Who “won” the 2022 midterm elections? Who has cause to crow the loudest? Democrats? They averted the traditional midterm swoon. Florida governor—and presidential hopeful—Ron DeSantis? His state GOP team swept away Dems at every level. Republicans in the House? They’re claiming a bare majority, enough to make life hell for President Joe Biden over the rest of his term. Continue reading
Far-right politicians are dragging America back to the 19th century. Continue reading
The day after every midterm congressional election, conventional wisdom turns to “the presidential campaign starts today.” Continue reading
The pundits are mystified by last Tuesday’s election outcome: they were certain a red wave was on its way. Continue reading
While it’s still too soon to know the full results of the midterms, there were some major victories on Tuesday night that spanned the entire country. Continue reading
Make no mistake about it, those who have demonized modern medical practices, including vaccinations and women’s health care—pejoratively referred to as “abortion” by its opponents—have no place in the public commons as they issue forth snake oil treatments and, like Dr. Mehmet Oz, suggest that an abortion is between a woman, her doctor, and her local politicians. Continue reading
Palestinians and their supporters are justified in celebrating the election victory of the leftist presidential candidate, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, in Brazil’s runoff elections on October 30. But Lula’s victory is incomplete and could ultimately prove ineffectual if not followed by a concrete and centralized Palestinian strategy. Continue reading
In voting against their own interests, including maintaining Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ benefits, a majority of Florida voters not only decided to give the former Miami “rent boy” Marco Rubio a third term in the U.S. Senate but gave a second term carte blanche to Governor Ron DeSantis to continue his march to establish the first Latin American-style fascist state within America’s borders. However, in securing another term as governor to launch his 2024 presidential campaign, DeSantis has incurred the wrath of Florida’s most infamous landed oligarch, former President Donald Trump. But more on that later. Continue reading
The U.S. government is still waging war on America’s military veterans. Continue reading
“No no you don’t understand, this US war is completely different from all the other US wars. See, the US is intervening in Ukraine for humanitarian reasons. We’re fighting a bad guy who is an evil dictator that loves war crimes and genocide. Not like all those other interventions.” Continue reading
Regardless of the outcome of the latest Israeli elections, Arab parties will not reap meaningful political benefits, even if they collectively achieve their highest representation ever. The reason is not about the parties themselves, but in Israel’s skewed political system which is predicated on racism and marginalization of non-Jews. Continue reading
Crawling on our hands and knees vomiting up life hearts which go bouncing across the floor like pennies, disgusted by the latest headline, the latest heartbreak, the latest bill, the latest bullshit. Continue reading
If you’re trying to process all those political ads you’re seeing about crime, you’d better look at the facts. Continue reading
On Valentine’s Day in 2018, Nikolas Cruz murdered 14 students and three school employees at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. More than four years later, a jury determined that Cruz’s crimes made him eligible for the death penalty, but did not unanimously vote to recommend that penalty. That absence of unanimity means Cruz will instead serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. Continue reading
Donald Trump is not above the law. He must be prosecuted—to preserve what’s left of our democracy. Continue reading
My wife and I recently had the tremendous misfortune of needing to buy a car. Car prices, you may know, reached an all-time high between this year and last. Continue reading
Who benefits from the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines which connect Germany to natural gas in Russia? The U.S. has the means, motive, and opportunity and was publicly opposed to the project for many years. Yet the crime victims are strangely silent about identifying the probable perpetrator. Continue reading
Even if corporatism didn’t mean quite the same thing back when Benito popularized the now over-used label of fascism it still, then and now, referred to capitalism. Currently being used by neo-liberals the way neo-conservatives use socialism, to ignorantly describe what they don’t like or understand, the stupidity and animosity being provoked is exactly what we don’t need in a time that calls for Americans to come together and actually create a democratic nation but just as much for the dominated world to do the same before not only America but the world itself suffers damage beyond what is survivable. Continue reading
Children of my Gaza refugee camp were rarely afraid of monsters but of Israeli soldiers. This is all that we talked about before going to bed. Unlike imaginary monsters in the closet or under the bed, Israeli soldiers are real, and they could show up any minute—at the door, on the roof or, as was often the case, right in the middle of the house. Continue reading
A jet airliner opens up and sends its passengers falling to earth. You’d expect them to scream, to cry, to cling to each other in fear, to prepare for the end, to pray, to think about their loved ones, but they don’t. Instead, they turn on each other and start fighting. Continue reading
Today, CEOs of big corporations are playing the tricky “Inflation Blame Game.” Continue reading
There is an old Chinese saying that certainly applies today: “Better to be a dog in times of tranquility than a human in times of chaos” or its modernized version: “May you live in interesting times.” Perhaps nothing represents these bizarre times more than the new anthem recently rolled out by the U.S. Space Force, a creation of Donald Trump that continues to haunt us. The anthem was written by Jamie Teachenor, a Nashville singer and song writer. Its lyrics include a mix of Pentagon jargon like “warfighters” and the Marvel Universe reference of “guardians,” as in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” The anthem was the brainchild of the Chief of Space Operations, General James Raymond. The song and its lyrics sound like the intro for a 1960s Saturday morning cartoon. Continue reading
Every day the Republican governors of Texas, Greg Abbott, and Florida, Ron DeSantis, eagerly announce that they are sending people generically labeled as migrants to what are known as sanctuary cities. The corporate media report that thousands of people have been convinced to board buses to New York City or Washington DC or Sacramento or Chicago or even chartered flights to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. What they don’t explain is who these migrants are and why their status is highly problematic and a function of imperialist foreign policy. Continue reading
I talk about narrative all the time partly because narrative control is the source and foundation of the power of the US-centralized empire. The ability to control the way people think, act and vote with mass-scale psychological manipulation allows our rulers to dominate us more pervasively than we could ever be dominated by brute totalitarian force, which is why so much energy goes into keeping the people from controlling their own narratives. That’s all the current mainstream panic about “disinformation” is, for example. If narrative control were fully decentralized, our rulers couldn’t rule. Continue reading
The US Department of Defense has ordered “a sweeping audit of how it conducts clandestine information warfare,” the Washington Post reports. The apparent reason for the review is an August disclosure, by Graphika and the Stanford Internet Observatory, that Twitter and Facebook, of social media accounts opened under fake identities and used to feed disinformation to “audiences overseas.” Continue reading
When I wrote my last column on Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s latest scheme to use his state’s treasury as a presidential campaign fund, the whole thing looked pretty silly and counter-productive. With more than half a million unfilled job openings in his state, why is he scooping up immigrants and flying them to Massachusetts instead of letting them improve Florida’s economy? Continue reading
Have you ever noticed how those who shriek the loudest about tyranny in foreign countries are always the same people calling for the censorship and deplatforming of anyone who criticizes the western empire? Continue reading
You can learn to meditate from one of the great spiritual teachers of India, Jangama Dhyana, then meditate with him live online and ask him questions—all for free. The first step is to learn his easy technique of Vedic meditation. Then join him Saturdays for a meditation and question-and-answer session. Continue reading
Consider the harmful, grasping tentacles by corporations around the bodies and minds of youngsters through relentless direct marketing that bypasses parental authority. Now comes my sister Claire Nader’s new book You Are Your Own Best Teacher! Sparking the Curiosity, Imagination and Intellect of Tweens. Continue reading
For generations, workers have been punished by corporate bosses for watching the clock. But now, the corporate clock is watching workers. Continue reading
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Thoughts that should probably occur more often
Posted on November 17, 2022 by Caitlin Johnstone
I wonder if my own government is being truthful about its actions in that part of the world? Continue reading →