A message from the U.S. to Iran
Submitted to the July 2, 2017, conference “United States, Human Rights and Discourse of Domination,” hosted by the University of Tehran and the Iranian World Studies Association.
I’m very sorry not to be there in person and am grateful to Foad Izadi for allowing me to submit this instead. I’m a critic of the institution of war and of all military violence, as well as of all antidemocratic government and all violation of civil liberties. People in Iran, the United States,
FOUR CITIZEN ACTIVISTS ARRESTED AT VOLK FIELD AS THEY ATTEMPT TO IDENTIFY THE BASE AS A CRIME SCENE
Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars has held monthly vigils against drones at the gates of Volk Field for over five years. This Wisconsin Air National Guard Base is a critical component of the whole drone warfare program being conducted by the US government in a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa. At Volk Field personnel are trained to operate the RQ-7 Shadow Drone, which has been used for reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. However,
Global Warming in a Nutshell
Last week the 29th anniversary of James Hansen’s historic appearance before the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Health & Natural Resources passed by virtually unnoticed. Hansen, a climate scientist with NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies, testified back on June 23, 1988, that “Global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe with a high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship between the greenhouse effect and observed warming.”
Hansen added, ”It is
U.S. War Justification Is in the Eye of the Beholder
Originally published in Counterpunch Volume 24 Number 3
The idea that the United States has a problem with war propaganda is typically scratched in a bad-apples manner with a story that the U.S. has set up a new propaganda agency, such as the Global Engagement Center, or hired a company, such as the Lincoln Group, to plant articles in foreign media. Or we’ll read a report that former generals are secretly picking up their talking points from the Pentagon and their income from weapons companies
Against Ignoring the KKK
When a small number of heavily armed Ku Klux Klanners from North Carolina are given vast amounts of media attention for holding a rally here in Charlottesville, Va., on July 8th, I believe people opposed to violence and racism should go nowhere near them but in no way ignore them.
The inclination to ignore them and hope they’ll fade away into history like trials by ordeal or dueling is strong. Judging by popular social norms and their dwindling membership, the KKK seems to be on
Courting each other
This week I was certified in a Spokane, Washington courtroom as an expert witness, able to offer a professional opinion as to the conduct of a man who sat down on a railroad line to block a coal train. My role was to let the court know whether, in my opinion, this elderly gentleman was acting in the American tradition of nonviolent civil resistance that is, at times, permissible by law.
George Taylor wore his clerical collar to court that day, looking the part that he plays in Spokane life, which
Speaking Truth to Empire
Speaking Truth to Empire on KFCF 88.1 Free Speech Radio for Central California, Dan Yaseen interviews Norman Solomon, an author, journalist, media critic and an antiwar activist. Solomon has appeared as a guest on many media outlets including the PBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News,, C-SPAN, KPFA and NPR. Topic of discussion is Russiagate.
Crackpot Criminality From Abu Through Zubaydah
John Kiriakou led the CIA operation that arrested, or rather, kidnapped without charge, Abu Zubaydah. Joseph Hickman helped imprison Abu Zubaydah as a guard at Guantanamo and was later the lead researcher for Zubaydah’s habeas defense team.
Here are some highlights of a tale of crackpot criminality recounted by Hickman and Kiriakou in their jointly authored new book, The Convenient Terrorist:
Maher Abu Zubayda and Zain Abidin Mohammed Husain aka Abu Zubaydah are two completely different people.
Talk Nation Radio: Ajamu Baraka on the Black Alliance for Peace
Ajamu Baraka is National Organizer for the Black Alliance for Peace. He is a human rights defender whose experience spans four decades of domestic and international education and activism. He has provided human rights trainings for grassroots activists across the country, briefings on human rights to the U.S. Congress, and appeared before and provided statements to various United Nations agencies. Baraka was the Founding Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network. He held