bill moyers interviews william k. black...

doctors urge end to corporate ties...

a group of prominent physicians and researchers on wednesday urged professional medical groups to “wean” themselves from industry support and move toward a complete ban on corporate money for things like souvenir pens, tote bags and the sponsorships of committees that develop clinically important guidelines and training programs... the authors acknowledged that while it would be difficult, even painful, to carry out the reforms, they were essential if physician associations are to maintain their scientific integrity and the trust of their patients. // roni caryn rabin, 04.01.09, new york times

clarifications of anarchism, spanish civil war, democracy, marxism, etc...

i think it only makes sense to seek out and identify structures of authority, hierarchy, and domination in every aspect of life, and to challenge them; unless a justification for them can be given, they are illegitimate, and should be dismantled, to increase the scope of human freedom. that includes political power, ownership and management, relations among men and women, parents and children, our control over the fate of future generations (the basic moral imperative behind the environmental movement, in my view), and much else. naturally this means a challenge to the huge institutions of coercion and control: the state, the unaccountable private tyrannies that control most of the domestic and international economy, and so on. but not only these. that is what I have always understood to be the essence of anarchism: the conviction that the burden of proof has to be placed on authority, and that it should be dismantled if that burden cannot be met... // chomsky, 03.31.09

chomsky on the economy and democracy...

awe-some...

infomania, 03.26.09...

s.e.a. creatures...

( bangkok, thailand )

( angkor wat, cambodia )

( saigon, vietnam )

( luang prabang, laos )

( close encounter of the elephant kind )

alt. sessions w/ shad...

...a load of bullocks?

far from "deconstructing the war on terror", obama is clearly pursuing it with the same vigour, ideological backing and deception as the previous administration. bush's first war, in afghanistan, and last war, in pakistan, are now obama's wars--with thousands more US troops to be deployed, more bombing and more slaughter of civilians.

far from "shutting down the CIA's secret prison network", obama's executive orders actually give the CIA authority to carry out renditions, abductions and transfers of prisoners in secret without the threat of legal obstruction. as the los angeles times disclosed, "current and former intelligence officials said the rendition program might be poised to play an expanded role." a semantic sleight of hand is that "long term prisons" are changed to "short term prisons"; and while americans are now banned from directly torturing people, foreigners working for the US are not.

obama has retained bush's "right" to imprison anyone, without trial or charges. no "ghost prisoners" are being released or are due to be tried before a civilian court. his nominee for attorney-general has endorsed an extension of bush's totalitarian USA patriot act, which allows federal agents to demand americans' library and bookshop records. the man of "change" is changing little. // john pilger, 03.24.09, ICH

dan gilbert on how we deceive ourselves...