We have two friends who don’t know each other and couldn’t be more unlike. One identifies as a “progressive” concerned with social, economic and environmental justice. The other identifies as a capitalist-libertarian concerned with immigration and security. The second friend, call him “S,” has been a vocal supporter of Donald Trump from the start of...
Since we’ve collectively agreed that guns are a necessary part of American life, we’re beginning to collectively accept that a certain number of us, the unfortunate ones, child scholars, must die. It’s the price we pay for the privilege of owning firearms and the bullets they propel. Whether or not you think semi-regular campus/church/Cineplex/school-shootings are...
An offshoot of the Occupy movement, Strike Debt is helping defaulters retire debt for pennies on the dollar. They’re also helping the 99% understand that the design of our financial system is built to keep masses of workers indentured to creditors. In Strike Debt’s easy-to-understand book, “The Debt Resistor’s Operations Manual,” the entire concept of who owes...
EXCERPTED FROM “How The Revolution Started: Essays & Impertinent Thoughts “(Eggy Press). …and to conclude, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission makes the following findings and recommendations. + Capitalism has been an interesting experiment which has now ended. We must identify a better organizing principle than greed. + Those who have aspired to the crimes of...
You seem really nice. I like you. I don’t know if we’re into the same stuff or anything, but you’re really fun to talk to. I can see why people say you’re adorable and easy-to-get-along-with. Do I seem like a nice person to you? I’m passionate, that’s for sure! You know, I strongly support the death penalty...
Monday is Memorial Day. Automobile races and ball games happen, sure. But Memorial Day is mostly set aside for solemn remembrance of the brave heroes who lost (gave?) their lives to the United States military so the rest of us can enjoy all the benefits of being citizens of the greatest country on Earth. We...
Some of our more famously progressive friends — those who self-identify as conscious, liberal, rights-minded pacifists, including “smartest man in the world” comedian Greg Proops – are presently in a political pickle. They’ve pre-declared themselves as Soldiers for Hillary, despite so many stains upon her record you might be persuaded that she was a key...
The handsomely constructed documentary “The Culture High” makes a compelling — and to our mind irrefutable — case that the so-called “War on Drugs” has been a kind of dystopian slow-motion holocaust. Director Brett Harvey has assembled an impressive roster of talking heads, including members of Law Enforcement, to explain clearly and conclusively why drug...
Everyone is all upset about the latest killing of an unarmed black man by a white police officer. This one was caught on video, so it’s going to be a little harder to explain to a jury why the shooting was justified, especially since the dead man was shot in the back as he fled....
Because of another political fracas between competing brands of The Money Party, your child’s life is at risk. And so are you. And so am I, which is why I’m terrified. Not terrorized, since, technically, no act of terror has yet occurred in my neighborhood of Los Angeles. But frightened. You should be, too. If...
Hope RekindledThis past week has given us more hope for our diseased republic than any other time in 50+ years of paying attention. Observing and participating in a long-overdue peaceful uprising, occupying the streets, feeling the righteous energy of people of all ages, colors, faiths, and wealth (or lack thereof), has…
Clarinetist Glenn Dickson, master of klezmer, has made a solo recording, “Wider Than the Sky,” that’s been on perpetual repeat at our home office. Using over-dubs and electronic digital effects, Dickson fills the aural soundscape with a rich melange of chordal textures supporting the melody. His celebrated virtuosity is subsumed here to long, elegiac musical...
