Freeze Frame

By Mediagonebad Resistance is futile, America. We have already been assimilated. Not by a foreign enemy or by random terrorists, but by our own military/industrial/media complex that drums thoughts into our heads through repetition, repetition, repetition…. In other words, through the systematic dumbing-down of America. I don’t know who came up with the term dumbassification -- I first heard it from Chuck D of Public Enemy -- but the term seems to fit the passive response of an otherwise intelligent people who have been hoodwinked and pacified by an internal group of Americans who want unrestricted corporate domination over all aspects of American life. A corporate state where American citizens -- and, indeed, the entire world -- are subservient to this military/industrial/media complex. The process of dumbassification begins right in our homes every time we turn on the television and are literally bombarded by commercial messages that chip away at our self-esteem by telling us we...

By Mediagonebad The Network of Spiritual Progressives is proposing an “ethical way to end the Iraq war” and is now launching a major print campaign. The proposal is presented in three parts: 1) recognizing that the Iraq war is wrong and that presidential repentance is necessary; 2) calling upon the Arab league to replace U.S and British forces; and 3) rebuilding Iraq, launching a global “Marshall Plan,” and recognizing that generosity beats domination as a strategy for homeland security. I disagree with the first part of the proposal calling upon President Bush to repent before the U.N. I believe that impeachment for lying to Congress will provide the proper measure of justice for now -- unless he is later indicted for war crimes, of course. If we allow Bush to get away with impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors and for the mass murder of tens of thousands or people, then why should anyone obey the laws of society? And what message is the Bush administration sending to kids whe...

By Mediagonebad Global warming requires immediate action by the United States -- the most wasteful, polluting country on the planet. And, sorry folks, this action will require major lifestyle adjustments that will shake up the very foundation of government as we now understand it. Throughout the Clinton and Bush administrations, global climate change has been ignored, given mere lip service, or has been actively challenged and misrepresented by the highest levels of government. Politicians are beholden to their corporate benefactors -- especially corporations that produce or depend upon oil -- so politicians tend to appease these corporations and bow to their desire to discredit global warming as legitimate science. Some may argue that the damage has already been done and that the dire effects of global warming cannot be stopped. This may well be true. But the United States has a responsibility to the world to take the lead and make the sacrifices necessary to reduce greenhouse g...

By Mediagonebad "Indians chase the vision, white men chase the dollar," writes Lame Deer, a traditional Sioux medicine man. "Americans are bred like stuffed geese -- to be consumers, not human beings. The moment they stop consuming and buying, this frog-skin [dollar] world has no use for them." In the 1800s, the Indians were nearly wiped out by the westward expansion of the American frontier. The prize then for the US was land for farming, logging, mining and railroads, and the methods used for displacing Indians were brutal and genocidal, as hundreds of thousands of buffalo -- the main food supply for many Indian tribes -- were shot and left to rot in the sun. The Indians who did not succumb to starvation were relocated and forced onto smaller and smaller parcels of land. Every Indian treaty signed by the United States was broken by the United States. The treaties provided temporary appeasement while the aggressive expansion continued unchecked. Strike first. Elimi...