Exclusively in the new print issue of CounterPunch
HOLLYWOOD AND THE CIA — Film historian Ed Rampell details Hollywood’s entangled relationship with the CIA and the Pentagon; HOUSES OF THE DEAD: Nancy Kurshan exposes the cruel human rights offenses taking place inside America’s vast gulag of Control Unit Prisons; BROTHERHOOD OF SUMMER: David Macaray charts the history of the most powerful union in the US: the Baseball Players Association; TAR SANDS COME TO AMERICA: Steve Horn explains how the Keystone Pipeline debates have diverted attention from Big Oil’s other plans to transport Alberta’s oil into the US. PLUS: Jeffrey St. Clair on CONSTITUTIONAL ENTROPY; Mike Whitney on HOW THE BANKS TARGETED BLACKS; Chris Floyd on THE RISE OF BRITAIN’S TEA PARTY; Kristin Kolb on THE NEEDLE AND THE DAMAGE DONE; Kim Nicolini on the FILMS OF WILLIAM FRIEDKIN; and Lee Ballinger on POETS VS. THE ONE PERCENT.
Archives from June 2008
It may be June, but Christmas came early this year for Big Brother and the telecommunications giants. Unfortunately, it is average Americans who will pay–dearly–on three separate counts.
First, precious constitutional and other legal p...
What a difference a general election makes.
Hours after the Supreme Court handed down a ruling banning the death penalty for the rape of a child, Democratic candidate Barack Obama found his inner Scalia and declared it a miscarriage of justice.
"I hav...
A cease-fire went into effect in Gaza last week, offering some respite from the violence that has killed hundreds of Palestinians and five Israelis in recent months. It will do nothing, however, to address the underlying cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
...
Philip Taubman’s June 24 article the New York Times and International Herald Tribune is another st...
A person my age has watched many things decline in America, and few get better. As one of my neighbors says, everything good is gone or going. In that category we must now include good reporting. When I started work in Washington in 1973, it was axiomati...
In December 1962, when Lenny Bruce was arrested for obscenity at the Gate of Horn in Chicago, the police broke open his candy bars, looking for dope. They checked the IDs of audience members, including George Carlin, who told the cops, “I don’t believe ...
In the good ol’ USA, I’m considered a white guy. Despite my leftist/anarcho politics and my preference for news that isn’t filtered through the capitalist media, I’m a white guy as far as polling demographics go. I’ve got friend...
Can anyone state exactly why foreign troops are fighting in Afghanistan? What is the collective aim, the specific mission, the ultimate objective, of the 60,000 soldiers there? I ask this because as I write the total of US deaths in Afghanistan “and re...
The International Whaling Commission has had its 60th meeting, this time in Santiago, Chile. Proceedings have followed their traditional pattern; hostilities have been reasserted between pro-whaling parties and those reluctant to give any ground on the matter.&nbs...
The International Criminal Court, active since 2002, is getting busier, though much of its activity still remains buried in preparatory paperwork. It has begun fielding petitions on a growing list of war criminal suspects with some regularity. The first sign th...
Every four years it’s the same game on the American left: arguments on anti-war listservs about whether or not to vote Democrat in the upcoming election.
Every four years it seems like an awful idea no matter where you live, whether it be a “swing ...
I recently wrote an essay Counterpunch published. Judging from the amount of emails I received, a lot of people took the time to read it. This surprised me, both because I have never written anything of consequence before, and...
The American occupation of Iraq follows the same course as that of British rule after the First World War. At first there was imperial over-confidence following military victory and a conviction that what Iraqis did was of no importance. Then there ...
For a candidate who talks the talk on human rights, Barack Obama has little to say about the infamous School of the Americas (SOA). Originally established in the Panama Canal Zone in 1946, the school later moved to Fort Benning, Georgia in 1984. Since its inception, ...
Every four years it’s the same game on the American left: arguments on anti-war listservs about whether or not to vote Democrat in the upcoming election.
Every four years it seems like an awful idea no matter where you live, whether it be a “swing ...
I HAVE been asked to lay out the political rationale for a mass action strategy for the antiwar movement. To do so we must begin with the horror the United States has brought to the Middle East. The United States has nearly destroyed Iraq. Its invasion and occupation...
To anyone curious about how labor and management actually conduct contract negotiations, they should know that, even though these things are wildly unpredictable and can change from courteous and productive to acrimonious and destructive in a heartbeat, the negotiati...
Betrayal by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, Scott McClellan viewed as ultimate betrayal. Yes, Bush and Cheney had prevaricated their way into a war with Iraq, which upset him, but not to the extent of the treasonous behavior by his bosom buddies. Former Bushies, McClell...
The International Criminal Court, active since 2002, is getting busier, though much of its activity still remains buried in preparatory paperwork. It has begun fielding petitions on a growing list of war criminal suspects with some regularity. The first sign th...
I recently wrote an essay Counterpunch published. Judging from the amount of emails I received, a lot of people took the time to read it. This surprised me, both because I have never written anything of consequence before, and...
Betrayal by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, Scott McClellan viewed as ultimate betrayal. Yes, Bush and Cheney had prevaricated their way into a war with Iraq, which upset him, but not to the extent of the treasonous behavior by his bosom buddies. Former Bushies, McClell...
Double standards when it comes to children are pretty appalling—especially when it comes to “our” kids vs. “their” kids, but here in America they aren’t limited to just right-wingers.
Take reaction to the US Supreme Court&rs...
I HAVE been asked to lay out the political rationale for a mass action strategy for the antiwar movement. To do so we must begin with the horror the United States has brought to the Middle East. The United States has nearly destroyed Iraq. Its invasion and occupation...
To anyone curious about how labor and management actually conduct contract negotiations, they should know that, even though these things are wildly unpredictable and can change from courteous and productive to acrimonious and destructive in a heartbeat, the negotiati...
I love Adam Sandler. From Billy Madison to Happy Gilmore to the Chanukah Song, the predecessor of the Superbad generation has effortlessly conquered the domain of slapstick comedy and inappropriate jokes. But damn you Scuba Steve! If you’re going to propagate m...