Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan, known professionally as Piers Morgan, the 47 year old British journalist and television host working in the United States is the subject of a petition to the Obama Administration to deport him back to Great Britain for Attacking 2nd Amendment. In the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting Morgan criticised American gun laws when interviewing Larry Pratt on his gun control views, calling him a “stupid man” and “a dangerous man espousing dangerous nonsense” after Pratt argued that the best way to combat crime in the USA was to have more guns. The petition at this time has gathered 88,485 signatures, exceeding the 25,000 threshold which requires a response from the White House. Tommy Christopher in a Mediate article titled ‘Anti-Piers Morgan Petitioners Are A National Embarrassment’ states “This is why we can’t have nice things. A little over a year ago, the White House announced an innovative way for Americans to engage with their government by creating online petitions that the White House would have to respond to if enough signatures (25,000) were gathered. One consequence of the “We the People” program, however, is that a relatively small number of Americans now have the ability to shame the entire nation before the world, as is the case with the gun-loving morons… While obvious, it should be noted that Piers Morgan is “attacking” and “targeting” with speech, an activity that, if memory serves, is addressed somewhere in that Amendment-thingy. It might even be somewhere near that 2nd Amendment, I’ll have to check. That First Amendment also protects the right of these 82,000 people to be idiots in public, but that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be happy about it. What these petitioners have done is tell the world that when Americans don’t like your ideas, they try to get the government to silence you. It’s true that these people represent a mere fraction of a fraction of our population, but the petition amplifies their voices well beyond what they could ever have hoped for.”

Inspired by Tommy Christopher ow.ly/gpLjV image source Facebook ow.ly/gpLiT

For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience (February 19th)

Michael C Hudson the US Professor of Government and International Relations, and currently serving as the Director of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore, states “For an unforgettable ‘Groundhog Day’ experience, there is nothing better than a trip to Palestine and Israel.  We’ve experienced multiple revolutions over the past six decades in information technologies, social mores and political upheavals. The Soviet empire collapsed, democracy advanced around the globe, Asia began to rise and the West began to decline. It is all quite disorienting. But one thing remains constant: The Arab-Israeli conflict. It just grinds on and on. For those of us who have been studying it professionally, there is something oddly reassuring about that. For most others not directly involved, it has just become boring. Too bad, because, like a smoldering peat fire, the Palestine problem helps keep the entire Middle East on the boil… the US is out to lunch as far as this matter is concerned … the Obama administration appears resigned to “muddling through” even though its fecklessness feeds America’s many other problems across the region.”

Inspired by Michael Hudson http://ow.ly/7OEPm image source Georgetown Uni http://ow.ly/7OEF2

US military buildup to confront Iran (December 30th)

Avram Noam Chomsky the 83 year old US philosopher renowned for his critiques of US foreign policy has an article re-published on Aljazeera in which he discusses the US military buildup to confront the Iranian foreign policy crisis confronting the US. “The Obama administration has been rapidly expanding US offensive capacity in the African island of Diego Garcia … nuclear-powered guided-missile submarines with Tomahawk missiles, which can carry nuclear warheads. Each submarine is reported to have the striking power of a typical carrier battle group … the substantial military equipment Obama has dispatched includes 387 “bunker busters” used for blasting hardened underground structures … On taking office, Obama immediately accelerated the plans, and they are to be deployed several years ahead of schedule, aiming specifically at Iran… The increasing threats of military action against Iran are of course in violation of the UN Charter … call to all states to resolve disputes related to nuclear issues peacefully … which bans the use or threat of force.”

Inspired by Norm Chomsky http://ow.ly/89XaE image source Duncan Rawlinson http://ow.ly/89XeT

Philip J Crowley the 59 year old US Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs has resigned from his role in the Obama Administration following his controversial comments on the Pentagon’s mistreatment of its military prisoner U.S. soldier Bradley Manning, suspected of providing classified diplomatic cables to Wikileaks the whistleblower website. Crowley told an audience at MIT that while Manning was incarcerated in the right place, his mistreatment while in custody was ridiculous stupid and counter-productive. Crowley in his letter of resignation stated that while the “unauthorized disclosure of classified information is a serious crime under U.S. law … exercise of power in today’s challenging times and relentless media environment must be prudent and consistent with our laws and values.”

Inspired by Ed Pilkington ow.ly/4ftZG image source National Post ow.ly/4hWQC