Republican politicos are all over Joe Biden for failing to stop inflation. Perhaps you wonder, though, what these squawkers would do if they were in charge. Continue reading
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The GOP has nothing to offer on inflation
Republicans are beating up Joe Biden for rising prices while blocking efforts to do anything about it.
Efforts at upholding oblivion over dictatorship crimes in Uruguay
The U.S.-backed Latin American dictatorships are still tarnishing their respective countries with the legacy of oblivion. Earlier last month, Uruguay’s “Relatives of the Disappeared” cautioned that President Luis Lacalle is “whitening the history of Juan Bordaberry’s dictatorship” by holding a meeting with the “Representatives of Political Prisoners” group who are claiming an infringement of liberty in terms of the prison sentences meted out to the dictatorship’s executioners. The meeting took place at the presidential residence. According to reports, Lacalle has not committed himself to upholding their concerns. Continue reading
The war-profiteering gangsters will kill us all unless we unite against them
I figured something out after tossing and turning all night. We on the left often make the mistake of still looking upon Russia as a somewhat socialist enterprise. Of course, it isn’t. The Soviet Union ended in 1991. Russia is an unadulterated neoliberal capitalist gangster’s paradise, modeled during the time of its horrific restructuring under Boris Yeltsin (1991-1999) on the United States of America. It should come as no surprise that its autocratic, and possibly unhinged leader, Vladimir Putin, has no more respect for the UN Charter and international law than recent presidents of the United States or prime ministers of England have had. (For example, remember George W. Bush and Tony Blair during the Iraq invasion.) I, on the other hand, do care about international law and the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and can unequivocally state that if I had been eligible to vote in the General Assembly on March 2, I would have voted with the 141 ambassadors who supported the resolution condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and demanding that it withdraw its armed forces. Continue reading
Mass suffering in Ukraine amidst historic refugee crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin this past weekend turned down numerous requests from foreign leaders that he agree at least to cease fire in his war against Ukraine as the number of Ukrainians fleeing across the border into Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Russia ballooned to 1.5 million of the nation’s population of 44 million. The refugee crisis is the worst in Europe since World War II when many millions were uprooted in the wake of the war and Holocaust instigated by the Nazis. Continue reading
Can Iran and the U.S. breathe life back into nuclear deal?
The possibility of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—or the Iran nuclear deal—being revived, though difficult, seems to have brightened in February 2022. The U.S. may now also believe that the potential loss of Russian natural gas and oil due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war needs to be offset by Iran returning to the global oil market. The nuclear deal could have been accomplished much earlier if not for the Biden administration’s unwillingness to commit to the “way forward” offered by Iran to stay in the deal for the remainder of Biden’s term as president, according to Responsible Statecraft. Former United States President Donald Trump had pulled out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 on the premise that he could get a better deal than the one negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama. Continue reading
There’s no sugarcoating Hershey’s abuse of workers and union-busting tactics
Hershey factory workers in Virginia are sick of company abuses and are voting to join a union. But their union-busting employer has other plans.
There is a bittersweet battle taking place in Stuarts Draft, Virginia. Workers at the Hershey Company’s second-largest factory, located in the small town of about 12,000, are seeking to unionize. In response, the nation’s largest candy manufacturer is throwing the full force of the standard corporate union-busting playbook at them. The Virginia Hershey manufacturing plant employs about 1,300 people, none of whom are sharing in the bounty of the company’s record profits reaped during a pandemic where Americans ate their weight in candy through numerous lockdowns. Continue reading
Ukraine exposes white supremacist foreign policy
White supremacy is at the heart of US war propaganda. The exhortation to "stand with Ukraine" is no exception to this rule.
By now everyone knows that Ukraine’s flag is blue and yellow. It is impossible to miss as the Empire State Building in New York, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris have all been bathed in those colors. Nearly every city and town across the United States has followed suit and politicians ranging from local legislators to members of congress shout “Stand with Ukraine!” at every opportunity. Continue reading
The Mind Control Police: The government’s war on thought crimes and truth-tellers
The U.S. government, which speaks in a language of force, is afraid of its citizenry. Continue reading
Biden’s real challenge is not Russia or China, but poverty in America
Mainstream US media continues to celebrate the supposed strength of the US economy. Almost daily, headlines speak of hopeful numbers, sustainable growth, positive trends and constant gains. The reality on the ground, however, tells of something entirely different, which raises the questions: Are Americans being lied to? And for what purpose? Continue reading
How much have Americans lost their sense of agency?
“Agency” is the ability to control yourself and your own life. “Loss of agency” is the psychological term for people no longer being able to influence the course of their own life or the world around them. Continue reading
Breaking News Feb 21, 4pm US Central time: The day the world changed
I listened to Putin’s address to the Russian people, indeed, to the entire world, following his meeting with the Security Council. He expressed his sadness that negotiating with the West has taught him complete distrust of Washington, and Putin made it clear that Russia would be prepared for the war that Washington is intent to bring to Russia. Continue reading
Ukraine: US “diplomacy” is the problem; can it become the solution?
After weeks of unsuccessfully attempting to either bully Russia’s Vladimir Putin into submission or bait him into war, US president Joe Biden may finally be looking for a face-saving exit from of the Ukraine “crisis” of his own making. Continue reading
Consciousness is all there is
As Mark Twain once said, “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you in trouble, it’s what you know for sure but which just isn’t true.” Continue reading
Nuke power at the brink of bankruptcy, war, apocalypse
Fifteen atomic reactors in Ukraine currently spew out massive quantities of radiation alongside the smoldering ruin of Chernobyl Unit 4. Continue reading
Washington has prepared an invasion narrative
The other day I asked, “What is Washington up to?” It is already time to ask that question again. Continue reading
Why Trump can’t be ignored & must be held accountable
Violent behavior on airplanes has reached such epidemic proportions that the president of Delta Airlines last week asked the Department of Homeland security to allow the airlines to submit passengers who have terrified or otherwise abused flight crews for placement on the government’s no-fly list. Continue reading
Africa must not abandon Palestine by granting Israel observer status
The current split in the African Union (AU) over Israel’s observer membership status is emblematic of a larger conflict that could potentially split the African continent’s largest political institutions. Continue reading
Russian recognition of Donbass long overdue
In February 2014, the Obama/Biden regime’s Maidan coup transformed democratic Ukraine into Nazi-infested fascist rule. Continue reading
By all measures, the US has the world’s most incompetent government and the worst media
US President Biden claims Russian troops continue “encircling Ukraine” even as Moscow says they are withdrawing. Continue reading
“China is a freakish, backwards nation,” bleat the slaves from their dystopia
“China is a freakish, backwards nation,” say the media in a nation whose government has spent the 21st century slaughtering people by the millions in military operations overseas so that it can literally rule the world like a comic book supervillain. Continue reading
Why is Olympian Eileen Gu so controversial?
Perhaps it is because as a young, biracial woman, she dared to make a choice for herself.
Eileen Gu is an 18-year-old from San Francisco who made the decision to ski in the 2022 Beijing Olympics for China instead of the United States and just won the gold in freestyle skiing. You may have either heard her name mentioned during the Olympic coverage or by the likes of television host Tucker Carlson and South African comedian Trevor Noah. Continue reading
Whoopi Goldberg slipped up but some of her critics are shameless hypocrites
Award-winning actress/comedian/author Whoopi Goldberg, co-host of ABC-TV’s The View, has been suspended for two weeks for a minor slip-up (Monday, January 31) regarding the Holocaust. Continue reading
Old world odor needs cleansing by a new world order before the stench kills everyone
The imperial center of the capitalist attack on nature in pursuit of private profits that threaten ultimate public loss continues into the new year, but we’re hopefully closer to a solution of our racial (human) problem at this most crucial time. With countless systemic breakdowns and divisions among people that seem, especially in America, to invite calamity, it may be the rest of the world that offers the most hope. Continue reading
They don’t just lie to us about wars; they lie to us about everything
Propaganda isn’t just about manufacturing consent for wars and ridiculous governmental measures we’d never normally accept. That’s what most people think of when they hear that word, but there’s so very, very much more to it than that. Continue reading
Eric Adams’ Black on Black crime
The mass incarceration state was built to lock up as many Black people as possible and discussion of even modest reforms is shut down. Such was the case in New York where the mayor and police commissioner smeared Manhattan's district attorney, forcing him to backtrack on his campaign promise of reducing the number of prison sentences. The Black face rises to the high place because of adherence to white supremacist ideology.
The term “black on black crime” is a particularly pernicious trope. It is a ruse used to absolve the systemic racism which kills Black people in a plethora of ways. It invalidates Black people’s suffering and gives license to law enforcement and its many acts of brutality. Continue reading
How a cooperative run by the formerly incarcerated is reshaping Chicago’s food industry
Megacorporations tend to dominate food contracting with schools and other large facilities in America. In Chicago, Black formerly incarcerated people are prepping locally sourced meals for schools, nursing homes and transitional housing facilities.
If you went to public school in the U.S., chances are good that you remember school lunch as tater tots, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, burgers with fries and pizza slices so soaked through with oil that kids would pad them with napkins in attempts to soak up the grease. Then there were the chocolate milk cartons, a variety of soda choices, giant cookies, Hostess brand baked goods, many types of candy, and Frito-Lay brand chips of all varieties, among other unhealthy snacks and beverages schools regularly served. Continue reading
Helsinki 2.0
The European security order has broken down. The conflict around Ukraine is a symptom of this larger problem.
The European security order has broken down. Continue reading
Demon slayers to the rescue
We live in a time of multi-leveled ghastliness. People are dropping dead from COVID and dropping dead from the vaccine that’s supposed to prevent it. The weather is rampaging, the earth spewing fire. Mental illness has become normal. Continue reading
Can Israel stop the world from saying ‘apartheid’? Concealing the suffering in Palestine
On January 27, 2022, the Hebrew-language news site Walla published part of the text from a telegram sent by Amir Weissbrod—who is part of the Israeli Foreign Ministry—to Israeli embassies around the world. The telegram warned the Israeli diplomats that in the upcoming 49th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), which is expected to begin on February 28, a report will be tabled regarding Israel’s 2021 bombing of Gaza. This report will apparently use the word “apartheid” to refer to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinians, according to the telegram. Continue reading
How to get teenagers to read important books? Ban them.
When I was a young teenager near the middle of the last century, I asked the high school librarian if I could borrow J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Why did I want to read it? she asked. I lied and told her my parents told me it was excellent literature. Continue reading
Banned books should be required reading
The people who want to ban ‘Maus’ or ‘The 1619 Project’ are the ones who need to read them.
In January, a Tennessee county school board voted unanimously to ban Maus, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelamn about his parents’ experience in Auschwitz, from school classrooms. The ban, which complained about profanity and (mouse) nudity, came shortly before Holocaust Remembrance Day. Continue reading
Why don’t we treat all refugees as though they were Ukrainian?
Masses of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere have faced racially motivated hostility in Europe. Now, Ukraine’s refugee crisis is revealing Western double standards.
Posted on March 10, 2022 by Sonali Kolhatkar
It was inevitable that when brown-skinned Afghan refugees fleeing war were turned away from European borders over the past few years, the callous actions of these governments would come back to haunt them. A whopping 1 million people have fled Ukraine from Russia’s violent invasion in the span of only a week. They are being welcomed—as refugees should be—into neighboring nations, inviting accusations of racist double standards. Continue reading →