My views on history & current events
‘Dr. Strangelove is No Longer Satire’
Dr. Strangelove is No Longer Satire appeared in Covert Action Magazine March 1, 2023. A leader of Germany’s Left...
‘With Us or Against Us’ Fails in Munich & Bangalore as US Tries ‘Offer They Can’t Refuse’
‘With Us or Against Us’ Fails appeared March 6 in Covert Action Magazine. It tells the story of intense,...
Zero-Covid: ‘Breaking a Contract’ or Keeping a Promise?
Attacking China’s record on managing the Covid pandemic seems like a bad choice. While the recent protests do highlight people’s frustrations, the small size of the protests would suggest the general attitude of the majority has not changed much from a year ago: strong trust in their government.
Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball for a Global Economy
US sanctions on more than 40 countries are a “wrecking ball.” But they’re also a boomerang that is devastating Europe, and rapidly surging into the lives of people at home. High prices for gasoline, food and other necessities are the tip of an iceberg, or the headwinds of a hurricane. Much worse is headed our way. We need this book to understand what’s coming and get ready. We need the explanations and background, to really understand what’s happening, and we need the “Sanctions Kill Toolkit.”
Biden Travels East in Clouds of Mistrust
There’s a trust problem for the U.S. at all these global conferences. “Joe Biden comes to COP27 and makes new promises. He’s like a salesman selling goods with endless small print.” In Cambodia, “ASEAN leaders reiterated their strong ties with Beijing and issued a statement supporting One China, opposing independence for Taiwan.” And in Indonesia, the U.S. finds the G20 to be “a symbol of the transformation from the West having the only say to common governance across the globe…"
Opposition Grows to US Bases Poised Against China
Okinawans and US organizations urged members of Congress to support their demands to close these dangerous and destructive US military bases, which only serve the interests of war profiteers.
Dissenting Soldiers Challenge the War Machine
“Belligerent US foreign policy not only creates victims in other countries while getting our soldiers killed and injured but inevitably reverberates at home."
Robin DG Kelley’s Freedom Dreams
Robin DG Kelley, the noted African American history professor, came to Harlem in September to share insights from...
Why It’s So Hard to Stop the War Machine
I’ve just now published a “double review” of two important books: American Exceptionalism & American Innocence:...
Vietnam, Black Liberation, and the Weather Underground
"We felt... the full weight of the catastrophe unfolding before us. The world was in flames,… Vietnam bearing the brunt and racism at home paralleling most of the horrors visited upon the third world. Human existence itself seemed in grave doubt as...the world raced toward oblivion.... It was up to us to rescue everyone…”
My review(s) of ‘The Destiny of Civilization’
The US/NATO confrontation with Russia in Ukraine is achieving just the opposite of America’s aim of preventing China, Russia and their allies from acting independently of U.S. control over their trade and investment policy… the Biden Administration’s plan was to split Russia away from China and then cripple China’s own military and economic viability. But the effect of American diplomacy has been to drive Russia and China together, joining with Iran, India and other allies.
Two military resister reviews of “My Whirlwind Lives”
Two friends I’ve never met in person but feel I’ve known for decades, wrote of their own experiences of resistance,...
My Whirlwind Lives launched May 26 at People’s Forum, NYC
The launch event for My Whirlwind Lives was great fun. I chatted for about an hour with Danny Haiphong of Black...
Anti-Russian Propaganda Limits Peace Prospects
Ukraine’s current leadership and its U.S./NATO backers would like to avoid a settlement that reflects the demographic and historical reality of the country. But this is precisely one key issue that should guide negotiations for a peace agreement. A peace agreement reflecting Russia’s legitimate concerns (voiced for many months and years) would establish a viable basis of cooperation by Russia with Ukraine and with Europe.
From Goldwater to the Green New Deal
This political journey would go from marching to exile; from exile to organizing resistance to the draft to organizing draft resisters in Canada and Europe... a personal testimony from a human who has dedicated his life to a more just world.
Launching My Whirlwind Lives at People’s Forum 5/26/22
We launched My Whirlwind Lives May 26 at People's Forum – really good and really fun! Click here to watch &...
People’s Summit Surges While Official ‘Americas Summit’ Sags
As US State Department scrambles to avoid embarrassment at Summit for the Americas in LA, the People’s Summit for Democracy at same time and place has support of 200+ groups
A political pilgrimage during six decades
A political history of the last six decades and a program worth discussing for staying in motion through today’s storms