Salem-News.com Op Ed articles

Who`s Really Behind Child Trafficking? Big Money and the Cartels

Cartels have moved into the human-smuggling business, imprisoning would-be border crossers, charging high rates, or requiring border crossers to act as drug mules or prostitutes.

(NANAIMO, Vancouver Island) - Crime pays: that's why it continues. And nothing pays as well as selling human beings, especially children.

Child trafficking isn't just some sick illness: it's a global, profitable business. And this simple fact is too often overlooked by the scramble to blame evil individuals, whether "Lizard-like Royals" or child-raping priests and popes, for the systematic slaughter of vast numbers of innocents.

The Great American Class War: Plutocracy Versus Democracy

The historian Plutarch warned us long ago of what happens when there is no brake on the power of great wealth to subvert the electorate.

(WASHINGTON, D.C. ) - I met Supreme Court Justice William Brennan in 1987 when I was creating a series for public television called In Search of the Constitution, celebrating the bicentennial of our founding document.

By then, he had served on the court longer than any of his colleagues and had written close to 500 majority opinions, many of them addressing fundamental questions of equality, voting rights, school segregation and — in New York Times v. Sullivan in particular — the defense of a free press.

U.S. Senators: How to End the NSA Dragnet (Op-Ed)

Reforms would erect safeguards against the further erosion of our right to privacy, and ensure greater transparency and openness.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - One year ago this month, Americans learned that their government was engaged in secret dragnet surveillance, which contradicted years of assurances to the contrary from senior government officials and intelligence leaders.

On this anniversary, it is more important than ever to let Congress and the administration know that Americans will reject half-measures that could still allow the government to collect millions of Americans' records without any individual suspicion or evidence of wrongdoing.

Capitalism, The Most Efficient Economic System, But Not an End in Itself

It is the growing spiritual vacuum in our society which should be the focus of our attention as we proceed into the 21st century

(WASHINGTON DC) - Capitalism, it should now be clear, is the most efficient form of economic organization.

Materialism: Devouring our Dignity

“Those who hoard gold and silver, and do not spend it in the way of Allah, inform them of a painful punishment.” (Surah Al-Tawbah 9:34)

(DENVER) - “As long as one is shackled to materialism, one can never attain dignity in life,” stated Hojatul Islam Ibrahim Kazerooni during his Muharram lectures.

Sex, Ayn Rand and the Republican Party (Updated Oct 13, 2012)

"Some people are moulded by their admirations, others by their hostilities." (Irish novelist Elizabeth Bowen)

(CALGARY, Alberta) - Although she died in 1982, Ayn Rand and her acolytes, like the living dead, keep rising from the ground to walk the streets.

The Emperor Has No Clothes

How would you like to live under someone's boot?

(MANAMA, Bahrain) - That's not a reference to a brute for a husband or a bitch for a bride. It's a question motivated by the behaviour of the mindless louts who enjoy holding sacrificial lambs as hostages and killing those who complain.

Are you a Good American?

Apparently there is not one of the 535 members with a spine, for if there were, impeachment charges would have brought.

(JAMESTOWN, RI) - Are you a good American?

If you are content with the fact that the President of the US can, at his discretion, have US citizens assassinated with no charges, no trial, and with the President serving as judge, jury, and executioner, you are not a good citizen. You do not deserve your citizenship.

Occupy Wall Street User Manual--Part 1

Knowledge is power.

(Calgary, Alberta) - In the 19th century, history was largely explained by The Great Man Theory , the paradigm that history was made and driven by extraordinary individuals who, through either charisma, intelligence, wisdom, or Machiavellian skills, expressed their power in a way that had a decisive impact on the flow of history.

Herbert Spencer, the 19th century Father of Sociology, rejected this idea, saying that such “great” men are really the products of their social milieu, and that their actions would be impossible outside their social environment.

Open, Honest, Democratic Dialog
Most Essential, Basic Tool For Effective Policy

Politically Driven GOPster/Bloody Perversions Derailing System

(SEASIDE, Ore.) - Despite their unavoidable competition, our Founders assured themselves of the essentials for any conscientious agreement on the complex issues of human relations and governing policies.