Peace and Justice Files

Of the people, by the people, for the people

I figure it must have been a very hot day in the Athenian Agora, twenty-five hundred years ago or so. Guys in togas hanging out under some shade trees, trying to stay cool, and discussing the state …

Farewell to a gadfly

We got the news on a Sunday evening: Mort was gone. Dr. Mort Malkin—author, poet, physician, activist, and self-described “gadfly”—had been a fixture here in the …

A critique of critical criticism

“History is a pile of debris.” — Laurie Anderson Let’s face it: History is a big bleeping mess. Civilizations, cultures, battles, empires, peasants, generals, advances, …

USA 2.0: the preamble

Windows 10! iPhone 12! “NEW More Powerful You-Name-It, now with extra somethings!” We are getting updates all the time, it seems. Products are redesigned, rethought, improved, tweaked …

Herzlich willkommen in Amerika

I don’t know if you heard, but my German fiancée Jasmine and I finally got married last month, in a quiet ceremony on the steps of the Wayne County Courthouse. (The “Love is Not …

‘It’s an outrage!’

(In which Screwdisk, EVP for Sales and Acquisitions for HellCorp North America, makes some suggestions to his young nephew and tempter-in-training Scumbucket. See www.screwdisk.wordpress.com for …