Norman Solomon – War made Invisible: How America Hides The Human Toll Of Its Military Machine
More than twenty years ago, 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan set into motion a hugely consequential shift in America’s foreign policy: a perpetual state of war that is almost entirely invisible to the American public. War Made Invisible, by the journalist and political analyst Norman Solomon, exposes how this happened, and what its consequences are, from military and civilian casualties to drained resources at home. From Iraq through Afghanistan and Syria and on to little-known deployments in a range of countries around the globe, the United States has been at perpetual war for at least the past two decades. Yet many of these forays remain off the radar of average Americans. Compliant journalists add to the smokescreen by providing narrow coverage of military engagements and by repeating the military’s talking points. Meanwhile, the increased use of high technology, air power, and remote drones has put distance between soldiers and the civilians who die. Back at home, Solomon argues, the cloak of invisibility masks massive Pentagon budgets that receive bipartisan approval even as policy makers struggle to fund the domestic agenda. Necessary, timely, and unflinching, War Made Invisible is an eloquent moral call for counting the true costs of war.
Norman Solomon is co-founder of RootsAction.org and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy. His books include War Made Easy, Made Love, Got War, and War Made Invisible.
Katherine Zoepf – Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World
A young Syrian woman is brutally murdered by her brother, because she had sex outside of marriage. In Lebanon, women resolute to appear virginal undergo genital reconstruction surgery. A network of secret, women-only prayer groups gather to promote an Islamic revival. These are just some of the disquieting stories from a hidden world, too often misunderstood, reported in fascinating detail by author and journalist, Katherine Zoepf in Excellent Daughters: The Secret Lives of Young Women Who Are Transforming the Arab World. In vivid detail, Ms. Zoepf takes us into the minds of young women in some of the world’s most repressive and segregated societies. Her portraits are absorbing and compassionate, she offers a rare insight into the lives of young Arab women.
Clara Kent – The Juice
In the notes to Clara Kent’s Four Winds: East EP she says, “Part 1 of 4, a series dedicated to the healing power of the Medicine Wheel, changing seasons of life, and my personal experiences as an Afro-Indigenous woman. Join me on the journey of the Red Road”. This extraordinary talent from Pittsburgh deserves your attention. Here is an artist who is making important music, music that defies slotting into a neat genre. Life for Clara has not been a simple blissful journey, yet she refuses to dwell on the negatives, preferring to embrace the positivity that is available to all of us. Clara Kent knows who she is and what she believes in, she expresses herself in her art., and for that we should be grateful. Our in-depth conversation with Clara is available at Life Elsewhere Music Vol 337.
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