Tomgram: Michael Klare, Oil Rules the World

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Heat, heat, heat. It’s a world of firsts, of records that no one could ever have wished for. From my own childhood, I remember the A.A. Milne poem that began:

“They’re changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace —
Christopher Robin went down with Alice.
Alice is marrying one of the guard.
A soldier’s life is terribly hard,
Says Alice.”

That was written read more

Negotiating Peace With Monsters

By David Swanson, World BEYOND War, July 24, 2022

The two sides in the war in Ukraine have negotiated a deal to at least reduce the starvation in Africa and elsewhere that may result from the war, by agreeing to a means of exporting some grain.

The same two sides had previously reached agreements on prisoners of war.

The odd thing about this — although it happens in every war — is that each of the two sides has negotiated with what it characterizes as irrational monsters on the other side with read more

Odysseus Would Have Worked for Lockheed Martin

My eight-year-old son and I just read a shortened version of The Odyssey. Traditionally it’s thought of as the story of a hero making his way past various monsters. Yet it’s really quite blatantly the story of a monster making his way past various heroes.

Odysseus had, of course, prior to this story, abandoned his family to go fight and kill a bunch of people he didn’t know alongside a bunch of other people he didn’t know because a bunch of yet other people had competed for a woman as a read more

The Hard Work of Creating a Last Resort War on Iran

Where do all the Lockheed Martin executives vacation?

At the Last Resort!

Joe Biden and Israel are planning to attack Iran as a Last Resort.

Weapons dealers love nothing better than last resorts. Invading Ukraine was a last resort according to Russia. Shipping endless weapons into Ukraine is a last resort according to the U.S.

Win-win! Just pay no attention to the relentless and deliberate escalation of the past decades. Erase how the Baltics kicked out the Soviets 30 years go. Dude, they’re giving read more

Tomgram: Frida Berrigan, Seeking a Salve for Heat, Hate, and Hysteria

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

If anything saved my life when I was young, it was books. Library books, to be exact. These days, about to turn 78, I walk past one of my bookshelves, notice the several volumes of history I’ve collected on the Ottoman Empire — I was always curious about it! — and think sadly, I’m never going to get to you, am I? But when I was young, there was only one issue: making read more

Most Shocking From Jan. 6 Hearings: U.S. Comes Out Against Coups

The Jan. 6 hearings are clearly running over a month. Let’s call it a month. There are many countries in which the U.S. has organized, facilitated, or supported one or more coup attempts. Let’s count each country just once. And let’s go back only to the year 2000. Here’s a list of countries and the dates of attempted or successful overthrows. An asterick indicates success:

Yugoslavia 1999-2000 *
Ecuador 2000 *
Afghanistan 2001 *
Venezuela 2002 * and 2018, 2019, 2020
read more