The questions shouldn’t be: 1)  Is this a breach of protocol by the House Speaker, to invite a foreign Prime Minister to address a joint session of Congress? 2)  Is it too close to the Israeli elections to select one of many candidates for the spotlight and likely accolades such

For years, we grew kale in our Alaska garden.  It is hardy and nutritious.  Somehow, it got eclipsed by some of my experiments – rutabaga, radicchio, parsnips, fava beans, soy beans and other plants.  This year, once again, I planted kale, from a pack of seeds including various kinds of

So much money is being spent on radio and television political ads in Alaska, especially in the U.S. Senate race, that some TV programs are starting five minutes behind, so the stations can rake in as much dough as possible.  Both Sen. Mark Begich, and his GOP opponent, former Alaska

This year’s Pulitzer Prize for Musical Composition was awarded to my longtime friend and colleague, John Luther Adams.  The award was specifically for a spacious new orchestral work of his, commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Become Ocean.  But the prize for Adams, as is the case with others so

This is a question many of us have asked ourselves. Gazans have been equated with the people who are in political and paramilitary power there from the beginning of Hamas control, which was brought about by an election run more fairly than many in jurisdictions of the USA.  The three

In the aftermath of the month-long Gaza slaughter, author and journalist Max Blumenthal is in Israel and Palestine.  Two videos have been posted on Youtube within the past few days which are important documents for at least a few reasons. Longtime Firedoglake readers are probably aware that I have been

On Tuesday, Alaskan super voters will go to the polls to decide a few important contests. The two most important for the future of the state are the GOP three-way contest to oppose Sen. (D) Mark Begich’s US Senate seat in November, and a voters’ referendum on Alaska’s tax structure

Author Ali Abunimah, who we hosted at a Firedoglake Book Salon on May 18th, has been rudely cancelled from giving an August 11th public talk on the book we featured, The Battle for Justice in Palestine, by the Evanston (Illinois) Public Library: Evanston Public Library in the north shore suburbs of

Almost 40 years ago, after showing my girlfriend (now my wife) my latest poem, she diplomatically told me that poetry was perhaps “the least of my many artistic talents.”  Since then, I haven’t written many verses, though I’ve set over 50 by others to song. However, the ongoing Gaza butchery

For the #Bedouins of the #Negev, the demand for concrete shelters is not just about protection, it's about… http://t.co/KrZuYBilzO — intelligencebar (@intelligencebar) July 18, 2014 Sunday, as fighting escalated in the open prison grounds of Gazagrad, a desperate rocket, fired from the internment camp’s interior killed an Israeli Bedouin citizen.