ISB BLOG

What happened to so much winning? Donald Trump and his incompetent minions have trapped themselves and our country in a losing war in the Middle East. Trump and Pete “High-T” Hegseth thought attacking Iran and toppling its theocratic government would follow their...

"...don't stare too long into an endless black hole; turn your face to the light, as weak as the glimmer may be." Ece Temelkuran, Nation of Strangers I’m guilty of not following the excellent advice I read in Nation of Strangers by Turkish writer Ece Temelkuran. Of...

We should have no illusions about what Trump is doing. “It tended to inflate the ego of most planters beyond all reason; they became arrogant, strutting, quarrelsome kinglets; they issued commands; they made laws; they shouted their orders; they expected deference and...

"Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage, and you are preparing your own limbs to wear them." Abraham Lincoln, 1858 I find myself distracted and unable to focus on one thing for any length of time, a consequence of living in Donald Trump’s reality TV...

I'm pulling for the underdogs. In spite of FIFA’s shameless money-grubbing, and Fox Sports’ slavishly jingoistic coverage, I’m enjoying the group stage of the World Cup. Though they do their utmost, the moneyed interests that drive international Futbol can’t...

Iran Stomped Trump & Hegseth & Bibi “On the other hand, if the poor, unlettered toilers are given no political power, and are kept by exploitation in poverty, they will remain submerged unless rescued by revolution…” W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in...

Instead of making America great why don’t we make her decent? “Oh the shepherd is asleepWhere the willows weepAnd the mountains are filledWith lost sheep” Bob Dylan, “Ring Them Bells” I grew up on the myths, swallowed them whole, without questioning. No one ever told...

A note from the hottest country on earth “To cut a long story short: anarchists believe that for the most part it is power itself, and the effects of power, that make people stupid and irresponsible.” David Graeber, The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World Choose your...

But what is someone of my bent to do, where do I turn and to whom do I appeal? ”The revolution will not go better with CokeThe revolution will not fight germs that may cause bad breathThe revolution will put you in the driver's seatThe revolution will not be...

Our situation is more dire than people understand “The only unforgivable sin is dictatorship for the benefit of Fools, Voluptuaries, gilded Satraps, Prostitutes and Idiots.” W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America Warning: this will not be a hopeful piece....