I have tried to find significant differences between the two presidential candidates in the United States, but the differences I have found are inconsequential relative to what is needed to bring about a real change, so the best I can do is repost a previous article which outlines some of my main concerns.
The Stimulator from submedia.tv has put together a nice short video remix comparing the two so-called choices for this years elections. As he states, “who you gonna vote for now America?”
In the same breath that Obama says he will address the Muslim world he states that he will not talk to Hamas. Does he not realize that Hamas is one of the most important democratically elected governments in the Muslim world? Is he not aware that a Gaza Bombshell was dropped recently revealing that the current escalation in hostilities between Israel and Palestine was a direct result of the United States starting the “bloody civil war in Gaza”?
What are all these changes that Obama so eloquently refers to? Everything that is happening right now, from multiple wars with Muslim countries to the imminent wars in South and Central America, have been planned for many years in advance and executed with the precision of a Military Industrial Complex (2:30). What changes is Obama going to initiate, and how is he going to do it? Is he going to simply pack up and leave the Middle East, eliminate the Federal Reserve, talk to Chavez, Ahmadinejad, Assad, Morales, etc.
Majority of the news for the last few months has been focused on the 2008 US presidential elections. This diversion from some of the most important matters facing our society will soon pass. We will soon have to begin to deal with some of the most important issues of our time, two of which are the war crimes committed at Guantanamo Bay and the fate of the victims of the US administration.
I came across two articles written by Andy Worthington, the author of 'The Guantánamo Files', which I thought gave a very good summary of our present predicament. The following two articles are worth reading if you would like to find out what will become to main focus for many after the next US President has been crowned.
If you are more inclined towards watching documentaries, then in addition to the above articles, for a very good summary of what ails us, the following two documentaries are well worth watching.
“The Road to Guantanamo” is a docudrama based on the lives of the ‘Tipton Three’, “the collective name given to three young men from Tipton, England, United Kingdom, who were held in extrajudicial detention for two years in Guantánamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba.”
The Road to Guantanamo (1:31:37)
Taxi to the Dark Side - “An in-depth look at the torture practices of the United States in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, focusing on an innocent taxi driver in Afghanistan who was tortured and killed in 2002.”
The following is an excellent little documentary about the music industry and its cannibalistic business model, which is directly related to the failed Wall Street corporate model.
The documentary also introduces the concept of the “Independent Label”, the most feared entity by media conglomerates. I personally believe that musicians breaking away from large record labels will change our society, which is what centralized governments and conglomerates dread.
It is worth while to keep in mind that major labels have mainly been used for promotion and distribution, but thanks to the Internet, their role is becoming less and less important, which could be why they are trying desperately to control content on the Net through censorship and by eliminating Net Neutrality. More on this later, for now let’s enjoy “Before the Music Dies”.
“Narrated by Academy Award® Winner Forest Whitaker, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES is an unsettling and inspiring look at today’s popular music industry featuring interviews and performances by Erykah Badu, Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Branford Marsalis, ?uestlove and a wide variety of others. The documentary film has built a passionate following as “the most important film a music fan will ever see” (XM Radio) by providing “a balanced overview of the state of the rock scene of America” (The Wall Street Journal) and adding “passion to the eternal debate about the industry” (The New York Times).
“Last year, BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen walked away from traditional Hollywood distribution to instead pursue a large-scale grassroots release with B-Side Entertainment. Since its release in November 2006, the film has screened over 200 times in over 130 North American markets with hundreds of additional events anticipated worldwide during 2007. Use this site to learn more about the film, where you can see it, ways you can own it, and - most importantly - how you can get involved in sharing it with others”
The Importance of Comic Books:
One of the most important contributions the United States of America has made to modern civilization is the creation and the popularization of the comic book genre. It is widely accepted that the present form of the comic book, in which word balloons are used, began in New York in 1896 with ‘The Yellow Kid’.
The importance of comic books to our society was summed up by Deepak Chopra during the 2006 Comic-Con:
“Comics engage both your left brain, because they are linguistically structured and there's language, and at the same time they engage your right brain because of the images. In fact, ... I’m sure ... brain waves would show coherence between the right and left brains, which is the prelude to creativity.
“Art has a function because it not only reflects what’s happening in the collective psyche and collective consciousness, but it also in many ways mirrors of the evolution of our collective consciousness. If you track the evolution of these comics… from the 1930s right up to this moment, you’ll see that they actually mirror human evolution and particularly, the evolution of human consciousness.”
The Savage Sword Of Conan:
Considering that we have not stopped our governments from waging war, on the contrary, we are allowing them to start additional wars, I think it's probably a good time for us to try and engage our right and left brains at the same time.
The following panels are from page 29 and 30 of the August 1983 issue of The Savage Sword Of Conan #91(click images to enlarge)
Conan and his mercenary army have won another victory and have dispatched their fastest rider to carry the news to King Ronal of Lapis L’harr, a Corinthian city-state engaged in protracted warfare with the adjacent city-state of Razalah B’qen:
In comic books, more often than not, the good guys win. I sure hope this is also the case this time around.
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