Afghanistan Coverage: I Think We Can Do Better
Today the New York Times reported on a “critical assault” against the Taliban in Afghanistan. There were no photographs in the print edition, and the web version featured only the US commander. I think we can do better. This photograph was taken recently in Kandahar, although not during the...
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State Power When the Center Should Not Hold
Both this photograph and a second, featuring Hamid Karzai, reveal the same, sad reality: no amount of military force on the periphery can compensate for injustice or corruption at the center of the state.
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Obviously, the "Iraqi Mind" Has yet to Catch Up with the "Iraqi Opportunity"
The invasion of Iraq has caused untold suffering in both the US and Iraq, and no amount of economic development and nation building can undo that damage. Nor is this a matter of finally making right. It's about accepting a common history of pain.
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Eyewear and Warfare
When going on vacation this summer, you can be assured that the war will be there when you return. Waiting, stealthily, ready to kill again. This chilling image could well be the face of war in the 21st century. He sits there quietly, comfortably, in no hurry. There is...
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Sustainable Catastrophes
the story that accompanied this photograph in the New York Times is one reason why we will continue to experience large-scale disasters. To see why, we can begin by noting that photo had two captions: One was the small credit off to one side that said "Catastrophe"...
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Waiting Your Turn in the Machinery of Death
This photograph from Kabul, Afghanistan could have been captioned “Return of the Body Snatchers.” Gallows humor is pretty cheap, but it may be as sane a response as any other to another suicide bombing. The attack last week killed 18 people, wounded at least 47 others, and generally made...
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Mineral Dreams in Afghanistan's Wild West
We can look forward to the day when, according to the Pentagon, Afghanistan will become "'the Saudi Arabia of lithium.'" But that's the future, and the future could turn out otherwise. What is interesting for the moment is how the conversion of Afghanistan into a mineral extraction colony...
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Dude! Extreme Sport in Afghanistan
Whitman celebrated democratic athleticism, but we are further down the line now. Whatever the complexity of the world, Americans are turning war into an extreme sport.
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Seeing that Nature Can't Be Fooled
I'm featuring these photos in order to point out not only that nature can't be fooled, but that humans will continue to fool themselves. The sinkhole in Guatemala is not the first in that area, but few would expect everyone living there to pack up and leave (and then...
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After the Disaster: Why Not Get Back to Better?
The usual response will be to clean up the worst of the mess and then make do with a bit less than you had before. But why settle for that? I'd like to think that the time is coming when, instead of getting back to not very...
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Taking Signals from the Birthers
We might as well admit that American politics is insane. Where else could selection for the nation’s highest court involve debate over a photograph of the nominee playing softball? Really incriminating, isn’t it? Do we really want a Justice who bats right? But wait: if justices, in the immortal...
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Non-Explosions in Times Square and Afghanistan
Two quite different photos inadvertently expose habitual gaps in public understanding of the terror war.
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When Beauty is Humility
Human beings should strive to preserve the earth that will outlast them, and to create societies that can work in concert with nature rather than in the pursuit of dominion. To that end, beauty is a form of moral truth.
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English: The International Language of Police Power
The English speaking peoples of the world can bask in the knowledge that their common tongue has become the international language not merely of science and commerce but also of police power. No matter whether they maintain civic order or brutalize regime opponents, English gets the credit.
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Stupidité d’état at Guantanamo Bay
The national interest of a democratic people may be served well by reason, but the modern state, to the extent that it is a regime of coercive control, will rely on another mentality: stupidité d’état.
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Haiti: But She Can Sweep
These are not the practices of state action or global mobilization by state and non-governmental organizations; instead, they are the simple habits of life.
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Beyond Burning Bodies, High-Impact Mobilization and Those Haitians Down There
On the surface, this doesn't seem to have much to do with Haiti. Nothing is collapsed or broken, and there is no blood, no open wounds or stumps instead of hands or feet, no burning bodies. But then you read the caption: "Alex Alexis collapsed when he learned that...
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The Practice of Domination in Everyday Life
The photo appeared on page A8 of the morning edition of the New York Times with this caption: “ Tinderbox In Hebron, a Jewish settler threw wine at a Palestinian woman.... Look at the woman’s coat and hat, and at the Star of David scrawled on the storefront; she...
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