-=[DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY!]=-

Ted Rall is an editorial cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate. His latest book "To Afghanistan And Back" chronicles his time in Afghanistan while the bombs were dropping. Quite frankly, that book is a must read. www.rall.com for the detail...

Ted has graciously allowed Comic Book Galaxy to host his "PIPELINE" essay:

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Ted's willingness to literally put his life at risk in the name of the truth is awe-inspiring. He has a passion for the politics of the region that makes him a true expert on what the U.S. government is doing in Afghanistan and other countries, and I'm honored that Ted's allowing us to show this essay to The Galaxy's readers. You might not be interested in this subject, but you should be -- the "War on Terror" has the potential to change the lives of every citizen of the United States of America, and threatens innocents abroad as well.

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"American soldiers, oilmen, and diplomats are rapidly getting to know this remote corner of the world, the old underbelly of the Soviet Union and a region that's been almost untouched by Western armies since the time of Alexander the Great. The game the Americans are playing has some of the highest stakes going. What they are attempting is nothing less than the biggest carve-out of a new U.S. sphere of influence since the U.S. became engaged in the Mideast 50 years ago."

--"The Next Oil Frontier," Business Week, May 27, 2002

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I grok nearly all of the geo-political happenings that have gone down within the last 12 years. I started to push my roots further into the soil of history until I realized I was depriving myself of other nutrients. I made a decision to regain my true spirit a few weeks ago. That decision was this:

IT DOESN'T MATTER.

Nothing matters. There is nothing that I can do to change the course of the American empire. It is a juggernaut. The thrall that the American populace seems to held in is a side effect of poorly executed capitalism. To wit:

ignorance: The condition of being uneducated, unaware, or uninformed.

is: A prefix or combining form, indicating identity, or equality.

bliss: Extreme happiness; ecstasy.

IGNORANCE == BLISS

The IGNORANCE variable need not be global though :) You can choose what to be ignorant of. Geopolitics ceased to be interesting to me as soon as the latest sabre rattling started to look more serious. We are now on track to see a quite real end of life as we all know it. We probably all know this somewhere deep down inside.

One thing is sure about carnal life, and that is the end of said life. Everything in between the start of the cellular division (1,2,4,8...) to the last exchange of oxygen molecules from the air (last breath) is fraught with chaos. Fuck it, may as well enjoy the ride. I know I am.

[ Originally from Hijexx. I am getting cynical as well, but not this cynical yet. I have to keep believing that I can make a difference and keep pushing forward. In the meantime, a good read.

Ah, one last item: ignorance might == "mis-information." I think we have just entered an age where decades of PR, spin, thought control, and various other mechanisms for manipulation of the public mind have culminated in what is essentially almost an art-form: Mind control in a democratic society. Or, how the elites in the society manage to hold sway and even completely cement their actual power. I'm not sure that elites have ever enjoyed such incredible control in history. Ever. --Rek ]