What a drama to be living through! Heroes and villains, Davids and Goliaths, information and censorship, the free press and grand corruption, all on a planetary scale. The cables continue to drip out; each day brings new revelations; the world
Stanford and ROTC
(In 1970, in the tumult of the Indochina wars and ongoing protest, Stanford University decided to cut many of its ties to the US military. All military training on campus was phased out by 1973. Students still can, and do,
Libertarian socialist reading
Is there a standard set of libertarian literature? Well, of course there is a long history in the socialist tradition. I tend to roll together libertarian socialism and anarchism together, as historically tends to happen. Here is a brief list
Critique of a Critique of Conservatism
In the course of events, I came across this article, “What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?” I think it is a very good article on the whole, but I have a few comments. These are probably make
Information and actions, nuclear weapons, indefinite detention
1. Nuclear Weapons Obama has made several rhetorical commitments to nuclear disarmament; there is also an ongoing Nuclear Posture Review. Now is the time to push him to do something substantial about it. From the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation: Video
Comments on the Memos
From one of the memos:“In addition to using the confinement boxes alone, you also would like to introduce an insect into one of the boxes with Zubaydah. As we understand it, you plan to inform Zubaydah that you are going
Catch a Cheney
Coming to NBC: “To Catch a Cheney”http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-cohen/coming-to-nbc-to-catch-a_b_167530.html One can imagine all sorts of applications of this idea… including very locally…
The Social Democratic line
I don’t normally promulgate articles I disagree with, but I thought this was a more or less perfect exposition of the social democratic line on the global economic disaster. The Democratic party in the US hardly identifies as social-democratic, but
Xe
Blackwater, the notorious mercenary company, has changed its name to “Xe” in a rebranding effort. As science students should be aware, Xe is the chemical symbol for Xenon. As they will recall, Xenon is an inert gas: colourless, odourless, invisible.
New report from Gaza
As more reports come out of Gaza, the horrors known to us will compound. Ann Wright is a long-time US army veteran, former diplomat, and recently went to Gaza with Medea Benjamin and Tighe Berry of CodePink. This report contains