Was America Great When It Burned Native American Babies? (Audio and Transcript) – Truthdig
Posted initially on Aug 5, 2016 Interview by Truthdig Editor in Chief Robert Scheer “Benjamin Madley1 has changed the conversation on genocide and American Indians. After An American Genocide, it will no longer be possible to debate whether or not genocide took place. Instead we will need to confront the questions of how and why […]
“Trump Feels a Kinship With Authoritarian Leaders”: Richard Falk on Turmoil in the Middle East
Wednesday, June 28, 2017 By C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout | Interview photo above: Professor Richard A. Falk speaks at the 10th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, March 23, 2009. (Photo: UN Geneva) WN: There is someone in my acquaintance who is virulently right wing and pro-Trump. He jumps all over every shred of […]
Why Do So Many Americans Fear Muslims? Decades of Denial About America’s Role in the World.
Jon Schwarz February 18 2017, 6:11 a.m. photo above: During a memorial service in Baghdad, Iraqis gather around a bomb hole in the ceiling of the Al-Amariya shelter in 2003, where more than 400 people were killed in a U.S.-led missile attack during the Gulf War. Iraqis opened a new memorial center outside the Al-Amariya shelter […]
Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
September 26, 2014 by CHARLES R. LARSON WN: There is someone of my acquaintance who rails against the US Black community for its violence of Black on Black, while almost completely downplaying police violence against Blacks. He also rails against them for their poverty: they just are not enterprising, and therefore deserve their state, end […]
Tomgram: Rebecca Gordon, How Extrajudicial Executions Became “War” Policy in Washington
Posted by Rebecca Gordon at 4:00pm, July 17, 2016. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch Photo above: US Predator drone an excerpt: from the introduction to the piece by Tom Engelhardt: Strangely, amid the spike in racial tensions after the killing of two black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota, and of five white police […]
Focus On: Mapping Militarism 2020
by David Swanson May 6, 2020 WN: The article highlighted below represents a brilliant and multiplex presentation of the worldwide realities of the premier world blight of militarism. One could call it the Ultimate Virus, the Unremitting Pandemic–that few even recognize for the Monstrous World Nightmare it is. The other day I was forwarded an […]
Reflections on “Drone Strikes and Torture Will Cause Big Blowback”
November 5, 2021 by Brian Cloughley photo above: AK Rockefeller – CC BY 2.0 WN: It is ominous to read at the end of the highlighted article: Although the long-term consequences are measureless, there is no doubt that “explosive events” will blow back for a long time to come. The military-industrial complex has been manufacturing […]
Engagement With “Frances Haugen: ‘I never wanted to be a whistleblower. But lives were in danger’”
Dan Milmo Global technology editor October 24, 2021 WN: Now this is wonderfully gracious theology from Frances Haugen: Because the point of moral bankruptcy is … saying you deserve a chance to start over, that we as a society do better when people get a chance to wipe the slate. I can only add: Amen! […]
Interaction With “The CIA: 70 Years of Organized Crime”
September 22, 2017 by Douglas Valentine – Lars Schall photo above by Tom Thai | CC BY 2.0 WN: Welcome to America the Beautiful. As kids, my brothers and I loved the highlighted song, as sung by George Beverly Shea–who performed in front of more people than any other singer in history. We played it […]
Legacy of Shame:
October 19, 2021 by Kenn Orphan photo above: Photograph Source: Reagan White House Photographs – Public Domain WN: Saint Augustine recounts this story of Empire: The king asked the fellow, “What is your idea, in infesting the sea?” And the pirate answered, with uninhibited insolence, “the same as yours, in infesting the earth! But because […]
How America Fractured Into Four Parts
By George Packer July/August 2021 Issue The Atlantic image above: Lucy Jones WN: Wow! The essay is stunning as it is brilliant. At least read my excerpts below. Better though, purchase the book it is excerpted/adapted from: Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal. It challenges understanding about America’s past and present place in […]
9/11 was a test:
Essay by Carlos Lozada Illustration above: by Patrik Svensson Sept. 3, 2021 WN: Below are excerpts from an outstanding essay by a Pulitzer Prizer winner for criticism in 2019. But the last lines, though intended to be hopeful, ring perversely hollow–especially given what one can read on this website about the horrors of American Expansionism/Exceptionalism/Empire: […]
Empire or Humanity?
By Howard Zinn Posted on August 15, 2021 image above from the Movie Poster: The Fall of the American Empire WN: A character in the movie highlighted says: “That’s what destroyed the United States: money.” Now greed, fear and power—these three–remain for every empire known to humanity. But the greatest of these is Greed. And […]
Gospel as Counter-Narrative to Empire
SEARCH and ARCHIVES options are at the bottom of all website pages. The website is dedicated to: The Gospel as Counter-Narrative to Empire. More on Empire below. PLEASE NOTE: the Sitemap. There is also a list of all Book Reviews separately, and alongside each post. You may search the Blog too. Please consider […]
Trump’s Secret Rules for Drone Strikes Outside War Zones Are Disclosed
By Charlie Savage May 1, 2021 photo above: Targeted killings away from conventional war zones have been a central feature of the sprawling war on terrorism, raising legal and policy questions that remain in flux. Credit… Janis Laizans/Reuters WN: Of course the use of drones–as any aerial bombing–invariably murders civilians–often vast numbers. Two classic studies […]
Jesus Was a Victim of Empire. Acknowledging This Should Transform Christianity.
Jesus Was a Victim of Empire. Acknowledging This Should Transform Christianity. By Christine Mungai, Truthout Part of the Series: Religion’s Role in the Struggle for Justice December 16, 2020 photo above: howafrica.com WN: This is the central theme of this website! A significant portion of what follows is from the previous highlighted part. There is […]
The World Order That Donald Trump Revealed
When it comes to foreign policy, the president’s most important characteristic is not amorality or a lack of curiosity; it is naïveté. Story by Tom McTague and Peter Nicholas Photo illustrations by Rohan Hande October 20, 2020 Global WN: This analysis is fascinating and insightful. While one celebrates America’s loss of hegemonic power, its sting […]
An Open Letter To Joe Biden
Dear Mr. Biden. If I might be so bold, I wonder about connecting some dots at this incredible kairos moment of U.S. and world history. I was moved by your empathetic videoed message to the Floyd family during the funeral service in Houston. You have deeply suffered multiple losses as this article sensitively points out: […]
Cornel West Says ‘Neo-Fascist Gangster’ Trump and Neoliberal Democrats Expose America as ‘Failed Social Experiment’
WN: Please see in light of the title this outstanding article by Canadian Wade Davis: The Unraveling of America. 1. Introduction to the Post: This post, updated numerous times, has become a kind of dog’s breakfast. One could spend hours working through all the written, cartoon, and video material. Footnote 7 in particular is full […]
Itching for a brawl
To interpret the latest round of US-Iran tension, here is some history you need to know by Ken Sehested WN: This site provides thoughtful, informed, and pointed commentary on the sins of (American) Empire. The masthead reads: Daily Manna The eye sees what it brings the power to see. — Thomas Carlyle At the intersection […]
America’s Arms Sales Addiction
November 17, 2019 The 50-Year History of U.S. Dominance of the Middle Eastern Arms Trade By William D. Hartung Honestly, if a single corporate entity controlled three-quarters of the global market in a product, you’d call it a monopoly, right? Well, in 2011, that was the situation of the United States when it came to […]
Crises in Iraq and Haiti Expose the Failure of Militarized Neoliberalism
It should be no surprise that the new governments installed by all these U.S. wars and coups are among the most corrupt regimes on earth. Published on Thursday, October 10, 2019 by Common Dreams by Medea Benjamin and by Nicolas J S Davies photo above: Not only are they reeling from protests against government corruption […]
How Israel Spies on US Citizens
A never-shown Al Jazeera documentary on the pro-Israel lobby in the United States reveals possibly illegal Israeli spying on American citizens, and the lobby’s fear of a changing political mood. By Alain Gresh August 31, 2018 photo above: Kids play next to an Israeli flag near the Israel-Syria border at the occupied Golan Heights in […]
The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism
The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy, and Capitalism in 17th Century North America and the Caribbean August 24, 2018 Slavery and the Origins of Capitalism by Louis Proyect WN: I wrote the following in introduction to a book similar in its findings about 19th-century American capitalism to 17th-century colonial capitalism, entitled The Half Has Never […]
Kipling, the ‘White Man’s Burden,’ and U.S. Imperialism
by John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney (Nov 01, 2003) photo above: The Moro Massacre (March 9, 1906): Phillipines – emblematic of the real meaning of “the white man’s burden” WN: The “white man’s burden” has ever been the white man’s horror, or the white man’s alibi, or the white man’s curse, or the […]
The Demolition of U.S. Global Power
Donald Trump’s Road to Debacle in the Greater Middle East Tomgram: Alfred McCoy, Trumping the Empire Posted by Alfred McCoy at 4:23pm, July 16, 2017. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch. By Alfred W. McCoy excerpts: Trump’s Demolition Job Despite the obvious differences in their economic circumstances, there remain some telling resonances between Britain’s postwar politics and America’s troubles today. […]
Tomgram: Dilip Hiro, Two Impulsive Leaders Fan the Global Flames
Posted by Dilip Hiro at 6:51am, July 6, 2017. Follow TomDispatch on Twitter @TomDispatch. image above: Winning entry of this year’s International Trumpism Cartoon and Caricature Contest in Tehran. WN: The article highlighted below shows two impulsive leaders, Trump and Saudi Prince Muhammad bin Salman, to be hell-bent on fanning the flames of the Middle East, and thereby […]
The Spoils of War: Trump Lavished With Media and Bipartisan Praise For Bombing Syria
Glenn Greenwald April 7 2017, 7:43 a.m. WN: “The first casualty of war is truth“, is an adage proved invariably true throughout human history under all kinds of regimes: not least democracies. Or, as author/activist David Swanson tirelessly and convincingly argues: War Is a Lie – not only title of his most recent book, but a reality […]
For Abolition: Prisons and Police Are More Than Brutality, They’re State Terror
Saturday, 12 November 2016 00:00 By Frank Castro, The Hampton Institute | News Analysis photo above: Jobs For Felons Hub; Edited: LW / TO This is an incredibly powerful assessment of “state terror” in arguably the most oppressive democracy of recent times: the United States of America. The author’s analysis rings true at every turn: […]
An Open Letter to Michelle Obama, October 13, 2016
WN: A friend reminded me, in response to that below, that none of us in the first world is untainted vis à vis violence. And with that taintedness is a bending at least towards hypocrisy and Pharisaism – which my friend also reminded me about. So with that mea culpa, please read on.: Dear […]
Empire’s Religion: Arundhati Roy Confronts the Tyranny of the Free Market
Published on Thursday, September 15, 2016 by Common Dreams by Jake Johnson photo above: ‘Whether she is writing of Kashmir or of the Palestinians, of American foreign policy or of terror in the Middle East, of environmental degradation or of the threat posed by nuclear proliferation, [author and activist Arundhati] Roy,’ writes Johnson, ‘maintains a […]
US War Crimes or “Normalized Deviance”
Tuesday, 23 August 2016 09:22 By Nicolas J.S. Davies, Consortium News | Op-Ed photo above: 1986 launch of the doomed spaceshuttle Challenger, with reference to the “normalization of deviance” in the NASA culture that led up to the disaster, an expression coined by sociologist Diane Vaughan [WN] This is as succinct and compelling a statement […]
There’s No Business Like the Arms Business
photo above: A mural near the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran. (David Holt / CC-BY-2.0) July 26, 2016 Tomgram: William Hartung, How to Arm a “Volatile” Planet Editorial by WN It is a very strange world: Michelle Obama makes a highly impassioned, brilliant speech at the Democratic National Convention – one nearly universally praised, […]