Richard Nadeau

Articles by Richard Nadeau

Rick has written 33 articles for the OB Rag!

‘Never Having To Apologize’: An Imperial Mentality

October 17, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

It must be nice going though life never feeling you have to apologize. I know people like this. They are always right. They are extremely narcissistic. They never do harm to others, are never insensitive, and therefore never have to apologize for their actions. They never have to say: “Sorry, I was wrong to do […]

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Georgia On My Mind

September 16, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

The song “Georgia On My Mind” has been one of my favorites for many years. I have several versions of the song on CD. But lately it has been another Georgia on the far eastern shores of the Black Sea that I have been worried about. She does not bring me peace of mind.The worry […]

The Dolphin Manifesto

September 15, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Note: This manifesto was found while walking on the cliffs of Ocean Beach in San Diego. We cetacean ocean dwellers are increasingly concerned about the never ending stream of toxic, bacterial, and nutrient contaminants that are spilling daily into every nook and cranny of our watery ecosystem. Although we like humans, and have sometimes gone […]

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The American Legitimacy Crisis

August 28, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Whoever wins this 2008 Presidential election will face dangerous and near insurmountable problems. The problems involve the very future and survival of humanity – nuclear weapons proliferation, festering wars and conflicts in international relations, global warming and climate change, a shaky capitalist economy, and a greatly overextended and tottering American Empire worried about controlling the […]

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More News From South Ossetia – Georgia – Russia

August 11, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

South Ossetians flee cellars for safety in Russia by Dmitry Solovyov / Reuters / August 11, 2008 JAVA, Georgia, Aug 11 (Reuters) – A safe haven in Russia was almost within sight for refugees from South Ossetia’s besieged capital on Monday as they waited in parched streets for buses to ferry them over the border. […]

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HIROSHIMA: Remembering The Bomb

August 6, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

I was almost a year old when the US dropped the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then I have read and watched numerous accounts of that historic event. It is difficult for me to explain my lingering concern about these events throughout my life. Yet, in the late 1980s I worked with Greenpeace […]

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America in 2008: Unequal and Less Free

July 30, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

It is impolite and bad manners to talk about “class” or “class politics” in American society. It is almost forbidden to mention the homeless. These topics do not make friends and influence people. Yet, the evidence shows that over the last 30 years, the rich have been getting richer, and the poor have become relatively […]

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Botox Nation: Applying The Cosmetic Fix

July 6, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

While Botox is derived from a bacteria that carries a low risk of botulism, many Americans spend millions every year injecting it to reduce wrinkles around the eyes with the hope that it will make them look younger and hide their years. In fact, the cosmetic fix permeates every nook and cranny of American society […]

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Obama Disappoints on Jerusalem and the Middle East

June 23, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

While it should be understood that Obama is a shrewd politician on the make and looking for votes, his recent statements on the Middle East indicate that he will represent less change than expected. While it is clear he is better than McCain on most domestic and foreign policy issues, it is also becoming clear […]

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Pro-empire Liberals and Pre-emptive Neo-Cons: The 2008 Presidential Election

June 13, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

For years it was impossible to even mention the phrase “American Empire” without being labeled a “left wing extremist,” a term that Bill O’Reilly now throws around to smear more cautious pro-empire liberals like Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama who speaks of the need for more diplomacy and a less aggressive and unilateralist foreign policy. […]

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A Walled Fortress: The Consequences of 9/11

May 29, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Scott McLelland’s latest book “What Happened” has revelations on how the Bush administration and a complicit corporate media manipulated the climate of fear in the US to justify the invasion of Iraq. It is undoubtedly true that the neocons in the Bush administration treated 9/11 as “a new Pearl Harbor,” as their blessing in disguise.While […]

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The Slavery of Immigrants in Florida

April 28, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

I just finished watching a CNN video (April 28, 2008) [see below] on the slave labor conditions of immigrants working in Florida. Investigators say migrant workers enslaved in Florida have every movement controlled, and that they are not allowed to leave the space provided by the employer when they are done working. In other words, […]

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Compassion: The First Casualty of War

April 26, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

It has often been said that “truth is the first casualty of war.” But there is another immediate casualty -compassion. In fact, compassion may even be the first casualty. Once the war machine has geared up, the propaganda disseminated, hatred of an enemy proclaimed, a culture of malice becomes a necessary ingredient. The enemy must […]

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What Ever Happened to The Notion of A Public Good?

April 16, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Recently, a long term public employee about to retire from the government told me: “I know from working on the inside that the effectiveness of Government is at its lowest level in my 30 years of service.” An American individualist who went into government in the name of “public service,” my acquaintance told me how […]

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A Pervasive Militarism Threatens American Democracy

April 4, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

April 4,2008 It is a beautiful day in Sacramento. The freedom of wild wings, the flight of birds, bees, and butterflies blends with many colorful budding flowers to lift my spirits. It is difficult for me to believe that the world we live in is so fraught with violence and disaster. If it weren’t for […]

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The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict (book review)

March 25, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Those who say “it is the economy” and “not the war” forget that the war has had a negative impact on the economy. When the US went to war in Iraq in March of 2003, the American people were told it was going to cost $50 billion. Just recently, the Bush administration has asked for […]

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Sacramento : Protests and Candlelight Vigils Mark Anniversary of Iraq Invasion

March 20, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

On March 19, the eve of the first day of Spring, I demonstrated with hundreds of other Sacramento citizens bearing witness to the 5th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq. In spite of a crippled economy, the horrible war of aggression goes on and on with no end in sight. People in every major […]

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Obama’s Blood and The Forbidden Truths

March 15, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

After hearing Rush Limbaugh’s hate speech stating he wanted to see Barack Obama “bloodied up politically,” I was not surprised to see a tidal wave of damaging anti-Obama news stories and allegations in the mainstream media. It was bad enough that he was being hit hard by noxious Clinton claims that he was “inexperienced,” or […]

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The Historic Importance of the 2008 Presidential Elections

March 11, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

There are some who say that American Presidential elections are not that important, that we progressives should not spend too much of our precious time on them. Nevertheless, Presidential elections are important because they are a part of the civic process of political legitimation and validation in America’s mass-mediated democratic society. American voters get to […]

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Obama and Clinton Go Down to The Wire

March 1, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Obama and Clinton are going down to the wire. Next Tuesday’s contests in Ohio and Texas could decide who is the Democratic nominee. If Clinton wins in Texas and Ohio, or even one of the two important states, it is likely she will stay in the race longer. The longer she stays, the more shrill […]

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Mainstream Media Critics Call For “Truth with Consequences”

February 20, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

The “Truth Emergency Movement” (http://www.truthemergency.us/ ) held its first national strategy summit in Santa Cruz, California Jan. 25-27, 2008. Over three hundred whistleblowers, investigative and citizen journalists, bloggers, and independent media providers braved stormy weather to discuss decentralized, critical, and alternative models for the creation and distribution of suppressed news.I drove from Sacramento and represented […]

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Reflections on Super Tornado Tuesday

February 7, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

As both the Clinton and Obama campaigns were placing their spin on the voting results of Super Tuesday, unusually strong EF-4 tornadoes were churning violently through southern states leaving over fifty people dead and hundreds of homes torn to shreds. Let’s hope that the destructive and extremely rare February storms were not an omen of […]

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The 2008 Elections and The Peace Movement

January 31, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

Recent surveys show that American voters have a critical view of how things are going in the country, and that they are confident that the next American President will have the power to change much of what is wrong. Voters begin this election year with a grim assessment of the status quo. Roughly three-fourths say […]

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A Plutonium Paradise? A Critique of Nuclear Power

January 19, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

I just can’t believe the cheerful propaganda coming from the nuclear power industry and its boosters. They are telling us now that nuclear power is a “clean and safe solution” to the crisis of global warming. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my view, we are being offered a glowing picture of a […]

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OBAMA AMAZES – More Reflections on 2008 Elections

January 10, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

John Kerry’s endorsement of Barack Obama for President must have shocked the Democratic Party establishment as much as it surprised me. Obama won in Iowa, and then came in a very close second, after pre-election polls had him running first. I listened to both Obama’s post election speeches, and frankly was amazed by his charismatic […]

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“The One Percent Doctrine” and the New Hampshire Presidential Debates

January 7, 2008 by Richard Nadeau

A sense of depression and hopelessness crept over me as I watched the CNN replay of Republican and Democratic debates at Saint Anselm’s College in Manchester, New Hampshire. I felt numb with despair at the conclusion, when I turned off my television. I made myself a cup of mint tea to settle my stomach, pet […]

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Impeach This Lawless President and Vice-President

December 21, 2007 by Richard Nadeau

In the spring of 2005, Wisconsin Democrats drafted a resolution calling for the impeachment of Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld for “high crimes and misdemeanors.” They were upset by the revelations in the “Downing Street memos” which indicated that the Bush administration “fixed” intelligence to justify the war with Iraq. The resolution charged the administration with […]

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History Always Has Surprises

December 13, 2007 by Richard Nadeau

December 12, 2007 The first meeting since Annapolis between Israel and Palestinian negotiators took place today. A report by the Jerusalem Post indicated that the parties had a “tense” meeting. The Palestinian Authority raised the issue of new settlements being built by Israel on Palestinian Territories. They made it clear that the new building and […]

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A War of Conquest: Iraq’s Voiceless Refugees and Invisible Corpses

November 29, 2007 by Richard Nadeau

Most Americans have no idea what their powerful and expensive military and armed Blackwater thugs have been doing in Iraq since the invasion of 2003. How could they? They are embedded in a corporately controlled imperial culture that insures that the public remains blind, deaf, dumb, and numb to the suffering caused by the 17 […]

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Thoughts out of Season

November 17, 2007 by Richard Nadeau

Published in the forthcoming November/December issue of “Because People Matter (BPM)” “Yet, the identity between the state and the people is itself a myth.” Are All Critics of Israel’s Policies Anti-Semitic? It’s difficult in the US today to write or say anything critical of Israel without being accused of being “anti- Semitic” or a “Jew […]

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