Thinking Outside the Box

[A comment that I made at NPR's website on April 29, 2010, right after hearing the interview...] I listened with interest this afternoon as NPR interviewed the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, on the heels of his grueling testimony before Congress yesterday. It was a rare opportunity to put some tough, direct questions to the head of the corporation that is more responsible than any other for causing the current US recession (not to mention their underhanded dealings on the international scene; they are behind Greece's current difficulties as well). Not surprisingly, the NPR reporter was not up to the task, and let this duplicitous scoundrel off with a mere rap of his knuckles. The main point that Mr Blankfein tried to use to defend his company is that they are constantly financing US business and government activities that help build and maintain our economy; that is only partially true, and hides an ugly truth. The glaring reality is that over 70 percent of Goldman Sach

[This is a comment I had to make on the NPR website on April 6, 2010 after hearing their lame and sycophantic coverage of a brutal assault by US forces against innocent Iraqi civilians. The story is based on a video leaked to WikiLeaks, which has posed it on collateralmurder.com ] Dear NPR, I listened to your report on this leaked video after hearing it earlier this morning on Democracy Now with Amy Goodman; the difference in the two reports was striking. Ms Goodman's presentation was much more open, revealing and truthful (with abundant live clips of conversation exchange between the gunship and commanders on the ground), including an interview with a London Times reporter in Kabul who just published a very similar story that recently occurred in Afghanistan. In contrast, NPR's coverage appeared insipid, hesitant and utterly sympathetic to the US military. After hearing the riviting account on Democracy Now, there is no doubt in my mind that the daily war in Iraq and Afghani