IMPORTANT READS

WORLD WATCH--As a little Jewish boy in the streets of Baghdad I was looked upon by Arab boys my age as inferior.

CLIMATE POLITICS-For nearly a decade the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant has been streaming radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

GUEST WORDS--In a mind-numbing, butt-freezing, irony-rich shitshow that begged willing metaphors to write themselves, the guys who say they want to run the country just failed to run a parking lot in Omaha after missing post-rally buses left thousands of believers stranded for hours and miles in frigid temps in search of their cars, and dozens in need of medical help.

GUEST WORDS--In a stunningly brazen pivot, the White House has admitted to giving up on the pandemic, even as a "grossly negligent" Pence continues campaigning despite five aides testing positive and Trump gallivants across the country leaving COVID outbreaks in his wake, stopping only long enough to insanely charge doctors are inflating COVID numbers to make more money. 

SCOTUS-Though it may seem almost passé at this point under our ever-churning news cycle, over the last few weeks, one of the hottest topics discussed in the national news was the issue of “packing” the U.S. Supreme Court.

ELECTION 2020-The irony on Thursday morning cable news was too delicious not to savor.

GUEST WORDS--I’m of the generation that was born during World War II.

ELECTION 2020-We are only two weeks out from election day and the picture looks quite grim for Donald Trump and the Republican party.

THE COLOR OF OUR ELECTIONS--There have been fifty-six presidential elections in the United States since the first in 1788. In each of them, two white men (with one exception) have competed for the privilege of leading this country, and, (without exception), each and every pair of them has been dedicated to this nation’s not-so-hidden agenda–the maintenance of white-male supremacy–a system of oppression first established by Columbus, in 1492. 

PERSPECTIVE--This weekend's Women's March, like those that came before, brimmed with hope, rage, resolve and fabulous signs:

HOW RACIST IS AMERICA?-Republican Sen. David Perdue willfully mispronounced the name of his Senate colleague and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Friday,

DEMOCRACY ON THE PRECIPICE-- On September 1, 2020, I received a direct message (DM) on Twitter from a reporter working with a mainstream outlet requesting comment.

DECISION 2020-Our president has openly said he might not respect the outcome of our election. Is it a sign of things to come, or just tough talk? Either way, it’s good to plan ahead. 

GUEST WORDS--Nobody flocked to see the 1986 summer blockbuster Howard the Duck, which laid an egg at local theaters.

COUNTER PUNCH-As bad as conditions have traditionally been for labor worldwide, 2020 has seen conditions deteriorate even more.

POWER CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE-Where, oh where, is the United States of America — global leader, creator of democracy, hope of humankind? It certainly wasn’t up there on the debate stage last night. 

WORLD WATCH-Like many Americans, I have been observing Trump’s rise to power with some perplexity, often asking myself how and why a man of his character became the President of the United States, which is viewed as the most powerful political office in the world.

GUEST WORDS--Yes, when he was running for president, he did indeed say: "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."

WORLD WATCH-On Wednesday Trump yet again refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power following the election: “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens.

VOICES-My newsfeed turned into a sea of black squares over the last couple of days, as I’m sure is the case for many of you, reading this. 

DEJA VOUX-It may be small comfort as we watch Donald Trump try to cheat and bully his way to a second term, but a recent study of his demagogic predecessor, Senator Joseph McCarthy, offers one.