Originally published on TomDispatch. Sometimes, Donald Trump just doesn’t get the credit he deserves. In so many ways, he is indeed a record-setting president. Here’s just one example, as reported by Dave DeCamp of Antiwar.com. In early May, the U.S. military bombed...
Support Our Troops: What It Really Means
The other day, I was reading an old Atlantic Monthly and came across the following cartoon: That is one powerful image. I like the tiny heads on the pallbearers. They make me think of the posturing politicians who tell us to “support our troops” while sending them to...
The Strait of Hormuz: A Constant in Iranian History
The strategic and spiritual resonance of the Strait of Hormuz is deeply woven into Iran’s identity. It represents a profound geographic constant in Iranian history. This narrow waterway has served as a central artery for Persian political and economic power,...
Wildlife & Landmines: The Lasting Legacy of Passive Weapons
Horrifically deadly and widely implemented on a global scale, landmines continue to speckle the landscape of current and past battlefields. And while effective in a passive sense, the hardware planted beneath the soil persists long after the inevitable conclusion of...
The Boring Trump-Xi Summit: Boring Is Good
Critics of the May 2026 summit between President Trump and Xi Jinping, president of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), widely condemned the outcome as being long on pomp and ceremony but short on meaningful substantive results. They noted that most of the...
Senators Propose To Head Off ‘Automatic’ Draft Registration by Repealing Selective Service
On May 14th, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) reintroduced the Selective Service Repeal Act, S. 4537). This bill already has the endorsement of dozens of peace and antiwar groups, draft resisters, religious organizations, antiwar...
US/Iran Energy Shock Damage Is Spreading in Asia
In the Asian shock, four transmission channels play a role. In the case of oil, elevated risk premium is coupled with physical tightening via Strait of Hormuz disruptions. Lliquefied natural gas (LNG) poses a more severe constraint than oil and thus structural...
The Man Who Seeks To Rule the World
Although Donald Trump has never been modest about his abilities or reluctant to exercise personal power, during his second term in office he has shown clear signs of megalomania. One sign, of course, is his blatant demand for the territory of other nations. Since...
All The Time In The World… NOT!
If the Donald does not wish to bring down upon himself the ignominy of being the first US president to be impeached, convicted and removed from the White House by the US Marshals, he damn well better start reading the Iranian settlement proposals. Even if he doesn’t...
The Assault on a French Nun and the Forgotten Story of Palestinian Christians
The video is horrifying, though it is the kind of horror now synonymous with the behavior of Israel, its military, its armed settlers, and society that has been conditioned to see the 'other' as subhuman. Yet, this was not the typical viral video that emerges almost...


