What if The Wall had never been built? What lessons might this teach us in the real world?
On Walls, Refugees and White Walkers
McCutcheon: Another Nail in the Coffin
The Corporatocracy Strikes Again The recent Supreme Court decision in the McCutcheon case really should come as no surprise at this point. It is clear that the branch of government that is least accountable to the public should take the lead in securing the so called rights of the corporate elite. This is one more... Continue Reading →
Lessons on the Meaning(lessness) of War
Soldiers are imbued with war's transcendent purpose, and despair when it is all for naught In the 1960's young American men were, once again, called to duty to protect their country from tyranny. In this case, the imminent threat was an innocuous rural nation called Vietnam. Many Americans had never heard of this place, but... Continue Reading →
On Post-War Buyer’s Remorse
Or…The Vietnam Iraq Syndrome I have to admit, I'm feeling pretty satisfied watching President Obama twisting himself into myriad contortions to justify US military intervention in Syria. I'm satisfied because I see this as one further step in a paradigm shift in which Americans reject the legitimacy of war and militarism altogether. The long march... Continue Reading →
Snowden Ate My Homework
The US Should Stop Blaming Snowden for its Own Inequities As a teacher I hear all kinds of excuses for failure. A student, with typical adolescent melodrama, bemoans how difficult my tests are and how I'm ruining his grade. You see, I'm the reason that he is failing. It's not the fact that, instead of... Continue Reading →
Contradictory feelings on the uprising in Egypt
And the role of the military and preserving democracy Figure 1: Can Egyptian democracy rely on military overlords? I have been watching the new uprising in Egypt with some fascination and trepidation. The source of my conflict is in the role of the military in protecting the nascent democracy. It is clear that the... Continue Reading →
History is on the Side of the Whistle-Blowers
Those who reveal secret abuses of power are the friends of society and of history Corporal Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden are quite the center of controversy. The claim made by the government and the corporate elite is that Manning and Snowden are traitors to their country and have placed our national security at risk... Continue Reading →
The Not So Secret Rise of the Intelligence-Industrial Complex
Why we are complicit in the domestic spying scandal The most noteworthy observation that I have about the great brouhaha over Glen Greenwald's expose of US domestic spying in The Guardian is how absolutely shocked everybody seems. The press and the social media act as if this is some sudden revelation. We had no idea... Continue Reading →
