During the second half of the 20th century the United States was an opportunity society. The ladders of upward mobility were plentiful, and the middle class expanded. Incomes rose, and ordinary people were able to achieve old-age security. In the 21st century the opportunity society has disappeared. Middle class jobs are scarce. Indeed, jobs of any kind are scarce. To stay even with population growth...

On May 31, 2010, the Israeli right-wing government sent armed military troops to illegally board in international waters Gaza aid ships of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief. The Israelis murdered 8 Turkish citizens and one US citizen in cold blood. Many others were wounded by the forces of...

October 5. Today’s employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows 114,000 new jobs in September and a drop in the rate of unemployment from 8.1% to 7.8%. As 114,000 new jobs are not sufficient to stay even with population growth, the drop in the unemployment rate is the result of not counting discouraged workers who are defined away as “not in the labor...

World Affairs Monthly recently had some communication Paul Craig Roberts. Roberts worked for President Ronald Reagan and was Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury. I proposed an interview and he asked me to send him some questions, which I did. Paul Craig Roberts is clearly an honest man and a very impressive intellect. He can be found on the net at skyblue-penguin-833280.hostingersite.com/. What would you...

Those who have followed the Republican campaign for the presidential nomination and current contest between Romney and Obama know that the United States has no political leadership in Washington. Billions of dollars have been spent on political propaganda, but not a single important issue has been addressed. The closest the campaign has come to a political issue is which candidate can grovel the lowest at...

Poetry can often achieve the same communication with far fewer words than prose. This poem sums it up. BUT WHAT OF TRUTH by Hal O’Leary For now, the loss of truth’s the only known. The truth's become old fashioned. Could this be? With lies, we have decided to condone, Just what the end will be, I cannot see. The truth is now old fashioned. Could...

In my last column, “A Culture of Delusion,” I wrote that “Americans live in a matrix of lies. Lies dominate every policy discussion, every political decision.” This column will use two top news stories, Iranian nukes and Julian Assange, to illustrate how lies become “truth.” The western Presstitute media uses every lie to demonize the Iranian government. On September 28 in a fit of unmitigated...