Tomgram: William Astore, Drowning in Militarism
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It’s no small thing to lodge a word or phrase of your own in our language. So give Dwight D. Eisenhower credit. In his presidential farewell address to the American people in 1961, the former five-star general of World War II warned — and who would have known better — of the growth of what he called
Official Secrets: Best Movie So Far This Year
The true story of British whistleblower Katharine Gun is public. The new movie dramatizing that story, with Keira Knightley in the starring role is called a thriller. And that it is.
How can a known event be made into a suspenseful thriller? In part this is possible because the story is a complex one that few know the details of, and in part because most people don’t know anything about anything. There’s too much information in the world, and most of it is useless or worse. The story
Civil Disobedience 101: What if millions of citizens checked the box saying you’re not?
By Dave Lindorff
President Donald Trump, thanks to a congenital inability to stop running his mouth, may ultimately undermine his administration’s effort to corrupt the integrity of the upcoming 2020 Census. His latest blurting out that the reason for his wanting to add a controversial question about citizenship status to the Census form is for “redistricting” could be a major red flag for even right-wing Supreme Court justices.
But should
What’s to celebrate?: US is a Classic Empire and Is Becoming a Repressive Police State at Home
By Dave Lindorff
As I set out to fly home from the UK on Monday following a short film project in Cambridge, I found my boarding pass, which I had been blocked from obtaining online the night before, carrying a bold-faced stamp in the lower right corner. Asking about it I was told by the British employee at the United check-in counter, “That is because you are on a US Department of Homeland Security list, sir.”
Tanks Roll into D.C. to Celebrate Independence Day
Patriotism Is Too Small For My Family
By David Swanson, Executive Director, World BEYOND War, July 3, 2019
Ending bigotry has gone mainstream among the enlightened people of the developed world.
Did you spot the acceptable bigotry in that sentence?
We’re against racism, sexism, and more kinds of bigotry than I could ever list.
But the 96 percent of humanity that’s not within the United States is hardly worthy of concern.
Millions of lives in Yemen lack the value of one Washington Post reporter dismembered with a bone saw.
Tomgram: Engelhardt, War With…?
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.
We’re Not the Good Guys
Why Is American Aggression Missing in Action?
By Tom Engelhardt
Headlined “U.S. Seeks Other Ways to Stop Iran Shy of War,” the article was tucked away on page A9 of a recent New York Times. Still, it caught my attention. Here’s the first paragraph:
“American intelligence and military officers are working on additional clandestine plans to
Talk Nation Radio: Marc Mauer on Life in Prison and Felony Disenfranchisement
Marc Mauer is the executive director of The Sentencing Project, a national organization based in Washington, D.C. that promotes criminal justice reform. His books include The Meaning of Life: The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences, coauthored with Ashley Nellis. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has just released a report that draws on testimony by Marc Mauer on the impact of felony disenfranchisement.
Total run time: 29:00
Host: David Swanson.
Producer: David Swanson.
Music by Duke Ellington.
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Tomgram: Dilip Hiro, American Decline
This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.
Did Donald Trump just make his first genuine mistake in the race for reelection in 2020? As I wrote during the 2016 campaign, The Donald had one striking distinction. He was the only candidate (or essentially American politician) of that moment who didn’t feel