Can you separate Sonoma from what is going on in Ukraine? I can’t. That’s why this column, which was originally intended to be about promising solutions to the global crisis, has been about the war. There’s no solution to the war in Ukraine except to... Continue
The Age
We tend to view our political leaders as figures playing their parts in an ideological drama portrayed on our screens, beautifully attired, their faces polished by make-up made to look real. We forget they are human. Not until we read their biographies after they have... Continue
Putin has offered a 36-hour ceasefire in honor of the Russian Orthodox Christmas and Biden and the Ukrainians have rejected it. Russia says it is going to do it anyway. Ukrainians meanwhile heard on KPFA news can only say he doesn’t mean it, whenever he... Continue
Vladimir Putin has announced that he is drafting more troops and threatening to use nuclear weapons if anyone interferes with his call for a “referendum” on the Donbass. The draft has triggered widespread Russian protests. Biden has declared, again, if Putin does any such thing,... Continue
“We must keep the horrors of Hiroshima in view at all times, recognizing there is only one solution to the nuclear threat: not to have nuclear weapons at all.” -- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in Hiroshima on August 6, 2022 What would it be... Continue
I met Valeriya Rudyaka at the Plaza in March at an event in support of the people of Kaniv, our Sister City in Ukraine. When I saw her recent post on NextDoor, I asked her if she’d like to get together to share her story.... Continue
It’s not surprising that the threat to destroy Roe V. Wade has shown its ugly head at the same time as a desperate, bloody war and a horrible white supremacist attack in Buffalo. All three are expressions of patriarchy gone haywire as power elites strive... Continue
Last week Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, stated bluntly that the U.S. goal in the war is to see Russia “weakened,” and although Biden walked it back the next day, the cat is out of the bag. As he made his request for an additional... Continue
Opinion by Stephanie Hiller -- Economist Jayatri Ghosh has said that countries in the developing world, many of them with large populations like Indonesia, Brazil, and India, do not support the sanctions against Russia because they are not impressed with the behavior of the Western... Continue
I am Ukrainian – or, more precisely, of Ukrainian origin. Like many Jewish Americans, my ancestral roots reach back to Eastern Europe. My father was born in Kiev (now Kyiv) and thought he was a Russian. Other relatives lived in the Pale of Settlement between... Continue