I’m still on semi-retreat but thought I would toss in two cents on the execution of Saddam. He now becomes the 2,140th Iraqi to die this month in that country’s war. It’s an obvious thought but one that bears repeating: his physical demise will contribute nothing to the resolution of the current conflagration nor will [...]

Light, very light posting until the New Year. A big thanks, meanwhile, to the growing crowd of regular readers.  Thanks also to the commenters. Even those who drive me nuts. A Xmas truce is now in effect.

Last week, I posted a preview of my article on rising and organized dissent over the war in Iraq among active duty members of the U.S. military. The complete and full-length piece is now published in the January 8, 2007 edition of The Nation and is available online by clicking here. It took many, many [...]

My good pal, Nation colleague and UCI Prof Jon Wiener has made the final breakthrough on recovering all of the once secret U.S. documents on that dangerous revolutionary John Lennon. Here’s the L.A. Times story on the just-released and final set of docs. Here are the docs. The phatasmogorical part of this story is that [...]

Excuu-u-u-se me, but I’m among the millions (I hope) who foolishly thought that the Miss America pageant went to the grave some years ago when dear, old Bert Parks checked out from The World. Actually, it sputters on in obscurity. And it even faces competition from the equally obscure Miss USA contest. Both events have [...]

Sorry for the light posting. I’ve been working hard to finish up the piece on military dissent which is previewed in the previous post below. The completed and much longer piece will be posted at the end of this week. (I am happy to announce that a heart-warming total of 75 blogs have linked to [...]

For the past couple of months I have been working hard on an exclusive story about organized dissent against the war among active-duty U.S. military personnel. The Nation magazine now posts an advance short excerpt from my much longer and in-depth article which will appear next week in both the hard copy magazine and on [...]

Without any question, the dumbest among the widely-read pundits writing today is Jonah Goldberg. I must have gotten 50 emails today from people egging me on to answer his donkey-dumb column on why Iraq needs a Pinochet (yawn). But anyone who is convinced by Goldberg’s stunningly stupid screed isn’t about to be convinced otherwise by [...]

I spent much of Thursday guest hosting the hour-long news magazine, To The Point which is broadcast nationally from the studios of local NPR station KCRW.. You can listen or download the podcast by clicking here. Topics covered: — The U.S. Senate majority hangs on the fate of Tim Johnson (with Kate Zernike of The [...]

I’m not exercised very much either way by Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s rather surprise announcement on Tuesday that he was once again running for President. A surprise not only because there had been earlier speculation that Russ Feingold might come forward as the peace candidate (until he announced he wasn’t running) or that Barack Obama might [...]

Given my personal connection to it, I’ve decided to stick with the Pinochet story for at least one more day.If you’re just tuning in you should check out the ample coverage in the post below this one. By the time you read this, the old boy should be safely bottled up in a jar of [...]

Re-Update: We’ve got a nice on-the-scene report from Santiago via young Chilean-American journalist Tomas Dinges. He’s got a good eye. Tomas’ Dad, John Dinges, spent some time with me in Chile back before you know who. Check out his books. Christopher Hitchens has also written a smart piece, confronting the jackasses who would justify Pinochet’s [...]

I don’t like blogging on weekends, but I’ll make this exception for Don Rumsfeld. No matter that he’s both architect and engineer of our current catastrophe in Iraq.  Having lost the confidence even of his autistic boss, the President, Rumsfeld should be embarrassed to show his mug in public. Instead, with his trademark and insufferable [...]

To almost no notice by the press, or anyone else, the liberal talk talk radio network Air America may be on the verge of going dark after first declaring a Chapter 11 bankruptcy two months ago. Today, Friday, was the deadline (already twice-extended) for the failing network to come up with a buyer who will [...]

Now is panic time for the pro-war dead enders. They just can’t believe that good old reliable Jim Baker would stab them in the back by suggesting that things have gone FUBAR in Iraq. Pandering to just that constituency, Mr. Murdoch’s New York Post splashed Baker and Hamilton onto its front page and headlined them [...]

For all of the hooplah around the release of the Iraq Study Group’s report, it’s a document that still looks more backward than forward. The good news is that it’s retrospective sum-up of the war is a forthright  and long-delayed indictment of both the military and foreign policy of the Bush administration. As the Washington [...]

The Senate committee hearings on new Defense Secretary Robert Gates are a vivid demonstration of the “madman theory” at work. Some of you will remember that during the Vietnam war Kissinger and Nixon cooked up said theory as one possible way to win the unwinnable. The theory went something like this: The U.S. would wildly [...]

I don’t know about you, but I share the red-hot outrage and alarm expressed here by Andrew Sullivan. These photos of prisoner Jose Padilla should make any American’s blood run cold. Padilla, one should remember, is a U.S. citizen who President Bush declared an “enemy combatant.” In flagrant violation of all American principles, Padilla was [...]

Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet underwent emergency surgery Sunday after suffering a heart attack. The 91 year old former general is currently facing myriad murder, torture and human rights violations charges. Having been given last rites, he might wind up dying just in time to avoid a trial. Chilean President, Socialist Michele Bachelet, says when [...]

Time out from global conflict. Take a moment and read my tribute to seedy, scruffy Downtown Las Vegas  that appears in the Travel section of today’s Los Angeles Times.