My Country ’tis of thee—Corporatocracy! Of Thee I Sing
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Friday January 22, 2010 I know, I know. I’ve seen the blogosphere screeching about the Death of Democracy now that the Supreme Court has rolled back restrictions on corporate donations to political campaigns. Whiners. Haven’t you all stopped for even a moment to think how this might benefit humanity? Sure, sure, we’re all aware of the downside, but would it kill us to think positive for a change? I mean, let’s face it: corporations have controlled the agenda since the Mayflower Compact (...)
read more, comments... Why Martha Lost
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Tuesday January 19, 2010 While US Democrats are shocked at the surprising vulnerablity of Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat—the Liberal Lion of the Senate—US observer Daniel Patrick Welch, who lives in and writes from Kennedy’s home state, is underwhelmed. Democrats have foolishly ceded the populist impulse to the right, and are now reaping what they have sown. Why Martha Lost by Daniel Patrick Welch I’m sick of waiting for the post-election analysis where bobbling heads pick over the bones (...)
read more, comments... The Recession is Over! (Now get off your lazy asses and spend some MONEY, dammit!)
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Sunday September 27, 2009 Daniel Patrick Welch, regaining his muse after an unfortunate hiatus, marvels at the audacity of the THC (Talking Heads Chorus), who tell us with a straight face that it’s our own damn fault if the fake "recovery" sputters—for not spending the money we don’t have! ******* These recessions are getting shorter and shorter. If you delay admitting it’s happening until the shit really hits the fan, then claim it’s all better while the shit is still spraying all (...)
read more, comments... The Thousands Yet Unborn: a farewell to Senator Edward Moore Kennedy
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Thursday August 27, 2009 It is with shock and dread, albeit much anticipated, that I awoke to hear of Ted Kennedy’s passing. My muse has been somewhat groggy since my mom’s passing this Spring, and I am juggling a range of emotions and a series of body blows from 2009. It seems that whoever is in charge of these things wanted to make certain that everyone who was anyone should be taken away from us this year. My wife tells me it’s my mom’s doing: A lady who loved a party, she could not bear (...)
read more, comments... A reason to Stay: Still Crazy After All These Years
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Saturday September 27, 2008 I came across this piece while shuffling through some old papers. I wrote it over 16 years ago, and it struck me how essential its central message still is today, perhaps even more so than when I put dot-matrix inkjet to side-perforated paper. My natural tendency as a writer was to try to fiddle with it, to "update" it and make it better. I’m resisting, mostly, except to say that one of my first thoughts was that we must be crazy to still be doing this 16 long years later, having (...)
read more, comments... All the Baggage, None of the Charm - Hillary isn’t Bill
By : Dan Welch - Sunday January 27, 2008 US observer Daniel Patrick Welch writes on the presidential campaign with all the dutiful enthusiasm of one covering a sports event in which the local team has been shut out. There’s no real debate, but as with every horse race, there’s always someone to bet on—or against. All the Baggage, None of the Charm She’s not Bill, and Bill’s not running—thank god By Daniel Patrick Welch I should start with full disclaimer: The only Democratic candidate I hold (...)
read more, comments... sing ’til the power of the lord comes down: songs add promise and meaning to
By : Dan Welch - Monday January 21, 2008 With Martin Luther King Day fresh in mind, US writer and teacher Daniel Patrick Welch explores the challenges, promise and pitfalls of exposing young minds to King’s unfulfilled dreams. Sing ’til the power of the Lord comes down Songs add promise and meaning to studying the civil rights era by Daniel Patrick Welch Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. If this is true, then the US is stuck in a sort of Groundhog Day time bounce, doomed forever to keep banging (...)
read more, comments... No Change for me: I want Bills. US Election Circus Awash in Cliches
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Monday January 7, 2008 by Daniel Patrick Welch In the runup to this year’s political circus, the buzzwords of hope and change are being bandied about like the cheap currency they are. Divested of any real meaning by their repetition and cynical misapplication, they quickly become the empty slogans that make "election" season all the more depressing. Newspeak, long the vernacular of a self-perpetuating media coroporatocracy, has rendered the worst year in Iraq into proof that "the surge is working." By (...)
read more, comments... Three Little Girls from School are We: Left’s unwarranted giddiness over election gains
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Tuesday November 21, 2006 by Daniel Patrick Welch Giddy as Mikado schoolgirls, Democrats and their allies on the left are positively gushing over their election gains of November 7. In the US’ two-party duopoly, voters are restricted to shifting power from one side to the other to voice their dissatisfaction with government. And, to be fair, voters did their part, kicking out congressmen, senators and governors from coast to coast. But hopes that this shift will lead to real changes in policy are, as (...)
read more, comments... The US left could learn from Mexico’s example
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Monday November 20, 2006 Andrés Manuel López Obrador for President (of the US!!) by Daniel Patrick Welch Synopsis: Every election cycle, the US antiwar left reconvinces itself that its best chance of advancing its agenda is to dive once again into an alliance with the Democratic Party. Poor Charlie Brown! Is Lucy going to yank the ball away again? No suspense here.... "The only game in town" is just one of the myriad cover stories used by the vestiges of the US left to justify continued support for the (...)
read more, comments... Denouncing Hugo Chavez. And other sports of the rich, infamous and just plain stupid
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Monday October 16, 2006 by Daniel Patrick Welch Nancy Pelosi apparently has so much time on her hands, and so few other issues to address, that she saw fit to unload on Hugo Chavez following his appearance before the U.N. in New York. Most readers are familiar by now with Chavez’ provocative swipes at "Devil" Bush and his comment that the titular head of U.S. empire had left the place reeking of sulfur from his earlier appearance. Is this run-of-the-mill Pablum of the Poor what angered Democratic (...)
read more, comments... Images of protest against Lebanon massacre
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Sunday August 6, 2006 by Daniel Patrick Welch These are some signs made for a local Lebanese solidarity event. The original inspiration came from an interview I heard with Tina Naccache from Lebanon, who mentioned that they had made pictures of bombs with US and Israeli flags on them for a protest in Beirut. It seemed right to the point, and I came up with these - I really wanted to drive home the central point of US complicity for an American audience, which I hope I’ve done passing well. The links (...)
read more, comments... Left all atwitter over Vice President’s itchy trigger finger
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Tuesday February 14, 2006 by Daniel Patrick Welch Of course, most of you already know I’ve never been the Vice President’s biggest fan. I’ve often confused him with Lon Cheney, and yes, I’ve had him in my sights before...er, so to speak. But I find it unconscionable that the left wing punditocracy is having such unearned fun over Cheney’s unfortunate hunting accident. I mean who is the victim here? The Vice President, who was deprived of the chance to become a marksman through proper (...)
read more, comments... Pants on Fire: the Liars of the Bush Administration will take the world down in flames if we let them
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Monday January 16, 2006 By Daniel Patrick Welch Sam Alito is merely the latest liar on the block for Bush’s full spectrum dominance agenda. But the show-trial hearings on whether this proto-fascist ideologue should be allowed to shape US social and political development for a generation provide some nuggets of insight into how the corrupt junta’s pathological liars actually work. The first order of amazement is that the process can actually take place. Shouldn’t precedence be given to hearings (...)
read more, comments... Nothing to Lose
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Sunday November 13, 2005 Not that the world beyond America’s shores could give two hoots about the U.S.’ internal squabbles anymore: after years of hoping for some inkling of resistance from the home front, the global community has likely had quite enough. But is there a stirring in the Belly of the Beast? Writer Daniel Patrick Welch, while skeptical, takes pleasure in the growing travails of the Bush cabal and hints that the heretofore neutered opposition may have grown some new appendages. By Daniel (...)
read more, comments... Try and catch the wind
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Friday October 14, 2005 by Daniel Patrick Welch Synopsis: Once again, an old song acts as muse for Daniel Patrick Welch. Repopularized by a current Volkswagen ad, the Donovan lyric tweaks Welch’s sense of the futility of resistance in the quagmire that is today’s American political landscape. From a personal perspective, the writer describes watching as all his European friends flee one by one, a sort of metaphor for the international rejection of the would-be Pax Americana. To understand fully the (...)
read more, comments... A patchwork of help—Greenhouse School’s unique approach to Katrina relief
By : Salem, MA - Tuesday September 20, 2005 by Daniel Patrick Welch The Hurricane Katrina disaster is bringing out an instinct to help from schools, churches and groups all over the world. However, students at The Greenhouse School are taking a unique approach to helping victims of Katrina—and one that is familiar at the same time. “We wanted to do something, like a lot of people, but we wanted it to be special and in line with how we work,” said Julia Nambalirwa-Lugudde, the school’s assistant director. (...)
read more, comments... Where Have all the Soldiers Gone?
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Wednesday September 7, 2005 "You know the year of 1900-that was 60 years ago/when death come howling on the ocean/death calls, you gotta go"—Tom Rush, Wasn’t it a Mighty Storm by Daniel Patrick Welch "Galveston had a seawall, just to keep the waters down. But the high tide from the ocean spread the water over the town." The worst hurricane in US history saw almost 6000 people drowned in Galveston, Texas a little over a century ago, in a human tragedy immortalized by Tom Rush’s mournful 1960 ballad. (...)
read more, comments... QUEEN OF HEARTS : The Nnabagereka Charms all with visit to Boston school
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Monday September 5, 2005 By Daniel Patrick Welch SALEM, U.S.A. ­ Four-year old Brandon Marrero awoke early and opened his eyes wide. “Is today Queen’s Day?” he asked his mom? The preschooler at the Greenhouse School in Salem, Massachusetts (north of Boston) had been excited for weeks, and the day had finally arrived. He and his schoolmates at the small alternative school on Boston’s north shore were going to see a real, live Queen. The Nnabagereka, Her Highness the Queen of Buganda, was to (...)
read more, comments... What our kids don’t know can hurt us: Why it matters to know about Africa and the rest of the world
By : Daniel Patrick Welch - Thursday August 25, 2005 By Daniel Patrick Welch It is well known that American kids traditionally score well below their foreign counterparts in geographic knowledge, and Africa seems to be perennially at the bottom of what they know. The reasons for this shameful lack of interest or insight are many and varied, especially given the US’ current position in the world, but a few problem areas are easy to explain. It is unlikely in any society, for example, that kids would outpace their teachers, parents, (...)
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