Welcomes to The Village Oak Tree for April 24th, 2024
I didn’t have any interviews this week so I created this twenty five minute commentary on the Empire of the United States and what that means for the future of its citizens.
One again, I am protesting the horrible obvious genocide going on in Gaza and West bank against the hapless Palestinians. I lead off with this quote from an article I found in Al Jazeera.
“Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said Palestinians failed to meet the criteria to become a full member, which he outlined as: a permanent population, defined territory, government and capacity to enter relations with other states.”
This is how the majority of the Likud party in Israel views the idea of a two state solution to Palestine. There is a lot more about this in the podcast.
I have more to say about American Imperialism and the game of empire with regard to the United States. I talk about how the United States is starting to look very much like the ancient Roman Empire when it started to collapse. And so many other empires after them.
They all largely brought on their demise by allowing political corruption to run wild, dismissing their citizens as less than their elitist government leaders and wealthiest citizens and expanding their empires beyond their abilities to manage. Does this sound familiar?
I talk about the U.S. and their hijacking of the U.N, security council as well with regard to defending Israel. Which they are still doing with this latest veto about allowing Palestine member status.
I give a shout out to independent journalists, a couple in particular, who are defying main stream media to tell the truth about what is going on around the world. One is Chris Hedges and the other is a new startup media company called Zeteo, run by a journalist who recently left MSNBC in January, Mehdi Hasan.
Mostly, this is about how the American elitists want to keep their global hegemony but that star is getting pretty tarnished now, as I have mentioned before. If things keep going the way they are, the U.S. will fade away soon like so many empires of old.
I have a segment about this recent business about banning TikTok and how it is just another jealous spat by U.S. corporate media. Who have now managed to convince Washington that they are communist spies so they can take over the company as majority share holders.
I do not side with Bytedance necessarily as they may very well be spying on everyone who uses TikTok. But, are they really? Given how much the corporations lie to the general public about everything these days, does anyone really know the truth?
A win for American media corporations and a loss for the average citizens once again, if Bytedance doesn’t want to play. They may go under if they say no to the American imperialists but that may be better than giving in to American bullying.
In the second half, I talk about why rural America is so mad and willing to vote for anyone who promises to bring back their prosperity. In other words, the good ‘ole days of white superiority and Jim Crow days.
I am just giving readers an overview as there is a lot more in the podcast. To wrap things up, I read a sad poem about Gaza and the poor people of the middle east everywhere there who have lost so much in the last more than one hundred years of empire played by the west.
The poem was written by Farida Haque in Medium and she gave me permission to read it to everyone listening.
We Are Here, They Are There
~ and an isthmus of blood and tears to connect us ~
Oh how we love to sing at a wedding!
when you sing you sing
when you cry you cry
— Sometimes when you sing, you cry.
Oh how we love to dance at a wedding!
We laugh we twirl women and girls
undress, arabesque
no no don’t be shy
snatch a garland or two.
But over there
moan orange and olive
all orchards lie cindered,
no fig leaf to spare
Oh Eve, oh Eve
your Children call
come gather the babies
win your reprieve
— Sometimes when you dance you weep.
Tears turn to smiles
smiles become tears
you fall
you crawl,
dust yourself off
ask those watching —
does your hunger never sleep?
Esuriently swollen
magniloquent men
egregiously leer
— what all have you stolen —
we howl and lament
our dance thunders on,
unabashed undiminished.
We dance for our sisters
mothers and brothers
stillborn blue babies
and aspirations lost
like underground rivers
our prayers rush away…
Fears pains and losses
Are poisons that choke
not me, not you,
not here, but there
orphans of war
conflagrations smoke
mothers and brothers
lie bloodied and broken
and shrouded in memories
of wild fruit and flower
a warm winter bower,
a warm winter bower..
hunger and cold,
the cold, the cold
they dream of water
the thirst, such thirst!
There’s a pool just there
run and look
but it’s black and red
blood new and old
drowned recollections
sobs and dread
poppies all bruised
petals all shed.
But here we dance
a dance macabre,
of shame and guilt
in its ghastly tread.
— Sometimes when you dance you bleed.
Oh how we love to feast at a wedding!
On mutton too ripe
almond and spice
we chew and chew
till our insides burst
but we swallow and swallow
lest we starve.
— sometimes when you swallow you choke.
From sandalwood body
shed henna and pearl
roses and jasmines
then loosen the noose
too late too late it’s upon you,
look —
death lies beside you
In a fetal curl.
I don’t have any more to give you today as this poem pretty much sums up how I feel about the game of empires. Something the U.S. is working so hard at in trying to maintain its position at the top of the world, like a children’s game of King of the Hill.
Thank you for listening to the show today. I hope you enjoyed it and that you will return again next week for another episode of The Village Oak Tree.
As a Seanchaí, I hope you will continue to let me come to your village to bring you some news from the world outside that might make you think a wee bit.
Please share this podcast with your friends and relations. The more you share, the more we can convince enough people to make the world a better place to live in.
A reminder, especially for any American military veterans reading this. This podcast is now available to watch and listen to on MBR, Military Broadcast Radio and MBRTalk. A veterans radio station out of Boulder, CO that has a lot of veterans programming and veterans hosting various other shows of all kinds, from sports to music and political commentary like mine.
As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.” Slán go fóill.
T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic Seanchaí
References:
U.S. blocks Palestinian request for full UN membership
Move prevents the world body from effectively recognizing a Palestinian state
US imposes new sanctions on Iran after attack on Israel
Sanctions against Iran’s missile and drone programmes come as fears mount over the possibility of greater regional escalation.
US accused of failing to act on reports of abuse by Israeli forces
Panel urged denial of Israel funds because of serious human rights violations but state department has not yet acted, report says
TikTok warns US ban would 'trample free speech'
By Thomas Mackintosh,BBC News
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