I love the new show. I have been a big fan of Chris since I moved to Boston area in 97 and first heard “The Connection”. Being able to listen on my iPOD has been a life saver, since I missed the show because of work.

Last night on Discovery Times, There was a documentary by Thomas J Friedman, “Does Europe Hate Us?” However, this is something I have been thinking about since I lived in the UK when I was in the military in the early 90′s. I am currently doing business in Africa and spend as much time as possible in Europe.

I think that this could fuel a series of shows on Open Source. There are so many points at which the “US as a dominate power” is under serious decline. This show pointed at the legislation being passed in the EU that is putting pressure on US companies and the rest of the world. It goes much further. The world has become very tired of the USA being the ten ton gorilla that demands to have things its way.

At the same time, the USA needs to start to consider the status quo. For instance, the US has been footing the bill in the UN and in NATO, During the Cold War, the US had a lot of leverage, so that “expenditure” had many non-monetary benefits… However, as this trend of “rebellion” against the US grows, we need to start to revaluate our commitment to others.

This is a very fine balance that needs to be achieved. Unfortunately, there is no clear way to determine what is right or wrong or good or bad or …..

On another side, there is a huge problem that most Americans do not have any understanding about the true dynamics that exist in the world. I firmly believe that most Americans have such a false sense of security and complacency about the future, that is very dangerous.

The other key issue that plays in to this is the serious impact that the War on Terrorism, US double standard on many issues (Trade, Israel, Nuclear non-proliferation, humanitarian aid, human rigths, etc) that are severely undermining the respect and influence of that the USA really has around the world. All of these issues, are creating a complex web that needs to be mapped out in order for us to really undstand how the future of the USA will look.

Sincerely, Gohikesomething

This is not a local story:

This morning’s zinger via Georgia10 of DailyKos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/3/26/213412/778

BOSTON –Citing increased concerns about the quality of drugs entering the United States from Canada, federal authorities have stepped up seizures of the prescriptions and sent strongly worded legal warnings to consumers, including some in Massachusetts, who have ordered the discounted drugs. [...]

The government crackdown marks a shift in policy for the Bush administration, which has rarely acted against individuals who buy drugs from Canada, reports The Boston Sunday Globe.

The stricter enforcement policy began Nov. 17, and applies only to mail-order shipments, not to U.S. citizens who cross into Canada to pick up their drugs, Hollinger said.

Salem-resident Nancy Popkin was among the consumers who recently received a letter. She has been ordering the osteoporosis treatment Fosamax from Canadian pharmacies for years and said she was surprised when she received a form letter in the mail from the Department of Homeland Security rather than her usual shipment of 12 tablets. The letter said her medication had been seized because “virtually all” drugs imported by individuals into the United States are unapproved for consumption here or are dispensed without a valid prescription.

read the rest here: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/03/26/feds_crack_down_on_imported_prescriptions/

Also see: Sen. Nelson seeks probe of Canadian drug seizures

Daytona Beach News-Journal

February 26, 2006

The lifeline for Donald Health and his wife — mail-order heart medications from Canada — has been cut off for more than a month, and Florida’s U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson thinks it could be the Bush administration playing politics with people’s health.

At the storefront where Heath, 76, a DeBary resident, orders his prescription medicines from Canada, he’s been told that his is one of a number of orders delayed. He said workers there told him it’s part of a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol crackdown designed to convince seniors to abandon north-of- the-border drug deals and sign up for Medicare’s prescription plan.

Read the rest here: http://www.nelsonforsenate.com/newsroom/mediaclips/?id=13

Qutb was extremely critical of the racism he witnessed in the United States, as well as the openness between the sexes in American society (he was aghast at activities such as the then-popular “sock hop”). Qutb objected to what he viewed as the primitiveness in America. He noted with disgust how some Americans had little respect for the dead, and how youth flirted and danced at church gatherings. Qutb also found American society superficial and centered around material goods. In an article published in Egypt after his travels, Qutb concluded that major aspects of American life were “primitive” and shocking. His experiences in the U.S. partly formed the impetus for his rejection of Western values and his move towards radicalism upon returning to Egypt. From 1948 to 1950 he went to the United States on a scholarship to study the educational system, receiving a master’s degree from the Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado).’

Would it be possible to track down people who knew him back then, and interview them?

Now many citizen groups are fighting against relocation plans, that will exand base development in some areas. Residents of the Japanese city of Iwakuni voted overwhelmingly against the expansion of a local US military base, though the national government said it will not recognize the results of the vote.

In a 1999 poll, 63% of Japanese surveyed said they wanted to reduce US bases.

This begs the question, is it time for the US to grant Japan its feedom?

Here is a good back-grounder on the issue.

http://www.jca.apc.org/wsf_support/2004doc/WSFJapUSBaseRepoFinalAll.html

Here is some recent news on the the anti-U.S. military base movement

http://www.japan-press.co.jp/2469/anti-base%20struggle.html

One possible contact would be Pau Arenson, who leads the tokyo progressive website. He could probably put you in touch with an appropriate guest.

paul@tokyoprogressive.org

http://www.tokyoprogressive.org/

Another contact:

Scott Marshall

mailto:scott@rednet.org

He wrote a piece for the People’s Weekly World

U.S. military bases cast shadow across Japan

http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/4890/1/142/

A PLAN is commonly understood as a set of steps to get from point A to point B. We can assume that point A is our current situation. If I accept that a set of steps has been determined to lead us from here to “victory.” Although I would be very interested to find out just what those steps might be, I understand that letting us all in on the details could complicate matters. The question I find MYSELF much more interested in is the definition of point B.

What are we AIMING toward? What would victory in Iraq LOOK LIKE??

http://www.danah.org/papers/FriendsterMySpaceEssay.html

It would be great to discuss the landscape and direction of such sites, as well as their impact on culture and the like.

For anyone who wants to get to get a powerful and complete insight as to the future and what is moving us enevitably to it, please read, The Ravings of a Lunatic, by Adam Whitestone. It can be found at Amazon or ravings.biz. It primarily looks at the convergence coming with the Christian religion and the scientific community. The old text of the Bible refers to Satan; the scientific community calls the same thing, Carbon. Whitestone shows, point by point, that they are are same intity. Many people believe that they are too sophisitocated to read such a thing, or they are not sufficiently educated to be able to understand that everything in the book represents is current thought in the disciplines of chemistry, geologic history, Biblical knowledge, physics, and political history. I have found everything to be factual as far as is known.

This book is far ahead of its time and needs to be read widely and discussed, understood. It is hair raising, gooose-bump producing, but ultimately is wonderfully uplifting in its spiritual impact.

Thanks for your great program,

Timothy K. Price