This week my students turned in papers relating news articles to what they learned in class about parenting. Every single student’s paper is about how the pandemic is exacerbating pre-existing inequalities. Continue reading
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Category Archives: Commentary
We need a safety net for parents
The collapse of child care and traditional schooling is having a devastating effect on women in particular.
Who wins from Trump’s final travesty?
Leave it to Trump and his Republican allies to spend more energy fighting non-existent voter fraud than containing a virus that has killed 244,000 Americans and counting. Continue reading
Section 230 doesn’t need “reform”
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is under attack—disguised as a cry for “reform”—from politicians on both sides of the “major party” aisle. To what purpose? Well, let’s look at Section 230’s key provision: “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Continue reading
Put empathy back in the White House
I used to think policy was all that mattered in a leader. But after four years of Trump, my feelings have changed.
I used to think the only thing that mattered about politicians were the policies they supported. Continue reading
America in transition: How Joe Biden can score a major foreign policy win on day one of his presidency
“President-elect Joe Biden has promised to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal,” writes Tom O’Connor at Newsweek. “But a return is set to face challenges on both sides as they attempt to rebuild trust in a radically different environment than five years ago.” Continue reading
Pompeo’s war on China, Iran and truth-telling
As point man for Trump regime foreign policy, illegal US sanctions on targeted countries likely come at Pompeo’s urging. Continue reading
‘Playing for time’: The non-strategy of Mahmoud Abbas
“If we are going to live another four years with President Trump, God help us, God help you and God help the whole world.” Continue reading
Rival governments are often recipes for violence and regional warfare
With Donald Trump failing to concede his loss in the U.S. presidential election and some of his aides suggesting that he will conduct a counter inauguration and swearing in to rival an official inauguration of Democrat Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021, there is a distinct possibility that the United States will be plunged into political anarchy not seen since the U.S. Civil War of the mid-19th Century. Continue reading
American in transition: Why I’m not worried about the Biden/Harris ‘gun control’ talk
A few weeks before the 2020 election, I visited a local gun shop. It was a madhouse. Weapons flew off the shelves as fast as customers could get their wallets out. Ammunition was in short supply too. Why? Well, on the front door, a flyer warned that, if elected, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would act quickly to push “gun control” legislation through Congress. Continue reading
Britain’s endless lockdowns are taking a terrible toll
The problem is that most Britishers are no longer in the mood to be compliant
John, a British friend of mine whom I met in Dubai some 30 years ago, retired to the UK where he rebuilt his life in South Wales. He has always lived alone and enjoys his own company while regularly socialising with friends and travelling around the world to catch-up with others Continue reading
Macron’s incitement: ‘Crisis in Islam’ or French politics?
There is no moral or ethical justification for the killing of innocent people, anywhere. Therefore, the murder of three people in the French city of Nice on October 29 must be wholly and unconditionally rejected as a hate crime, especially as it was carried out in a holy place, the Notre Dame Basilica. Continue reading
Electoral musings: Notes from the Edge of the Narrative Matrix
It is perfectly valid for the American public to express outrage over Trump’s declaration of victory, but the entire American media and political class forever lost all legitimacy to condemn a nation’s leader from illegitimately crowning themselves by backing the Venezuela coup. Continue reading
Political assassinations are a hallmark of fascist regimes
Recent arrests made in the United States of armed right-wing gangsters intent on kidnapping and assassinating state, local, and national leaders is another indication of the adverse effect the Trump administration and its supporters have had on the overall political stability of the United States. There have been right wing plots to kidnap and place on “trial” the Democratic Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, and the Republican Governor of Ohio, Mike DeWine. The same Michigan group that threatened Whitmer also threatened to abduct Democratic Governor Ralph Northam of Virginia. In all three cases, the governors were targeted by self-styled “citizens’ militias,” which are nothing more than terrorist groups, that planned to place the governors on trial in sham proceedings with likely guilty verdicts for instituting public health restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the violent nature of these groups, the executions of the governors would have been the likely outcomes of the vigilantes’ clandestine “trials” for alleged “tyranny.” Continue reading
America after the election: A few hard truths about the things that won’t change
The American people remain eager to be persuaded that a new president in the White House can solve the problems that plague us. Continue reading
What does Israel have against Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf?
Why does Israel hate Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf? Continue reading
The pandemic has been a bonanza for the rich
Billionaires are letting their money make money for them, while CEOs slash jobs and reward themselves with bonuses.
Let’s say you’re a millionaire. That’s a lot of money, right? Now let’s say you’re a billionaire. That’s a lot more money! But how much more? Continue reading
A day away from Nov. 3, another week of Trumpian havoc
But despite everything, Christmas may be a little bit early this year.
Hard to believe. Coming into the final stretch, remarkably it seems that—in some of their TV ads at least—the Trump campaign’s closing argument is: Oh c’mon, he’s not so bad. Continue reading
SpaceX’s declaration of space independence is just common sense
Sooner or later, absent some kind of mass extinction event, humankind will establish itself there: On the Moon. On Mars. Among the asteroids. Someday even on planets orbiting distant stars. Continue reading
Something wicked this way comes: Anarchy Is being loosed upon the nation
Things are falling apart. Continue reading
The world is changing: China launches campaign for superpower status
The outdated notion that China ‘just wants to do business’ should be completely erased from our understanding of the rising global power’s political outlook. Continue reading
Right-wing SCOTUS justices: Impeach them
There is a constitutional method for ridding the U.S. Supreme Court of its two far-right justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. It borrows a page from the right-wing in the 1960s. Conservatives, including members of the far-right John Birch Society, outraged over President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s pick for Chief Justice, former California Governor Earl Warren, steering the court in a liberal direction, began a national “Impeach Warren” campaign. Continue reading
Hmm… America keeps getting attacked by nations it hates in ways only the CIA can see
I’d like to tell you a folktale. It’s called “The Emperor’s New 9/11.” Continue reading
Out of the UK, a bold pay prescription for a post-Trump America
Two British think tanks are calling for a cap on the compensation that goes to corporate chiefs.
On November 9, 1932, the day after Election Day, progressively minded Americans woke up feeling a sense of relief—and a sense they might finally have an opportunity to forge real social change. At that moment, in the depth of the Great Depression, progressives could sense a new beginning. Continue reading
Egypt has struck the right balance on COVID-19
Egyptian government deserves praise for delivering stability and growth over the years
There is hardly a nation on earth that hasn’t been negatively impacted by the lethal, highly-contagious virus that has swept over our planet killing the most vulnerable, stealing jobs and hurling families into poverty. Egypt hasn’t escaped the pandemic’s tentacles but so far it has weathered the storm with remarkable success when compared to developed nations such as the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and the United States of America that alone accounts for almost a quarter of global cases. Continue reading
Liquid Capitalism: Everyone drinks it, swims in it, drowns in it
The most radical socialists; Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters (Black, White, Latino or Asian); liberal and conservative zealots; diversity and equity gurus; pacifists; denizens of corporates and non-profits; rappers, rockers and country western musicians; Bernie Sanders; racists and White guilt pushers; Baptists, Catholics, and Muslims; children; bland K-16 teachers; members of the military; indeed, every social, cultural, political and economic demographic of the United States of America drinks, swims and drowns in an ocean of Liquid Capitalism. It is nearly as old as humanity itself. Continue reading
“This ain’t funny no more!”—U.C. San Diego loses $800K censoring campus comedy
With free speech—and a student’s mind—under attack on all fronts on America’s university campuses, in a stunning and heartwarming tale the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals showed that it, too, likes a good joke. Thanks to the unanimous decision of the court, the University of California/ San Diego lost in its attempt at furthering censorship, this time against a tiny but hilariously funny and irreverent satirical campus-wide newspaper called the “The Koala.” Continue reading
Don’t vote for a psychopath: Tyranny at the hands of a psychopathic government
“Politicians are more likely than people in the general population to be sociopaths. I think you would find no expert in the field of sociopathy/psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder who would dispute this… That a small minority of human beings literally have no conscience was and is a bitter pill for our society to swallow—but it does explain a great many things, shamelessly deceitful political behavior being one.”—Dr. Martha Stout, clinical psychologist and former instructor at Harvard Medical School. Continue reading
European hypocrisy: Empty words for Palestine, deadly weapons for Israel
In theory, Europe and the United States stand on completely opposite sides when it comes to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. While the US government has fully embraced the tragic status quo created by 53 years of Israeli military occupation, the EU continues to advocate a negotiated settlement that is predicated on respect for international law. Continue reading
‘Democratic’ means social equality
Pundits in the international media and political classes twist and distort the word “democratic” until it has no resemblance to the actual meaning of the word. Start with “democracy” from which “democratic” is born. “Government by the people exercised either directly…? or by elected representatives” and later “the principles of social equality and individual rights”. Continue reading
Psychopathic USA
If nations had personhood, the US would be diagnosed as psychopathic, sociopathic, or both—what applies to its ruling class. Continue reading
The public, the personal, and the utter hypocrisy of the GOP
Trump and many Republicans insist that the decisions whether to wear a mask, go to a bar or gym, or work or attend school during a pandemic should be personal. Government should play no role. Continue reading
You can’t eat civility: A message to Joe Biden and the Democrats
Politeness will not solve the problems facing the country. Democrats must put forth and fight for bold solutions that will materially improve the lives of working people.
Posted on November 19, 2020 by Joe Sanberg
Like many Americans, I felt relief when Joe Biden was declared the winner of the presidency. White supremacists will no longer have a spokesperson in the White House; immigrant children will be reunited with their parents; the U.S. will rejoin the Paris Climate Accords. Continue reading →