I’d like to be a pig. Man alone can be ridiculous. – Gaugin Last night I had a strange dream. I was sitting in an old Uptown lounge called the Saxony. It was darkest midday and the only other occupant of the place was a very old and sickly man. He leaned into me,...
Counterpunch
A World in Search of Its Conscience
Living in Gaza now requires a choreography of absence. We don’t walk; we drift. We don’t eat; we search. We don’t sleep; we remain alert, ears tuned to the sound that will send us running. Survival is a ritual of adaptation in a world that offers none…And yet I...
Through the Eyes of Lee Miller
When the US entered the war, Miller went back to work for American Vogue and followed the D-Day landings into France. She was no embedded reporter. In fact, during her first week in France, Miller violated orders from the Army and entered the besieged village of St....
Is a State the Reward for Genocide?
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair Most Israelis are too focused on the atrocities that Hamas committed on October 7 to acknowledge, much less denounce, the atrocities their government is committing on an ongoing basis in Gaza. The Israeli public is desperate to save...
Massive Ocean Regime Shift, Alarming
This figure shows changes in heat content of the top 700 meters of the world’s oceans between 1955 and 2023 (US EPA) A new study published in ScienceDaily claims severe ocean overheating may be causing a fundamental climate shift. Ocean heatwaves over the past couple...
Fascists on the CPD: Why Is It So Hard to Fire Proud Boy Cops in Chicago?
Screenshot from YouTube For many years, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has harbored at least two dozen members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and other white supremacist and fascist groups. The scandal, well-documented in the local media and official city...
This is Not a Drill: Talking With Roger Waters
Roger Waters at the Newport Folk Festival 2015. Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0 Fame and fortune are often corrupting forces, ones that beget power and comfort. To stand with the afflicted requires sacrificing this privilege and few embody that sacrifice more profoundly...
No Peace at the U.S. Institute of Peace
The United States Institute of Peace Headquarters – CC BY-SA 3.0 Just when you think you’ve won against Donald Trump, just when you think the courts are on your side, he finds ways to place incompetent cronies in important positions. The battle surrounding the...
“And Did Those Feet:” William Blake in Bradford
William Blake, Preface to Milton, a Prophesy, “Jerusalem,” c. 1811. British Library. The way to Bradford It’s unusual to receive a lecture invitation in which the title as well as the subject is given in advance. But I was glad to be invited by the Bradford Literary...
Building Power for Palestine and for a New World Order
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair A coalition of cross-regional states met in Bogotá, Colombia in mid-July to discuss measures to disrupt Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. The subsequent commitments by some of those governments to end all material support to Israel...
“Moral Injury”: Murdered in Gaza, Disappeared in America
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair Moral injury is the social, psychological, and spiritual harm that arises from a betrayal of one’s core values, such as justice, fairness, and loyalty. “Moral Injury” – Psychology Today, emphasis added. I became interested in the term...
Fascists on the CPD: Why Is It So Hard to Fire Proud Boy Cops in Chicago?
Screenshot from YouTube For many years, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) has harbored at least two dozen members of the Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and other white supremacist and fascist groups. The scandal, well-documented in the local media and official city...