I sent the New York Times this letter on March 20, 2019:

To the Editor,

Peter Navarro’s op-ed “Why America Needs a Stronger Defense Industry” argues that “Investing in the sector means more jobs at home and improved security abroad.” He praises the construction of tanks used in wars in Iraq.

Purple circle with a drawing of a side view of a woman with curly hair and the words Black Girl Miracle

Sunday, March 24, 5-8pm
Urban Arts Space, Lazarus building, 50 W. Town St.
#WomensHistoryMonth is HERE, and Black Girl Miracle is celebrating by hosting a pop-up gallery experience! Over the last six months, we've collaborated with some incredible women and artists to curate an intimate and powerful evening of storytelling through art, poetry, and live music.

BGM's interdisciplinary arts approach reflects the multifaceted-nature of the human experience with pieces and performances created to invite you to grapple with your own sense of self - wherever you are on your journey.

Join us on Sunday, March 24th from 5-8pm at the Urban Arts Space for an evening of great art and good company that feels like family. Bring an open heart, and a friend (or two).

Stars against a black sky with an oblong bit of whiteness like the Milky Way

Sunday, March 24, 2019, 7:00 – 9:00 PM
JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE is an epic film about the human connection to Earth and the cosmos. Renowned scientists, scholars, and award-winning filmmakers weave a tapestry of scientific discoveries in astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, and biodiversity with humanistic insights concerning the nature of the universe.  A panel will lead a Q&A after the film and discuss local resources that address issues raised in the film. A discussion of the book version will take place on Sunday, March 31st from 3:30 – 5 pm at Portia’s Cafe, 4428 Indianola Ave, Columbus 43214.  $10 donation requested or pay whatever you wish. Location: Northwood High Building, Room 100, 2231 N. High St., Columbus 43201.  Facebook.  

Rev Martin Niemoller was a prominent anti-fascist Lutheran pastor during the first decade of Hitler’s Thousand -Year Fascist Reich (now into its 86th year). He was a co-founder of the Pastor’s Emergency League that resisted the Nazi Party’s assault on the Protestant churches. For his resistance to German fascism, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. The poem acknowledges the fact that Niemoller and his group had failed to speak out when they could have been assisting other oppressed groups that he didn’t belong to and therefore wound up in the camps or gas chambers.

 

“There are two governments in the United States today. One is visible. The other is invisible.

“The first is the government that citizens read about in their newspapers and children study about in their civics books. The second is the interlocking, hidden machinery that carries out the policies of the United States in the Cold War.

To understand Beto O’Rourke as a candidate, it’s vital to go beneath the surface of his political backstory. News watchers are already well aware of the former Texas congressman’s good looks, charisma, youthful energy and fundraising prowess. But most remain unaware of an inconvenient truth that could undermine the O’Rourke campaign among the people who matter most -- the ones who’ll be voting to choose the Democratic presidential nominee next year.

 

O’Rourke is hardly eager for those upcoming voters to realize that the growth of his political career is rooted in an alliance with powerful Republicans that began 15 years ago. Or that he supported raising the minimum age for Social Security in 2012. Or that -- during six years in Congress, through the end of 2018 -- he often aligned himself with Republican positions.

 

If facts matter, such weighty facts could sink the “Beto for America” presidential campaign. Since his announcement, information gaining traction nationwide runs directly counter to the Beto brand.

 

BANGKOK, Thailand -- After nearly five years of junta rule, a bitter
election on March 24 pits pro-democracy "scum of the earth" against
the military government's "dictator" prime minister, but a party
demanding recreational marijuana may decide whose coalition governs.

The polarizing, confrontational changes in this Buddhist-majority,
U.S. ally come when there is no American ambassador assigned to
Thailand.

President Trump boosted Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha with an 2017
White House visit, even though the former army chief's 2014 coup
enforced suffocating military rule.

In February, the Pentagon held its annual multinational Cobra Gold
military exercise in Thailand, after the Obama administration
curtailed assistance because of Mr. Prayuth's putsch.

Neighboring China meanwhile strengthened economic, military and
cultural links and immediately supported Mr. Prayuth after he ousted a
democratically elected government.

The election however focuses entirely on the junta versus
Broken down building against cloudy sky with young man standing around looking lost

A global coalition of employees of the Microsoft Corporation is demanding that a contract for work with the U.S. Army be dropped.

Sign your name in support.

The employees have sent an open letter to both the CEO and the president/chief legal officer of Microsoft. Here are some highlights: 

■ "We are alarmed that Microsoft is working to provide weapons technology to the U.S. Military, helping one country's government 'increase lethality' using tools we built. We did not sign up to develop weapons, and we demand a say in how our work is used."

OK, I admit it - I’m a cinematic scaredy-cat. Ever since small kid days, horror movies have frightened the hell out of me. The last one I went to see was a 2018 LA Film Festival screening of Spell, which I saw because it was set and shot on location in Iceland, a country I’ve only seen from the sky and am interested in. To tell you the truth, I did manage to get through it sans any nightmares, night terrors and the like - but I still wasn’t prepared for what writer/director/producer Jordan Peele had in store for us in the terrifying Us.

 

To tell you the truth, I would never have bought a ticket to see this horror-fest, but because I was invited to a private critics’ screening I screwed up my courage, bit the bullet, went to see it - and boy am I glad I did. Us may be creepy, but man, is it GRRREAT!

 

Nationalists — white or otherwise — need “invasions” on a regular basis in order to stay revved up and equal to the cause. Thus:

“We are experiencing an invasion on a level never seen before in history,” the New Zealand killer (whose name I will not mention, honoring the precedent set by the country’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern) said in his gonzo manifesto. “Millions of people are pouring across our borders, legally, invited by the state and corporate entities to replace the white people who have failed to reproduce, failed to create cheap labor, new consumers and tax base that the corporations and states needs to thrive.”

This week, war industry employee Hans Binnendijk claimed in the weapons-advertisement conveyance

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