( Tomdispatch.com ) – From the earliest kingdoms to late last night, history has been the story not just of the rise of great powers but of their decline and fall. So, normally, there would be nothing particularly out of the ordinary about the aging America of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, a classic imperial […]
The New Abnormal: Living on an ever More Extreme Planet
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Hey, who knows? It could be the Gulf Stream collapsing or the planet eternally breaking heat records. But whatever the specifics, we’re living it right now, not in the next century, the next decade, or even next year. You couldn’t miss it — at least so you might think — if […]
The Radiance of a Thousand Suns: Can we dodge Two Torrid Disasters of our own Making?
( Tomdispatch.com ) – In case you hadn’t noticed — and how could you not? — there have been more than 500 (yes, 500-plus!) wildfires burning across the vast reaches of Canada, an unheard-of number, and more than half of them completely out of (human) control in a record-shattering fire season. That’s been true for […]
9/11, Climate Change Style: How burning Fossil Fuels is making our own Planet Alien to Us
( Tomdispatch.com ) – As it turns out, it’s never too late. I mention that only because last week, at nearly 79, I managed to visit Mars for the first time. You know, the red planet, or rather — so it seemed to me — the orange planet. And take my word for it, it […]
Who will Inherit the Earth? The Rise of AI and the Human Future (?)
( Tomdispatch.com ) – After almost 79 years on this beleaguered planet, let me say one thing: this can’t end well. Really, it can’t. And no, I’m not talking about the most obvious issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to the climate disaster. What I have in mind is that latest, greatest human invention: […]
The Era of Great Power Victory in Wars ended in 1945 and a Wise Power would Avoid them
( Tomdispatch.com) – I was born on July 20, 1944, amid a vast global conflict already known as World War II. Though it ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 before I could say much more than “Mama” or “Dada,” in some strange fashion, I grew up at war. Living […]
Prophecies, Then and Now: My Life at World’s End
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Indulge me for a moment. This is how “The Prophecy” in my 1962 high school yearbook began. It was written by some of my classmates in the year we graduated from Friends Seminary in New York City. “Being an historian, I am jotting down these notes out of habit, but what I […]
The New McCarthyism and the (True) One-Party State in America
Note for TomDispatch Readers: I hate to bother you when you were so wonderful in helping keep this website afloat with contributions as last year ended, but believe me, you’re still needed! I know it’s relatively early in the year, but TomDispatch is now low on funds in a world where wasteful spending on the […]
Why the Arctic turning into a Lukewarm Puddle should be a bigger Headline than a bit of Inflation
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Let me start 2023 with a glance back at a December news moment that caught my eye. To do so, however, I have to offer a bit of explanation. First, the obvious: I’m an old guy and, though I spend significant parts of any day scrolling through endless websites covering aspects […]
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