good things about America, and some of the very worst things in America. It has been fascinating to view my country from a distance, armed with a highly advanced understanding of the internal workings of the government and society. Augmenting this viewpoint is an education in political science that enables me to compare the economic and political systems in America to other countries.

Some of the more captivating aspects of living in a foreign country using a comparative model approach include the issues of health care, labor laws, and security issues. These three issues encapsulate the most important elements in modern societies and showcase the different level of importance Americans place on those issues as compared to people living in other countries.

Although government regulation of issues such as health care and labor laws help to influence the values and perceptions of its people, the same can be said of the issue of security and violence in a country. Having lived for an extended amount of time outside of America and then being exposed to its culture from watching a movie or television show, the violence and sense of insecurity Americans are exposed to is evident. This perhaps explains why most people do not question the nearly trillion dollar budgets of the national security state apparatus that is increasingly contributing to the militarism in American culture.

From the aggressive police enforcement of traffic laws, the violence on TV and the daily discussion of war, Americans are constantly exposed and subjected to fear and violence. A recent news story of how Tim Ridge the former Secretary of Homeland Defense, was pressured by Vice President Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld to raise the terrorist threat level proves this beyond a doubt. It should be noted however that the information provided by Tom Ridge in his new book and the allegations he makes was not motivated out of civic duty, but rather to profit from the upcoming release of his new book.

In addition to being able to view my country in a global perspective and not subjected to the fear and the widespread violence in American society, perhaps the most rewarding and satisfying benefit of living in a foreign country as a political analyst is not being exposed to the daily barrage of the American weapons of mass distraction media. With an American flag image waving in the corner, the distracting scroll repeating five stories repeatedly, and a barrage of distracting graphics, it is no wonder most Americans are ignorant of the important issues facing them and how their country fits into the world.

Many things in life that are important do not have a price. For a political analyst in geo-politics and domestic American politics, living outside of America has been priceless.

The Nazi Swastika in Italy

Every American knows this symbol as the iconic image of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party and is most often associated with The Holocaust, which killed around seven million Jews and other “less desirable” people during World War II. In total, the Nazi’s during World War II killed between 11 million and 17 million people in extermination camps by either killing them with gas, burning them in ovens, or just simply shooting them execution style.

Although the swastika has been around for nearly 5,000 years with religious origins and later a symbol of good luck, in contemporary times the swastika is often associated with hatred, intolerance, racism, and religious persecution.


In the post World War II era, the German government is so disgraced of its part in World War II and the actions Nazi leaders, that it has made the spray painting or other use of the swastika illegal in its country. Unfortunately the same can not be said for the Italian government who in the same post World War II era actually had former Mussolini supporters and admirers of fascism belonging to a secret shadow government known as P2. Over the last 20 years due to the media control and cultural influence of Silvio Berlusconi owned television outlets, and a reaction to the high rates of immigration which is changing the face of Italy, the youth in Italy today are nostalgic for the past and have begun to openly spray paint the swastika.



The willingness of the Italian youth to spray paint this racist and anti-Sematic symbol and the understanding of what it means to live in a dictatorship displays the sheer ignorance of the current generation. It is also a clear example of why Italy is becoming known as The Stinking Boot and an example of why its education system is ranked as one the worst in the European Union.


This is a concrete and tangible reason why America should stop supporting Italy with billions of US tax dollars at the dozens of military bases in the country. It is outrageous that American political and military leaders continue to reward Italy with thousands of US tax payer supported jobs working at those military bases while Americans are out of work and the country edging ever closer to insolvency with yearly trillion dollar deficits.

When politicians talk of spending cuts, Americans should demand that these leaders cut the funding in countries like Italy, where the population does not need the financial support of the US tax payer any longer.

Euro News story on Beppe Grillo

EuroNews is a public television consortium of 19 public broadcasters from across Europe. It was selected by the European Union Commission among seven competitors to broadcast issues concerning the European Union and international news. Although mostly comprising of European Union member states, a notable exception of public broadcasters include the British Broadcasting Corporation. Interestingly however, there are several non European Union public broadcasters such as All-Russia State Television and Radio Company, the Saudi run Middle East Broadcasting Center, and the National Television Company of Ukraine. Launched in 1993, 2008 EuroNews is now distributed to around 248 million households in 135 countries worldwide. It reaches more than 177 million European households by cable, satellite and digital transmission. This compared with 167 million European households for CNN International, 124 million for BBC World News and 65 million for CNBC Europe.

Although the video is nearly two years old, the attached video is a segment on Beppe Grillo. The video is an introduction to Beppe Grillo to people who may be aware of him and is a great example of how Grillo fuses comedy with political activism.

A Milestone for the Blog

While Joe the Plumber had his 15 minutes of fame and Obama his first 100 days in office, August 20th marks the important milestone of when Opinione posted its first blog posting. To commemorate this important milestone, I wanted to take this moment to thank all of the readers of the blog for their support over the last year. I want to thank a fellow blogger, MikeB302000 who encouraged me to start a blog in order for me to share some of the things I have learned becoming a political scientist in international relations and Italian politics. I hope you have enjoyed the material I have written on the serious issues confronting the United States and the world today and that I have upheld the mission statement of the blog.

I trust a majority of the readers are now more aware of the term military industrial complex and the phrase weapons of mass distraction. As I always try to properly cite the authors and other academic members I quote on my blog, I want to take this moment to give credit to the low cost air carrier EasyJet marketing department for the term weapons of mass distraction. This will most likely be the one and only time I acknowledge the work of advertising firm so don’t ever say the Grand Prince never says anything good about the capitalists.

In addition to the phrase, weapons of mass distraction, the second most popular phrase the Grand Price uses on the blog, is the term military industrial complex, first coined by Dwight D. Eisenhower in a farewell statement to Congress. What makes his speech so powerful and why more Americans should be concerned about this issue is the fact that Eisenhower came from the military establishment and then the government. Due to the fact that he was leaving public office and was assured of his legacy, Eisenhower was not afraid to tell the American people what he had learned while in the highest office in American government.

The name of the blog was originally intended to be called Il Principe in honor of the first political scientist, Nicolo Machiavelli. The Prince was the title of the book that Machiavelli gave to Prince Lorenzo Medici as a gift on how to be a good leader. Due to the fact that Machiavelli was under house arrest by Medici at the time, the true purpose of the book was a way for Machiavelli to tell the Italian people how to rise up and depose the Medici Prince. Like the book by Machiavelli, my intent is to empower people that enables them to challenge the status quo of corrupt institutions and governments with the power of information. However, since that name Il Principe was already in use, I choose the Italian word for opinion as the title of the blog. Hence, when I write the Grand Prince, I am just talking in the third person, and the nickname the blogger Mikeb32000 calls me sometimes on his blog. Similar to Nicolo Machiavelli writing the book while in exile, I sometimes feel like Machiavelli as I write my blog posting from Italy.

Just as Eisenhower was not afraid of the military industrial complex and Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino were afraid of the mafia in Italy, I will continue reporting in the important issues in a truthful and non-partisan way.

Too bad the media in America cannot say the same.

When are Americans going to start to question the half trillion dollar defense budgets

The level of ignorance of some right wing opponents to health care reform in America is truly embarrassing. Calling Obama a socialist or trying to say he is like Adolf Hitler, is like saying George Bush is a pacifist. If anything, Bush administration officials were more socialist than the Obama administration ever dreams to be. I wish someone in the weapons of mass distraction media would remind these right wing zealots and all of America that the Republican Party under the leadership of Bush and Cheney, privatized profits of the banking executives, while they socialized the losses and had the American taxpayer bail them out. It is almost too painful to read opponents of universal health care complain about the cost of the proposed health care reform, while no one is talking about the one trillion dollars wasted in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the yearly half trillion dollar defense budgets the military industrial complex takes from the American treasury. Making this statistic more frightening is that the United States military industrial complex is projected to be in Iraq for the next 30 years, or until America becomes insolvent. More of political science scholars however are betting on the latter rather than the former.

Perhaps the most tragic aspect of the health care debate is how no one in the mainstream media is linking the huge amount of military expenditures in Iraq and Afghanistan to the ever-escalating federal budget deficits. Recently Howard Buffet weighed in on the American federal budget deficits and how future American leaders will have to either raise taxes or cut spending programs. If the recent health care battle is any indication, you can be sure that future cuts will effect entitlement programs like social security and Medicare before any substantial cuts in military spending.

It is alarming that no leading paper has written an editorial and raised the issue of the hundreds of billions of dollars a year wasted on the military and an Empire of Bases around the world. The vast sums of American treasure spent on the military industrial complex does nothing for the well-being of Americans living in the United States. Can you imagine what kind of health care system Americans would have access to if the one trillion dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last six years was spent in America.

If you are not a supporter of health care reform than just imagine all the new infrastructure projects that could have been planned five years ago and been shovel ready in the last few years. Dozens of light rail systems in all of the major cities putting millions of people to work building the infrastructure to support those mass transit systems. From the people building and supplying parts to the trams and light rail systems to the people building the train stations and other related infrastructure.

Ok. Not for health care reform or mass transit? Than how bout using that trillion dollars to buy pay off some of the seven trillion dollars worth of US public debt? It is actually nearly 12 trillion dollars now, since the little exercise in nation building Bush and company went on in 2003, the national debt is now 5 trillion dollars more than in 2003. If Bush and the republicans controlling congress earlier this decade worked to pay off the debt instead of launching an ill-fated experiment in nation building, it could have started the process to lower the yearly 200 billion dollar payment the United States government makes each year on the interest on the national debt. This conservative fiscal policy would have led to more confidence in the US dollar and prolonging the economic leadership of the United States in the international system.


In the below video, a right wing supporter taunts a Jewish man as he discusses his support of a national health care system in America. At the local “town hall meeting” sponsored by a conservative radio talk show, a woman yelled out, “Heil Hitler!”

While most of the news outlets are making the anti-Semitic remark the story, the real story is how the vast sums of American aid given to Israel over the last sixty years has helped the Israelis have a national health care system.

The greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies

Voters are like consumers. They are asked to purchase a product not with currency, but with something far more valuable. Their vote. This is a not a common commodity as only 17 percent of the world’s population enjoys being able to use this commodity. In many parts of the world, people are killed while trying to demand the right to use this valuable commodity or in exercising their frustration with a tainted production process. Some recent examples include Iran, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, just to name a few.

However, as any wise consumer knows, if a consumer wants to get a good product they have to do a little research on their part and cannot rely on the person selling the product. Most savvy consumers in America check with consumer advocate magazines like Consumers Report before making a big-ticket purchase like a car, washing machine or digital camera. The other consumer who relies on the friendly words of the car salesman, a friends advice, or the marketing campaign of the product often wind up with inferior products and wishing they had done their homework. The same can be said of a consumer voter. Instead of relying on getting their information from a politician, or a media outlet, it is up to the consumer voter to research the issues themselves and to rely on well-educated sources. If the consumer voter does this, most times the voter selects the correct candidate or has the correct information on an important issue.

Recently, Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize economist weighed in on the health care debate in an excellent op-ed piece in the New York Times. In the article, he discussed how many publications and media outlets such as Investor’s Business Daily have misstated very important facts on countries that provide universal health care to its citizens. Probably the best-known slander and misrepresentation of facts regarding health care from a government-supported plan, is the country of Great Britain. Making the slander even more amusing and demonstrating how gullible the people opposed to universal health care in America are, is the fact that Great Britain is an English speaking country where any American could easily find information refuting all the lies the right wing propaganda machine is making. One could understand the tactics of the right wing propaganda machine if they choose a country like France where English is not the official language, but choosing Great Britain actually helped the supporters of universal health care.

In the news report by Investor’s Business Daily, the article's author went on to assert, "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." As the BBC News reported, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jay Bookman quickly pointed out, Prof Hawking was born in the UK, and has lived and worked there for his entire life. It should also be added that the same man in question was recently awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House.

As Paul Krugman says in his recent opinion piece,

At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies.

Instead of licensing to an airhead like Glenn Beck, or an ideological hack like Rush Limbaugh. Americans should turn off the TV and radio and pick up a paper or use the Internet for something more than just Facebook and Twitter. Maybe they should read what members of the academic community like Paul Krugman have to say. In addition to winning a Nobel Prize, Paul Krugman also teaches Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and is a Professor at the London School of Economics.

Perhaps more Americans should value the opinion of a Nobel prize awarded economist and a member of the academic community rather than the ranting of some fool who never earned a college degree and whose only accomplishments is having the ability to be an entertainer in the field of radio and television.

Like Glenn Beck, the media in America is also a failure for lowering the intellectual level of public discourse in America.

The Nazi Swastika in the recent Debate on Health Care

During the recent health care debate, there was a story of a Nazi swastika being spray painted on a black congressman’s congressional office in Georgia. Watching this news report, I am embarrassed at the sheer ignorance of some Americans as to what socialism is. I understand that as a political scientist, I have a better understanding of the different political philosophies and universal health care, but the attack on a black congressman and the use of the Nazi swastika is disturbing at the level of ignorance and intolerance some people have in America.

There are two videos I hope you take the time to view.

It was inspiring to hear the congressman say in his interview on MSNBC that people have to stand firm and be strong. Too bad other members of his political party will not do the same and be more concerned about the big money political donors of the Insurance and Medical industries.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Concrete examples of Americans losing their freedom

Any American who wants hard evidence of the diminishing level of freedom they have in America and the increasing levels of militarism in their society as a result of the perpetual wars and out of control Pentagon budget, only needs to read the recent story involving the legendary singer Bob Dylan. If told the story and not knowing what country it took place in, most Americans ( I hope) would be shocked to learn it happened right here in the United States. Compounding the problem is the failure of the media to report this issue in the context it deserves and to inject this story into the national dialogue. Like the Gates case in Massachusetts and the cop arresting a paramedic who questioned the cops authority, the Dylan story is another clear example of the aggressive and authoritarian behavior of police in America.

If you have not heard the story, it happened in a New Jersey shore community when a resident called to report someone wandering around the neighborhood.

As reported by the Associated Press, The incident began at 5 p.m. when a resident said a man was wandering around a low-income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the oceanfront looking at houses. The police officer drove up to Dylan, who was wearing a blue jacket, and asked him his name.

The officers asked Dylan for identification. The singer of such classics as "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' in the Wind" said that he did not have any ID with him, that he was just walking around looking at houses to pass some time before that night's show. The officers asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa, where the performers were staying. Once there, tour staff vouched for Dylan.

Every time I read the think about the story, my blood begins to boil as I remember a similar story where I was also treated like a criminal first by the police and required to show identification. My only crime was that I was sitting in a parked car outside my mother’s house in Florida. It appears as I was waiting for my mom to come home, a woman who was walking her dog, was concerned about seeing a man in a parked car. After her phone call, I was blocked in by two police cars told to stay in the vehicle as they shown flashlights in my face, and asked why I was sitting there in the car. Looking back at the situation now, I am glad I had identification on me.

What really angers me is how this woman immediately called the police on me, even though I was not doing anything illegal. Making the matter even more frustrating for myself, is knowing that I am a decorated military veteran and upstanding citizen. The woman who called the cops on me and the person in New Jersey should mind their own business.

Even though the story did not report it, I would not be surprised if the neighborhood Bob Dylan was walking in was an area with a homeowners association. In addition to the cops being more aggressive and militant in America, perhaps the next biggest area that Americans have lost some of their civil rights is the creation of the homeowners associations.

Although the basic concept is understandable with people wanting to ensure no one paints their house bright orange, trims their grass on a regular basis, and keep the property looking nice, many times these quasi government organizations take freedoms away from homeowners. One of the silliest and absorb rule is the restriction not to hang clothes outside of your own home. I talked about this before in my posting about energy use and the use of the electric clothes dryer in America. The loss of this one freedom by some Americans, is contributing to the loss of more freedom and the need to import more foreign oil.

As a person who lives a simple life, all I would want and demand is the freedom to hang my laundry out to dry outside my home and not be stopped and questioned by the police and be treated like a criminal first. I do not think that is asking for too much. What do you think? Do you think homeowners associations have gotten out of control and the police are treating people with less respect and like criminals first.

Let us hope Bob Dylan discusses this further in the media and more Americans begin to see how much freedom they are losing each passing year.

The 800-pound gorilla in the room no one wants to discuss

As mankind has progressed over the centuries and into the 21st century, the meaning of freedom is viewed differently by people around the world and is measured in various ways. Should freedom be measured by economic, free speech, the type of government, or the level of civil rights its citizens enjoy? It is interesting to note that the only category that America is number one is the level of defense spending and gun violence. Even popular ranking like the amount of millionaires and other measurements of quantitive freedom, America is failing behind the rising powers of Asia. American does not even rank as the leading country in a World Bank report on doing business, which is ironic considering how much pride most Americans take in being a country with a capitalistic based economy. From there the rankings only get worse for Americans who like to be told by their politicians that America is a freedom loving country.

Most of the time when an American politician talks about freedom in a speech, they are usually talking about a quantitive measure of freedom rather than a qualitative measure of freedom. The quantitive aspect of freedom usually includes the anti-democracy elements of self-interest and fragmentation. This is part of the reason why health care, which most other liberal democracies in the world consider a right the government should have a role in providing, is facing so much resistance in America. When applying some of the rankings of press freedom, economic freedom, and the level of democracy in America to the debate of health care, it is easy to see why the issue of universal health care is so difficult for most Americans to accept.

Almost all Americans do not see the correlation between the half trillion defense budgets of the US government and an Empire of Bases around the world, which allow other countries to invest more in their social welfare programs, to being a factor in why their own citizens have less domestic services available like health care for the poor and less fortunate. The military industrial complex or just simply put the Pentagon’s budget, is like the 800-pound gorilla in the room no one wants to discuss. It used to be a 300-pound gorilla but just as the average American has gotten more obese, so has our old friend the gorilla.

Supporters of the invasion and occupation of Iraq were fooled into believing the Orwellian name applied to the war in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom and the current Operation Enduring Iraqi Freedom, is more about the military industrial complex providing quantitive freedom for the American oil companies to develop Iraq’s oil resources, than the actual qualitative aspects of democracy and freedom for the Iraqi people. Furthermore the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan has also lowered the level of freedom in America as the political class and organizations associated with the military industrial complex have taken away and weakened some long standing civil liberties and checks on the balance of power in government by the people.

Part of the reason why most Americans do not see the correlation between the lack of health care and the huge military defense budgets and all is related expenditures is due to the low ranking of the American press. In the latest Reporters without Borders analysis of press freedoms around the world, America is considered the 41st best in the world for press freedom. Countries like Taiwan, South Africa, and Ghana have better press freedoms and a better variety of news sources than America does. In addition to the low press freedom ranking by Reporters without Borders, the American non-partisan organization, Freedom House International recently released a report describing how Americans were more of their freedoms due to the open-ended war on terrorism and perpetual war waged by American leaders and the military industrial complex.

Tragically, for most Americans, as the military industrial complex in America is drawing resources away from the American public with over a trillion dollars spent in Iraq and Afghanistan in the last 7 years, the same American military industrial complex is providing health care and medical coverage to Iraqi citizens.

Dead Man's Pee

When I was growing up in a small town in Connecticut, I remember going to a place not far my home where there was a pipe coming out the side of a small hill dispensing clean fresh water. I remember people going to the spring with old wine bottles, milk bottles, and what ever else they could carry the water away with. Adding a little flavor to the watering hole, since it was located directly beneath a cemetery, the spring was known as Dead Man’s Pee. Many of the people who went to the spring to fill up their water bottles and jugs, worked at the local factory, owned a small business like a hardware store, bakery, or car repair shop and lived in a nice home. Although I have not been to that area for over 37 years, I would not be surprised if the local town government sealed the pipe dispensing the water and there is now a cookie cutter looking development of over priced condominiums with pretentious over priced chain stores owned by a corporation lining the sidewalk where the water once spilled. The closure of that free fresh water spring in that small New England town symbolizes the beginning of the demise of America, where the nation went from an independent country that produced things with a sense of community, to a nation of consumers’ dependant of other countries to maintain their standard of living. Perhaps the great-great-grandchildren of the European immigrants who came to America over a hundred years ago should look back to where their ancestors came from to learn how to rebuild their country and to live a simpler and happier life.

Unlike America, the people of Italy have held onto traditions and resisted the suburban sprawl that is like a virus in America. Unlike the American economy, the Italian economy is dependant on the tens of thousands of small businesses employing less than 30 people. Just as the spring water pipe was sealed off in the name of development and progress, one of the biggest mistakes American leaders did was to allow the closure of the local factories and the jobs exported to lower paying southern states and then eventually to China. Soon after the exodus of good paying manufacturing jobs, next came the arrival of big box retailers, which forced the closure of most of the locally owned stores located in the town centers. Although distracted by the low prices and selection of goods, many people were unaware of the damage these big box retailers were having on the local and national economy. Instead of a country that retained its manufacturing and industrial base and where many people owned a small business, Americans soon found themselves dependant on those big box retailers to help extend their family budgets a little further, while American leaders were doing the same with borrowing money from the countries that produced the items Americans imported.



It is time Americans begin to call their political leaders and demand that the tax burden be shifted to the big box retailers and policies enacted to favor the small business owner. In addition to these new tax policies supporting the small business owner, grass root movements need to be started to encourage people to boycott the big box retailers, fast food chains, and corporate chains like Wal-Greens, Starbucks, and scores of other chains to help redistribute the wealth in America among the working class average Americans.

Just as the people of the community once used the local water from Dead Man’s Pee, the closure of the water source symbolizes how the wealth in America instead of cascading down and collecting locally, is now being imported into the country and its wealth extracted upwards in society.

The Stinking Boot and a Dictatorship of Smiles

For someone who controls over 80 percent of the media in Italy, it must be humbling for the media mogul and current Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, to hear what leading newspapers and media outlets around the world think of him. Some of the opinions include the conservative Canadian daily newspaper, the Globe and Mail, which compares Italy to "a military regime". The pro capitalist Economist magazine likens his country to Colombia, while the German public radio network WDR recently aired a report entitled "Dictatorship of Smiles," in describing the leadership of Silvio Berlusconi. Making the viewpoints of these other media outlets more unbearable for the 72-year-old mafia tainted political leader in Italy is that those opinions and editorials are from the more conservative and pro-capitalist media outlets.

Therefore, it should come to no surprise that in his home territory of Italy and in the capital of Rome, Silvio Berlusconi and his minions have begun to escalate the attacks on free speech, the rule of law, and using intimidation tactics such as suing people in court for libel and slander to stifle any opposition. This is a concrete example of why Italy ranks as the only western European country as having a partial free press, and why a newspaper in neighboring Germany, Süddeutsche Zeitung, has rechristened the country south of the Alps as the "stinking boot”.

In addition to the control of the media, Berlusconi is able to intimidate and stifle opponents by suing them in court for huge amounts of money. Stemming from the famous 6 April 2001 cover photo and headline 'Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy', some of the strongest attacks against Silvio Berlusconi come from the British weekly magazine The Economist, who Berlusconi has nicknamed "The Ecommunist”. Applying all his financial power against the magazine, Berlusconi recently sued the magazine for libel but lost the court case in 2008. A Milan court ordered Berlusconi to pay all court costs and to pay the legal fees for the Economist magazine. Although the Economist won this court case and had a large legal defense team, in libel cases the individual who is accused of defamation always risks more than the one bringing the action. Berlusconi has exploited this aspect of the law and has taken almost every author and journalist who has written a book about him to court. Some notable examples include the American journalist Alexander Stille who wrote The Sack of Rome, British journalist David Lane who wrote the book Berlusconi’s Shadow, and Italian journalist Marco Travaglio, one of Italy’s sole remaining investigative journalists.

In recognition for standing up to the intimidation tactics used by Berlusconi supporters and the lack of support given to him by the opposition political leaders, the German Association of Journalists recently awarded its yearly prize for Freedom of the Press to Marco Travaglio. In presenting him the award, it declared, “the brave and critical colleague (Travaglio) has continually exposed the attempts of Italian politicians, especially Silvio Berlusconi, to influence the media to their advantage and to negate critical reports”.

A concrete example of the political collusion between the center left political establishment and Berlusconi’s political party was evident when in May 2008 Marco Travaglio commented on the incoming head of the Italian Senate, Renato Schifani's alleged links to the mafia. With the sole exception of the independent Antonio Di Pietro of the Italian Values Party, and the popular Internet blogger Beppe Grillo, the entire center left political class establishment reacted negatively to this comment. In addition to calling for his removal from the TV program where he made the comments, there was pressure to fire the TV executives in charge of the station the program aired on. The man he accused of having associations with the mafia also filed a slander suit against Travaglio.

The May 2008 incident revealed the on going collusion between the opposition political party in Italy and the supporters of Berlusconi’s political party. This collusion first started to become evident during the center left governments of Romani Prodi (1996-1998), and Massimo D'Alema (1998-2000). The failure of the Prodi and D’Alema governments to pass conflict of interest legislation to bar politicians from owning media outlets is one of the key reasons why the status quo has remained the same in Italy for the last 15 years. Like America, the people in power are first concerned with their own power and will do whatever is necessary to protect and expand that power.

Some of derogatory terms that the international press has started to use in describing Italy recently is not only due to the rule of law in Italy and the government of Silvio Berlusconi, but refers to Berlusconism. The social and political mutation that has taken place over 20 years of constant exposure to TV controlled by Silvio Berlusconi.

Less Defense Spending= More COPS

The power of the military industrial complex in America and its related cousin the national security state apparatus is lost on the American people. Why is that more Americans do not see the huge amount of expenditures going to the military while their standard of living and economic prosperity decline? Observing American society from an exterior vantage point, one can easily pinpoint the negative consequences of continuing to spend large amounts of money on maintaining an Empire of Bases around the world while services benefiting Americans citizens living in America are neglected. While some of these negative consequences are evident like a lack of state provided health care system that almost all other developed countries consider a responsibility of the government, other areas negatively affected by the large defense budget of the Pentagon may surprise you. One of the social consequences of ever-increasing military budgets and a perpetual state of war abroad and at home, is the diversion of federal tax dollars to the military, while police forces in America are under staffed leading to higher rates of fatal shootings by police officers.

Some readers may be asking how does the Grand Prince link the high amount of defense spending and support of military bases around the world to fatal shootings by local and state police officers. The correlation is easy to make if you consider the tendency that some law enforcement officers have to shoot first and ask questions later due to the high rate of gun ownership and availability of firearms in America. While some people may see this as a waste of man power, having two police officers in a car and on patrol together could lead to police officers being less aggressive to people they pull over, and lead to a better community to live in. A recent federal grant program known as COPS, short for Community Oriented Policing Services is an attempt by the Obama administration and the Democratic leadership to direct more funds into local American communities.

Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $1 billion to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) for the COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP). Approximately 5,500 additional sworn law enforcement officers will be added to agencies across the country through funding provided by this program.

The funding of more law enforcement officers with the COPS grant is a proactive approach to addressing the proliferate amount of illegal handguns on the streets of America, respecting the rights of legal gun owners, while also keeping the safety of police officers in mind. In Italy and other advanced industrial countries, having two police officers on patrol together is the norm rather than the exception. Of course, in addition to the increased and future funding of programs like COPS, the Justice Department and state governments should be required to change the aggressive approach police in America tend to take towards minor traffic violations that often lead to high-speed car chases. Law enforcement officials should change the policy of only pulling over a car once it creates an infraction and instead employ the policy of random police checkpoints. This new approach to law enforcement could reduce the high-speed car chases that pump adrenaline into officers involved in the chase that often leads to hair trigger flight and flight reactions, with sometimes fatal outcomes.

One of the contributing factors to the increased level of fatal shootings by police officers can be traced back to the military service and combat duty some law enforcement officers perform before they become police officers or do as part of their National Guard commitment. In addition to stress in the long deployments and being away from their families, research is showing that there is an increasing amount of violence and other mental health disorders in veterans serving in combat zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Most government municipalities around the country often favor United States military veterans and give them preference points in the selection process to further increase their chances to becoming employed. Any future decrease in never ending military deployments for members of the armed services should decrease the level of stress and other mental health disorders for these members of the law enforcement community. Not accustomed to seeking counseling or assistance related to post traumatic stress, any help we can give the few men and women American leaders have asked to sacrifice so much, while most other Americans have been asked to sacrifice nothing, is the least American leaders can do for these brave and patriot service members.

In researching the COPS grant, there were several news stories of local police departments that were disappointed that their communities did not receive federal funding. Due to the fact that the program was a government grant and the fact that America ranks as the 20th least corrupt and democratic country in the world, politics and influence surely played a part in the allocation of funds. Upon a close examination of where the funding went to, the data would most likely show that powerful congressional leaders of the Democratic Party were able to allocate more funding to their districts, while the Republican districts received less.

Although the program is not perfect, COPS demonstrates how the spending of just 1 billion dollars of federal tax dollars in America helps more people living in America, rather than the 46 countries and territories where the US military is deployed. Just imagine what another 10-20 billion dollars invested within American communities each year could do to the living standard of the average hard working American.

An Empire of Bases and the Approaching era of Peak Oil.

According to the 2008 official Pentagon inventory of our military bases around the world, the military wing of the American Empire consists of 865 facilities with over 190,000 troops in 46 countries and territories. The cost to maintain these military outposts is estimated to cost over 102 billion dollars a year. Most of these troops and military installations are positioned to protect the sources and movement of oil.

Recently the United States has begun the process to expand and enlarge the military presence in Columbia, the sole remaining South American country dependant on US support to stay in power, in order to pressure the Chavez regime in neighboring oil rich Venezuela. While the American troop increase of only 1,400 troops is insignificant in comparison to the other military out posts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Germany, Italy, and the scores of other countries where American troops are stationed, the deployment of these American combat forces signifies that nothing has changed in American foreign policy under the Obama administration. The Obama administration continues to rely on military force and covert deception programs run by the CIA to ensure American global hegemony and economic prosperity as opposed to enacting legislation that reduces dependacy on foreign oil. The increased American military involvement in Columbia will only contribute to the continuing lowered living standards of most Americans while leading the country towards insolvency as a few politically connected people enrich themselves off the money spent on the military presence in Columbia.

The United States which consumes 25 percent of all the oil produced in the world, accounts for only 10 percent of world oil production. In 2007, on a net basis, the United States imported 58 percent of what it consumes. As the United States relies on more and more of its imported oil for its economic and military power, the U.S. military bases in Columbia are a justified concern for Venezuela due to her large deposits of oil. As the fifth largest exporter to America, Chavez is correctly alarmed that the CIA and other agents of the national security state will try to use the American military bases in Columbia to infiltrate Venezuela in an effort to destabilize that country and install leaders in that oil rich country that are sympathetic to American demands. As the era of peak oil approaches in the next five to ten years, America will not allow Venezuela to divert more of her oil to China or have its government demand that its oil be paid for in Euros or some other non US dollar currency due to the decreased value of the greenback.

Just as the American investor and tourist has seen the value of the US dollar decline by over 40 percent in the last five years, American political leaders have seen the influence the United States diminish in Latin America and witness almost the entire continent shift to center left governments. Just as the United States is still experiencing the negative consequences of its meddling in the internal affairs of Iran in 1953, America is now facing the same animosity in countries such as Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, where the United States used to help put in power and support brutal military juntas. In addition to implementing pro western economic policies known as the Washington Consensus, these U.S. supported military juntas often staged massive ideological cleanup operations where the books of Freud, Marx, and Neruda were burned and scores of professors and other leftists were killed, tortured, and imprisoned. In Chile, Nobel Prize winning economist and creator of the Dependency Theory thesis, Andrea Gunder Frank witnessed first hand the killing of six students at the School of Economics at the Catholic University in Santiago, Chile where he taught. In Argentina, the military junta attacked the University of the South in Bahia Blanca and imprisoned 17 professors for subversive instruction. As part of Operation Clarity, over eight thousand “ideological suspect” leftist educators were purged from the university system.

The United States increasing its military presence in Latin America will only further cause more pain and suffering on people living in the region, like the US military presence has done in Iraq and Afghanistan and the scores of military installations around the world like Okinawa Japan where US troops are stationed. Instead of expanding the Empire of American military bases with additional bases in Columbia, Americans should be demanding that their leaders begin to dismantle and Liquidate Our Empire of Bases.

The Bologna massacre - Strage di Bologna

While the beginning of August is a pleasant time for most Italians as it signifies the beginning of the holiday month of August, for some Italians however, the beginning of August is a dark and depressing period as it commemorates the anniversary of one of the most deadliest terrorist attacks in Italian history. For it was on August 2, 1980 that 85 innocent Italians lost their lives and several hundred others were injured when a bomb went off in the waiting room of the Bologna train station. The blast killed 85 people, devastated the local community and forced scores of people to live the rest of their lives with permanent disabilities. If the cowardice terrorist bombing was not bad enough, the fact that it was conducted with elements of the Italian secret services in conjunction with members of a secret Masonic lodge "Propaganda Due” (P2) and members of the government in power at the time, makes the bombing even more sinister. This event in Italian history like the assassination of two high profile judges fighting the mafia in Sicily that members of the government also played a role in, is further evidence of the corrupt and dark side of Italian history most Americans are not aware of. The longer someone lives in Italy, they begin to see past the beautiful sites Italy is famous for and see the dark heart of Italy that most Italians have allowed to flourish.

Americans should question why American political and military leaders have continued to pump billions of American tax dollars into Italy and support corrupt governments for over the last 60 years. While this foreign policy may have had a shred of justification during the Cold War as the United States worked to keep Italy away from Soviet influence, after the Cold War ended however, the justification to keep open and continue funding the 45 military installations in Italy does not hold any justification. With the American infrastructure crumbling and millions of Americans out of work, more Americans should be aware of the amount of U.S. tax dollars spent in countries that do not need it and controlled by people associated with the mafia.

In a similar manner as President Obama apologized to the Iranian people for the United States role in the 1953 over throw of the government of Mohammed Mossadegh, President Obama should also now apologize to the Italian people for its involvement in Cold War activities such as operation Gladio and its involvement in the kidnapping and killing of Aldo Moro.

Both of these unethical and devious US actions was the result of American leaders being worried over the growing influence of Italy’s large and popular communist party. Up until the mid 1970s, the Italian communist party (PCI) consistently maintained 25-30 percent of voter support during this period. This support was not lost on the American national security state apparatus who knew that if a communist government was allowed to come to power in Italy, it would discredit and cause trouble for its anti-communist rhetoric. Just imagine how the American military industrial complex would feel if the popular destinations of the Roman coliseum, Venice canals, and the Florence museums were under communist control.

Allowed to exist with US knowledge, a secret Masonic lodge known as “Propaganda Due” (P2) was a Elitist “shadow government” whose members were overwhelmingly anti-communist. Adhering to a right wing ideology bordering on fascism, P2 was headed by Licio Gelli - known as the “Puppet-master.” During World War II, Licio Gelli had been a member of Mussolini’s notorious “Black shirts,” and later acted as liaison officer to the Hermann Goering SS division. By 1974 P2 had in excess of 1000 members in Italy and contained a “who’s who” of Italian political, military and economic power. Members included four Cabinet ministers, three intelligence chiefs, 160 senior military officers, 48 MPs, the Army Chief of Staff, as well as top diplomats, bankers, industrialists and media publishers such as Silvio Berlusconi.

The bombing of the Bologna train station was aimed at discrediting the Italian communist party and to further increase the political power of the center right Christian Democratic party. This false flag operation by the Italian government is a clear example of how a government can conduct a terrorist attack to pursue its own domestic political agenda.

Political Press Release Number 1

Democrats are often portrayed and associated with blue-collar workers, minorities, and medium income earners in American politics. So with the Democrats controlling both the House and the Senate, why is that the democratic controlled House of Representatives and Senate is having such a hard time at passing the much needed health care legislation, ending the military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, passing more stringent gun control laws, and funding popular programs like the Cash for Clunkers program? The answer is that these politicians are more concerned with upsetting their big money donors and lobbyists than pursuing policies most Americans would benefit from and want. The politicians in Washington D.C. understand that only a small majority of Americans vote and are aware that the big money donors can easily switch their funding to the opposition in the next election. This is why it is imperative that a third political party incorporate a platform issue of reducing the amount of influence lobbyists and big donors have on the legislative process.

The inability of the Democratic majority to pass health care legislation which begins the process of reversing the long standing capitalist approach to health care in America where people and corporations profit from treating sick people, is a obvious example of the power of the lobbyists in Washington. The Incumbent Party, (remember the 93 % re-election rate for incumbents’) is dragging its heels in the health care legislation due to the monetary influence of lobbyists representing doctors, insurance companies, and the scores of other industries and professions which may lose some money in process. The excuses given by the political leaders in America and passed onto the American people by the compliant weapons of mass distraction media, is a game of smoke and mirrors to hide this fact. Instead of being a conduit for the corrupt political class in Washington D.C., perhaps the media in America could begin to explain the relationship between the low voter participation by Americans and the constant influence of lobbyists and big money donors as the reason why the health care legislation was not passed.

Just as politicians in America understand the constraint not to offend their monetary sources of income, politicians in America also understand the importance of not upsetting key voting blocs such as the pro gun NRA voters. The pro gun lobby is the second most powerful lobby in America and its members have been manipulated by the leaders of the NRA to vote for Republican Party candidates. The issue of gun ownership and the Americans who only vote on the second amendment issue, is a social wedge issue that allows the Republican Party establishment to draw support from a demographic group of voters who would otherwise vote for the other incumbent party, the Democrats. The regular voting patterns of gun owners is not lost on politicians from both parties, and is one of the major reasons why the Democratic controlled house and Senate is not passing more stringent gun control legislation. Anyone who thinks otherwise is mistaken.

The power of the military industrial complex is evident when analyzing why American troops are still stationed in the two latest countries to join the ever-growing list of countries with American forces. Although the Democrats regained the majority in the House of Representatives on a referendum on Iraq in 2006, after three years since that mandate, combat forces are still deployed in Iraq and the military is escalating the conflict in Afghanistan with a request for even more troops. When is the American public begin to see the link between the staggering cost of wagering perpetual war in far away countries, and their deteriorating standard of living. While Italians take a three-week holiday in August, it is fortunate that Americans remain on guard protecting their coastline and pumping money into their economy.

The collusion between the two main political parties is evident when you analyze why there has not been a major change in health care, gun control legislation, ending the occupation in Iraq, and further funding the popular cash for clunkers program. The two political parties act together on many issues to protect their own power. If the Democrats truly wanted to increase their majority and accelerate the demise of the Republican Party and push the political spectrum in America further to the left, than the Democratic Party would be passing legislation that benefits the electorate and not be worried about the lobbyists. This is why it so imperative for a third political party be formed in American politics to begin to take the country back from the vested interests running the country into insolvency and fighting perpetual wars in far away countries.

Water- A basic human right that should not be privatized

With the mercury rising to the mid to upper 80s, the Commune of Rome was recently giving out free water bottles and a pamphlet explaining how to avoid heat exhaustion. Although it was a nice gesture for the Commune of Rome to give out free water bottles to the tourists and Romans living in the center, as a political analyst I could not help think of some of the social and economic factors behind the event. Some of these factors include the waste generated by the plastic water bottles, the free promotion and political kickback of the company who bottled the water, and the irony of giving out bottles water in the center of Rome, which is famous for its historic fountains and municipal street fountains. As a fellow blogger and hero Beppe Grillo points out in his very popular blog, water should be basic human right that companies should not profit from or governments allow to privatize. As health care and national defense, there are some things that should not be private and people or corporations are allowed to profit from.

The irony of location of the Commune of Rome handing out “free” bottled water is captured in the picture below that shows the pallets of bottled water being near a nasal fountain dispensing water. It was surreal to see a group of tourists filling up their Egeria plastic water bottles from the Roman nasal fountain. In the future, perhaps the Commune of Rome could take my suggestion of handing out bicycle water bottles with the logo of SPQR and a picture of a nasal fountain. This would allow the city to showcase the municipal water of Rome while also working to minimize the waste generated by the plastic water bottles.

While bottled water has the ability to be stored and then dispersed to a location in an emergency, it is naïve and ignorant for people to buy bottled water from a store. Besides the aspect of the water from the fountains being cold and safe to drink, the nasal fountains, (because they are shaped like a nose) are more fun to drink out of as you will see by the picture below.