IN THE NEWS
Worldly wealth is the Devil’s bait; and those whose minds feed upon riches recede, in general, from real happiness, in proportion as their stores increase, as the moon, when she is fullest, is farthest from the sun.
The Return of McCarthyism
August 2, 2026
Republicans are plummeting in the polls in the lead-up to the midterms thanks to the unpopularity of the Iran War and the attendant inflation. As my Nation colleague Chris Lehmann has noted, in an attempt to shore up their fracturing base, the GOP has decided to label all Democrats as communist, a weird rhetorical move now being made by Donald Trump and his supporters. I talk to Chris about this strange and dangerous development.
... full articlePeople are not always very tolerant of the tears which they themselves have provoked.
Abandoned by the US: Palestinian Americans trapped in a surge of Israeli settler violence
August 3, 2026
No man’s land in Turmus Ayya lies where the US flags end and the Israeli flags begin. It is a few hundred metres of soil scorched by molotov cocktails where Israeli settlers have placed a boulder to tell the Palestinian villagers: this is our land now.
On one side of that boulder are the white-stoned mansions where the Palestinian residents of Turmus Ayya live. About 80% of them are US citizens, members of the diaspora in New York, Chicago and Paterson, New Jersey, who return for the summers and bring their children here to experience Palestinian culture and learn Arabic. Many call themselves proud American patriots and fly the stars and stripes from their balconies.
... full articleWar is mankind’s most tragic and stupid folly; to seek or advise its deliberate provocation is a black crime against all men.
Israel and US Ridiculed for Reportedly Considering “Land Blockade” of Iran
July 31, 2026
As reports say that some within the U.S. government believe that they are facing “strategic defeat” in the war on Iran, new reporting says that the U.S. and Israel are considering a land blockade of Iran — which would involve some level of cooperation from the seven countries that share a land border with the country.
The land blockade idea is one of various operations being discussed as Trump tries to force Iran back to the negotiation table, the U.K.’s Telegraph reports, though it doesn’t specify the source of the claims.
... full articleI don’t incidentally suggest that the deceit is conscious. Much more likely, it’s just the enormous power of conformity to convention, to what Gramsci called hegemonic “common sense.” Some ideas are not even rejected; they are unthinkable. Like the idea that US aggression is aggression; it can only be “a mistake,” “a tragic error,” “a strategic blunder.” I also don’t want to suggest this is “American exceptionalism.” It’s hard to find an exception to the practice in the history of imperialism.
Gaza: This is not a ceasefire. It is structural violence by another name.
July 28, 2026
Nine months after a ceasefire went into effect in Gaza, Palestinians are still pulling children from under the rubble. Families are still burying their dead. And the space in which 2 million people are expected to survive has shrunk to less than a third of the size it was three years ago. This is not a ceasefire; it is structural violence under a different name.
... full article