Category Archives: Commentary

My wife and I recently watched on Netflix the brilliant Don’t Look Up! starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, written and produced by Adam McKay and David Sirota. Continue reading →

Twitter has permanently suspended the personal account of Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene for what the platform calls “repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” much to the delight of liberals and pro-censorship leftists everywhere. This follows the Twitter ban of Dr Robert Malone on the same grounds a few days prior, which followed an unbroken pattern of continually escalating and expanding censorship protocols ever since the 2016 US election. Continue reading →

The progressive citizen groups, that in the sixties and seventies, drove through Congress the key environmental, worker, and consumer legislation, since unmatched, must feel nostalgic. Those were the years when legislation throwing cruel companies on the defensive was signed by arch-corporatist, President Richard Nixon, because he read the political tea leaves. Continue reading →

In March 2020 when the COVID pandemic was first tightening its deadly grip on America and the newscasters were looking horrified as they read the figures they were getting, a phrase flashed through my head: “The Plague that Killed Capitalism.” Continue reading →

During this just-behind-us holiday season, occasionally I cruised our zillions of television channels and watched some movies, and it occurred to me that once upon a time, and not too long ago, on almost every one of our TV shows and in our films, bullies and crooks were the enemy. Continue reading →

The result of a vote, on December 14, in the US House of Representatives regarding the combating of Islamophobia, may, possibly, appear to be a positive sign of change, that Washington is finally confronting this socio-political evil. However, conclusions must not be too hasty. Continue reading →

Some years ago, a young, hippyish couple knocked on my front door. They had noticed that I had fig trees in the yard, laden with summer fruit. If I wasn’t going to pick them all, they asked, could they harvest some figs? Continue reading →

Most people we call “African American” have more European ancestry than African, Black friends have long informed me. Continue reading →

The decision by several governments across the globe to institute travel bans on seven African countries, starting on November 27, due to the discovery of a new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, was perceived to be hasty in the eyes of some and fully justifiable on medical grounds, in the view of others. However, the matter is hardly that of a difference of opinion. Continue reading →

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day which was marked on December 10, the UN pledged to accelerate the implementation of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), without taking into consideration the various global inequalities which make generic implementation impossible. Continue reading →

Headlines are screaming that inflation is here to stay. Continue reading →

If anything, Washington’s neoconservatives have an unerring instinct for survival. Having brought about multiple disasters in the two decades since 9/11—from the Iraq War to the twin debacles in Libya and Syria—the neoconservatives seem to have perfected the art of failing up. Continue reading →

In a world that’s clogged and choking with a massive overdose of plastic trash, you’ll be heartened to learn that governments and industries are teaming up to respond forcefully to this planetary crisis. Continue reading →

I recently saw a post shared on Instagram regarding abortion rights in which the person argued that there were not enough men coming forward to say how they were saved from unwanted fatherhood because of an abortion. The point of the post was to open the question of solidarity to those who actually stand against abortion restriction laws, and for those people to come forward with their support into the open. It’s one thing to say that I stand with something, some cause; but it’s another thing to relate an actual experience to it—to find its connective tissue back to the cause and the words themselves. So I wanted to tell a story that is at least partially mine to tell. Continue reading →

I write in praise of bravery. Your bravery for paying attention to the news, for reading and sharing this story. For not looking away. Continue reading →

“Let us look at ourselves, if we have the courage, to see what is happening to us”—Jean-Paul Sartre Continue reading →

After a 5-month hiatus, indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran resumed last week in Vienna in an attempt to revise the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). The outlook isn’t good. Continue reading →

“What about the Supreme Court?” Those words are used to thwart any discussion which questions support for the Democratic Party. The Democrats maintain their hold on voters who would otherwise be rid of them by dredging up the fear of the federal judiciary falling under Republican Party control. The legal right to abortion is one of the issues used to keep millions of people from leaving the Democrats once and for all. Continue reading →

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris does not have any biological children and grew up middle-class. Meanwhile, Utah Senator Mitt Romney, a Mormon with five kids, was born into wealth and has substantially increased it for his family. Continue reading →

‘Tis the season, right? Traditionally, this time of year celebrates spirituality and festivities—including Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa. Continue reading →

Despite a disagreement over some amendments in the Senate, the United States Congress is poised to pass a $778 billion military budget bill for 2022. As they have been doing year after year, our elected officials are preparing to hand the lion’s share—over 65%—of federal discretionary spending to the U.S. war machine, even as they wring their hands over spending a mere quarter of that amount on the Build Back Better Act. Continue reading →

President Joe Biden will soon regurgitate the public words George W. Bush uttered in 2002. Words that ushered in a global war on terrorism, a 20-year was in Afghanistan, a second invasion of Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, thousands of Americans killed/wounded, US “Black Sites” for torture and trillions in resources/dollars squandered away: “Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” Simply replace terrorists with Russia, China, and Iran and you’ve got the war cry for 2022 onward. It likely will not be long until those exact words will be used when war breaks out on the Ukrainian border and, perhaps, the South China Sea. Israel may get the green light from the USA to start a bombing campaign on Iran. It’s not likely that the USA wants anything to do with a ground campaign in Iran or China or Russia. But US military advisors will be active on the front in Ukraine if the Russians do invade. Continue reading →

With the failure of the US backed TPLF Terrorist coup attempt against the democratically elected government of Ethiopia, the USA is facing it’s greatest strategic blunder since losing Iran in 1979. Continue reading →

There was a time when Democrats called their party “the Party of Freedom.” Continue reading →

On December 9 and 10, President Biden will host a virtual “Summit for Democracy.” The gathering will bring together leaders from 110 countries who work in government, civil society and the private sector, with the officially declared purpose of developing an agenda to renew democratic government and keep democracy’s ideals strong. (The guest list includes Pakistan, Ukraine and Brazil.) As authoritarianism grows around the world, including in the U.S., the administration says it seeks practical ideas and strong alliances against its spread. Continue reading →

We interrupt the eulogies for former Senator Bob Dole to bring the readers a few important facts. Normally, when some old politician dies, it is wise to follow the Latin dictum: De mortuis nihil nisi bonum (“Of the dead, [say] nothing but good”). However, in Bob Dole’s case, we must make a few exceptions. Continue reading →

I was told that a man by the name of John Doe passed through the offices of Argentine congressmen. He wasn’t carrying heavy bags of cash, but only had an American Express card on him. Doe was a well-groomed and well-dressed U.S. national who came on behalf of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). He came bearing gifts for several congressmen: airfare, lodging, and entertainment in Washington, D.C. It is a well-known fact that deputies in Third World countries travel to first world countries, especially to the United States, to meet their rich sponsors. The gifts from Doe were well received in several offices. Continue reading →

My friend, Carl Sagan, used to talk about the first major war we fought. In the age of reptiles (Mesozoic era), our warrior-ancestors were tiny mouse-sized creatures, the first of our mammalian class to exist, eventually evolving into humans. Continue reading →