David Swanson's Blog, page 195
December 29, 2011
When a Child Is Abused by a War Veteran
I'm torn between the pleasure of having just read a brilliant and moving first-person stream-of-consciousness account of a true story of one woman's childhood, and the deep sadness that comes from learning about the absolutely horrific hell that this woman is extremely lucky to have survived — a hell that many others have known and will know, despite the ease with which it might be prevented.
December 28, 2011
My New Year's Resolutions
Exercise.
Lose weight.
Be nicer.
Work with not just this year but many future years and generations and centuries in mind.
Work with an international perspective as much as possible. Collaborate internationally as much as possible.
Work to turn last year's Arab Spring into this year's Worldwide Spring-Summer-Fall-Winter.
Help to create a worldwide movement against plutocracy and violence.
December 27, 2011
24 Items Not to Hoard
1. Toilet Paper. Instead of hoarding toilet paper for the coming disaster and anarchy that should never be out of your mind if you want to remain easily manipulable by cynical demagogues, invest in providing clean and accessible bathrooms for the homeless. This will radically improve the lives of millions of Americans and, as a happy side effect, make it much easier for us to engage in long-term demonstrations and nonviolent resistance actions in public places.
December 26, 2011
Stop Picking on the Poor Plutocrats
I stopped by a corporate chain bookstore this week and checked out the "Current Affairs" section. I was a little surprised to discover that according to a dozen or more books dominating the display we are all under a vicious life-and-death assault from a raving, drooling mob of communist devils led by that well-known pinko guerrilla Barack Obama.
December 25, 2011
Dreaming of a White Xmas on a Warmed Earth
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Before trees got cleared out
While oil fumes belched out
And acid rain replaced the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be filled up with spite
And the war on Christmas give you fright
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
And if this trend keeps up I might
Occupy a camp out
Until we stamp out
Every stinking coal plant within sight
December 22, 2011
Prospects for Peace on Earth
This time of year is ideal for reflecting on the miracle of Christmas 1914, that famous temporary truce and friendship between opposing sides in the midst of a war. Here was a new type of slaughter confronted with a new type of humanism, the leading edges of two opposing trends.
December 21, 2011
Audio: Lila Garrett and David Swanson on the National Defense Authorization Act
Here's audio of Lila Garrett's KPFK show "Connect the Dots" on the NDAA and Section 1021 thereof: LISTEN.
December 20, 2011
New Book Coming January 16, 2012
COMING JANUARY 16, 2012, MLK DAYMIC50.org
This book is the most comprehensive collection available explaining what the military industrial complex (MIC) is, where it comes from, what damage it does, what further destruction it threatens, and what can be done and is being done to chart a different course.
Authors contributing chapters to this collection include: Ellen Brown • Paul Chappell • Helena Cobban • Ben Davis • Jeff Fogel • Bunny Greenhouse • Bruce Gagnon • Clare Hanrahan • John Heuer • Steve Horn • Robert Jensen • Karen Kwiatkowski • Judith Le Blanc • Bruce Levine • Ray McGovern • Wally Myers • Robert Naiman • Gareth Porter • Chris Rodda • Allen Ruff • Mia Austin Scoggins • Tony Russell • Lisa Savage • Mary Beth Sullivan • Coleman Smith • Dave Shreve • David Swanson • Pat Elder • Jonathan Williams • Ann Wright
Buy the paperback at 100Fires, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powells, other sellers, or your local independent bookstore, which can order it through Ingram. (The list price is $25.)
Or you can get 10 copies for $100, or 50 copies for $400, or more (all with free shipping) [HERE].
Donate free books to nonprofit educational groups [HERE].
Buy the iPad/iPhone version at the iBookstore.
Get any of these versions for $8 right here:
Kindle: [LINK]
Epub: [LINK]
PDF: [LINK]
Audio book (mp3): [LINK]
The MIC kills large numbers of people, endangers us, hollows out our economy, transfers our wealth to a tiny elite, devastates the natural environment, and threatens civil liberties, the rule of law, and representative government.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower found the nerve in his farewell speech in 1961 to articulate one of the most prescient, potentially valuable, and tragically as yet unheeded warnings of human history:
"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
"We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."
This collection shows that the "total influence" of the MIC has increased, the disastrous rise of misplaced power is no longer merely a potential event, our liberties and democratic processes are in a state of collapse, and that Ike himself disastrously misinformed the citizenry when he claimed that the very monster he warned of had been "compelled" by the need for "defense."
Print ISBN: 978-0-9830830-7-8
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9830830-8-5
Front Cover: PDF
The conference that produced this book.
