As I head off to a rally for Trayvon Martin, I notice a column by Bob Koehler in which he says the unpaid work of slaves in the United States is now estimated at $1.4 trillion. Oddly, that’s not terribly far from the $1.2 trillion or so, possibly more now, that we spend each year preparing for and fighting wars. If we abolished war we could perhaps afford
The first city in the United States to pass a resolution against drones now has a drone display just across the pedestrian Downtown Mall from City Hall, thanks to Martha Rosler whose “Theater of Drones” is part of the Charlottesville Festival of the Photograph.
Click to enlarge:
From Charlottesville Festival of the Photograph:
Martha Rosler works in photography, video, performance, sculpture, and installation. Her work often addresses matters of the public sphere
Martha Rosler's Theater of Drones Buzzes into Charlottesville Read More »
Some human rights groups, especially Amnesty International, seem to have forgotten an important human right: peace. A petition has been launched to remind them.
These organizations are not the warmongers. They do tremendously great work addressing some of the symptoms of warmaking, including imprisonment and torture. But, because they avoid taking any position on war, and because of an apparent bias in favor of U.S. military intervention, they sometimes find themselves effectively promoting
Asking Amnesty International to Oppose War Read More »
Bahrain and Syria: in one the United States supports a brutal dictatorship against a nonviolent movement for human rights. In the other the United States supports violent opposition to the government in the name of human rights. All is not as it appears. We speak with Reese Erlich.
Reese Erlich’s history in journalism goes back 45 years. He first worked as a staff writer and research editor for Ramparts, an investigative reporting magazine published in San Francisco
Talk Nation Radio: Reese Erlich on Bahrain and Syria Read More »
Escaped slaves fought on the British side, which promised to free them, during the American war for independence for white men. But nobody liked to talk about that much after the French won the war, although — come to think of it — nobody much likes to talk about the French winning the war, or for that matter about the big losers being, not the British but the Native Americans.
White folks weren’t eager to arm slaves, although an NRA-type genius just said on U.S. televisions
The African-American Army Read More »
Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick have produced a phenomenally great book of U.S. history, and an accompanying television series premiering on Showtime on Monday. Having just read half the book and having watched an advance copy of the first episode, my conclusion is that the book is dramatically better than the TV show, but that both are at the top of what’s available in their respective genres.
The Untold History of the United States is not people’s history in the sense
About the Untold History of the United States Read More »
From 1856 to 1860 Elihu Burritt promoted a plan to prevent civil war through compensated emancipation, or the purchase and liberation of slaves by the government, an example that the English had set in the West Indies. Burritt traveled constantly, all over the country, speaking. He organized a mass convention that was held in Cleveland. He lined up prominent supporters. He edited newsletters.
And he was right. England had freed its slaves in the Caribbean without
Who's Been Right and Who's Been Wrong Read More »
At this year’s Veterans For Peace convention in Miami, VFP President Leah Bolger challenged members to take risks: “Many of you have risked a lot for war. What will you risk for peace?”
One VFP member, S. Brian Willson, gave his legs and part of his skull for peace. It was 1987, and the U.S. military was shipping weapons to port, in order to ship them to El Salvador and Nicaragua, where they would be used to slaughter the people of those nations, where, in Willson’s
Should More of the Blood Be on the Train Tracks? Read More »
Prepared remarks for Veterans For Peace Convention 2012.
Prepared to follow remarks by Nicolas “Sandy” Davies
Convention theme: “Liberating the Americas: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean”
Remarks theme: “U.S. Military Expansion since the End of the Cold War”
Accompanying powerpoint: http://warisacrime.org/downloads/misleading2.pptx
At my house I can see a hill out the window, and a house on it. And if I go to that house, I can see another
Lies, Damn Lies, and War Lies Read More »
