Mickey Z.

Simple Steps Towards Change?

Mickey Z. — 2008-06-30T14:20:00Z

Whenever I write an article or give a talk about the state of global affairs, the first question asked is this: "So, what can/should we do?" My inevitably stammering reply involves a combination of three factors:

*What we've been doing all along is obviously not working

*We need new ideas, new tactics, and a far greater commitment from everyone

*I can't say more because it could be (purposely) misconstrued and that just don't fly in the land of the free (sic). (...)

- Cool Observer

Progressives for Pinochet

Mickey Z. — 2008-04-17T08:35:00Z

All American progressives should unite for Augusto Pinochet. Sure, I know so many of you incredibly busy with the urgent task of pretending that a certain multi-racial motivational speaker is Frederick Douglass reincarnated...but, trust me, Augusto Pinochet (a.k.a. "A-Pin") is the real deal. (...)

- Cool Observer

Progressives (and Z Net) for Obama?

Mickey Z. — 2008-04-17T08:30:00Z

Barack Obama is part of the problem. Anyone who votes for Barack Obama is part of the problem.

- Cool Observer

All You Need is Hate

Mickey Z. — 2008-04-17T08:25:00Z

Why do we show any mercy when discussing the villains who knowingly pollute, exploit, wage war, steal, and treat all living things as if they were expendable?

- Cool Observer

No occupation without representation (and other electoral musings)

Mickey Z. — 2008-04-17T08:20:00Z

If America wants to dominate the globe in the name of spreading democracy (sic), how about giving some love to the subjugated? For example, let's extend the ballot to the citizens of occupied Iraq. Their daily lives are inescapably intertwined with US foreign policy so what better way to teach them about democratic values than to give them a say as to which millionaire is the next figurehead of empire? As Rosemarie “RMJ” Jackowski sez: “No occupation without representation.” (Why am I positive that such a plan would result in a landslide for Obama's pastor?) (...)

- Cool Observer

Can we be anti-war but pro-troops?

Mickey Z. — 2008-04-17T08:18:00Z

Don't support the troops…inform them.

- Cool Observer

Obama, McCain, March 19…yawn

Mickey Z. — 2008-02-29T23:35:00Z

Will we ever disrupt our comfortable lives and dedicate ourselves to stopping—by any means necessary—global warming, US military interventionism, economic exploitation, factory farming, environmental devastation, etc. or will we continue defending “our way of life”? (...)

- Cool Observer

Change We Can Recycle: A Presidential Campaign Quiz

Mickey Z. — 2008-02-29T23:34:23Z

The next time someone tells you America has a two-party system, I suggest you demand a recount.

- Cool Observer

America's top exports: Grief, sorrow, and loss

Mickey Z. — 2008-02-04T12:21:00Z

"When you own a big chunk of the bloody Third World...the babies just come with the scenery."

- Cool Observer

Lab rats, corporate science, and the monsters we've all become

Mickey Z. — 2008-02-04T12:20:00Z

"Atrocities are no less atrocities when they occur in laboratories and are called medical research."

- G. Bernard Shaw

The January 24 Associated Press (AP) story was unashamedly entitled, "Lab rats out of a job." (It made me think if AP writer Michael Hill had covered the liberation of Auschwitz, he'd have declared Europe's Jews to suddenly be "homeless.") In the piece, Hill talks of possible "high-tech alternatives" to animal experimentation. Before you view this as a major scientific and moral step forward, allow me to present Hill's closing salvo: "Taylor Bennett, senior science adviser to the National Association for Biomedical Researchers, said animal testing maintains an essential role in making sure new pharmaceutical products are safe and effective for humans." (...)

- Cool Observer

For-Profit Health Care: More than one way to scan a CAT

Mickey Z. — 2008-01-31T15:10:00Z

"The truth is that doctors may get their nutrition information from the same newspapers and TV programs we do."

- Cool Observer

The Truth about Immigration

Mickey Z. — 2008-01-31T09:43:00Z

Scream it from the mountaintops (or at least on your blog): Immigrants are destroying any and all hope of for planetary survival. Illegal aliens are Public Enemy #1. Foreigners are terrorists.

- Cool Observer

No Voice Unheard: An interview with animal rights activist Diane Leigh

Mickey Z. — 2007-11-26T08:56:00Z

Diane Leigh is the co-author of the book One at a Time: A Week in an American Animal Shelter, a book Derrick Jensen says, "Reveals both the tragedy of our relationships with nonhumans and the triumphs that these relationships can be." She is also co-founder of the non-profit organization No Voice Unheard (NVU), which is "dedicated to promoting compassion and respect for all living beings and the planet we share." That mission has led to NVU publishing "beautiful and creative books that give animals a unique voice." (...)

- Cool Observer

Awareness is overrated

Mickey Z. — 2007-11-14T19:07:00Z

When exactly does all this goddamned awareness translate into productive action and tangible change?

"Analysis brings no curative powers in its train; it merely makes us conscious of the existence of an evil, which, oddly enough, is consciousness."

Henry Miller

Everywhere I hear about the need to raise "awareness." So much so, that awareness and consciousness appear to have become the goals: ends in and of themselves. If only we were conscious of "what's going in Darfur" or aware of how "prevalent cancer has become" or whatever else we need to recognize, it seems most folks would be mighty satisfied. (...)

- Cool Observer

Mickey Z. to the "Rescue" in 2008

Mickey Z. — 2007-09-07T07:06:36Z

"We're all gonna rock to the rules that I make/I wanna be elected"

—Alice Cooper, "Elected"

Every four years, we get Coke vs. Pepsi. McDonald's vs. Burger King. MasterCard vs. Visa. Letterman vs. Leno. Let me put it another way: As long as the pilot has the controls, it matters not if you sit on the right side of the plane or the left side of the plane. So, the next time someone tells you America has a two-party system, I suggest you demand a recount. (...)

- Cool Observer