Seamus Heaney Dies.

The Irish Poet Seamus Heaney has passed away at 74 on August 29, 2013 in a Dublin hospital after a short illness. He was arguably the greatest contemporary Irish writer and English language poet. During his long career his work earned him countless awards and honors, including the Nobel Prize for Literature. Yet, he never lost sight of his muse--to express in poetry the full gamut of human emotion from heroic struggle to the monotony of day to day life. He made good poetry for everyone. His metric translation of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf re-invigorated the first piece of English literature and introduced it to a new generation. Heaney will be sorely missed. The link to Seamus Heaney's Obituary in The Guardian can be found here.

Dmitry Orlov "Seizing the Mid-Collapse Moment"

RT -- "The War on Iran Begins...in Syria."

By Gene Ogorodov

Earlier this week RT published at op-ed by Eric Draister on the immanent US et al. direct military intervention in Syria entitled "The War on Iran Begins...in Syria." Justifiably pessimistic, Draister exposes what will inevitably be called "humanitarian intervention" as imperialistic warmongering.  I hope that this does not turn into a much broader conflict, but I believe as Draister does that a US military strike in Syria could lead down a similar path with dire consequences. 

It is notable that what might be the most significant political action in the 21st Century has gone virtually unnoticed, obfuscated by a lack of coverage and impenetrable propaganda. The Pax Americana is over, and there is nothing that bullying Syria, Iran, or China will do to preserve it. Washington needs to recognize that fact and not waist the blood and treasure of the United States fighting for the impossible. Furthermore, the US has chronic and sever internal problems that need to be addressed. 

Matthew Simmons "The 51st State: Peak Oil Denial"

MLK's Dream 50 Years On

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most misunderstood public figures of the 20th Century. No one will deny that he was both a great man and a good man. He inspired an entire generations of Americans to re-examine the social contract and strive to make a better world for all people, and American propaganda tells us that he succeeded in laying the foundations of that better world that we now live in. 

I will not insult the memory of Dr. King by pretending that the United States has buried the specter of institutionalized racism. This country has turned Dr. King's dream into a nightmare. As for all Americans, life is worse for African-Americans today than it was in the 1970s. Token political enfranchisement and Affirmative Action favoring middle and upper class African-Americans matters very little in the face of abject poverty and permanent economic disenfranchisement for the vast majority of African-Americans. 

Pres. Obama does not epitomize the new found freedom of the African-American community; rather, he exemplifies the new spirit of the age where political leaders sell-out the constituents for cold hard cash. (Cf. A Liberal Voice on Pres. Obama.) Dr. King was for people not profit. When we see an America that cares more about people than the bottom line, then the United States will have begun to walk towards Dr. King's Dream.