J: A Short Story (Review and Sample)

Gene Ogorodov

Pettis-Lovell Independent Publishers Ltd. the parent company of Pine Flag Books has recently published a short story by a promising new author. D.E. Roberts' "J: A Short Story" is a subtle reexamination of what it means to be religious. Far too often contemporary people assume that religion by its very nature is consciously irrational. For most of the history of religion the assumption has always been the reverse.

Putting aside the execution of Socrates and the forced recantation of Galileo, the finer nuances of the phenomenology of western religion have developed to make religion more consistent with common perceptions of reality rather than in opposition. Simplistic religion was the domain of simple uneducated people, not the power brokers and intelligentsia of a civilization.

Bill Moyers Retires.

By Gene Ogorodov

Moyers and Co. recently released a statement by Bill Moyers saying that he would be leaving journalism. After decades of being the leading voice in Public Broadcasting for the common man, he leaves a void that will never again be filled by one person. 

Honesty, decency, and journalistic integrity have defined his career in an era where journalism has become increasingly about ratings and careerism. He was a kind soft voice that created the similitude of a personal report through the television screen who never shied away from asking the tough questions. 

People like Bill Moyers give us hope that through hard work we can live in a better world, a more just world, a world with a sense of humanity and common decency. Bill, you will be sorely missed.

NPR on Ferguson

By Gene Ogorodov

NPR recently had a piece questioning whether the militarization of police in the United States is the byproduct of military gear that has adorned forces around this country. They asked, appropriately, if a militaristic mentality encouraged the acquisition of military gear rather than the more commonly assumed reverse. 

However, they ignored the important question of cui bono? Answering that question goes beyond the chicken and the egg and get to the heart of the corruption on our system of policing. The answer to that is self evident--military contractors, the lobbyists they hire to keep the their profits in the stratosphere, and the politicians they have bought. 

An Open Letter to the Market Basket Empoyees on Strike.

To The Market Basket Workers:

For too long the American worker has been enslaved to the wealth of others. The unbridled greed and indifference to humanity of a microscopically small minority has forced billions of people world wide into desperate conditions of wage slavery, and they are doing the same thing in the United States. The high standard of living that we as Americans once enjoyed has been under concerted attack for the past forty years by an unscrupulous tyranny. Without reaping the benefits of the profit motive the worker's time and labor is ground into the dust by the jackboot of cutting costs.

An Open Letter to Ralph Nader on Climate Change.

Dear Mr. Nader:

I recently listened to the March 12, 2014 interview that you gave with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, and I am very concerned with the way you plan to ween the United States off fossil fuels. Although I agree that the earth has reached a crisis point because of human pollution and drastic steps must be taken to save our planet and the human race, cutting American access to carbon based and nuclear energy, without transforming American life to be less dependent on energy, will have devastating repercussions which will undoubtedly plague this continent for centuries to come.

Not One More: Some Facts and Figures about Gun Violence

By Brandon Luper

All the reader will get by reading this short article are some facts and figures about gun violence in the United States. My hope is that, having crammed all these calculations and statistics into her brain, the reader’s picture of what America’s gun culture is really like will go from snowy screen analog to crisp, digital high definition.

 If the reader is up for such a journey, let’s get started. During the 2013-2014 school year, there were 47 school shootings in the United States.  That’s one every four school days. 31 people have been killed in these shootings, many more injured. And, despite Eliot Rodgers’ misogynistic rampage at University of California Santa Barbara on May 23, it should be noted that this is a down year.

How Did We Get Here?

By Gene Ogorodov

Recent events have forced The Boston Pine Flag to focus more on Ukraine than would seem justifiable in comparison to the lack of commentary on the other major events of the few years. The civil unrest and nascent civil war in Ukraine qua war hardly compares with the human suffering produced by the Syrian Civil War. The underhanded machinations and state backed terrorism of the United States directed at Iran coupled with its flagrant mendacity about its actions make the shameless actions towards Ukraine and Russia seem legal and honest. However, one should not compare and contrast these three political stages as different crimes of the Evil Empire. They are part of the same objective--to destroy the resurgent power of the Russian Federation before China is prepared to compete for thalassocracy in the Pacific.

A Left-Wing Hero Speaks.

By Gene Ogorodov

Chris Hedges has finally written on the ramification of the Roberts Court's refusal to hear Hedges v. Obama, his lawsuit challenging the NDAA. His Op-Ed entitled "The Post-Constitutional Era" can be found at Truthdig.com. This article lives up to Hedges reputation as a writer and an activist. It is one of the finest critiques of Corporatistic Totalitarian Era that our country has entered that I have ever read. All Americans (and anyone interested in the United States) should read this essay. Read this essay for yourselves, share it among friends and family, but most importantly make sure the truth in this article is know in every community in the United States of America. Ubiquitous access to accurate information is essential.

Washington's Ukraine

By Gene Ogorodov

At this moment Pro-Russian Paramilitary Forces have massed in American State of Nevada. This might come as a shock to most Americans including the several hundred armed militia members at the Bundy Ranch to whom I am referring. Most of them would probably be insulted by an insinuation that they are in the pay of a "Communist" country like the Russian Federation, which there is no evidence to support. However, the fact remains that they and the Kremlin share a common interest in a weaker American Government.

Heaven is for Real 2014: A Review

By Gene Ogorodov

When I watched the movie Heaven is for Real my expectations were low. The overtly predatory nature of American religion, especially Evangelical Protestantism, suggested that this film existed for the sole purpose of manipulation and extortion. Yet, even with already jaded perspective Heaven is for Real stooped below my lowest expectations.

Silly, sappy, and dishonest are adjectives which come far to readily to mind when describing this film. The genre of Evangelical testimonial which forms the basic structure of the plot discredits the validity of the story out of hand. Cherry picking past events to construct a plausible support for supernatural intervention is the complete opposite of an unbiased and objective history. Also, using the biased overly spiritualized formulations of the average Testimony a less than creative writer could make Joseph Stalin appear to be one of the most pious Evangelicals of the Twentieth Century. What could possibly be a more radial spiritual transformation than going from a gangster to founding a State Church?

In Defense of RT

By Gene Ogorodov

Several days ago Secretary of State John Kerry lashed out against the quality reporting found at RT.  I do not work for RT. (The turkeys wouldn't give me a job; I'm too much of Marxist-Leninist for their tastes.) However, let me set the record strait. 

In researching current events one cannot depend solely upon one news outlet. One needs to read reports from the area in interest. For example, if one wants to know what the people of Crimea think you need read Crimean news. If there is a clear impetus for partisan bias it is necessary to read both sides and try to piece together an objective opinion. I'm a news junkie, and I have done due diligence on the Crisis in the Ukraine, and RT is the only major news source that I have found to represent the opinions of the Ukrainian and Crimean people and accurately represent the facts on the ground. 

The Harmony of History.

By Gene Ogorodov

For the next several weeks The Boston Pine Flag shall be showing the BBC miniseries Fall of Eagles. You might ask--what does this have to do with politics and current events? Plenty. A century ago the world was plunged into a suicidal war that wiped away a thousand years from the map of Europe and killed untold millions of people--mostly working men. What sirens song lured the crowned heads of Europe into that mass lunacy? Super Profits. Today our leading madmen have been beguiled by the same illusive prise into measure their swords and threatening to drag the whole world into a Thermonuclear war. The names of most of our countries and the titles of their rules changed during the 20th Century, but the insatiable, predatory appetite of the bourgeoisie has not abated at all. We cannot understand our own era without understanding how the ruling class played its part in the past. Furthermore, the struggle of the working class a century ago is the struggle of the working class today. Their lessons should be our lessons, and we can hope that as the storm clouds gather, as they did a century ago, a new dawn for the Revolution is not far behind. 

И вновь продолжается бой. (The battle continues.)

Some Thoughts on Russia's Annexation of Crimea.

By Gene Ogorodov

The incorporation of the Autonomous Region of Crimea into the Russian Federation is a flagrant violation of the Budapest Memorandum, which ensured the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. Since this action by the Kremlin contravenes international law it is a justification for war between US and Russia. The danger to the entire globe of such a course cannot be over stated. I soundly condemn the behavior of the Russian Federation.

A Theological Analysis of Ken Ham

By Gene Ogorodov

Early in February the Creation Museum hosted a debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham. Both of these people are notorious for their outspoken support for their own world view. Ken Ham has been the world's leading proponent of Intelligent Design for several decades, and in 2013 Nye sparked a firestorm among Christians in the US when he (rightly) compared Creationism to Astrology. Although falling far short of the sensationalism of either the Scope's Trial, or even Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover, once again America has demonstrated the indefatigably of bad ideas, with overwhelming popular appeal. Spontaneous creation of earth and all its "kinds" six to ten thousand years ago should have died in the mid 1850's, but alas one and half centuries later the proliferation of this stupidity, like our universe, is expanding ever faster.

The Unforgiveable Sin.

By Gene Ogorodov

In the past couple of weeks the Western media has committed the unforgivable sin of likening the Russian Federation to the Third Reich. With regards to Russia, political punditry has left the realm of reasonable biased apologetics, and entered the turbulent seas of pure emotive manipulation usually reserved for dictatorial right-wing nut jobs on Fox News. 

This accusation may seem hypocritical since here on The Boston Pine Flag we have frequently labeled Western Governments as Fascist, but we have an excuse--by any reasonable definition they are. Vladimir Putin is not Adolf Hitler and United Russia is certainly not the National Socialist Party. Furthermore, the Russian Federation is much more scrupulous about international treaties than Nazi Germany ever was.

An Open Letter to Democarcy Now!

The following letter was sent to Democracy Now! during the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution.

Dear Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez:

The current social unrest in the Ukraine is disadvantageous to both the Europeans and the Russians. Even though Yanukovych won in 2010 on a pro-Russian ticket, since 2011 he had been making clear and orderly steps to implement the Ukraine-European Union Association Agreement. Considering that Germany gets most of its oil and natural gas from Russia through Ukraine and Putin has had little fear in the past of stopping the flow when Ukraine has become openly hostile to Russia, both Germany and Russia had a vested interest in maintaining the former status quo. If Germany faces an energy crisis, its economy will go into recession and bring the EU down with it.

Quid Pro Quo in Ukraine

By Gene Ogorodov

After the dramatic failure of US policy in Syria this fall, due, primarily, to the diplomatic work of Pres. Vladimir Putin, it was obvious that America would look for a way to strike back at the Russian Federation. Then, as if on cue, this winter saw Kiev erupt in violent protest against the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, which ended on February 22 with a coup ousting the elected government in favor of a pro-American provisional government.

My House Shall be a House of Prayer

By Gene Ogorodov

As much as it may surprise many of our readers, I have friends who live in the US South. This morning one of them shared a news flash about a Southern Baptist Church that resides in her town. This church has been constructing a gaudy monstrosity to house a new gymnasium for the past several months. The inclement weather that has characterized this January and February in the South has forced the contractors to get behind schedule. In response to the delay the Baptist Church has been paying the workmen to work overtime during the evenings and weekends. Saturday and Sunday have now become part of the workweek.

The Mickey Mouse Revolution

By Gene Ogorodov

This morning as I was browsing through the news on Truth Dig I was struck by the proliferation of articles on faux news casts from the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Is this news? Is the sum total of reformist activity in the US comedians cracking jokes? It is a common hobby-horse among liberals to berate the mainstream media as being less than worthless, but I will add that if this what alternative media looks like then it too is a pathetic joke. People like Chris Hedges and Amy Goodman cant about changing the system, but, although I admire there work, I am forced to wonder how serious they really are in the face of this non-journalism. The United States is dying, and the liberally minded American public deserves accurate and in-depth information about the state of the country. 

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

from The Boston Pine Flag

and 

the 101st Post

After an exciting first year of providing a voice for unsung issues, liberal commentary, and inflammatory op-eds The Boston Pine Flag has gone beyond 100 posts. Our small but loyal audience has supported us reaching this landmark and for that we thank you our reader. We look forward to bringing you more documentaries, lectures, and frank critique of American policy in the new year.