Standing for George Floyd

One word in particular, one sound, one horror that I can’t get out of my head is this: George Floyd crying out “momma,” as his life was cruelly and senselessly crushed in yet another brutal, White-on-Black murder by a so-called “officer of the law.” This can’t be America, can it? Continue reading →

How weird is the Democratic Party establishment?

Just when you thought this political year couldn’t get any weirder, along comes the entire Democratic Party establishment rushing en masse to the cliff’s edge, hurling themselves head-first into the presidential contest. What has spurred this gaggle of political operatives, fat cat donors, and former presidential hopefuls is a collective impulse to unite behind the very worst candidate the party could possibly put up against Donald Trump in November’s election: Joe Biden. Continue reading →

CENSORED MATERIAL: Free the free press from Wall Street plunderers

Editors’ note: The following is the column that was rejected by the Creators Syndicate, who feared reprisal from the corporations mentioned in the article. Read more about the controversy at the Austin Chronicle; for more information, contact Deanna Zandt, [email protected].


A two-panel cartoon I recently saw showed a character with a sign saying: “First they came for the reporters.” In the next panel, his sign says: “We don’t know what happened after that.” Continue reading →

Blast from the past: Agribusiness Accountability Project, 1973

Back in 1973, Organic Gardening wrote about a new report from the National Academy of Sciences which denounced the lack of quality research in state- and federally-funded programs. And look who makes an appearance: Hightower, who was then part of the Agribusiness Accountability Project. Dig that hair, y’all!

Takeaways from the election

Buckle-up friends, it’s going to be a hairy ride.

Start with Day One for President Trump (gotta get used to saying that). He will need to be up-and-at-’em no later than 12:01 am, for during his campaign he promised to get oodles of big stuff done on his very first day in office, including: “Repeal Obamacare;” Begin working on impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful, southern border wall;” Meet with Homeland security officials and generals to begin securing the Southern border; Fix the Department of Veterans Affairs; “Repeal every single Obama executive order;” Suspend Syrian refugee resettlement; “Get rid of gun-free zones in schools;” “End the war on coal;” “Defend the unborn;” “Start taking care of… our military;” And convene top generals and inform them they have 30 days to come up with a plan to stop ISIS.

Good grief! Americans have actually put a xenophobic-misogynous-racist-nativist-narcissistic blowhard in the Oval Office. Has our country gone right-wing? Or completely nuts? Continue reading →