73 Articles

Thursday, May 24, 2012
Afghanistan Good Enough: If All Else Fails, Lower Your Standards
(1 comments) The NATO conference in Chicago launched a new slogan for the War in Afghanistan: "Afghanistan Good Enough." There's a realistic, sometimes sordid story of culture war struggle behind this nifty sound bite.

Thursday, May 10, 2012
Americans Love a Good Killer
(1 comments) Killers are a perennial pop culture favorite, and that holds true for the new Special Ops doctrine. Things could get weird, though, as the militarization of domestic police forces keeps on developing as it has.

Friday, April 20, 2012
A Conspiracy of Whores
(9 comments) The Secret Service scandal that came out of the Cartagena summit is nothing but a distraction from the real story, which is the shifting economics and politics of Latin America vis-a-vis the imperial United States. Whoring is nothing new, and in fact prostitution and US imperialism have always gone hand-in-hand.

Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Trayvon Blues
(8 comments) The Trayvon Martin story is an important one that is not going away because it speaks volumes about the nation's current crisis of police officers (or wannabe cops like George Zimmerman) pumped up on fear and adrenaline overreacting and, then, not held accountable for the stupid, often lethal things they've done. If Trayvon's death can do anything, maybe it can shine a light on this.

Friday, March 16, 2012
Afghanistan: The Wheels Are Coming Off
(1 comments) It's one thing after another. Now a soldier runs amok and kills 16 Afghans. What's going on? It's simple: The mission in Afghanistan is bankrupt and going down the tubes. It's time to be adults and recognize wed need to leave.

Sunday, March 4, 2012
Israel Lobby Beats the Drums For War
(1 comments) Israel and American right wing pro-war forces are linking in DC this week to push for war with Iran. It's an awesome blitzkrieg. The story is not pretty once you begin lifting rocks to see what's under the propaganda.

Thursday, February 23, 2012
The United States and Its Dark Passenger, Part II: Act Of Valor
(3 comments) US occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan are not ending well. US imperial ambitions face other problems in the world and, especially, at home. The new soloution is secret killing teams, and the Pentagon has gone into the propaganda movie business to assault the American public mind.

Thursday, February 16, 2012
The United States and Its Dark Passenger
(2 comments) The new spiffy US military doctrine of Special Operations hunter-killer teams came of its own in the Anbar "surge." Strangely, the rules and justifications of this program mirror those of Dexter, the popular book and TV psychopathic killer.

Sunday, January 29, 2012
A Modest Proposal for Israel and Iran
(1 comments) The US is threatening to pull its military aid from Egypt. How about making that threat to Israel -- before it deludes itself into attacking Iran and starting World War Three. It's so tragic it makes you want to laugh.

Saturday, January 14, 2012
Hugo Chavez, Drugs, Guantanamo Bay and Vultures
(33 comments) As we watch Hugo Chavez welcome Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Caracas, it's time to re-think our relationship with Latin America, dump the legacies of the 20th Century and join the 21st with a new face.

Monday, January 2, 2012
Iran and Historical Forgetting
(12 comments) As we enter the Presidential silly season, we're hearing drum beats for war against Iran. The problem is our national trait of forgetting history and believing the myth of American exceptionalism.

Monday, December 5, 2011
Balancing The Noir Shadow In US Culture
(3 comments) As the US faces the decline of its empire, it is carrying around a huge and complex Jungian shadow. The sensibilities of the 40s and 50s film noir world captures that notion of a shadow world nicely. As Jung would say, cultural health comes from recognizing and balancing that shadow with light.

Monday, November 28, 2011
General Santa Claus and His Secret North Pole Base
(2 comments) The holiday cartoon movie Arthur Christmas is a well-made piece of militaristic propaganda intended, of course, to make lots of money as it entertains kids and their parents. But we need to get beyond militarism, secrecy and bigness and teach are kids that E. F. Schumacher was right: Small Is Beautiful.

Monday, November 7, 2011
Never Look Back: Herman Cain And Il Duce
The most interesting trait Herman Cain exhibits is his sense of imperiousness. His sexual harassment predicament underlines this quality about him. It raised in my mind an obscure historical episode about a more famous imperious politician and how his accuser was treated.

Sunday, October 30, 2011
Occupying In The Shadow Of Frank Rizzo
Philadelphia occupiers discuss their occupation's future under a statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo. With Oakland and Atlanta on their minds, it raised lots of questions about relations between city mayors, police and the Occupations.

Friday, October 21, 2011
Bring In The Drones: Agent Provocateurs And Moral Protest
(4 comments) Two classic agent provocateurs were caught out in an October protest focusing on killer drones at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. One of them bragged about his actions in the right wing magazine, The American Spectator. Besides being a fool, the man has helped us see how provocateurs think and work.

Saturday, October 8, 2011
We Don't Need No Stinkin' Press Passes
(1 comments) A day at Freedom Plaza in Washington ends with a confrontation with a police officer over the need for a Press Pass for access. New media are making the question who is a journalist and who has First Amendment right a vital question.

Thursday, September 29, 2011
Is the United States a Police State
(3 comments) It all depends on whose ox is gored whether a society is a "police states." From the point of view of the political left in America, there's no question the US is a police state. The recent police created melee in Wall Street is a case in point.

Sunday, September 11, 2011
The Israel-US Relationship As a Train Wreck
(1 comments) Three things are happening this month that puts Israel on the hot seat. When does the intransigent Israeli right cause the US to re-evaluate its relationship with Israel?

Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Return of the Malaise
(2 comments) Harry Frankfort made the term "bullshit" acceptable and no other term can quite characterize the state of American politics at this juncture. It is deeper than it has ever been. It's a harbinger of even worse times to come.

Saturday, August 13, 2011
Special Ops: The New Face of War
Special Ops is the new face of war and Washington is going for it big. What does it mean for America and the future of our wars without end?

Monday, August 1, 2011
Reading Nietzsche in Starbucks
(2 comments) The gloom and the absurdity of the final days of the debt ceiling negotiations found me in Starbucks reading an essay about "truth" from Friedrich Nietzsche. Then the existential realities really began to make themselves known.

Sunday, July 24, 2011
Marijuana and PTSD: Give the Joy of Life a Chance
(7 comments) A team wants to study the positive effects of marijuana on combat stressed Iraq and Afghan vets. But will a federal government mired in the War On Drugs allow it to happen? Fear of the truth runs deep in this government, and the effects from marijuana may be just what combat vets need. Enough of them already "self medicate" with pot.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The Gaza Flotilla and the Blood-Dimmed Tide
(4 comments) W.B. Yeats had it right in 1919 when he referred to the blood-dimmed tide being loosed and the best lacking conviction as the worst "are full of passionate intensity." Tragically, the disaster in Israel/Palestine reflects this only too well. And the undermined Gaza Flotilla is at the center of it all.

Saturday, July 2, 2011
The Gaza Flotilla: The Fear of Unscripted Non-Violent Action
(2 comments) The Gaza flotilla is a classic case of civil disobedience in the vein of Gandhi's satyagraha or truth force. Why are they so afraid of the truth? For the same reasons that Gandhi's ideas work.

Saturday, June 25, 2011
Israel and the Roots of Disaster
As a second flotilla is leaving to break the Gaza blockade, Israelis and Americans need to re-think the hardline approach of the current Israeli government vis-a-vis Palestinians. The best place to start is the history, where the roots to the current disaster lie.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Veterans Court Hits the Beach in Philadelphia
(1 comments) Veterans Court is a growing phenomenon across the nation. It is part of prison reform that can be slipped in under the right-wing radar. As restorative justice, it's a good model for future reform.

Saturday, May 14, 2011
The Dude Abides For You and Me
(1 comments) The Dude in the film The Big Lebowski is a character for these crazy times noted for the militarization and financialization of every facet of Americans life. The Dude is a beloved member of the peace movement who makes us peace activists laugh at ourselves with love.

Friday, May 6, 2011
A Troubled Nation Feeds On bin Laden's Corpse
(13 comments) Sure, the raid to kill bin Laden was a super-competent action and it is full of great mythic and symbolic power, which President Obama is "harnessing." It may feel good, but it tragically does nothing to solve our real problems.

Thursday, April 28, 2011
Cheri Honkala runs as Robin Hood for Sheriff of Philadelphia
(1 comments) Poor people activist Cheri Honkala is running for sheriff in Philadelphia on the Green Party ticket. It's likie Robin Hood dropping the bows and arrows and taking up the ballot to run for Sheriff of Nottingham.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Hedging, Delusion and Dishonesty in Afghanistan
(1 comments) The Afghan High Peace Council is trying to make peace in Afghanistan. The US should get out of the way and give peace a chance.

Friday, April 15, 2011
The Battle Over PTSD
(1 comments) With so many wars and returning soldiers, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is becoming a major issue here at home. The Pentagon sees the problem as a "deployment" issue; while others see it as a human issue. The battle is on.

Friday, April 8, 2011
How About a Spring Peace Offensive in Afghanistan?
It's Spring; the Afghan government is talking with the Taliban; President Obama needs to appoint a new Defense Secretary and a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. It may be unfamiliar to the American government, but, hey, why not give peace a chance?

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Why Are We In Libya?
(4 comments) The TARP special inspector has concluded the TARP bailout was a "colossal failure" because it betrayed working American homeowners. There is a lesson in this as to why we are in Libya.

Sunday, March 20, 2011
Veterans Tell Obama White House its War Policy is a Disgrace
(1 comments) Veterans gathered at the White House on the 8th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, which turned into the day of our aerial intervention into Libya. Over a 100 veterans were arrested and two speeches characterized the challenges faced by the anti-war movement.

Friday, March 11, 2011
It's Time For a New Policy Face in Afghanistan
(1 comments) The more we follow the war in Afghanistan the more and more absurd it all seems. SO, here's a modest proposal to the President how to keep up with the absurdity.

Saturday, March 5, 2011
The National Shame of the US Military "Slow Torture" of Bradley Manning
(2 comments) The military's policy of stripping and "slow torturing" Bradley Manning at Quantico Brig is a national moral disgrace. There is an ugly history behind this kind of behavior, and more American citizens should speak out.

Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Peace Movemnt and The Roller Coaster Ride of US War Policy
(3 comments) The peace movement has been right about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the beginning, and recent news supports this idea. It's not too late to listen to the peace movement. It would be good for the country.

Friday, February 11, 2011
The Tahrir Blues
As an American anti-militarism activist, watching my government dance between feel-good talk about democracy and under-the-table support for despotism in Egypt is demoralizing.

Sunday, January 30, 2011
The Last Zealots: Hack History On the Right
Hack history more and more seems a weapon of the Right, in journalism, politics and popular entertainment. Glenn Beck pal and thriller writer Brad Thor is a particularly egregious example of this. What it is is classic Propaganda.

Saturday, January 22, 2011
Historical Amnesia: The Nation's Number One Disease
(16 comments) Despite -- or because of -- our military occupations, signs suggest US influence is waning in the Middle East and SW Asia. One way to help is to address the disease called historical amnesia.

Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Tucson Shooting and the End of the Frontier Myth
(7 comments) We are told that gun control and mental health screening are impossible in America. Meanwhile, the right is in a "last stand" mode, holding onto an outmoded Frontier Myth. Something's got to give.

Thursday, January 6, 2011
The Drug War: A Roller-Coaster To Hell
(22 comments) The US War On Drugs is a disastrous assault on supply outside the US; it is a war that will never end. What we really should be doing is addressing the incredible demand for drugs we have in the US.

Saturday, December 25, 2010
They're "Slow Torturing" Bradley Manning Right Under Our Noses
(34 comments) Reports suggest the military jailers at Quantico are doing what is known as "slow torture" to Bradley Manning. There is a long and ugly history to this nefarious procedure.

Monday, December 20, 2010
Taking a Moral Stand Outside Obama's White House
While President Obama was warm and toasty in teh White Hoiuse announcing an escalalation in Pakistan, 500 veterans outside in the freezing snow said "no!" What does taking a moral stand really mean?

Sunday, December 12, 2010
Pay No Attention To the Man Behind the Curtain
(4 comments) The US is in decline at the same time its citizens are told they are "exceptional" in the world. The result is the disaster we are living through.

Thursday, December 2, 2010
Get Over It! WikiLeaks Is Good For America
(1 comments) The right-wing and militarist outcry over WikiLeaks indicates that Julian Assange and Bradley Manning are onto something important. The results of their courageous acts are good for America in today's changing world.

Monday, November 15, 2010
The Manchurian Candidate Gives Out a Medal Of Honor
As the first Medal Of Honor to a living soldier is being awarded in Afghanistan, the right criticizes President Obama for his family background. Maybe it's time Mr Obama stopped running from his background and led a "teaching moment" as to US involvement in the world.

Friday, November 5, 2010
OK, Mister Boehner, let's really cut the budget
(1 comments) Now is not the time for Democrats to cave in. For the good of the nation's health and security, now is the time to cut the Pentagon budget and take care of America.

Friday, October 29, 2010
Xbox versus WikiLeaks
(3 comments) Teenagers use computers to practice Black ops killing and destruction, so why not give a break to those teenage kids who use computers to search for answers and find the truth?

Friday, October 22, 2010
Selling the "Founding Principles" like a Used Car
(1 comments) By calling her nemesis Anita Hill with the assumption she was owed an apology, Virginia Thomas whacked the hornets' nest that is her husband's appointment to the Supreme Court as the replacement for a civil rights giant, Thurgood Marshall.

Saturday, October 16, 2010
Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Think
(4 comments) Don't Ask, Don't Tell is ridiculous and in denial of reality. A federal judge has said the obvious and our leaders should have the courage to accept it and move on.

Friday, October 8, 2010
Afghanistan: Incubator for green energy
The war in Afghanistan is getting more and more absurd. Now, it's an incubator for the military's green energy future.

Thursday, September 30, 2010
Rafael Correa stands up to a police insurgency for his people
Police are have the democratically-ele3cted President of Ecuador surrounded and a coup is possible. Meanwhile US leaders "follow" the situation and speak in vague platitudes without teeth.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The farce that keeps on giving in Afghanistan
The Obama administration is debating whether to tell President Hamid Karzai before we arrest members of his administration for corruption. US Afghanistan policy has now become farce.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010
The corruption conundrum
(4 comments) Corruption is the big issue now in Afghanistan. But that is not the real story; the real story is the overarching US corruption and a misguided unending war.

Thursday, September 2, 2010
Looking for a straight answer
(1 comments) "God" is now being summoned to solve our problems, but a glance around the world makes it clear "God" is only making things worse.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
President Obama and the curse of the Muslim seed
(1 comments) The slur about being a Muslim presents President Obama with a tricky dilemma: If he engages with the slur, he will find himself on a slippery slope to questioning the war he is determined to fight.

Thursday, August 19, 2010
Maintaining the empire
(3 comments) The left is attacked for not going along with the tragic decision to pursue more war in Afghanistan. General Petraeus means to stay a long time.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Bradley Manning and the secret world
(2 comments) Bradley Manning's homosexuality has nothing to do with the issue of WikiLeaks versus the secrecy regime of the US military.

Monday, August 9, 2010
American stupidity
(14 comments) The efforts to thwart a mosque in New York and other areas of the US reveals a dangerous strain of American stupidity.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The new Afghanistan policy: Murder Inc.
(1 comments) The military is playing hardball with WikiLeaks because the secret document magnet is making it clear the war in Afghanistan is over. We'll be cutting back our troops to the basics of assassin teams and their support.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Letter to an American hero
PFC Bradley Manning is imprisoned in Kuwait charged by the Army with leaking the WikiLeaks "Collateral Murder" video. The American public needs to know more about what he did. The military is hoping to make him disappear from the cultural radar screens.

Monday, July 19, 2010
The Long War; just say "No"
Military violence has a grip on America. We need to give hard-ball diplomacy a chance in Afghanistan.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010
The battle between the First and Second Amendments
(1 comments) The driving principles and the history behind the First and Second Amendments are in a struggle for America's soul.

Monday, July 5, 2010
Long wars, violence and change in America
(1 comments) Long wars and the American gun culture present a major challenge to the non-violent peace movement.

Monday, June 28, 2010
Holding our soldiers accountable
(1 comments) The antiwar soldiers movement has a long and proud tradition. It's time thinking, caring people supported current soldiers in that tradition.

Thursday, June 24, 2010
It's the war, stupid!
(2 comments) The scandal over General McChrystal was the perfect opportunity to open discussion on the war in Afghanistan. The opportunity was cut off at the pass.

Saturday, June 19, 2010
Truth through a soda straw
(2 comments) Politicians from both parties now defer to Pentagon leaders for decisions on war and peace -- something the founding fathers precisely tried to avoid. A man like Barack Obama with no military experience is forced to dance to their tune or be seen as taking them on. So he dances.

Thursday, June 17, 2010
Truth through a soda straw
President Obama and the US military under General David Petraeus are terrified of leaks from entities like WikiLeaks. They have good reason to be scared.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Unless otherwise directed ...
The wars in Iraq and especially Afghanistan are out of control and all efforts to criticize and analyze the wars are crushed before they can get to the American mind.

Thursday, May 20, 2010
Honduras: Bad faith down in The Gulch
The Obama administration has shown bad faith vis-s-vis the June 2009 coup in Honduras. It needs to stand up more for the people of Honduras and give less aid and comfort to the Honduran oligarchy and its military.

Friday, May 7, 2010
Saving Face in Afghanistan
(1 comments) An article on the Afghanistan quangmire from the War & peace beat of the blog This Can't Be happening.