More news from home

The UN on the Ayotzinapa case. Francisco Goldman’s discussion of this case in English. A Louisiana legislative candidate in blackface. The police work for McDonald’s. Fact and feeling have the same weight. Lateral governance. Dear Z:           Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me about President Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos … More More news from home

On freedom

A key issue may be that “freedom” for many Americans has always meant the freedom of the male settler-colonist to destroy the earth and its people, order his women and slaves around, and impose his religion upon others. Yet more important is that Trump is trying to destroy the national self-image as progressive. It is … More On freedom

“Me llamo es…”

On the question of Saying Their Name: I have always understood about it for reasons having to do with my ancestors the Lloyds and the Goldsboroughs, and because it is a major South American theme, never again, nunca mais, say their name. But I have learned more about it from these disaster databases which are … More “Me llamo es…”

Sobre el mundo actual

Milosexual and the aesthetics of fascism (Boston Review) Government by white nationalism is upon us (Slate) Pankaj Mishra (The Guardian) Letters of Erich Auerbach 1933-1946 (PMLA) When it is too late to stop fascism, according to Stefan Zweig (The New Yorker) A useful discussion of populism (The Nation — and a piece worth critiquing) A … More Sobre el mundo actual

Randolph Bourne

With the shock of war, however, the State comes into its own again. The Government, with no mandate from the people, without consultation of the people, conducts all the negotiations, the backing and filling, the menaces and explanations, which slowly bring it into collision with some other Government, and gently and irresistibly slides the country … More Randolph Bourne

“It’s the world committing suicide”

Normalization is not an option. From Tikkun. Worth reading slowly. Poem by Rachel Zucker. From The Nation. “Meanwhile oil unstoppably pouring into the blue-green.” Also from The Nation, a fascinating review of A Nation Without Borders–a book which has been widely discussed elsewhere as well, and which should clearly be read. UPDATE. Someone else said: What … More “It’s the world committing suicide”

The sacrifice zone

Nowhere is the abuse as frightening as in Louisiana—with the exception, perhaps, of its neighbor to the east (“Thank God for Mississippi!” is the unofficial state motto). Louisiana is the second-poorest state and second-to-last in human development, which is a measure of individual freedom. The state’s rate of fatal cancers is about 30 percent higher … More The sacrifice zone