Now comes the documentary film New World Order, and just in time. It’s likely this film has been in the can for a bit so it probably stops in the Bush era, but I have been wondering what the response from the conspiracy theorist fringe would be to a victory by Barack Obama.
It always seemed to me that part and parcel of the conceit of a “New World Order” was that it was led by a (white) elite that has passed on power from generation to generation, wreaking havoc for centuries for their own ultimate wealth. And certainly I’ve fallen for a couple of the urban legends myself over the years.
But how does all that square with a Black man as the current center of power in the contemporary world? Is there some cabal of staff people in the White House holding information from the Prez on behalf of the Illuminati? Can a Black man be part of the world ruling class in the eyes of the theorists? And if Obama is the kind of man who would be a party to all that, what does that say about our collective role in getting him elected? Are we all pawns in some elaborate Masonic chess game?
From my point of view, a Black President tends to negate all of those theories, but what say you theorists?
I got a note focusing my attention on an article by ultra-right columnist and professional rabble rouser Kevin Myers in The Irish Independent. Even in the face of some of the most progressive suststainable technology being created in Africa, even in the face of rapidly increasing oil wealth in places like Angola, Nigeria and Gabon. Even in the face of mutually beneficial business dealings between African Governments and China, you still get broad sweeping venom and contempt like this out of Europe.
Nothing explains away Robert Mugabe’s actions in Zimbabwe and Thabo Mbeki’s lack of forcefulness in dealing with the issue, but columns like this gives one a greater understanding of why Mbeki and Mugabe are so resistant to pressure from Europe, precisely because in that pressure they see motivations like this:
I’ll let genocide masked as conservative intellectualism speak for itself. But a question: How does this even get by an editor?
If you missed our contributor Mark Sawyer’s piece on Bush and Cuba , you missed an insightful look at how the Bush Administration “No Engagement/Wait and See” attitude toward Cuba has lost the U.S. all kinds of opportunities to have a leading role in the future of the island that’s only 90 miles from our border.
Now, even in the face of 50 years of policy that is proven as a failure- assassination attempts, embargoes, isolation - what did Clinton propose during the Obama/Clinton debate in Texas? What else? A wait and see posture.
What exactly is she waiting to see? As we wait for Cuba to drop 50 years of thought and work to do American-style democracy at the drop of a hat, Raul Castro is spending his time studying the integration of capitalism into Communist China and thinking that’s definitely the way to go. So while we sit around and don’t engage, China, the new superpower, gets to be the role model and not us. That’s a ridiculous and indefensible position.
Unfortunately, Barack Obama is not that much better on the issue. He would engage, but then wait for change as well. It’s a step above the Clinton position, but only a soft and shaky step.
Where does web innovation end and invasion of privacy begin? Well, if you’re one of those folks who like to enjoy a morning cuppa au naturel you might want to stay away from the windows. Google Maps Street Views* continues to expand it’s reach, adding a number of new cities, including: Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland and Tucson. For those not lucky enough to have been added yet – this thing is web maps on human growth hormone. 360 degree views at street level means casing a house has never been so easy! As the good folks at the Chicago Sun-Times have discovered you can now literally read the number on someone’s front door…or catch people unknowingly immortalized in the Googleverse. It’s not clear what the economic value of this widget is yet, except in a really (really) broad sense (i.e. I guess I’ll use maps more). Maybe something new and cool is the whole point.
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