Pacific Free Press was launched in March 2007 by Dutch-Canadian Richard
Kastelein of V.O.F. Expathos, in the Netherlands along with Chris Cook- CFUV radio journalist and Editor in Chief of Pacific Free Press. Cook is based in , Victoria, British Columbia.
The site is a sister to Atlantic Free Press and Brick Ogden an American Expatriate in Amsterdam has been a key supporter of this project.
The mission of Pacific Free Press is simple: to dig out nuggets of truth from
the slag-heap of lies, ignorance and witless diversion that has buried
public discourse today. Pacific Free Press provides a new venue for
disseminating hard news and insightful, fact-based analysis of the
harsh realities too often ignored or distorted by the mainstream press.
There's a disturbing dynamic that occurs on every Manhattan street corner,
every minute of every day. By simply watching the typical New York City
pedestrian when he or she reaches the corner at a red light, you get a
pretty good idea of what it's like to deal with an overcrowded, rancorous
metropolitan area on a daily basis: No one waits on the sidewalk.
Even if a thousand cars are racing by, practically every single New Yorker
insists on stepping a few steps out into the street while waiting for the
light to change. They'll even go as far as squeezing themselves past other
impatient street-crossers just to get to the front of the pack. We are so
hyped up, so overstressed, so programmed to do everything fast that we can't
even endure waiting 30 seconds for a damn traffic light. We'll risk death by
stepping off the curb in order to get a head start on the green light.
With this in mind, here's a little thought experiment: Let's say I'm on such
a corner as a pedestrian pushes past me-too harried to realize that she is
stepping directly into the path of an oncoming SUV. I reach out, grab hold
of her jacket, and yank her back to safety...only to realize it was none
other than Condoleezza Rice. I wonder: How might that make me feel?
Initially, I hope I'd be gratified to have saved someone's life-even if that
someone is responsible, in part, for many thousands of deaths (and
counting). Given a few minutes to digest the scenario, I might begin to feel
strange. What if I would've known in advance it was Rice whose life was in
danger? Would I have risked bodily harm to save her? Condi Rice, in my
estimation, is a terrible destructive force, part of the larger culture of
destruction. I oppose the death penalty and thus do not wish Rice and her
ilk to be removed via state sponsored murder, yet saving her life (or the
life of any other major political/corporate player) is, by definition, to
doom countless others to misery and death.
If I didn't react swiftly to pull Condi to safety, surely her passing would
cause sadness. Friends and family would mourn. People would understandably
be devastated, heartbroken. However, Rice's efforts have spread sorrow and
mourning on a far greater scale. Has she ever considered the family and
friends whose lives have been shattered thanks to her handiwork? Perhaps
not, for it was Condoleezza Rice who once opined: "There is nothing wrong
with doing something that benefits all humanity, but that is, in a sense, a
second-order effect." It's not fantasy to assume that, across the globe,
more folks would be celebrating than weeping if we lost the Secretary of
State.
Still, of course, she's replaceable (just ask Rummy). There's always another
commissar ready to step in and keep the machine running...with or without
Condi. Thus, even those most vehemently opposed to American imperialism and
interventionism would theoretically not even notice the change. I return to
an earlier question: If I would've known in advance it was Condoleezza Rice
whose life was in danger, would I have risked bodily harm to save her? On
purely human terms, I think I would.
I wouldn't. written by Jimmy Montague,
November 19, 2006
And neither would you if you're smart. Touch that nasty bitch and get blown away by the Secret Service bodyguards that surround her everywhere she goes? They get paid to save her. Let them do it.