If you despair that a mysterious plague of incurable political knuckle-headism has swept our country, turning previously progressive white working-class people into mindless Trump worshipers, then I want to tell you about a new report. Continue reading
I have it. I have a bad case of it. Not yet bad enough that I’m medicating with an anti-anxiety or antidepressant, however I’m acquainted with people who require drug therapy to treat their Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Continue reading
As John W. Whitehead wrote, “What a year.” Now it’s time for breather to enjoy the holidays, whatever you celebrate, with family and friends. Continue reading
What a difference a day makes, or in the case of UK parliamentary political theatre applied to the ever-changing definition of Brexit; just a couple of hours will do. Continue reading
It was snowing hard in the days before Christmas in 1972 as I sat at my writing desk looking out the back window toward the woods that were filling up with snow. I felt trapped by the heavy snow that made the roads impassable, but even more so by the contemplation of the barbaric “Christmas Bombing” of North Vietnam carried out by Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and their associated war criminals. I was filled with despair and imagined the snow turning red with blood. Earlier that fall, I, together with a thousand others, had been arrested for protesting the dispatching of these B-52 bombers that were indiscriminately massacring Vietnamese. The corporate media, accomplices to war crimes then and now, refused to report on the demonstration and the large number of arrests, despite repeated requests to do so. They were just doing their job. Continue reading
The consumption frenzy that is the annual celebration of market religion once began after Thanksgiving but as economic problems grow the season of overspending starts even before Halloween. During this time when many seek spiritual joy through shopping but often find material sorrow through debt, we really should consider what it is we celebrate, and why. Continue reading
Russiagate hysteria is an international conspiracy, with British spooks spreading lies on three continents. Now Black Americans are slandered as “dupes” of Moscow. Continue reading
An eerie video composed of a recorded audio prayer and a photo of one ‘Hajj Jamal Ghalaini’ occasionally pops up on Facebook. The voice is that of an alleged religious sheikh, praying for the well-being of the man in the photo for saving the Palestinian refugee youth of Lebanon, by facilitating their departure to Europe. Continue reading
If you drink too much during the holidays most people––including you––will soon forget about it. But if you overeat during the holidays, tomorrow holds no similar reprieve for you. It is denial or the gym–or denial and the gym. It’s sweatpants with a drawstring, sweater dresses as wide as they are long and Liz Taylor style kaftans. (Unless you still have a muumuu.) Continue reading
America’s First Amendment affirms fundamental speech and press freedoms. It prohibits congressional legislation prohibiting the exercise of these rights. Continue reading
Trump has described the payments his bag man, Michael Cohen, made to two women during the 2016 campaign so they wouldn’t discuss their alleged affairs with him, as “a simple private transaction.” Continue reading
How does the West get away with its pretense of being an alliance of great democracies in which government is the servant of the people? Continue reading
What a difference living long enough can make to a man’s reputation! Continue reading
When you were a kid, did you ever dream about being able to fly? Or that you were The Hulk or The Avenger—or even Pac-Man? Continue reading
With what Naomi Klein calls “galloping momentum,” the “Green New Deal” promoted by newly-elected Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) appears to be forging a political pathway for solving all of the ills of society and the planet in one fell swoop. It would give a House Select Committee “a mandate that connects the dots between energy, transportation, housing, as well as healthcare, living wages, a jobs guarantee” and more. But to critics even on the left it is just political theater, since “everyone knows” a program of that scope cannot be funded without a massive redistribution of wealth and slashing of other programs (notably the military), which is not politically feasible. Continue reading
Fascist-ruled Honduras and Guatemala—the latter the home of 7-year old asylum-seeker Jakelin Caal, who died in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents—will soon be joined by El Salvador as a major refugee-producing Central American nation. Continue reading
In recent decades, the US Constitution’s clause that requires a congressional declaration of war before invading any country has been ignored. Furthermore, ever since 2012 and the passage by Congress of the Magnitsky Act sanctions against Russia, economic sanctions by the US Government have been imposed against any company that fails to comply with a US-imposed economic sanction; a company can even be fined over a billion dollars for violating a US economic sanction. And, so, sanctions are now the way that the US Congress actually does authorize a war—the new way, no longer the way that’s described in the US Constitution. However, in the economic-sanctions phase of a war—this initial phase—the war is being imposed directly against any company that violates a US-ordered economic sanction, against Russia, Iran, or whatever target-country the US Congress has, by means of such sanctions, actually authorized a war by the US to exist—a ‘state of war’ to exist. Continue reading
The Trump administration has proposed that insurance plans providing drug coverage to Medicare beneficiaries will no longer be forced to cover six hitherto “protected” drug classes. The classes—which include drugs for psychiatric conditions, cancer and immune diseases—are among the priciest of all drugs and account for as much as 33 percent of total outpatient drug spending under Part D of Medicare. Continue reading
The US-installed, Nazi-infested, Kiev regime represents militant fascist extremism in Europe’s heartland—supported by Brussels instead of denouncing its illegitimacy and threat to European and world peace. Continue reading
Tea Party extremist Mike Mulvaney’s public disservice represents what governance of, by, and for privileged interests exclusively is all about. He’s hostile to virtually everything ordinary people value most. Continue reading
The December 1 arrest by Canadian authorities in Vancouver of Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, based on a US extradition warrant, represents a draconian extraterritorial application of a dubious US law and claim of Huawei’s sanctions violations regarding Iran. Meng was arrested at Vancouver International Airport, while a transit passenger changing planes. Continue reading
Tunisia, which sparked mass uprisings throughout swathes of the Arab world, is still being hailed by the Western media as the Arab Spring’s lone success story, uniting secular and Islamist political strains. Sad to say, there is just as much discontent in the country than there was prior to the 2011 revolution that deposed President Zine Al Abidine Bin Ali. People did win a new constitution and the right to participate in free and fair polls but improvements in standards of living and security are lacking. Continue reading
Free speech and the ability to speak truth are being shut down. It is happening with the complicity of the print and TV media, the liberal/progressive/left, the US Department of Justice [sic], the law schools and bar associations, Congress, and the federal judiciary. Continue reading
Charles E. Wilson, the CEO of General Motors in the middle part of the last century, reputedly once said that “what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa.” Continue reading
He represents the worst of what US imperial arrogance is all about, its pure evil agenda, waging war on humanity, supporting some of the world’s worst tinpot despots. Continue reading
Belgium has joined the list of countries that are rebelling against their elected leadership. Over the weekend the Belgian government fell over Prime Minister Charles Michel’s trip to Morocco to sign the United Nations Migration Agreement. The agreement made no distinction between legal and illegal migrants and regarded immigration as a positive phenomenon. The Belgian people apparently did not agree. Facebook registered 1,200 Belgians agreeing that the prime minister was a traitor. Some users expressed concern for their children’s futures, noting that Belgian democracy is dead. Others said they would get yellow vests and join the protests. Continue reading
There was a time when, once they left the job, a former cabinet head or member of Congress would find employment back home casting their seeds of knowledge and experience in the local groves of academe. Or return to naps on the cracked leather sofa at his or her old law firm in South Bend or Twin Falls or Toledo. Continue reading
Up at the North Pole, not much is going on right now. Even the elves are on strike. “Looks like nobody’s going to get any toys this year,” Santa says with a frown. And he’s not even baking chocolate-chip cookies either. It’s that bad. What’s up, Santa? “Everyone has been super-naughty during 2018—and not just only the kids. I’m disgusted.” Continue reading
Generally seen as highly homogenous, Japan is changing fast. In Tokyo, Kawasaki and Osaka recently, I encountered quite a few non-Japanese working at convenience stores and restaurants, and saw many more on the streets. Japan’s largest immigrant groups are Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Vietnamese and Brazilians. Though the last are mostly ethnic Japanese, they maintain a separate culture, so are perceived as Brazilians. Continue reading
We are approaching critical mass, the point at which all hell breaks loose. Continue reading
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Government shutdown or not, the police state will continue to flourish
Posted on January 7, 2019 by John W. Whitehead
The government has shut down again. Continue reading →