Brushes with the Mainstream

Last week I had two brushes with the mainstream of American culture and politics. The first was an appearance on a PBS television show, the Tavis Smiley show. As far as I can remember, this was only the second time I’ve been on a national TV program. The other time was in South Africa on a business program. On that …

Charles K. Bens, Ph.D. – The Beginning Of The End Of The War On Medicine

For nearly 100 years, there has been a serious war going on between the proponents ofallopathic (conventional) medicine and those who support natural or  functional medicine. Functional medicine in the form of herbal,1,2 Ayurvedic, and Chinese medicine was dominant around the world for hundreds of years. 3-5 Then, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the germ theory 6,7 of disease began to take …

Vijay Prashad – Why Urban Rage in America Is a Powder Keg That’s Ready to Blow

What is happening in America? The city of Milwaukee in the State of Wisconsin was convulsed in violence after the fatal shooting of a black man by police officers on August 13. The riot went on for two days. Milwaukee is a powder keg. Long histories of racism combined with recent incidents of police shooting held the city on edge. “It’s …

Sputnik News – Cold War 2.0: Hillary Claims a Putin-Led ‘Alt-Right’ Conspiracy is Against Her

The Democratic nominee doubled down on the disturbing tactic of drumming up anti-Russia hysteria in a bid to smear Donald Trump and to label any reports not favorable to her candidacy as akin to treason.    It is only 72 days until the next US President is elected and it already seems as though the fate of US-Russia relations will be irrevocably marred …

Michael Arria – Some of the Cruelest Employers in America: Workers Share Horror Stories as Campaign Builds to Fight Exploitation

“My supervisor let me know that if my hands hurt and I go see the nurse, I should tell her that the pain comes from something that happened at home. I shouldn’t say it’s work-related. If I say my pain comes from something I did at work, then I will be laid off without pay and three days later get …

Jamiles Lartey – By the numbers: US police kill more in days than other countries do in years

It’s rather difficult to compare data from different time periods, according to different methodologies, across different parts of the world, and still come to definitive conclusions. But now that we have built The Counted, a definitive record of people killed by police in the US this year, at least there is some accountability in America – even if data from the …

Tim Dickinson – Why America Can’t Quit the Drug War

In March, the commander in chief of the War on Drugs stood in front of a crowd of policymakers, advocates and recovering addicts to declare that America has been doing it wrong. Speaking at the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta – focused on an overdose epidemic now killing some 30,000 Americans a year – President Barack …