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Well, my friends, it has been quite a year so far, with the death of my father in February and my own rather severe illness in March and April, which had me suffering sleep deprivation at home for two weeks, then hospitalized for another two weeks, and then largely housebound for another month. I’m glad [...]

Those of you who know me as the world’s most incessant commentator on Guantánamo and related issues in the “War on Terror” — or, of late, as a fierce opponent of the coalition government’s plans to butcher the British state — may be surprised to find me writing a music review, but back in 2005, [...]

As an accompaniment to my article examining the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, “On the 9th Anniversary of 9/11, A Call to Close Guantánamo and to Hold Accountable Those Who Authorized Torture,” I’m cross-posting two other articles that provide important perspectives on the horrendous events of that day, and their bitter [...]

I don’t want to spend much time discussing the opposition to the building of the Park51 Project, a $100 million mosque and cultural center two blocks from the site of the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001, as such a response to an assault on the First Amendment to the US Constitution [...]

So that’s it, I’ll be out of touch until I tire of the pre-21st century isolation, and head into town for un caffé (o due), some dolci and somewhere with internet access. I’m away in Italy –- a remote location in Puglia the first week, a rooftop apartment in Napoli the second — so contact [...]

So I hope I left enough food in the cupboards and the fridge. And don’t forget to water the plants, please. I certainly left enough reading material. If you missed any of it, there’s the latest in the case of Omar Khadr, the “child soldier” that Obama, of all people, wants to try for invented [...]

I’m cross-posting an article about Noam Chomsky by Chris Hedges, originally published on Truthdig, because I was struck by the power of his statement, “I have never seen anything like this in my lifetime,” referring to the current state of politics in the US, and his warning, “It is very similar to late Weimar Germany,” [...]

I developed a lifelong opposition to war at the age of ten, when “The World At War” was broadcast by ITV, and today’s anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima has brought those feelings back. To mark this most distressing of anniversaries, I’m posting a commentary from the Boston Globe’s “Big Picture,” plus a few [...]