Paul Christensen: The Rain It Raineth Every Day
They say the average cloud weighs about the same as eighty elephants. A big storm such as now darkens the sky overhead must be an infinite parade of elephants milling around in the dark gray pastures above us.
Khury Petersen-Smith: Trump’s Betrayal of the Kurds Is Terrible, But the Answer Is Not Endless War
If the U.S. wants to help the Kurds today, the answer is not more war. Instead, it could suspend its military aid to Turkey, and end its racist exclusion of refugees.
Christine Rhein: A Surgeon Writes from Aleppo
We are running out of coffins.
The city burns, street by street—
even the stones are catching fire.
Our last pediatrician has been killed.
76 Retired US Generals and Diplomats Warn Trump Against War With Iran
“We have witnessed first-hand how quickly disputes can spiral out of control.”
Jake Johnson: Undermining Trump-Bolton War Narrative, British General Says No Evidence of ‘Increased Threat’ From Iran
Intelligence and military officials in Europe as well as in the United States said that over the past year, most aggressive moves have originated not in Tehran, but in Washington.
Lawrence Wittner: The United States Is First in War, But Trailing in Crucial Aspects of Modern Civilization
Maintaining the U.S. status as “No. 1” in war and war preparations comes at a very high price. Maybe those delirious crowds chanting “USA, USA” have got something. When it comes … Continue reading
Mary Beaudoin: How the Empire Gets Away With Expanding (Some Observations)
“This is the secret of propaganda: those who are to be persuaded by it should be completely immersed in the ideas of the propaganda, without ever noticing they are immersed … Continue reading
Riad Saleh Hussein: Smoke
Depressed and open like the sea, I stand, angry, coherent and continuous, to tell you about the sea, when the window has two eyes to see my despair, the walls … Continue reading
Marc Jampole: Bellicose Nation
The U.S. spends 40% of the world’s total military budget, and this huge expenditure is controlled by an inconsistent and bellicose ignoramus. Trump favors disruption over working together, and he … Continue reading
Riad Saleh Hussein: A Serene Evening
This evening is serene, This evening is not calm. I am a man or a pack of dynamite— Under my trench a red goose or a black unicorn. The woman … Continue reading
Robert Okaji: Aleppo
A father sings to his son, dead two days, and the platitudes persist. Widow of night. Lantern’s trick. What trace, you wonder, exists of humanity in these etched walls? Light … Continue reading
Tom Engelhardt: Turning 74 in a Failing World
Three Failing Experiments? Mine, America’s, and Humanity’s. There was a period in my later life when I used to say that, from the age of 20 to my late sixties, I … Continue reading
John Feffer — World to Refugees: Go to Hell
Over 22.5 million people have been forced to flee their countries. Last year, less than 200,000 were resettled. It’s a famous story, though perhaps not famous enough. The 1939 voyage … Continue reading
