Dan Mage

As we rightfully condemn Ahmadinejads violent repression of dissent, we still must ask "could it happen here?" History itself hold the answer.

Libertarianism is not the exclusive property of the far right. Libertarianism's worst enemies are libertarians.

If we look at the continuing orgy of corporate welfare using the language and methodology the addictions industry, it be comes clear that we are supporting addictions.

Metallica broke all the rules and rewrote them. Heavy metal would never be the same. Ride the Lightning by Metallica defined the 1980s.

While I'm not a follower of Ayn Rand, there is undeniable clarity and beauty in her words that gives me strength and hope. Ayn Rand was a visionary and a romantic. Her modern disciples just don't get her.

These are ten songs, not listed in any particular order, that made me stop dead in my tracks and ask "What the f---- was that?" I still turn them up everytime!

Metallica went old-school, and they're better than ever. Only a band like Metallica can make a place like Newark New Jersey worth visiting.

Having the state provide for your needs comes at a price. The more the state provides, the more intrusive it becomes.

Cats, dogs, babies and anarchists can be annoying and the persons who live with these creatures do not always conduct themselves in a professional manner.

These are the best Heavy Metal and Altenative Metal songs of 2008. Arbitrary genre labels are confining to artists and reviewers alike, and this list pushes the envelope. Slipknot and Tokio hotel are side by side here.

Be very careful about where and how you do your holiday shopping. Your purchases may be non-refundable, and your gift cards may be worthless after January 1st

Working online from home appears to be a desirable method of earning a living. Unfortunately, high paying telecommuting jobs are scarce, and sub-minimum wage contracting abounds.

The consequences of the most recent economic crisis are having an immediate and concrete impact on the lives of middle class and working class Americans. Yet again, our elected officials have shown that their loyalty is to the economic elites alone.

Here are four limericks, based roughly on my own evaluation of this election, which continues to be weird and ugly.

Alaska produces more than just oil, crabs, and cute reactionary populists. This nugget of pure Alaskan gold, Tundra Trash Radio is proof.

This poem was inspired by Oscar Wilde and his epic poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol." I wrote it in the Denver County Jail sometime in October of 2006.

Republican Party officials filed suit in Pennsylvania to keep the Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr's name off the ballot. The Court ruled in favor of Barr. Why would the Republican's take such a drastic measure to keep a "marginal" party's candidate out of the race?

These are four spontaneous comments on each candidate in the traditional 5-7-5 Haiku form. They make use of modern American speech.

Whatever threats to public health and safety illegal drugs may pose, prohibition and anti-drug hysteria aggravate them beyond calculation. Only a visible, above-ground problem can be dealt with in a rational manner.

The proliferation of energy drink brands and the increasing popularity of caffeinated beverages supplies the demand of a high-energy culture. What are the functions of energy drinks, and why do people need them?

There are drawbacks to therapies involving any benzodiazepine, including clonazepam. There is a reason benzodiazepines are still a major part of psychiatric medication regimes; they work.

I feel that things are better now than they were in the '80s and '90s, in spite of how grim the picture sometimes appears. Some of my views are selfishly based on my own interests, and those of my economic class and societal subculture.

All the public outcry against the Myanmar junta will not change the ugly realities of opium, heroin, life and death in The Golden Triangle. The media at this time remains strangely silent about the involvement of the illegal drug trade in Myanmar's suffering.

Colorado for Equal Rights is asking voters to support an amendment to the State Constitution defining "personhood" as beginning at the moment of conception. This is definitely a "hot button" campaign issue for the local 2008 election.

Obama supporter claim that Barack Obama is the target of numerous attacks based on falsehoods and distortions. Obama for America and Fight the Smears are fighting back.

The systems of large-group behavioral manipulation and control utilized by authoritarian structures are fundamentally anti-human in intent, practice and effect. "Industrial Psychology" developed alongside modern "correctional" theory during the Industrial Revolution.

There are millions of disaffected and disenfranchised voices waiting to be heard. We are here among the poor, the working and middle classes. The heroes that we choose and the candidates we support find us here on the Internet. We are the New Populism.

Avril Lavigne has always been similar to Joan Jett, in music and in overall style. Now, with her cover of Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation," she acknowledges her debt to a girl-punk pioneer.

In the mainstream media and online, people argue as if there are significant differences between the American Democratic and Republican parties. The agenda promoted by both parties is authoritarian, and both parties are accountable to the same elite interests.

Many (including this author) consider some of Ayn Rand's view's to be extreme and distorted. However, on the issue of faith and force, her insights are needed now more than ever.

systematic disinformation plays such a large role in what we see, how we react, spend our money and who we end up voting for. The control, manipulation, distortion and outright fabrication of information are crucial to the smooth operation of the machinery of war and power.

A fundamentally distorted and perverse value system, which values power and privilege over basic human rights, increases the abuse of women and children. Political and economic dysfunction increase the severity of family dysfunction.

Mental illnesses, as defined by the DSM-IV, could easily include non-violent resistance to the social order and other political deviations. Current diagnostic standards are vague, subjective and politically biased.

The only consistent quality of any of these candidates is their desire to win the election. Furthermore, while they dispute specific issues, both conservatives and liberals side primarily with big business and big government, both of which have always been on the same side.

"At best, behavior modification results in temporary token changes by the criminal." (Samenow, 1984, pp 199, 200)

Profiting from the suffering and death of others is far from illegal; it is simply a matter of licensing. The issue has never been "Who Suffers?" but "Who Profits?"

Hydrocodone is a relatively safe and very effective narcotic analgesic. As with all opiates, it is not without its risks and side effects.

My experience with clonazepam is that it is a very useful, but also potentially dangerous and addictive drug. Substance abusers and the mentally ill should approach this drug with caution.

Objectivist philosopher Ayn Rand, a figure now vilified and ridiculed by the left, and religious conservatives of nearly all creeds, nonetheless had some interesting ideas here and there. One of her more notorious works was The Virtue of Selfishness.

The combined effects of prisons, militaristic and totalitarian treatment programs, and politically manufactured hysteria do more damage to drug users than drugs alone could ever do.

Ron Paul's candidacy has brought the concept of libertarianism into the nation's political consciousness. His courage and honesty does not cut through the lack of perspective shown by both his critics and his followers.

Just as some refer to the counterculture erroneously as "the drug culture," Dr. Reginald Ray labeled the culture of corporate America as "The Caffeine Culture."

Substantial prison sentence produce long term psychological and social impairments, which may lead to a life of repeated incarcerations, or a seriously emotionally and socially impaired life on the outside.