May 26 Newsletter
It’s been some time since I sent one of these newsletters, so let’s get right to it.
First, I’ve set up a personal website. Check it out, if you’re so inclined. (rjeskow.com) If you want to know what news stories are catching my eye, I’ve got a news feed which I update regularly. It’s here. And I compile most of my writing on something I call Absolute Zero.
In other updates:
The Zero Hour
It was an honor to speak with Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the Labour Party and candidate for Prime Minister, on ways to build global left solidarity. But the top news story of recent weeks has been the brutal attack on Gaza, and we covered it extensively on last week’s show:
We spoke with writer Ahmed Abu Artema while the attack was underway. The internet was slow or down most of the time, so we were forced to improvise: I left voice messages for Ahmed on WhatsApp, and he responded to me the same way. I then edited them together, and this is the result (don’t expect great sound quality).
I talked with Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of the human rights group B’tselem, which issued a report in January concluding that Palestinians now live in a state of Israeli-imposed apartheid.
I also spoke with Palestinian-American journalist and author Ali Abunimah, who was in Amman, Jordan as the fighting was underway. You can find Ali’s work at electronicintifada.net.
To help me think through our seemingly unending support for military interventions around the world, including in Gaza, I spoke with regular guest Richard Wolff (economist and historian) on the topic, “Militarism and the Capitalist Mind.”
In other program segments:
I spoke with author and journalist Vijay Prashad about Xinjiang, genocide, and the new Cold War narrative.
Author and journalist Zach Carter, whose book on John Keynes is currently a bestseller, discussed the feminist icon who changed economics.
Writer and philosophy prof Ben Burgis talked about his new (and excellent) book,
Cancelling Comedians While the World Burns.”
And activist Merith Basey discussed vaccine transparency and open access to medicines.
My Writing
I wrote these pieces for Common Dreams:
As Gaza Burns, Where is Washington's "Respect for Norms" Now?
Washington DC — In this city by a river, Rep. Liz Cheney is being lionized by the country's elites for defending the country's political "norms," that pretense of civility that allows people to discuss the immiseration and deaths of others with the proper level of decorum. When it comes to Israel's...
Read more
On Vaccine Patents, A Light Out of the Darkness
The poet Robinson Jeffers once characterized the purveyors of modern greed in direct language: "They'd shit on the morning star if they could reach (it)." We're seeing the consequences of that greed in our land, seas, and skies. We're seeing it in ourselves, too. We're becoming ill and dying in the...
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The Apocalypse Must Be Near. I Agree With Henry Kissinger—About Cold War With China
The end must be near, because I agree with Henry Kissinger about something. In fact, "the end" is exactly what I agree with Kissinger about. The former secretary of state, in a video appearance with the equally execrable former Senator Joe Lieberman, had this to say about US/China relations: "It's...
Read more
Other News Stories
In other stories that seemed noteworthy:
U.S. COVID-19 death toll is actually closer to 900,000, new study suggests (ABC News)
What’s a half million fatalities or so, give or take?
Get Ready for Financial Shocks From Climate Change, Biden Tells Officials (NY Times)
“WASHINGTON — President Biden has ordered government agencies to prepare for climate-related shocks across the economy, as escalating disasters threaten home prices, the value of retirement funds and even the stability of the global financial system.”
Better late than never, I guess.
The Defund Police Movement Takes Aim at Fusion Centers and Mass Surveillance (Intercept)
“Legislators in Maine are debating pulling funding for the state’s fusion center — the first such bill in the country.”
This is definitely the right move. These fusion centers were instrumental in destroying the Occupy movement, despite its nonviolent nature, and are an ongoing threat to liberty.
“I Did Have Some Trouble Reporting the Truth” (Slate)
... about the violence against Palestinians, that is.
Apple brass discussed disclosing 128-million iPhone hack, then decided not to (Ars Technica)
They thought about being transparent and responsible by warning their users their data had been compromised. Then they decided to “think different.”
Drivers with more expensive cars are less likely to yield to pedestrians, study finds (Consumer Affairs)
The rich are different. They’re bigger jerks. (Not all of them, of course! Social science deals with averages.)
Scientists Drove Mice to Bond by Zapping Their Brains With Light (NY Times)
This is getting a little ahead of the story here, but if those emotions can be generated electronically, where will that leave romance novels and love poetry?
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.
RJE