Peter Blair: Off the Road
One February dawn, a laundry bag over my shoulder, weighed down with clothes, tablets, the Bhagavad-Gita, On the Road, I hitch-hike the Edgewood ramp of the Parkway West, join the … Continue reading
Video: When the FBI knocks on your door, you should handle it just like this woman.
An Austin, Texas woman, who is a peaceful antiwar activist, was visited by the FBI. They wanted to know if she knew of “any plans to destroy property.” Here’s how … Continue reading
Only One Resolution
Originally posted on Great Middle Way:
We make several New Year’s resolutions, only to abandon them before the end of February. Perhaps this is so because our resolutions do not…
Jose Padua: Socialism
In the town of Front Royal where I live I am a socialist. I live there with my socialist wife and my socialist daughter and my socialist son. We think … Continue reading
Wendell Berry: The Contrariness of the Mad Farmer
From Wendell Berry: Poet and Prophet, an interview by Bill Moyers. http://
America’s Longest Wars
Originally posted on The Contrary Perspective:
Just a few of the battles fought against Native Americans W.J. Astore A popular headline in the media is to describe the Afghan War…
Phyllis Chesler: My Jewish Feminist Problem
Why my sisters can’t think straight about Israel. These days, Israel is far too dangerous a word to pronounce in a Western intellectual or social setting. Say it—and you risk … Continue reading
Origins of the police
Originally posted on Works in theory:
The Five Points district of lower Manhattan, painted by George Catlin in 1827. New York’s first free Black settlement, Five Points was also a…
Ken Silverstein: How America tortured and murdered an innocent man
In 2002, Matthew Zirbel, a junior CIA officer, was in charge of the Salt Pit, a “black site” in Afghanistan referred to in the recent Senate torture report as “Cobalt,” … Continue reading
Naomi Shihab Nye: Blood
“A true Arab knows how to catch a fly in his hands,” my father would say. And he’d prove it, cupping the buzzer instantly while the host with the swatter … Continue reading
Marc Jampole: On the recent assassination of two police officers
To stop future assassinations of police, we must toughen gun laws & end police brutality against minorities No sane person would condone or try to justify the execution-style killings of … Continue reading
Jose Padua: Memo in the form of a sonnet to the white supremacist who referred to my wife as a breeding vessel for the Hispanic invasion
Despite my name being Jose I am not Hispanic but Filipino, which means that as far as you’re concerned my white wife is not a breeding vessel for the Hispanic … Continue reading
Daniel Burston: Racism, Policing and the Exuberance of Power
“Justice, justice shall you pursue . . .” Deuteronomy 16:18 “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke Trayvon … Continue reading
Sarah Van Gelder: 10 Ways Human Rights and Democracy Won in 2014
In 2014, we saw a lot of brutality. Unarmed black men and women were killed by police, women were raped on college campuses and in military barracks, foreign nationals were … Continue reading →