100 Years of Contrary-ness
A summary of the long life of a dedicated contrarian, William Blau.
The Furies Visit the Smithsonian
Poem by Michael Gallagher in memory of Hiroshima Day With a flash that seared and blinded, the blue August sky burst open above the bridge, a bridge, this time, over the Potomac. The Eumenides had never tired though their pursuit had taken the better part of a century. Humorless as these ladies were, they had…
Dithering on the Brink
Michael Gallagher The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on January 23, 2020 that its symbolic “Doomsday Clock” has moved forward to 100 seconds to midnight, the closest to catastrophe that the scientists have judged the world to be at any point since its creation in 1947, at the outset of the Cold War. My…
Soleimani Assassination: Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind
Richard Silverman Our president is not a religious man. But it’s suitable to quote a verse from what his Christian allies call “the Scriptures:” For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind… I will send a fire upon his cities, And it will devour their castles. –Hosea Wreckage after U.S. drone attacked…
Washington’s Pro-Israel, Pro-Saudi Arabia, Anti-Iran War Drumbeat
Richard Silverstein Events in the Gulf are unfolding so quickly and ominously that it’s impossible to keep up. They could easily spiral out of control. You might go to sleep at night to a region at peace and wake up the next morning to countries aflame. In the midst of this swirl of events, it’s…
Saudi Arabia – State Sponsor of Terrorism
Richard Silverstein You can forget that claim you hear from Trump, Netanyahu and MBS that Iran is the greatest sponsor of state terrorism in the world. That award goes to Saudi Arabia hands down. First, it spent and wasted billions building up ISIS and arming it in order to topple the Syrian Alawite regime. It…
Requiem for a Hawk
Intro by b. traven Bill Clinton, that paragon of marital fidelity, could not wait when he was president to rush to Richard Nixon’s funeral to pay his respect to the man who was drummed from the of Presidency for his alleged crimes and misdemeanors while in office. Clinton has now, in concert with his equally…
JOHN AND CINDY: A MOTHER WHO LOST HER SON RESPONDS
Cindy Sheehan Intro from b. traven: When I think of John McCain, I think of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s famous observation from one of his published notebooks: “Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.” McCain was really a simple, down to earth guy who grew up in a privileged military family but…
Requiem for David Nussberg
b. traven is TCP’s co-founder. He is a 93-year-old WW II veteran, who is now a wine grape farmer finding peace in tending to his vines. Traven received a graduate degree in Physiological Psychology from the University of Chicago after the War. He has been a union steel worker, a “soda jerk” when they still…
Iraq: The Twisted Road to American Irrelevance
Peter Van Buren, who had a ‘catbird’ seat’ as a State Department leader of an FOB (forward operating base) during the Iraq war, shares his analysis of the torturous road American foreign policy took to finally hand over control of Iraq to Iran-friendly Shiite politicians. Along the way they succeeded in helping to create ISIS…
The Contrary Perspective 