Today I just felt like saying thanks to the many Muslims who’ve paid the ultimate sacrifice defending Sarah Palin’s right to spew hate.

When pressed by the newly disillusioned or the obstinate superpatriots at the water cooler, there’s often too little time or patience from either party to explain a tiny fraction of my world view without failing miserably.

That’s why I appreciate the following video: an animated interview with John Perkins. The naration sticks to the high points, the graphics supply what a thousand words can’t — adds weight to, perhaps, too-general conclusions, and it gets some wide-ranging, eye-opening concepts across in a short time. (More about John Perkins below the fold.)

Video Link: Economic Hitmen.

More about John Perkins.

John Perkins (b. January 28, 1945 in Hanover, New Hampshire) is an economist and author. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador from 1968–1970 and this experience launched him in the world of economics and writing.

His best known book is Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (2004), an insider’s account of the exploitation or neo-colonization of Third World countries by what Perkins describes as a cabal of corporations, banks, and the United States government.

His 2007 book, The Secret History of the American Empire, provides more evidence of the negative impact of global corporations on the economies and ecologies of poor countries, as well as offering suggestions for making corporations behave more like good citizens.

Visit John Perkin’s website: http://www.johnperkins.org/.

Hot enough for you? There’s a good thread going on over at Reddit: Obama needs to do something about this heat!

“I don’t think Obama has shown sufficient outrage over it being hot outside.”

“We did not have heat like this under Bush. There were some warm spells, but we all know that was due to policies established by the Clinton administration.”

“Leave it to Obama to “redistribute” temperatures from the socialist, Islamic third world, forcing all of us to endure terrorist-producing temperatures here in the homeland. Personally, I heard it’s a plot to undermine Christmas this winter - no snow, no Santa. Look it up.”

LMAO ~JoeC