print:The people who do the work at Axis of Logic

The Editors and Website Designer of the Axis of Logic E-Zine reside in Massachusetts and Ontario. Our columnists live in 7 different countries and 5 states in the United States. Everyone working on Axis of Logic volunteers their time, skills and energy with no financial compensation for their work.

Axis of Logic Staff come from a rich variety of professional backgrounds and life-experiences. All are published authors. All are social and political activists in one form or another. We represent a cross-section of disciplines including homemakers, economists, writers, psychologists, IT professionals, military veterans, former clergy, health care professionals, educators, lawyers and labor leaders. Several of us are entrepreneurs, owning or having owned our own businesses, employing others.

We have been asked how we select original writing for publication in Axis of Logic. Writers submit original work to us every day for publication. As editors, we have been asked how we select original writing for publication in our E-Zine. We have found that many excellent analysts and writers have difficulty getting their work published in a public media. We invite new, unpublished writers to submit their work and we make our decisions based upon 3 primary criteria: (1) New information. (2) Fresh insight into existing information. (3) Quality of writing and literary style.

We are committed to publishing and disseminating news and information that contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of current events and history on the part of our readers.

Our purpose is to promote peace, equality and human rights throughout the world.

BIOGRAPHICAL

EDITORS

Les Blough

Les Blough is founding editor of Axis of Logic, a website launched on May 18, 2003. He grew up spending his time in nature and working on a Mennonite dairy farm in Pennsylvania from 8 years of age. He graduated from The Institute of Christian Service at Bob Jones University (BJU) in 1965 and was ordained as an Independent Baptist minister the same year. He served as pastor of The Park Hill Chapel in Johnstown, Pennsylvania for over 6 years. During that time he began reading the works of Form Criticism, authored by German theologians (prohibited reading at BJU). He also began to consider the grievances of his peers who were protesting the war in Viet Nam. He buried a young member of his church, killed in Vietnam, remembering the words the young man's father spoke to him at the graveside: "Isn't this some way to get your boy back". These incidents and a photograph were the catalysts for his change from a Fundamentalist Christian background. After leaving Christianity as an organized, civil-religion, his world-view became greatly influenced by the teachings of Tao and Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha). He meets with friends on a regular basis who support one another in their cultivation of Tao.

He began to oppose the war in Vietnam and left the ministry and Christian Fundamentalism in 1967. He views his renunciation of the ideology of Christian fundamentalism as "part of the journey". He resigned from his pastorate in 1972 and the committee that ordained him withdrew his ordination. Later, he graduated from University of Tennessee and Penn State University with degrees in counseling psychology. While attending college and graduate school, he worked at the Tennessee State Prison in Nashville and Rockview State Penitentiary, Belfonte, PA for 8 years to support his family and continuing education. After working as director of a research department and addictions clinic in a teaching hospital in Pennsylvania, he moved to Boston, MA. In Boston, he worked as a psychotherapist and in forensics in his own practice for many years. He has written poetry since he was 12 years old and political essays for many years. He has closed his business, Rehabilitation Management Consultants in Boston, MA to devote himself full time as an activist for social and political change and as a writer, editor and publisher on Axis of Logic. In 2007, he moved with his family to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

After 2003, he visited Venezuela on 5 different occasions to learn more about the Bolivarian Revolution. He currently lives with his family in Venezuela. His favorite times for renewal are reading, reflection, writing essays and poetry and spending time in Venezuela's mountains and Caribbean shores, spending time with his family and visiting with the people of Venezuela. You can reach Les Blough via e-mail at:

les@axisoflogic.com

Paul Richard Harris

Paul Harris' skilled writing and powerful analyses of international affairs are widely read around the world. He is self-employed as a consultant, providing businesses with the tools and expertise to reintegrate their sick or injured employees into the workplace. He has traveled extensively in what is usually known as "the Third World" and has an abiding interest in history, social justice, morality and, well, just about everything. Paul covers central African current events for News From The Front (nftf.org) where his articles are frequently republished on the United Nations website (monuc.org). His is former editor of YellowTimes.org and his work can be found at vivelecanada.ca, where he is a member of the Advisory Board on Canadian Sovereignty. Paul lives in rural Canada surrounded by corn, cows, and turnips. He can be reached via e-mail at: paul@axisoflogic.com

Lisa McBride

Lisa McBride is Axis of Logic's News Editor. She resides in the State of Oregon and selects and publishes articles in our World News section. Lisa is experienced in researching and selecting news reports from a wide range of sources. One of her most important gifts and contributions to Axis of Logic readers is her insight to understand the subtext that underlies the story and the context in which it was written and published. In addition, she is a faithful fact-checker, skilled editor/publisher and utterly committed to getting the story straight.

Lisa writes:

"My hunger for 'the real story' leads me to locate and spotlight news and articles that are consistently censored, undereported, unreported, or misrepresented in the mass media outlets. It is not my intent to find favorable or unfavorable content on any subject matter. Instead, I choose articles that reflect in the most accurate way possible the facts about a story, the context in which events occur and perspectives that are rarely heard in the U.S. corporate sponsored media."

Lisa McBride can be reached at Lisa@axisoflogic.com

COLUMNISTS

On behalf of all Axis of Logic Readers, we wish to thank each of the columnists at Axis of Logic who generously give their wisdom, time and skills to examine, analyze, investigate, probe, provoke, stimulate, inform and educate an international public. They give all of this to Axis of Logic readers, receiving no financial remuneration for their work. Some columnists also research, select and post articles directly to the Ezine. Columnists reside in 6 different countries and 6 different states in the United States, offering insight, analyses and skilled-writing from international, interstate, intercultural and interdisciplinary vantage points. Our columnists are presented below in alphabetical order.

Ghali Hassan, Ph.D.

Ghali Hassan was born in Iraq and was educated in Iraq, Europe and Australia. He is a research scholar, specialising in the areas of science education and educational psychology. His interest in world affairs is the result of careful observation of U.S.-Western policies " naked aggression, double standards, classic hypocrisy " and their detrimental impacts on the lives of ordinary people. His articles have appeared on the Internet, in newspapers and periodicals around the world, including the Arab World, Australia and New Zealand. While considering himself a nomad, Ghali lives in the Blue Mountains (near Sydney), Australia. He can be contacted at: ghalih1@yahoo.com

Talha Mujaddidi

Talha Mujaddidi is a writer/analyst, living in Pakistan and a columnist for Axis of Logic. He received his professional training as an electrical engineer in the United States. He was named "Who's Who" in American Colleges and Universities 2004. Talha has worked in an inter-faith dialogue group at Michigan Technological University (MTU) and he is the former Chairman of the IEEE at MTU. He has also worked in the automobile and telecommunications industries in the U.S. and in Pakistan. He was part of the Boston-based non-profit Association for Development of Pakistan (ADP) which gathers funds for sustainable small development projects in rural areas of Pakistan. Talha enjoys following current affairs, particularly as they relate to the politics of the Middle East and South Asia. Talha is currently working on different small projects that range from spreading public opinion against disastrous effects of globalization to motivating the people of Pakistan to rise up against corrupt Pakistani politicians. He manages his own blog and is currently conducting research for his first forthcoming book. Talha can be reached at: tamujadd@gmail.com

Siv O'Neall

Siv O'Neall was born and raised in Sweden where she graduated from Lund University. She has lived in Paris, France and New Rochelle, N.Y and traveled extensively throughout Europe. Siv retired after many years of teaching French in Westchester, N.Y. and English in the Grandes Ecoles (Institutes of Technology) in France. In addition to her own writing, Siv has also provided Axis of Logic with translation services. She has been living in France, first Paris, then Lyon for 30 years. In addition to her political activism and writing, her life is filled with family, music, animals, reading, traveling and "anything that pleases the eye or the palate".
Siv can be reached via e-mail at siv@axisoflogic.com

James Petras

James Petras is a Bartle Professor (Emeritus) of Sociology at Binghamton University, New York. He is the author of 62 books published in 29 languages, and over 560 articles in professional journals, including the American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, Social Research, and Journal of Peasant Studies. He has published over 2000 articles in nonprofessional journals such as the New York Times, the Guardian, the Nation, Christian Science Monitor, Foreign Policy, New Left Review, Partisan Review, TempsModerne, Le Monde Diplomatique, and his commentary is widely carried on the internet. His publishers have included Random House, John Wiley, Westview, Routledge, Macmillan, Verso, Zed Books and Pluto Books. He is winner of the Career of Distinguished Service Award from the American Sociological Association's Marxist Sociology Section, the Robert Kenny Award for Best Book, 2002, and the Best Dissertation, Western Political Science Association in 1968. His most recent titles include Unmasking Globalization: Imperialism of the Twenty-First Century (2001); co-author The Dynamics of Social Change in Latin America (2000), System in Crisis (2003), co-author Social Movements and State Power (2003), co-author Empire With Imperialism (2005), co-author)Multinationals on Trial (2006).

He has a long history of commitment to social justice, working in particular with the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement for 11 years. In 1973-76 he was a member of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Repression in Latin America. He writes a monthly column for the Mexican newspaper, Le Jornada, and previously, for the Spanish daily, El Mundo. He received his B.A. from Boston University and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He can be reached at jpetras@binghamton.edu

Arturo Rosales

Arturo Rosales is a seasoned journalist who has worked in several Latin American countries. Since 1999 he has been writing on a volunatary basis to disseminate the truth about environmental and energy issues which are often obfuscated in the corporate media. With the advent of the Bolivarian revolution he turned his hand to more politically angled writing, especially when analyzing the effects and strategy of the Global Corporate Empire on the third world and Latin America in particular. Currently, Arturo is a staff writer for Axis of Logic." Arturo can be contacted at arturo@axisoflogic.com

Shahid R. Siddiqi

Shahid R. Siddiqi lives in Baltimore MD and in Pakistan. He served in the Pakistan Air Force and later joined the corporate sector with which he has remained associated until recently in Pakistan, the US and South Africa where he has held senior positions. Simultaneously, he has worked as a journalist and a broadcaster. He was the Bureau Chief of Pakistan & Gulf Economist, an English weekly published from Karachi (Pakistan). Siddiqi now writes on political and geopolitical subjects and his articles are carried by the daily newspapers such as Dawn and The Nation (Pakistan) and online publications such as Axis of Logic, Foreign Policy Journal, Middle East Times and Globalia. Contact the Author

Britta Slopianka

Britta Slopianka is a native of Germany where she had her own business and also worked as an activist for the abolition of the death penalty and for those on the death rows of the U.S. and in other countries. Since then, she moved to the United States where she continues her work for abolition. She visits people condemned to death on death row, researches news and commentary, tracks the legal status of those condemned and tirelessly works on their behalf. She started our section on the Death Penalty and posts reports on a daily basis. She is Florida Coordinator for The Innocent in Prison Project and former Chairwoman of The German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Britta can be reached via e-mail at: brittaigel@yahoo.com

Richard D. Vogel

Richard Vogel is a political reporter who monitors the effects of neoliberal globalization on working people and their communities. He is a retired high school and junior college teacher who also worked as a truck driver and carpenter, always as an active union member. He served in the US army paratroopers during the Cold War and attended the University of Houston where he earned a BA in English and a MA in sociology through hard work and the aid of the GI Bill. He has been married to Idell for 34 years and is the father of three children and grandfather of two.

Richard has published articles in Monthly Review, Canadian Dimension, and MRZine that have been widely circulated on the Internet. Visit his website, From the Left -- A US Forum on Combating Globalization. We are convinced that only a civic revolution offers the prospect for a sustainable and democratic future for the USA. Richard's Axis of Logic column, CIVIC REVOLUTION, is an open forum on that prospect.

Tribute to Robert Thompson

Now it is time to stand and salute - Robert Thompson: 1931–2009

It is with profound regret that the Axis of Logic editors announce the passing of our long-time columnist and friend, Robert Thompson. His Letters from France column has been a steady feature of Axis of Logic from the beginning, and has evoked some of the most vibrant exchanges with readers, including at the highest levels of world government.

Robert was ill for several years, so we have had time to prepare for when the inevitable became the reality. But we knew all along that whatever words we crafted, they wouldn't measure up to the man. Nevertheless, with what poor skills we have, we wish to bow and honour him.

Over several years of unremitting disease, Robert continued to peck away at his keyboard with uncommon insight. He fought the battle against illness with a grace and dignity we should all hope to achieve. Even as the last ravages of sickness wracked his body with agony, Robert refused pain-reducing medications if they would cloud his mind, and continued to pour out words of wisdom until neither hand could function any longer.

Robert was born in England, at Leek (North Staffordshire), in 1931. As a young man, he was admitted to Oxford University where he read Jurisprudence, finally becoming a Solicitor. After a time, his career took him to Paris, where he assumed a position with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). At the ICC, Robert was Director of the Legal Department, and Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration, the most important international commercial arbitration centre in the world.

While still with the ICC, Robert became the director in charge of relations with the Arab states, where he travelled for professional reasons on numerous occasions. Always a fervent advocate of civility among nations, Robert worked hard toward developing a climate of legal cooperation between countries.

At some point along the way, Robert obtained French citizenship; at the time of his retirement, he was an Avocat (trial lawyer), living with his wife in a quiet village in northern France. It was there that he spent his final years, tirelessly pursuing justice for the peoples of all nations. He was a truly devoted father and husband, and we speak with confidence when we say he will be remembered with love by his wife, his children, his extended family, and many friends.

Robert was a devout Roman Catholic, a point he made often as a way of alerting the reader to the moral basis behind his views. Yet he accepted and championed the views of other religions, or complete lack of faith. He was an ardent supporter of the rights of all individuals to exercise their beliefs, or lack of them, demanding only that they lead good and decent lives. Although he was harshly critical of the government of Israel, there was not an anti-Jewish bone in his body.

Robert wrote directly to presidents and prime ministers, and was unswerving in his support for good and his condemnation of bad. He had an uncanny knack for quickly sizing up the real motives behind the posturing of public officials, and was not shy about rapping their knuckles when needed.

Because of Robert’s profound faith in his Roman Catholic beliefs, we know he welcomed death. But we do not welcome his absence. And because we are not willing to let him go from us so easily, Axis of Logic will maintain his writings online where they can continue to serve as a beacon.

So long as this man's words can still be read, and so long as injustice remains, court will remain in session...

Robert's essays can be found in his exclusive column: LETTERS FROM FRANCE

~ Editors, Axis of Logic

Tribute to Vic Ratsma

W. Vic Ratsma was a lifelong political activist from Nova Scotia, CA who wrote poetry and essays as a columnist for Axis of Logic until his death in Nova Scotia on November 17, 2004. See our tribute to him published on the day of his death and our "Celebration of Life" in his memory, published on December 3, 2004.

ADDITIONAL STAFF

In addition to the columnists working on Axis of Logic, we have a developing group of wonderful correspondents living in various countries around the world. They researching the news and send us articles of interest related to their homeland. Information will be added about them as they grow in their relationship with Axis of Logic to help develop our website as a bulwark against the political agenda of the Global Corporate Empire.

Thank you for visiting this section, About Us and for reading and supporting Axis of Logic. We invite you to help us grow by telling your friends about us and through your financial contributions... and please consider volunteering your time to help us!

Axis of Logic Editorial Board