U.S. Chickens Come Home to Roost

Read my latest article on the wave of anti-American protests sweeping across the Middle East at Press TV.

Neoliberal Democrats Attack: Chicago Teachers Strike

Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

The unionized teachers in the nation’s third-largest school district went on strike Monday.  The call to strike from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) came after receiving the authorization of 98 percent of its members.

Al-Qaeda, the U.S., and the Syrian Crisis

Read my latest article, "Al-Qaeda, US, and Syrian Crisis," at Press TV.

Afghanistan and U.S. Delusions of Empire

Read my latest article on Afghanistan and its absence from the U.S. presidential campaign at Press TV.

Western Aggression Intensifies Across the Middle East

Read my latest article on intensifying Western aggression in the Middle East at Press TV.

Party Down: The 2012 Politics of Fantasy

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

Those who succeed in politics, as in most of the culture, are those who create the most convincing fantasies.

 

— Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion

With both tickets now set, the democratic farce that is the U.S. presidential election lumbers into its final act. And for a campaign already rife with all the petty trivialities and celebrity intrigues more suiting of a reality TV show, it is no surprise that both political parties intend on using their upcoming political conventions to furnish choreographed spectacles designed for little more than prime time viewing.

U.S. Internal Decay and External Aggression

Read my article, "Crises threaten to rot American Empire from inside," at Press TV.

Stoking the Syrian Inferno

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

The bloody U.S.-led proxy war in Syria, laying unimaginable waste to its cities and people, escalates daily.  For Washington, “all options” are now clearly in play in the quest for “regime change” in Damascus.

At the Precipice of War? U.S. Military Build-Up Accelerates in the Persian Gulf

CounterPunch/Dissident Voice/Global Research
by Ben Schreiner

The familiar menace of U.S. war drums have resumed at a fevered pitch, as Iran finds itself once again firmly within the Pentagon’s cross hairs.

Al-Qaeda in Syria: Pretext for Intervention

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner 

Twin blasts targeting government security buildings rocked the northern Syrian city of Idlib on Monday, killing at least nine and wounding a hundred more, according to Syrian state TV.  The attack followed a suicide bombing on Friday in the capital city of Damascus, which saw an additional nine killed. 

The Assorted Lies and Limits of Syria's Imperial 'Friends'

Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

Despite proclaiming support for the six-point Syrian peace initiative proposed by joint United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan, the N.A.T.O.-G.C.C. alliance continues its effort to unravel the plan at every turn.  And in doing so, the lies and ultimate limits of this imperial alliance become further unmasked.

Punishing Cuba 50 Years On: Caught in a Cold War Time Warp

Common Dreams/CounterPunch/Dissident Voice

by Ben Schreiner

With the media happily fixated on the sex scandal swirling around the U.S. Secret Service, the Sixth Summit of the Americas held in Cartagena, Colombia over the weekend was left to collapse with little notice.  The inability of the some 30 heads of American states to even issue a final declaration on Sunday derived primarily from the growing regional frustration with U.S. Cuban policy.

Foiling Peace: The Imperial 'Friends' of Syria

Dissident Voice/Global Research

by Ben Schreiner

As the proposed April 10 Syrian ceasefire goes up in smoke, so, too, does the hope for a Syrian-led political process to resolve the crisis.

Union Busting Bread? Anti-Union Firings Sweep Dave's Killer Bread

CounterPunch

by Ben Schreiner

If you live here in the Pacific Northwest, chances are that you’ve tried Dave’s Killer Bread, a popular brand of organic wholegrain breads.  The unique story behind the bread is also well known in these parts.  For printed on each bread bag is the personal saga of founder Dave Dahl.  And Dave, we learn from each loaf, is no less than a former con who after spending 15 years in the clink, transformed his life, returned to the family bread business, and was born again as the baker behind Dave’s Killer Bread.

Iran Stirring Violence on the Pages of the NYT

NYTimes eXaminer

by Ben Schreiner

As the speculation continues to mount over whether or not Israel will come to strike Iran, the purveyors of U.S. propaganda hurriedly work to churn out story upon story assessing the potential fallout.  Just imagine the sheer terror, the stenographers of the powerful repeat ad nauseum, that those crazed mullahs of Iran will unleash.