Noted analysts on both left and right see America's empire in decline. In his 2009 book, "Global Depression and Regional Wars," James Petras said:

"All the idols of capitalism over the past three decades have crashed. The assumptions and presumptions, paradigms and prognosis of indefinite progress under liberal free market capitalism have been tested and have failed. We are living the end of an entire epoch (and are bearing witness to) the collapse of the US and world financial system," and with it America's empire.

On August 16, Paul Craig Roberts headlined...

On November 23, Washington Post writers Jon Cohen and Ashley Halsey III headlined, "Poll: Nearly two-thirds of Americans support full-body scanners," according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, even though "half of those polled say enhanced pat-down searches go too far."

A new Zogby (11/19 - 22) poll disagreed, saying:

At 61% opposed, "(i)t's clear (most) Americans are not happy with TSA and their enhanced security measures recently enacted. The airlines should not be happy with 48% of their frequent fliers seeking a different mode of transportation due to these enhancements."...

Hello, this is Robert Wagner, candidate for the Vermont Senate in 2012 for Addison County & Brandon, organiser for the Vermont Independence Center in Hancock, and a principal at Prosper Vermont, an organisation dedicated to fundamental tax reform and through that a recapturing of the huge revenue stream that flows from Vermont, which has made us a de facto colony. A sovereign state is the goal.

Just commented on the DUMP DC blog, on the risks inherent in family relocation so late in the game, with...

Abroad in the U.K. for a few days, I've had occasion to talk to many fellow travelers about the impending arrival of full body scanners in U.S. airports.

Plenty of debate, and more than one "Dear John (Airline)" letters like this one.

The more insidious story about the so-called "porno scanners" is beginning to be told, off the radar, by those willing to connect the dots. It involves, not surprisingly, what...

Editor's Note: I've received several emails and phone calls from fellow Vermonters wondering if I will be attending the lecture on "hate" by the Southern Poverty Law Center this coming Tuesday in Montpelier. The answer is, "No," as I have a previous musical engagement on the calendar. I am sure it will be an enlightening and productive evening of conversation.

Here's a link to Mitch Wertlieb's 7 plus minute Vermont Public Radio interview SPLC Intelligence Project director Mark Potok. Listening to Potok rightly make what seems like an obvious distinction between individuals and groups...

This story was posted in Truth to Power's Daily News Digest in May of this year. However, I am choosing to post the entire article here because of its powerful relevance in the lives of those who no longer live in denial of the current and future collapse of industrial civilization.--CB]

Reprinted from OF TWO MINDS

Knowing what lies ahead is a great emotional burden.

The knowledge that the present is unsustainable is, for many of us, a great emotional burden. It troubles our sleep, our minds, and our basic emotional well-being. Knowledge, like memory, cannot be erased at will, and thus it...