Intellectual somnolence
I have become quite the Kurt Nimmo fan. Nimmo writes for a number of online publications, including Counterpunch.org and Dissident Voice. He also has published a book of essays titled Another Day In the Empire: Life In Neoconservative America. His weblog has become one of my favorite sites to read each day.
Three recent great entries are worth noting. "John Kaminski: Nader’s the one" is an article written by John Kaminski extolling the virtues of Ralph Nader and lamenting the fact that more people don't support Nader. I'm not a Nader supporter, but I think many of you would be if you thought he was electable. At least I think Nader more accurately reflects the ideology of many of my friends. The replies to the entry are almost as good as the entry itself.
Even better is Nimmo's entry "Democracy: For the Bushcons, Dead as Lori Hacking". I think the title explains the entry adequately. My favorite paragraph:
"Obviously, Bush is a Christer nutbar (and by “Christer” I do not mean to defame sincere Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ; the term is reserved for Christian Zionists who believe one day they will float up to heaven and there will be a battle between Good and Evil in Israel and everybody who is not a Christer -- including unconverted Jews in the aforementioned Israel -- will spend an eternity on a barbecue spit). I am seriously distressed that these idiotic and quite dangerous nutbars have taken over the White House and large portions of Congress."
I like Nimmo's venomous style.
Today brings "Fabricating Terror in Albany". It's worth reading, too.
***
As further proof that things are often not what they seem, this article addresses some of the problems occurring in the "fair trade" coffee business. "Germany's Fair Labeling Organization (FLO), which certifies all fair-trade coffee in the world, charges farmers $2,431 to certify plus an annual base of $607 for recertification and $.02 per 2.2 pounds of coffee sold under the fair-trade label." As the article goes on to point out, some smaller, poorer farmers simply cannot afford the process of having their coffee certified. So I guess "fair trade" is only "fair" if one can afford to have it labeled as such.
***
I stumbled across this interesting tidbit in a book I was skimming through a few days ago:
Who Was the First President of the United States?
The obvious answer is George Washington, but this is technically incorrect.
The United States of America was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation by Maryland whose delegates delayed its ratification over a western border dispute with Virginia and New York. Upon the March 1 ratification, the President of the Continental Congress officially became President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
To make matters even more perplexing some historians claim that John Hanson was the first President of the United States as he was the first person to serve the full one year term (1781–82), under the ratified Articles of Confederation. This again is incorrect.
The ratification occurred during the term of Samuel Huntington who served as President from September 28, 1779 to July 6, 1781. Consequently, Samuel Huntington was the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
Seven other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office. Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States? It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon. A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.
George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the "Constitution" we are under today, and the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.
History is a tricky thing! But there is enough to carefully evaluate the "truth" that lies in all of the prejudice and bias that should be held accountable for its lack of accuracy and precision.
***
Quotes:
"Now, what is the ballot? It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the billy, and the bullet. It is a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable. The voice of the majority saves bloodshed, but it is no less the arbitrament of force than is the decree of the most absolute of despots backed by the most powerful of armies. Of course it may be claimed that the struggle to attain to the majority involves an incidental use of intellectual and moral processes; but these influences would exert themselves still more powerfully in other channels if there were no such thing as the ballot, and, when used as subsidiary to the ballot, they represent only a striving for the time when physical force can be substituted for them. Reason devoted to politics fights for its own dethronement. The moment the minority becomes the majority, it ceases to reason and persuade, and begins to command and enforce and punish."
- Benjamin R. Tucker
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force."
- George Washington
Three recent great entries are worth noting. "John Kaminski: Nader’s the one" is an article written by John Kaminski extolling the virtues of Ralph Nader and lamenting the fact that more people don't support Nader. I'm not a Nader supporter, but I think many of you would be if you thought he was electable. At least I think Nader more accurately reflects the ideology of many of my friends. The replies to the entry are almost as good as the entry itself.
Even better is Nimmo's entry "Democracy: For the Bushcons, Dead as Lori Hacking". I think the title explains the entry adequately. My favorite paragraph:
"Obviously, Bush is a Christer nutbar (and by “Christer” I do not mean to defame sincere Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ; the term is reserved for Christian Zionists who believe one day they will float up to heaven and there will be a battle between Good and Evil in Israel and everybody who is not a Christer -- including unconverted Jews in the aforementioned Israel -- will spend an eternity on a barbecue spit). I am seriously distressed that these idiotic and quite dangerous nutbars have taken over the White House and large portions of Congress."
I like Nimmo's venomous style.
Today brings "Fabricating Terror in Albany". It's worth reading, too.
***
As further proof that things are often not what they seem, this article addresses some of the problems occurring in the "fair trade" coffee business. "Germany's Fair Labeling Organization (FLO), which certifies all fair-trade coffee in the world, charges farmers $2,431 to certify plus an annual base of $607 for recertification and $.02 per 2.2 pounds of coffee sold under the fair-trade label." As the article goes on to point out, some smaller, poorer farmers simply cannot afford the process of having their coffee certified. So I guess "fair trade" is only "fair" if one can afford to have it labeled as such.
***
I stumbled across this interesting tidbit in a book I was skimming through a few days ago:
Who Was the First President of the United States?
The obvious answer is George Washington, but this is technically incorrect.
The United States of America was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation by Maryland whose delegates delayed its ratification over a western border dispute with Virginia and New York. Upon the March 1 ratification, the President of the Continental Congress officially became President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
To make matters even more perplexing some historians claim that John Hanson was the first President of the United States as he was the first person to serve the full one year term (1781–82), under the ratified Articles of Confederation. This again is incorrect.
The ratification occurred during the term of Samuel Huntington who served as President from September 28, 1779 to July 6, 1781. Consequently, Samuel Huntington was the first President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
Seven other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office. Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States? It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon. A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.
George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the "Constitution" we are under today, and the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.
History is a tricky thing! But there is enough to carefully evaluate the "truth" that lies in all of the prejudice and bias that should be held accountable for its lack of accuracy and precision.
***
Quotes:
"Now, what is the ballot? It is neither more nor less than a paper representative of the bayonet, the billy, and the bullet. It is a labor-saving device for ascertaining on which side force lies and bowing to the inevitable. The voice of the majority saves bloodshed, but it is no less the arbitrament of force than is the decree of the most absolute of despots backed by the most powerful of armies. Of course it may be claimed that the struggle to attain to the majority involves an incidental use of intellectual and moral processes; but these influences would exert themselves still more powerfully in other channels if there were no such thing as the ballot, and, when used as subsidiary to the ballot, they represent only a striving for the time when physical force can be substituted for them. Reason devoted to politics fights for its own dethronement. The moment the minority becomes the majority, it ceases to reason and persuade, and begins to command and enforce and punish."
- Benjamin R. Tucker
"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force."
- George Washington
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