In 1991, Jim Jarmusch was casting for his anthology film Night on Earth. The premise was simple: five taxi drivers in five cities pick up passengers, set to a soundtrack by Tom Waits. The writer-director wanted Gena Rowlands to play a passenger, but she took some persuading. “Night on Earth was the first film she’d made since losing John [the director John Cassavetes, her husband] and she wasn’t sure. Eventually she said: ‘OK, I’ll be in this film for you.’” Jarmusch does a perfect impression of Rowlands, as he does with everyone he quotes – it’s quite a talent.
... full articleThe true hypocrite is the one who ceases to perceive his deception, the one who lies with sincerity.
At some point—and I can’t quite say when—it has become harder, at least from this side of the Atlantic, to separate our image of Donald Trump from the United States itself. The two have begun to blur in ways that feel new, and, frankly, unsettling.
Until recently, I tried to be careful about this. I love my American friends. And it’s worth saying very plainly that millions of Americans continue to oppose these policies, often loudly and at great personal cost. Any criticism here is directed at decisions made in power, not at the people who live with their consequences.
... full articleEven today we raise our hand against our brother… We have perfected our weapons, our conscience has fallen asleep, and we have sharpened our ideas to justify ourselves as if it were normal we continue to sow destruction, pain, death. Violence and war lead only to death.
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request is a bat signal to Congress. The American empire is flailing, and the White House is working to ensure that the country declines with it. If there was ever a time for lawmakers to discipline the Pentagon, it is now.
On Friday, the White House released preliminary details about the fiscal year 2027 federal budget. The president requested $1.15 trillion for the Pentagon, as well as an additional $350 billion for the military outside of the regular budget process. If Congress manages to approve the latter in a separate spending bill, it will deliver President Trump a $1.5 trillion top line—a 44 percent increase from last year.
... full articleIt is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes… we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions – especially selfish ones.
Donald Trump is a despot and the US is a democracy. These things can be true simultaneously but not indefinitely. There is now deadlock in the struggle between a president who would be king and a constitution drafted in repudiation of monarchy. But it is a battle to the death. Tyranny will either break the spirit of the republic or be quelled by it.
Since the US is the world’s paramount power, the outcome of this contest has epic consequences for countries, such as the UK, that depend on Washington for security.
... full articleIn Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power.
