home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
No Death Squads, No Torture, No Milton Friedman, No "Shock and Awe" Bombing; just Mild-Mannered Liberals from the World Bank and Harvard driving hundreds of thousands of poor people around the world to starvation and suicide. Read P. Sainath's searing special report. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Remember contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now
|
October 6 / 7, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn
October 5, 2007 Andy
Worthington David
Macaray Lee
Sustar Dan
La Botz Aaron
Hess William
A. Cook Website
of the Day
October 4, 2007 Uri
Avnery Dave
Marsh Valerio
Volpi Cecilie
Surasky Dave
Lindorff Norman
Solomon Laura
Carlsen Walter
Brasch Ben
Terrall William
S. Lind Website
of the Day
October 3, 2007 Vijay
Prashad Anita
Sinha Winslow
T. Wheeler Sharon
Smith Jeff
Leys Sen.
Russ Feingold Mohamad
Bazzi Brenda
Norrell Robert
Weissman Website
of the Day
October 2, 2007 Ibrahim
Warde Gary
Leupp David
Macaray Conn
Hallinan John
Ross Alan
Farago Sonja
Karkar Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Website
of the Day
October 1, 2007 Al
Giordano Paul
Craig Roberts Moshe Adler Ingmar Lee John V. Walsh Norman Solomon Roger Burbach Ramzy Baroud Stephen Lendman Susie Day Website of the Day
September 29 / 30, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Uri
Avnery Andrew
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Wajahat
Ali Andy
Worthington Don
Santina Ralph
Nader Fred
Gardner Seth
Sandronsky Gideon
Levy William
S. Lind Reza
Fiyouzat Richard
Rhames David
Michael Green Zach
Mason Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
September 28, 2007 Kathleen
and Bill Christison Roberto
J. González / Saul
Landau Tom
Clifford Christopher
Brauchli Martha
Rosenberg Dave
Zirin Laray
Polk Binoy
Kampmark James
McEnteer Website
of the Day
September 27, 2007 Alan
Farago Andy
Worthington Jonathan
Cook William
Hughes Ray
McGovern Ron
Jacobs Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Anne
Dachel Website
of the Day
Bill
Quigley Paul
Craig Roberts Jeff
Kisseloff China
Hand Behzad
Yaghmaian Sonja
Karkar Mike
Ferner Col.
Dan Smith Clifton
Ross Brenda
Norrell Website
of the Day
September 25, 2007 Nicole
Colson Uri
Avnery Brendan
Cooney Harry
Browne Marjorie
Cohn David
Macaray Ralph
Nader Dan
Bacher Anthony
Papa Christopher
Ketcham Website
of the Day
September 24, 2007 George
Ciccariello-Maher Saree Makdisi David
Keen Sherwood
Ross Ron
Jacobs Donna
Saggia Mike
Ferner Malini
Johar Schueller Monique
Dols Website
of the Day
Alexander
Cockburn Jennifer
Loewenstein Linn
Washington, Jr. Jeffrey
St. Clair Alan
Farago Brian
Cloughley Robert
Fantina Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz Jason
Hribal David
Rosen Mike
Whitney John
V. Walsh Dave
Lindorff David
Michael Green Fred
Gardner Cassandra
Jones Roger
van Zwanenberg Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
September 21, 2007 Karim
Makdisi M.
Shahid Alam Alan
Farago Joshua
Frank Dave
Zirin Kenneth
Couesbouc Dr.
Steffie Woolhandler and Dr. David Himmelstein Ben
Terrall Steve
Fournier Frederico
Fuentes, et al Website
of the Day
September 20, 2007 Kathleen
Christison Zoltan
Grossman Paul
Craig Roberts Stan
Cox Russell
Mokhiber Charles
Modiano Raymond
J. Lawrence Brendan
Cooney Website
of the Day
September 19, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Paul
Krassner Sgt.
Martin Smith Seth
Sandronsky Claud
Cockburn Victoria
Buch Robert
Weissman Mike
Ferner Dan
Bacher Website
of the Day
September 18, 2007 Mike
Whitney Alan
Farago John
Ross Ron
Jacobs Alex
Doherty September 17, 2007 Marjorie
Cohn Paul
Craig Roberts Ricardo
Alarcón Marc
Levy Eva
Liddell Website
of the Day Sept. 15-16, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Vicente
Navarro Mike
Whitney Herman
Mindshaftgap Ellen
Cantarow Jordan
Flaherty Zachary
Hurwitz September 14, 2007 Debbie
Nathan Franklin
Lamb Patrick
Cockburn Farzana
Versey Alan
Farago Hank
Edson September 13, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Scott
Vest, former Air Force Captain at Minot Andy
Worthington Michael
Baney Dr.
Susan Block September 12, 2007 Paul
Craig Roberts Stan
Goff William
Blum Manuel
Garcia Debbie
Nathan September 11, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Iain
Boal Michael
Dickinson Guerry
Hoddersen Bill
Hatch Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day September 10, 2007 Uri
Avnery Patrick
Cockburn Saul
Landau and Farrah Hassen David
Michael Green Pius
Adesanmi Betty
Schneider September 8 / 9, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Saul
Landau Ismael
Hossein-Zadeh Ray
McGovern Matthew
Abraham Alan
Farago Christopher
Brauchli Rannie
Amiri Fred
Gardner James
L. Secor Missy
Comley Beattie Ben
Tripp Francis
Boyle Joe
Allen and Paul D'Amato Website
of the Weekend
Robert
Fantina John
Ross James
Brooks Russell
Mokhiber Joshua
Frank John
Walsh Mark
Brenner Mike
Ferner Website
of the Day
September 6, 2007 Kathleen
and Bill Christison Allan
J. Lichtman Norman
Solomon Yifat
Susskind Catherine
Fenton Laura
Santina Farzana
Versey Yves
Engler Kelly
Overton Michael
Simmons Website
of the Day
September 5, 2007 Stan
Goff Michael
Dickinson Matthew
Abraham Patrick
Cockburn Dave
Lindorff Paul
Craig Roberts Clifton
Ross Elizabeth
Schulte Joseph
Grosso Ben
Terrall Website
of the Day
September 4, 2007 Jean
Bricmont Patrick
Cockburn Ron
Jacobs Tom
Kerr Gary
Leupp Sonja
Karkar Heather
Gray Fidel
Castro Jackie
Corr Sunsara
Taylor Website
of the Day
September 3, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Eamon
McCann Joshua
Frank Chris
Floyd Marjorie
Cohn Walter
Brasch Matt
Reichel Website
of the Day
September 1 / 2, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Andy
Worthington Saul
Landau David
Keen Patrick
Cockburn Diana
Johnstone George
Longstreth, MD Linda
M. Woolf Ralph
Nader Fred
Gardner Ben
Tripp David
Michael Green Missy
Comley Beattie Michael
Dickinson Paul
Krassner Ron
Jacobs Poets'
Basement
Subscribe Online
|
Weekend
Edition Rolling the Dice on the ColumbiaA River Runs Through ItBy SAUL LANDAU "Hey, they've made a difference," the blackjack dealer with a name tag that says Larry informs me after I blew $25 at the table where he shuffled and dealt. The pit boss listening to the conversation did not look like a Spokane Indian or a member of any other native tribe. Indian owned -- but not Indian managed -- casinos dot the landscape of eastern Washington. "I didn't have a regular job before this place opened up," he said as he waited for another sucker on a slow morning, just before the Labor Day weekend. Families and tourists returned houseboats across the road after having motored up and down the Columbia and Spokane Rivers and gotten their share of sunburn as well. The Two Rivers Casino, owned by the Spokane Tribe, specializes in the slots. Indeed, some casinos don't even have black jack tables and roulette wheels. "It's not the high rollers who come here," the dealer informed me, flashing a smile and showing gaps where some of his teeth had once been. "But my two brothers went into the service, you know. I didn't want to get into that stuff, you know, over there in whatchamacallit. Too dangerous and I didn't want to go too far from home. So, I trained for this job and it pays OK, you know." From Gifford, a ferry ride--free and 10 minutes long-- crosses the Columbia River. On the other side, Inchelium looks like reservation towns I saw in South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico and California's Salton Sea. The front yards contain car carcasses and worn out household machinery. Kids run around. A shabby general store faced a dingy café where the coffee, sitting and evaporating on the hot plate, smelled like someone had made it earlier. A lot earlier! Around the village, majestic pines cast shadows and aromas throughout the area, those that remain after Boise Cascade and the other "timber companies" hacked away at the forests. In Colville, from my motel window I watched the robot-driven crane send its claw down and scoop up the logs and place them on a conveyer belt, one more torturous step on a once mighty tree's transformation into plywood, toothpicks or chopsticks. The waitress at the "best Eye-talian restaurant in Colville"--her description--thinks of Boise Cascade as the company. It provides jobs and keeps customers coming into the restaurant. While I waited for my lasagna and eggplant parmesan take out orders, I asked her if she knew about Boise Cascade's adventures in Guerrero Mexico in the 1990s] where the company colluded with corrupt village bosses to clear cut pieces of the local forest. She shrugged. None of that appeared in the Colville newspaper or on the nightly news. The preacher didn't mention it. Boise Cascade doesn't want that kind of publicity in a town of some 5,000 people where it runs a 24/7 operation. Logging and tourism, Indian reservations and the Grand Coulee Dam have stamped eastern Washington with their indelible identification marks. The Dam dominates--as it should. It dwarfs other huge electric power producing facilities. It contains more concrete than any other structure in the country. The Dam measures almost a mile in length. All the pyramids at Giza could fit inside its base. It is twice as high as Niagara Falls, the tour guide informs us. The structure, looming 1330 feet above sea level, looms like a surreal structure from the river below. The very quantity of concrete in its exterior produces awe and wonder at how engineers and architects could have conceived such a mammoth notion back in 1933 when FDR's Public Works Administration initiated giant projects to spur the economy and provide jobs. The project took almost eight years to complete, during which time the plans changed and engineers enlarged the dam's irrigation capacity. World War II produced further changes. Irrigation took second place to electricity generation needed for war production. The power produced there also became crucial for generation electricity needed for war production during World War II. Grand Coulee also powered plutonium production reactors and reprocessing facilities at Hanford, Washington, part of the then-top secret Manhattan Project to produce the atomic bomb, a far cry from the spirit of Woody Guthrie song. "Roll on, Columbia, roll on, your power is turning our darkness to dawn," The Hanford plant leaked nuclear material. Former employees have suffered from the toxic material as have the fish, which must make their way under the concrete dam. "Most of them squeeze underneath," said the tour guide responding to my question. "Some die from something like the bends, what divers get. But it's good for the sea eagles." He pointed skyward where the predators should have been. The dam did prove crucial for industrial development in the Pacific Northwest, and irrigation again resumed its proper place after the war. The project itself also provided thousands of jobs during the Great Depression and it still functions as a job provider and a center of the area economy; but not enough to keep everyone employed. July unemployment figures for white adults ran at around 5%, slightly higher than the government reported national average of 4.9; blacks, Hispanics and Native American figure ran at double or more that amount. In Spokane, scores of homeless men sat on stoops, predominantly whites, but some Indians a few Latinos with shabby backpacks; others rode rusty bicycles. Single Room Occupancy hotels SROs dot the poorer and downtown streets. The Spokane River winds its way through the city. On its banks, like those of other urban rivers and public beaches, litter has accumulated. The ubiquitous Styrofoam trail, the tell tale beer and whiskey bottles from river bank parties and the occasional condom floating in the shallows loom as clues for future archeologists and historians who will try to understand what we did here in the early 21th Century--the time when science and technology had broken boundaries that as a kid I thought of as science fiction. Knowledge and ignorance, concern and carelessness for the earth and its people and other living things! As we walked toward the river bank in the humid mid morning air a middle-aged man tending his garden said: "Hey, you like grapes?" Of course! He filled a plastic bag with bunches of tiny green morsels that exploded with tart succulence against the palate. We thanked him, He nodded. "I'd hate to throw them away." We ate grapes and stared at the bridge above us, crossing the Spokane River. Like the dams, many of the infrastructural foundations of the country were built in the 1930s. Few Americans then would have predicted that within decades that "defense" would claim the lion's share of the tax wealth, that a nation that had no permanent armed force would have an institutionalized military that got sent routinely to wars around the world while dikes in New Orleans collapsed from poor maintenance and a bridge in Minnesota fell apart from fatigue. The majestic northeast Washington scenery, mountains, dotted with pines, mighty rivers and vast areas covered by newly cut wheat fields--with a rich yellow color that Van Gogh would have admired--share the landscape with man-made structures, dams, bridges and cities like Spokane. On the highway one can't avoid the contrast to the tacky billboards pushing SUV sales. Listening to AM radio as a deer nimbly leaped into the trees. I heard exciting news: a new drug has hit the market that cures erectile dysfunction. Then the radio barked the same old "news" -- wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the latest banalities from Rudy Giuliani who stands for "victory"--whatever that might mean--and more melting of arctic ice. The river flowed as it has done. The Indian blackjack dealer had told my wife that "fishing ain't too good in the warm weather. Folks rent houseboats and then don't catch nothing. Real disappointing, you know? But that's how fish are." The blue-green mountains with the valiant pines cast their shadow over the valley. The cool wind sent its omen. Fall would soon arrive. Meanwhile, the highway billboards and radio ads beckoned consumers to pay attention to the important things in life. Saul Landau is the author of A BUSH AND BOTOX WORLD. His films are available on dvd from roundworldproductions@gmail.com
|
How the Press Led the US into War Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy Click Here to Buy! Click Here for Dates & Venues Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz Click Here to Buy! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal Click Here to Order! How They Made a Killing on the War on Terrorism The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh |