We bomb them. They bomb us.
Chris Hedges, journalist and senior fellow at The Nation Institute, discusses the Brussels Attacks for The Real News.
Video
Biting Satire or Bricks and Bats
Corey Robin included this video in a piece he wrote for Jacobin back in December, considering the question of what should be done about Trump.
The clip is amusing, but the question of how people of good will and sound minds ought to react to the rise of Herr Trump remains open. Most of the sort of thinky-thought articles on the subject don’t really offer any practical advice.
Since I’ve been looking for the answer and haven’t found it, I’ve decided that I’ll have to write it up myself. Look for a post here later this week.
Remembering Harriet Tubman
From The Smithsonian: One of our nation’s greatest heroes, Harriet Tubman led slaves north to freedom via secret paths and waterways, but her skills also made her a valuable military asset to the Union Army.
L’Internationale
This short film by Peter Miller documents the history and spirit of the great socialist hymn.
Chicago March for Bernie – February 2016
Our family was proud to be a part of the March for Bernie on Saturday, February 27th. It was a beautiful day in Chicago, and great to be among comrades. I offered to hold the banner for the Chicago DSA, not realizing that I was volunteering to help carry it along the route as well.
My pal Bob Simpson has a photo album up on Flickr that captures the spirit of the day.
I put a few shots of family and friends in a Flickr album too. The set is in reverse chronological order, starting with our ride home on the Metra.
Also, there’s this short video from the march.
This was our daughter Caroline’s first experience with a political event. She had a lovely time.
Stein and Hedges Discuss It All
“Stop supporting the lesser evil and start working together for the greater good.”
Here are both parts of the recent conversation between Jill Stein and Chris Hedges. Although the truth they present here can be hard to take, they present a way forward through the gloom. What they suggest may well be our only hope as a species. Please watch with an open mind and heart.
In this first episode of this set from teleSUR’s Days of Revolt, Chris Hedges and Green Party candidate Jill Stein diagnose the problems plaguing US politics, highlighting the dysfunction of a two-party system dominated by corporate interests.
And in part two, they lay out the solutions to issues like economic inequality and climate change, and explain the need for sustained civil disobedience and a unified grassroots movement.
Cleaning Up The Hudson
Here’s the story of how an idealistic crackpot’s crazy idea saved what was once one of our dirtiest rivers.
Our Story Starts Now
As people worldwide are taking stock, looking backwards to 2015 and forward to 2016, “A Resolution” shows that amidst growing catastrophe, the only real future is the one we’ll make.
This video was produced by Woodbine, an experimental hub in Ridgewood, Queens for developing the skills, practices, and tools for building autonomy in the Anthropocene.
The Fallen of World War Two
Neil Halloran has produced an animated data-driven documentary about war and peace called The Fallen of World War II. It looks at the human cost of the second World War and sizes up the numbers to other wars in history, including trends in recent conflicts.
The data he presents challenged many of my tacit assumptions about the war.
You can view the video above, or access an interactive version at fallen.io.
Sanders and the Second Bill of Rights
In September of 2012, I wrote about FDR’s 1944 State of the Union Address which proposed a “Second Bill of Rights.”
I wonder what might happen if President Obama were to make these rights the foundation of his bid for re-election. Would the American people rally to such a program? Would we recognize that political rights alone cannot ensure liberty and justice for all? Would we recognize that today our freedom is most threatened, not by the government, but by the tyranny of the marketplace? Would we recognize, at long last, that there is no democracy without economic democracy?
Today, at Georgetown University, Bernie Sanders appears to have taken up the challenge, putting Roosevelt’s speech at the center of his own campaign.
Sander’s speech begins about one hour and eight minutes into the video.
You can read the full text of the speech here.
I can’t say that I agree with everything Senator Sanders said in this speech, but it is certainly refreshing, even heartening, to hear a presidential candidate make such a vigorous defense of Social Democracy in this era where political discourse in the United States seems limited to the range between Neoliberalism and Fascism.
I wonder what will happen next.