Category Archives: U.S. policy

What’s so special about nuclear weapons? (Or, when did “WMDs” become a thing?)

Helena · 1:24 pm · 07/25/2022 · Israel, U.S. military, U.S. policy, War

Throughout the present century, the corporate media here in the United States, and much of international discourse, has been in a furor over “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” Why, in 2003, the (G.W.) Bush administration even led an international coalition to go into the once-proud country of Iraq and, basically, destroy the whole country’s infrastructure and … Continue reading What’s so special about nuclear weapons? (Or, when did “WMDs” become a thing?) →

How Tik Tok hooks (very) young people

Helena · 10:19 am · 10/12/2021 · China, U.S. policy

Americans have become increasingly aware of the addictive effects that Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram have on young people. But we should all be even more concerned about Tik Tok, the English-language version of the signature app owned by China’s ByteDance company. TikTok consists solely of catchy, fast-moving short videos– 60 seconds is considered a … Continue reading How Tik Tok hooks (very) young people →

Takeaways from an election

Helena · 2:45 pm · 11/08/2020 · Black Lives Matter, International law, U.S. policy, U.S. politics, World order

Some quick takeaways from this past week’s election news here in the USA. 1. Though Biden won, it’s still true that more than 70 million Americans cast a vote for Donald Trump. That, after four years of seeing him in action: racism, misogyny, crass cutting of health care and other vital social programs; “White” entitled-ism, … Continue reading Takeaways from an election →

Notes from the heart of this collapsing empire

Helena · 3:43 pm · 06/07/2020 · Black Lives Matter, Covid chronicles, Quakerism, U.S. policy, Washington DC life

Twenty months ago, Bill the spouse and I moved back to live in Washington DC fulltime after living in “bucolic” Charlottesville, VA for 21 years. Three months ago, the Covid-19 crisis found us here; and since then I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how starkly the three braided strands of this crisis expose … Continue reading Notes from the heart of this collapsing empire →

Another American first: A self-collapsing empire!

Helena · 10:38 am · 06/02/2020 · Anti-imperialism, China, Covid chronicles, Imperialisms, U.S. policy, World order

Americans are well-known for their ingenuity and many of them (including Pres. Donald J. Trump) love to crow about being “Number One!” Now, the whole world is seeing the United States achieving a nearly unprecedented record: The country that was this planet’s unchallenged hegemon for the past 28 years is undergoing a collapse of its … Continue reading Another American first: A self-collapsing empire! →

Not Cold War 2.0. More like imperial collapse.

Helena · 3:49 pm · 05/20/2020 · China, Covid chronicles, U.S. policy, World order

A large part of the international-affairs commentatoriat in the United States is opining on the issue of a possible “Cold War 2.0” with China. Some are warning it may come unless we do X, Y,  or Z. Some are saying it is already here. Some are cheering it on. Some are “judiciously” saying it may … Continue reading Not Cold War 2.0. More like imperial collapse. →

Pueyo and Haque on the effects of Covid-19

Helena · 1:17 pm · 05/19/2020 · Covid chronicles, U.S. policy, World order

Ten days ago, I wrote: the world may thus soon become divided into two zones “Covid-safe” and “Covid-unsafe.” And those of us living in “Covid-unsafe” countries may find it extremely difficult to travel to many other countries… but especially to the “Covid-safe” ones. On May 13, the tireless Covid-chronicler/statistician Tomas Pueyo– who was the originator … Continue reading Pueyo and Haque on the effects of Covid-19 →