Nic Abramson to display his work

OR DO THEY? (mixed media)

Local Woodstock artist, Nic Abramson, will display his work at the

Phoenix Gallery on West 28th St, NY. The opening is scheduled for

Thursday, January 7th, and the show is entitled "What's Right,

What's Left: Democracy in America."

Senseless Slaughter of Innocents

I am saddened, sickened,  and stunned by the senseless slaughter of innocents in Paris.  We as progressive members of civil society must condemn any and all barbarous attacks on innocents.

These types of acts whether in Paris,  Palestine,  Pakistan, or Ferguson are the result of oppression,  militarism,  racism.  and exceptionalism .  The US,  Israel and Saudi Arabia are all guilty on all counts.

Relentless,  daily brutality and terror are inflicted by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) upon women, children and men in the militarily occupied West Bank and Gaza. Children are shot, gassed and imprisoned every day.  Israels' most recent attack on Gaza in 2014 resulted in 550 children killed,  10,000 homes demolished,  and thousands of adults killed or wounded.

The US drone attacks in Pakistan have killed scores of innocent men, women, and children.  Dozens of Black men killed by police and thousands more imprisoned on bogus charges and convictions.

It is profoundly disturbing that US policies and US tax dollars finance activities which result in so much unnecessary suffering and loss.

Let us stop sending Israel $3 billion a year to enable the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.  Let us say no to more funding for US drones which kill innocents in Pakistan.  Let us end the injustice in the justice system.

My heart breaks for the Parisians, the Palestinians,  the Pakistanis, the poor Blacks and all the other innocents, of which there are many.

Unfortunately, until we address and remedy the issues of oppression, militarism, racism, and exceptionalism these gruesome,  ghastly, and terrifying events will continue to occur.

Eli Kassirer

Empire or Democracy?

Jean-Paul Sartre had a warning for the French people regarding their country's long occupation of Algeria. Whatever a country does to an occupied people, it in turn does to itself.

With 800 foreign bases in 150 countries, the US is no doubt the world's largest empire in history. Since 1945, our country has overthrown dozens of democratic governments unfriendly to US business interests, and put in their place compliant military dictatorships. 

Now we see the destruction of our own democracy. Obama has established the president's right to kill anyone in the world, including US citizens, based on secret evidence presented at closed White House meetings. The National Defense Authorization Act overturns over 150 years of domestic law to allow the US military to enter our homes, remove us to some unknown detention center here or abroad and keep us incommunicado until "the end of hostilities." Section 1021 would strip US citizens of any due process whatsoever. The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act making its way through Congress would legalize mass surveillance of all Americans by the national security state, enabling it to build a case against anyone.

Finally, two massive trade deals pushed by Obama, the TPP and the TTIP, would create secret courts of corporate appointed judges to dictate policy on pollution control, worker safety laws, consumer protection, food safety, etc. The rules of America's economy would be completely decided by the multinational corporations rather than by its citizens.

Empire or democracy. Nations have never managed to have both.

Fred Nagel