McKinney and Nader: Are votes for them of equal value? 

John Rensenbrink

There is this notion that progressive-minded people, who can’t see voting for Obama, have a choice between two outstanding candidates, Cynthia McKinney and Ralph Nader.  I agree that they are both outstanding candidates.  But I firmly…

Not just with life, LIKE life 

I’ve been working on a book called “Critical Mass: Why everything’s going wrong everywhere at once & how to fix it.” It’s premise is that our activities in a global economy under the influence of an imperial socio-political system, often…

Why are we surprised that Obama’s fudging the issues? 

There’s widespread dismay at Barack Obama’s softening his stance on a number of issues, even among those of us who would never vote for him. He’s backtracking, sidestepping, and being frustratingly evasive. This should not surprise any member of the…

Ron Paul’s critique is better than his solutions 

Libertarianism has part of the critique right. But
Libertarians disparage “government” without
distinguishing between remote, overly-centralized
government vs. local, communitarian self-
administration. Libertarianism sounds good when it
references “self-reliance” and…

An image of the Revolution of Lowered Expectations 

Brunswick, Maine is a town across the river from where I live in Topsham. It has a wide main street, and it is appropriately called Maine Street.

Brunswick has a tradition of years-standing that pedestrians crossing Maine street…

The Shallow Politics of America’s Concerned Intellectuals 

[This hard hitting article, published in Green Horizon Magazine this spring, has claimed the attention of the Utne Reader and stirred commentary on their website. Here is the entire article as published.]

For years I have been baffled…

Life in our Schools 1948—2008 

Life in our Schools, 1948—2008

Or

What is Happening to Us?

I. Scenario:  Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in rack.

1948 Vice Principal comes…

Obama Stumbles Badly on Israel 

On Tuesday, June 3, the day after he successfully claimed victory over Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama spoke to the powerful ultra pro-Israel lobby, The American Israel Public Affairs Commmittee (AIPAC). He fell all over himself to assure them that he…