Bahrain Demolishes Pearl Square

SUBHEAD: After Saudi "support" Bahrain demolishes Pearl Square monument that became symbolic of peaceful Shiite resistance to Sunni monarchy.By Barbara Surk on 18 March 2011 for Huffington Post - (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/18/bahrain-pearl-square-monument_n_837799.html)Image above: Symbolic monument representing a pearl. The rich pearl trade there was the pre-oil occupation of

Is Saudi supression OK with US?

SUBHEAD: Saudis and Fifth Fleet want calm to return to Bahrain and both want to limit Iran's influence in the region.By David Usborne on 18 March 2011 for New Zealand Herald - (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10713281)Image above: US Fifth Fleet conducts maintenance and support of submarines and surface vessels in its area of responsibility from Manama, Bahrain

Military schmoozes Guam & Hawaii

SOURCE: Kenneth Taylor (taylork021@Hawaii.rr.com)SUBHEAD: Pentagon takes aim at Asia-Pacific, and deploys mercenary social scientists for US military interests.Image above: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates surveys Guam military installations from helicopter. From (http://www.staradvertiser.com/multimedia/photo_galleries/viewer?galID=117918939).By Kyle Kajihiro on 14 March 2011 for DMZ Hawaii -(

The Empire Strikes Out

SUBHEAD: Sooner than you might think the tweets and the video feeds will cease and the screen will go dark.By Dmitry Orlov 8 March 2011 in ClubOrlov - (http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/03/empire-strikes-out.html)Image above: Internet down again in Libya. From (http://compushot.blogspot.com/2011/03/libyas-internet-down-again.html).Tunisia, Egypt, Libya... now, children, one of these things is

We’re taking the planet with us

SUBHEAD: Elites turn citizens into serfs and the natural world into a wasteland for profit.By Chris Hedges on 7 March 2011 in Truthdig - (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/this_time_were_taking_the_whole_planet_with_us_20110307)Image above: "The Ruins of Kom Ombo" by David Roberts (1838). From (http://www.travellersinegypt.org/archives/2005/02/david_roberts.html).I have walked through the

Fate of the Petrodollar

SUBHEAD: The revolutions came at the worst possible time for the empire and are threatening the financial system guaranteeing the Almighty Dollar.By Zainab Cheema on 3 March 2011 in Media Monitors - (http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/83795)Image above: Fuel oil distribution in Asia set against chart of estimated demand by region. From (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/

Collapse of the Old Oil Order

SUBHEAD: Consider the recent rise in the price of oil just a faint and early tremor heralding the oilquake to come.By Michael T. Klare on 3 March 2011 in TomDispatch - (http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175362/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_oilquake_in_the_middle_east)Image above: Awbari lakes in Fezzan, Libya. From (http://landsgenre.webs.com/thecosmiclandscape.htm).Whatever the outcome of the

An Empire of Lies

SUBHEAD: We must demand more of our corporate media and we must desert them, as is already happening, for better sources of information.By Jonathan Cook on 28 February 2011 in Information Clearing House - (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27583.htm)Image above: Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, a.k.a. "Curveball" now lives in Karlsruhe, Germany. From (http://www.bollyn.com/

Unsustainable Modern Capitalism

SUBHEAD: An interview with John Perkins, author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man".By Anthony Wile on 27 February 2011 in The Daily Bell -(http://www.thedailybell.com/1791/Anthony-Wile-with-John-Perkins-on-His-Best-Selling-Book-Confessions-of-an-Economic-Hit-Man-and-the-Unsustainability-of-Modern-Capitalism.html)Image above: Still from video of John Perkins interview. See below.Introduction:

The Language of Tyranny

SUBHEAD: Once self-delusion no longer works it is the iron fist that speaks.By Chris Hedges on 6 February 2011 in Truthdig - (http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/recognizing_the_language_of_tyranny_20110206)Image above: A cover of George Orwell's "1984". From (http://greaterthanorequalto.net/blog/2009/08/1984).Empires communicate in two languages. One language is expressed in imperatives. It is

Pox Americana

SUBHEAD: Our unilateralists drove blithely through “The gates of hell”, imagining that they were the gates to paradise.By Tom Engelhardt on 7 February 2011 in TomDispatch -(http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175351/tomgram:_engelhardt,_goodbye_to_all_that)Image above: Poster promoting movie "Team America". From (http://www.allmoviephoto.com/photo/2004_team_america_wallpaper_001.html).As we've

You Must Watch the Empire Bowl

SUBHEAD: Our last super thing is the bread and circuses of this dying empire. Hail Superbowl XLV!By Robert Lipsyte on 30 January 2011 in TomDispatch -(http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175348/tomgram%3A_robert_lipsyte%2C_the_empire_bowl_is_super%21/#more)Image above: Frame from TV animation of Superbowm XLV logo. From (http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/02/nfl-offset-15000-

The Great Unravelling

SUBHEAD: Tunisia, Egypt and the protracted collapse of the American empire.By Dr. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed on 1 February 2011 in Energy Bulletin - (http://www.energybulletin.net/stories/2011-02-01/great-unravelling-tunisia-egypt-and-protracted-collapse-american-empire)Image: Egyptian bread ready for sale in front of fading poster of Hosni Mubarik. From (http://www.greywoolknickers.net/?p=79=1). The

Onset of Catabolic Collapse

SUBHEAD: It’s possible at this point to provide a fairly exact date for the onset of catabolic collapse here in the United States of America.By John Michael Greer on 19 January 2011 in The Archdruid Report - (http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2011/01/onset-of-catabolic-collapse.html)Image above: Viaduct passes in front of the Colosseum in reconstruction of Rome as it was in 320 AD . From (

Current State of America's Empire

SUBHEAD: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist: America's military and economic empire ready to collapse at any time.By Nathan Diebenow on 17 December 2010 for Raw Story - (http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/untitled-chris-hedges-interview/)Image above: Dejected US Marines in an Helmund dust storm. From (http://www.pakalertpress.com/2010/11/23/what-if-nato-is-defeated-in-afghanistan).America's

Ron Paul supports WikiLeaks

SUBHEAD: Congressman from Texas defends Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as having broken no US law.By Jason Linkins on 10 December 2010 for Huffington Post -(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/ron-paul-wikileaks-defense_n_795014.html)Image above: Photo of Ron Paul by Sarah Wilson for the Atlantic. From (http://www.sarahwilsonphotography.com/archives/category/portfolios/tearsheets).In the wake

America, y ur peeps so dum?

SUBHEAD: America's cultural ignorance and the need for courage in the age of Lady Gaga.Image above: Ignorant and proud of it. The gang from MTV's "Jersey Shore". From (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jersey-Shore-Season-1/13628).By Joe Bageant on 7 December 2010 in Joe Bageant.com -(http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2010/12/america-y-ur-peeps-b-so-dum.html#more)If you hang out much with thinking

No Time for Lullabies

SUBHEAD: Daydreams about nonexistent lifeboat ecovillages share a common purpose, as lullabies disguised as solutions.Image above: Architect's rendering of Dubai's 2009 proposed "Food City" self-sustainable ecotopia. From (http://inhabitat.com/a-utopian-vision-for-food-city-dubai).By John Michael Greer on 24 November 2010 in ArchdruidReport - (http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2010/11/

Nothing but Flowers

SUBHEAD: As things fell apart, nobody paid much attention. This was a Pizza Hut. Now it’s all covered with daisies.Image above: Ruins on the site of the Kushi Institute in Massachusetts. From (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2506227930011281402bDZwaB).By Administrator on 19 November 2010 in The Burning Platform - (http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=7614)Here we standLike an Adam and an

Empire of Lies

\SUBHEAD: The only question of economic significance at this point is which event puts the stake in the heart of the industrial economy.Image above: Famous capitalist and banker J. P. Morgan in top hat on Wall Street. From (http://irrationalgeographic.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/the-giant-and-the-midget).By Guy McPherson on 31 October 2010 in Nature Bats Last -(http://guymcpherson.com/2010/10/