Category Archives: RagBlog

Marx used to refer to what we now call the “economy” as “the political economy”, because he realized that economics is really built on the constantly shifting social foundation of culture and politics, and law derived from politics. The latter … Continue reading →

Environmental writer Wasserman takes the apocalyptic view of the BP oil spill and the potential for ever greater environmental destruction from oil drilling and from nuclear power plants. “It is suicidal,” he tells us, “to allow corporations to deploy technologies … Continue reading →

By Robert Jensen. Baylor’s Eagleman, neuroscientist and author who works in the space between the materialist and the mystic — “where anything’s possible” — may well become “the Carl Sagan of the brain, explaining the billions and billions of neurons … Continue reading →

As Arizona essentially makes racial profiling into state policy and outlaws the teaching of ethnic studies, we revisit John Steinbeck’s literary classic that follows the Joad family as they migrate to California during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s in … Continue reading →

Audience members listen to a translation through headphones as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at Cairo University on June 4. Radio Free Europe. Saturday, June 5, 2010CONNECTING THE DOTS: THEORY AND HISTORYHarry Targ The Bewildering Array of Crises The magnitude … Continue reading →

Lefty John Ross, a former New York beatnik, has taken on a daunting task with his new history of Mexico City. Nobody has successfully told the story of this monster of a metropolis in one volume, but John effort is … Continue reading →

SS Exodus 1947 after British takever. Banner says “HAGANAH Ship EXODUS 1947.” Image from Wikimedia Commons. Pool photo by Uriel Sinai Is the Gaza flotilla the “Exodus ’47” story again, roles reversed? By Rabbi Arthur Waskow / The Rag Blog … Continue reading →

Fort Hood’s Eric Jasinski was court martialed and is being denied benefits after he went AWOL to seek treatment for serious PTSD. after he was “stop-lossed” by the army. His case is representative of a growing number of soldiers returning … Continue reading →

El Monstruo, or “The Monster,” a work by lefty John Ross, published last fall by Nation Books, is ostensibly a history of Mexico City. As such, faces an insurmountable challenge. Founded in 1325 and today with a population of about … Continue reading →