I was born in 1955, right around the time that Elvis Presley broke out in Memphis, Tennessee. Throughout my childhood, Elvis was an essential feature, a guiding light. I grew up with The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Beatles. John Lennon once said, “Without the music of Elvis, there would have been no Beatles.” […]
What is Happening in South Africa?
We are reprinting a statement from the group Abahlali baseMojondolo dated July 13, 2021. Abahlali is a grassroots organization that represents shack dwellers, squatters and poor people in and around the east coast port of eThekwini (Durban) in the province of Kwazulu-Natal. They have weathered a lot of repression. Here is their take on the […]
A Few Thoughts on the Euro 2020/2021 Football Contest
It’s been a bit of a lifesaver, telly wise. The alternatives, mostly bad news, have been Biden’s bipartisan and useless or harmful this and that, and a collapsed building in Florida…and rotten weather, never rule that out. Then there is Britney Spears, the latest rich victim of some sort of controlling elder. Speak to the […]
Michigan Deluge? Capitalist Catastrophe
For all that don’t know, and most outside of the region (Detroit, southeast Michigan and mid-Michigan) don’t know because the national media has had little to no coverage, we were hit really hard by a serious storm this past weekend with mass flooding, power outages and infrastructure destroyed. It also included some tornadoes throughout mid […]
“Like Hell on Earth:” former steelworker shares reflections, reviews Finally Got the News and Noel Ignatiev’s Acceptable Men
My friend Bill retired to Bisbee after working in the Detroit steel mills for decades. When I got my copy of Noel Ignatiev’s Acceptable Men: Life in the Largest Steel Mill in the World, I shared it with Bill. I wanted to see how it resonated with his own experiences, and it did. I told […]
Plunder, Passage, Prison: Three Border Stories
Plunder “No nos toca;” basically, “it’s not our problem.” That’s what the municipal police officer told community members of Cruztón after paramilitaries ambushed a group of land defenders and assassinated Rodrigo Guadalupe Huét Gómez, a father, husband, son, and friend of many. Cruztón is a small community in Los Altos of Chiapas in southeastern Mexico […]