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Masters of deceit: The government’s propaganda of fear, mind control & brain warfare
The U.S. government has become a master of deceit. Continue reading
Will the United Nations finally deliver justice for Palestine?
In his anticipated speech today at the United Nations General Assembly, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is expected to, once more, make a passionate plea for the recognition of Palestine as a full member. Continue reading
Peace activists hit the streets from D.C. to San Francisco
On September 18, President Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin, “Don’t. Don’t. Don’t” use nuclear weapons in retaliation for severe battlefield losses in Ukraine. While Putin dismissed Biden’s worries as unfounded, the specter of nuclear Armageddon drove U.S. antiwar activists to the streets days before in a September Week of Action organized by the Peace in Ukraine Coalition. Continue reading
What do Americans care about? Not a cold war with Russia and China
The Biden administration will soon release its National Security Strategy, which is being revised in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The document will no doubt trigger a renewed debate about how the United States should gear up for a new Cold War against Russia and China. But before we plunge into a global great-power competition, it’s worth recalling President Biden’s promise to create a “foreign policy for the middle class” and take a look at what most concerns Americans. Continue reading
Florida: the Schwarze Sonnenschein Staat
Heinrich Himmler’s SS adopted the Teutonic runic Black Sun—Schwarze Sonne—as its favorite symbol. In May 2022, the neo-Nazi who massacred ten black people at a Buffalo supermarket wore the Black Sun on his body armor. On September 1, the would-be neo-Nazi assassin of Argentina’s Vice President, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, wore a Black Sun tattoo. And, in keeping with the theme, Florida’s far-right Governor Ron DeSantis has quickly turned the Sunshine State into the “Black Sunshine State,” in homage to the Nazi Schwarze Sonne. Continue reading
How vote count mistakes by two rural counties fed Trump’s big lie
County officials didn’t properly set up and use their election computers, helping to launch a looming disinformation juggernaut.
Since 2020’s presidential election, two rural counties in Michigan and Colorado that initially reported incorrect results have had outsized roles in spreading Donald Trump’s big lie that his second term was stolen by Democrats colluding with one of the country’s biggest computerized voting systems makers. Continue reading
The guru—live in your living room!
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
Banned in the USA
As Banned Books Week Celebrates its 40th anniversary, it’s time to unequivocally condemn censorship
In her best-selling novel “Speak,” young adult author Laurie Halse Anderson wrote, “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.” Since the American Library Association (ALA) and Association of American Publishers helped launch Banned Books Week (BBW) forty years ago, that dysfunctional family of censorship has unfortunately grown larger and more vociferous. Across the United States, this past year has brought a staggering increase in book challenges, bans, and other attacks on the right to read and academic freedom. Continue reading
Book-banning efforts rising at unprecedented rate, US libraries report
"We're truly fearful that at some point we will see a librarian arrested for providing constitutionally protected books on disfavored topics," said one free speech advocate.
Right-wing attempts to ban books are showing no sign of slowing down, according to a report released Friday by the American Library Association—and in fact have reached an unprecedented level, with libraries and bookstores increasingly facing legal threats over the materials on their shelves. Continue reading
Evil empire: Let the monarchy die along with Elizabeth
The death of Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-serving monarch of British royalty, has sparked global fascination and spawned thousands of clickbait reports of the details of her funeral. Americans, who centuries ago rejected monarchy, are seemingly obsessed with the ritualism, bizarrely mourning the demise of an elderly and fabulously wealthy woman who was born into privilege and who died of natural causes at the ripe old age of 96 across the ocean. Continue reading
‘Avenging Sabra and Shatila’: On Israeli massacres and Palestinian resistance
September 16 marked the 40th anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, the killing of around 3,000 Palestinians at the hands of Lebanon’s Phalangist militias operating under the command of the Israeli army. Continue reading
Who is raising our children? Liberating tweens from corporate tentacles
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
‘Extremely traumatizing’: Louisiana woman forced to travel 2,500 miles for abortion speaks out
Nancy Davis was forced to carry a fetus with a deadly skull deformity for six weeks due to her state's post-Roe trigger law banning most abortions.
A Louisiana woman denied an abortion despite carrying a fetus with a fatally flawed skull revealed Wednesday that she traveled nearly 2,500 miles round trip to New York City in order to undergo the procedure. Continue reading
All the ways in which our rights have been usurped
It’s easy to become discouraged about the state of our nation. Continue reading
Why our electricity prices can’t be left to bogus ‘free markets’
The so-called electricity markets were created to help private capital, not people. It is time that we wind up such bogus electricity markets and return all such public services to the people, to be run cooperatively for their benefit.
The price of electricity has risen astronomically in Europe over the last two years: by four times over the previous year and 10 times over the last two years. The European Union (EU) has claimed that this rise in prices is due to the increase in the price of gas in the international market and Russia not supplying enough gas. This raises the critical question: Why should, for example, the German electricity price rise four times when natural gas contributes around one-seventh of its electricity production? Why does the UK, which generates 40 percent of its electricity from renewables and nuclear plants, and produces half the natural gas it consumes, also see a steep rise in the price of electricity? Continue reading
Decolonizing the mind
The word decolonization should not be treated as trendy slang. It describes an important political and psychological process. Media and state attempts at indoctrination show just how important it is.
It is vital to free ourselves from belief in the systems of white supremacy and imperialism that are inculcated in the educational system and are affirmed and amplified by the media and establishment opinion. The recent death of Queen Elizabeth II puts the need for political and psychological liberation in high relief. We are encouraged to admire an anachronistic monarchy, and are exhorted to join in mourning an individual and a system that have caused great harm to Black and other oppressed people around the world. Continue reading
Barr covered up Bush I & Reagan’s treason—no surprise he covered up Trump’s
Geoffrey Berman has a new book out, “Holding the Line: Inside the Nation’s Preeminent US Attorney’s Office and Its Battle with the Trump Justice Department,” laying out chapter and verse of how Bill Barr corrupted the Department of Justice on behalf of Donald Trump. Barr’s coverups for Trump range, in my read, from criminal activity to treason. Continue reading
‘Republicans keep showing us who they are’: Graham introduces federal abortion ban
"Senate Republicans are showing us exactly what they plan to do if they get power," said the president of Planned Parenthood. "It's dangerous—and the stakes have never been higher."
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced legislation Tuesday that would ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a proposal that reproductive rights defenders warned is a signal of the draconian policy agenda the GOP intends to pursue if it retakes Congress in the upcoming November midterms. Continue reading
Jayapal ties Trumpian rhetoric to violent threats against US lawmakers and democracy
“We are at a precipice and we’re counting on the American people to come through—and I have hope that people will realize that we have to turn this clock back.” Continue reading
The Queen and her legacy: 21st Century Britain has never looked so medieval
Anyone in the UK who imagined they lived in a representative democracy—one in which leaders are elected and accountable to the people—will be in for a rude awakening over the next days and weeks. Continue reading
Alito’s selective reading of US history ignored 19th-century women’s support for ‘voluntary motherhood’
The history of abortion in the U.S. guided some of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s arguments in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. Alito argued that abortion has never been a “deeply rooted” constitutional right in the United States. Continue reading
France’s influence in Africa faces strains from locals and foreign competitors
The recent visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Algeria is an attempt by Paris to hold on to the economic and cultural control it once had over its former colonies.
France’s ongoing affair with Algeria reflects the complicated relationship it has with many of its former colonies in Africa. The French first began to establish trading posts on the Senegalese coast in the early 17th century and launched several expeditions against Barbary pirates and slave traders in North Africa in the mid-to-late 17th century. The French invasion of Ottoman Algiers in 1830 then transformed France’s relationship with Africa and launched the beginning of French colonialism into the interior of the continent. Continue reading
A few royal memories
Many young stamp collectors, like myself, discovered who Queen Elizabeth was after constantly seeing her side portrait or silhouette on stamps from what seemed like everyplace in the world: from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to Malta, Tanganyika, Gold Coast, Bechuanaland, the Gilbert Islands, and Hong Kong. Crowned two years before I was born, it is amazing to reflect back to how many times I encountered something or someone having to do with the Queen. From living in one of her many realms – Barbados — for over two years to my first ever trip abroad to England in 1975, there was no getting away from the fact that Elizabeth was not only the Queen of England, but also of scores of other vestiges of the old empire. In addition, she was the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, many of which I had the occasion to visit after they had become republics. One could not but notice the high regard many of their citizens had for their former monarch or royal protector, whether it was in India, Cyprus, Uganda, Singapore, Sarawak, Brunei, Sikkim, or Fiji. Continue reading
The most important election in the Americas is in Brazil
Former Brazilian President Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva (known as Lula) runs about on stage at the Latin America Memorial in São Paulo. He was there on August 22, 2022, speaking at a book launch featuring photographs by Ricardo Stuckert about Lula’s trips around the world when he was the president of Brazil from 2003 to 2010. Lula is a man with a great deal of energy. He recounts the story of when he was in Iran with his Foreign Minister Celso Amorim in 2010, trying to mediate and end the conflict imposed by the United States over Iran’s nuclear energy policy. Lula managed to secure a nuclear deal in 2010 that would have prevented the ongoing pressure campaign that Washington is conducting against Tehran. There was relief in the air. Then, Lula said, “Obama pissed outside the pot.” According to Lula, then-U.S. President Barack Obama did not accept the deal and crushed the hard work of the Brazilian leadership in bringing all sides to an agreement. Continue reading
Nukes on the brink in Ukraine and California
The latest “Nuclear Power Renaissance” is on the brink of creating radioactive Dark Ages in Ukraine, California and at more than 400 other atomic reactors worldwide. Continue reading
‘Painful march for freedom’: The triumphant legacy of Palestinian prisoners
“As soon as I left prison, I went to Nael’s grave. It is adorned with the colors of the Palestinian flag and verses from the Holy Quran. I told my little brother how much I loved and appreciated him, and that, one day, we would meet again in paradise.” Continue reading
Some worship at the feet of roadkill
Some worship at the feet of deities, at the feet of gurus, at the feet of dead prophets, at the feet of stone idols, in churches, in temples, in mosques, in Mecca. Continue reading
The road to fascism: How the war in Ukraine is changing Europe
As soon as I landed in Rome, I discovered that I was no longer able to access any Russian media whatsoever. Unfortunately, threats by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, that Europe should sever all links with “Russia’s propaganda machine” were taken seriously by the Italian government. Continue reading
Bringing workers’ rights into a constitution? An innovative state ballot proposal could offer a new path for labor
Chris Frydenger’s young coworkers at the Mueller Company performed the same work and brought the same dedication to their jobs as he did, but the manufacturer’s two-tier wage system exploited newer hires by paying them thousands less each year. Continue reading
Biden’s MAGA obsession won’t help Democrats
Because Joe Biden and Democrats act on behalf of the oligarchy instead of the people, they now risk a mid-term election loss. His solution to this political problem is to speak endlessly about Donald Trump and shout the word MAGA at every opportunity.
Anyone paying attention knows that Joe Biden’s accomplishments as president are pretty sparse. The oligarchy allowed his American Rescue Plan stimulus program to go through but then put a stop on Build Back Better or any other legislation that would help the people in a meaningful way. The student loan debt relief plan is a bait and switch scam used against desperate people. Biden brags about allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies but that won’t happen until 2026 and will only be allowed for ten drugs that are to be named later. Continue reading
Will America see a 2nd major renewal of the middle class?
It’s easy to get lost in despair and outrage over the state of affairs in America. Women and queer people are being forced back into the kitchen and closet, climate change is killing scores of Americans every week, our schools and public areas are under constant assault by armed Republican gangs and GOP-sanctioned mass shooters. Over the past decade more than a million American lives have been lost to “deaths of despair” as a result of our 40-year experiment with Reagan’s neoliberalism. Continue reading
The trouble with ‘western values’ is that westerners don’t value them
Posted on September 20, 2022 by Caitlin Johnstone
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 →