Vietnam is our future
by John Rember 1. In the fall of 2010, it’s still possible to buy two round-trip plane tickets from the west coast of the United States to Vietnam for two thousand dollars. Once there, it’s cheaper than staying home. A…
Tinkerers on the scaffolding, or the recovery of ecstasy
by Sandy Krolick, who blogs at kulturCritic The tame and domesticated contours of civilized life have eclipsed our sense of the feral in everyday experience -- that irrepressible anchor of human embodiment, our elemental interlacing with nature, “that subtle knot…
Reality bites
The BRICS are making their move to shove aside the U.S. dollar (although their own troubles might interfere). The dollar dump is particularly timely in light of recent recognition that U.S. credit verges on junk status, and rates lower than…
Resistance as commodity: America medicated and enslaved
by Sandy Krolick, who blogs at kulturCritic We have all sat enthralled by the recent images dancing across our HD TVs, our PC and Notebook screens, as events have unfolded in the Middle East and Northern Africa over the past…
This must be a nightmare
by Kevin Moore Like most people who grew up in Britain in the 1950s or 1960s, I was trained to believe in a "better, brighter future" that could be achieved via continuing advances in technology. Having no reason to doubt…
Health care in a post-collapse world
by John House, who blogs at Health by Dr. House I can't begin to count the times that I've thought about the collapse of the industrial economy. Even before I knew that such a thing was not only possible, but…
Partial understanding on planet Easter Island
The recent S&P downgrade of U.S. debt is yet another example of a circus sideshow in a nation filled with clowns sleepwalking off a cliff. Ben Bernanke, the master of ceremonies in the most ridiculous show on Earth, has come…