[Photo: M825 and M825A1 artillery shells labeled D528, the US Department of Defense Identification Code for “white phosphorus-based munitions” in Sderot, Israel on October 09, 2023. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency via MEM]] By Mahboob Khawaja, PhD Editor's Note I would agree that the US is acting immorally in the scope of its support of Israel in pursuing Israel’s interests in Gaza. First, while entreating Israel to not repeat the mistakes of the United States in its pursuit of justice against Hamas, under Trump it became accentuated because he made himself the sole statesman of the Unit ..read more

[Photo: Palestinians perform a folk dance on the 20th Palestinian Festival celebrations in Gaza City, Gaza on 8 July 2019. Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency. MiddleEastMonitor] By Robert C. Koehler Source:  CommonWonders Editor's Note Sometimes when the pain lies so deep you cannot find its name or the words to express it, the only release is through song. When you find the rhythm of song the pain rushes out in a torrent of anguish and tears until you lie empty with tears on your face and your voice raw. Increasingly, I find my eyes welling with tears for no specific reason. Maybe it’s just a ..read more

[Photo: Protest poster via Sa Defenza.] By Sukey Wolf Source:  Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) Editor's Note Julian Assange’s original sin was making public 750,000 military and diplomatic documents rated as classified, or sensitive that he received from Bradley Manning. Manning was an intelligence analyst with the US Army in Iraq who had access to highly sensitive databases. Manning argued he was acting as a whistleblower in getting the materials to Assange. Bradly Manning faced court martial and was imprisoned in 2010. During his confinement went through a sex change and became Chelsea ..read more

[Photo: Neo-Nazis march to Phoenix Federal Building, 2010. John Kittelsrud, Flickr.] By: Henry A. Giroux Source: Counterpunch Editor's Note While modern fascism in the US may have come out of the shadows and launched like a rocket when Trump entered politics in 2010, the foundations were already laid and the mergers of nationalism with white evangelicalism and the GOP was already well underway. The featured picture above was taken in 2010 at a rally against a judge’s decision to “water down” an immigration bill.  we are not at the beginning of the slide into fascism. We are well on our ..read more

[Photo: Gaza bombing site 10/11/2023 Milano in Movimento] By Mahboob Khawaja, PhD Mahboob Khawaja, PhD Five months have gone and the US-supported Israeli violence and bombardment of Gaza unfolds prodigious lies of terror that have redefined and reshaped the so-called Western political hegemonic mental microscope of power exposing dreadful apparatus of moral and intellectual brimstone and failure of human consciousness to see planned human massacres, genocide and alleged crimes against humanity. The tyranny of reason ignores the sanctity of human life and continued occupation of Palestine and ..read more

[Photo: Voting Rights. Dave WhamondCanada, Political Cartoons.com] By Thom Hartmann Source:  CommonDreams Editor's Note The Republicans have spent at least 24 years manipulating voter access when the mass purging of Florida voters occurred before the 2000 vote. They even needed the Supreme Court to shut down a recount in Florida thereby selecting George W. Bush as President. SCOTUS stepped in again in 2013 to gut the Voting Rights Act (Shelby v Holder). At this point, there are at least 96 cases across the country aimed at restricting voting in some way. That does not include the effort ..read more

[Photo: Humanitarian aid desperately needed. Anadolu Agency.] By Bret Wilkins Source:  CommonDreams Editor's Note As was true when Trump separated children from their parents at the border, “cruelty is the policy”, the same can be said of Israel’s choices in pursuing retribution against Hamas (purportedly). The United States and other nations helping Israel in pursuit of this war are equally guilty. This must stop now! But even if it did, thousands of noncombatants will die before humanitarian aid and critical infrastructure are restored. That is the sad and brutal truth. Aljazeera has ..read more

[Photo: Courtesy foto.wuestenigel.com] By: Henry A. Giroux Source: Truthout Editor's Note Memory politicization, depoliticization, personal, collective, erasure, and rewriting, it is all a very tricky thing and one I think that most of us ignore. I have been concerned for some time that intentional or not, our long-term memory is being compromised by the sheer pace of “modern” society. Part of this is because I live in a country that devalues history and the past, but media, advertising, and more recently the broad use of “smartphones”, make this a major problem of daily life. Then enter dis ..read more

By: Henry A. Giroux Source: Truthout Editor's Note Freedom of speech and association are cornerstones for democracy and are violently suppressed in most other forms of government. Look at what is happening in Russia under the dictatorial rule of Putin. Those who speak against him or his policies are arrested, and if they are perceived as a threat, they are killed. A death sentence is periodically carried out on those who would escape his rule. The recent murder of Maxim Kuzminov, a Russian helicopter pilot who defected to Ukraine, was one of Putin’s many examples that he can reach anywhere i ..read more

[Photo: Kodi Lee on AGT Fantasy League 2024.] By Rowan Wolf In my experience, messages that uplift me most often come from unexpected places. That was no truer than when I was watching AGT Fantasy League the other night. In a previous season, a multiply disabled musician had won the show and was back in the first qualifying round of fantasy league. It is amazing enough when someone can face numerous challenges to follow their path. However, on that night he performed a song that he had written. I clipped his presentation and added the lyrics so folks can sing along if they wish. Please follow ..read more