Terrorism: Who Benefits and Why

Terrorism: Who Benefits and Why

In this print edition...

• Terrorism: Who Benefits and Why

• Wal-Mart: Always Low Wages!

• Terminating Arnold: A Cat’s Eye View of California Politics

• Secret Invasion: US troops Steal into Paraguay

• Short Story: Portrait

• Current Letters (updated 12-29-05)

• Current Poetry

• Nobody Asked Me, But...

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Before the events of Genoa, because of the fall of the Soviet Union, many of the peoples of the Western world had been led to believe the possibility of a global capitalism free from any hampering opposition. Yet, obviously, for those represented by the demonstrations at Genoa this was just a Hobson’s choice between exploitation either by one giant global capitalist corporation or another.

During the five years that she worked at a Wal-Mart store in Pennsylvania, Brenda Houle was a model employee. She consistently received stellar evaluations and won awards for her performance. She even had aspirations of becoming a store manager and sought entry into the assistant manager training program.

I channel my cats. I really do. I know what they’re thinking and I simply translate these impressions into humanese. My three-year-old tabby, Atticus Bach, likes to watch television with me, suffers through my morbid CNN addiction, and forms his own opinions.

The Bush administration has sent troops into Paraguay. They are there ostensibly for humanitarian and counterterrorism purposes. The action coincides with growing left unity in South America, military buildup in the region and burgeoning independent trade relationships.

In a few minutes, she knew the pain would feel like a saber piercing through her right eye and out through the back of her head. Joan cursed the inventor of childproof bottle caps as she fumbled with a family-size canister of ibuprofen. When she suffered these strange migraines, even the simplest of tasks was impossible. It was only a matter of time before she blacked out.

Attempting to define what USDA considers “organic” is like trying to figure out which lie George W. Bush told last -- it is a difficult, if not impossible task.