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Posts published in “Essays”

Understanding the World with Paul Sweezy

I’m an optimist by disposition but some weeks it’s hard to find evidence of progress in human affairs. There on the tv screen was Secretary of State Colin Powell smoothly fulfilling his designated function as…

The Uproar Over Nader

Here's how a life-long, very radical organizer put it to me in the week after Nader announced he was entering the race. "I have never voted for a Democrat for President and I don't intend…

The Beautiful Saguaro

There is a story in Native Sonoran lore that a very long time ago a beautiful young girl sank into the sand and perished. In that very spot, a few years later, a cactus emerged.…

The Road from Perdition

Logo Tevaseu was holed up in his dorm room last month writing a short autobiography for a scholarship. He wasn't sure where to begin. How do you explain it? How can you possibly get some…

The Grocery Workers’ Fight

Health care. It’s by far the most important issue facing working people, their bosses, their unions and their political leaders, the most important issue facing all Americans. Many millions need care, but who is to…

Elegy to the Salton Sea

In 19th Century England, William Wordsworth strolled through his garden. “I am at one with Nature,” he declared. Hemingway’s 20th Century hero Nick paddled with his father in the canoe in the unspoiled Minnesota lakes.…

Winning with Ralph Nader

Listening to Democrats screaming about Ralph Nader’s entry into the presidential race I finally understand the mindset of those Communist dictatorships that used to take such trouble to ensure that the final count showed a…

Fishing Alligator Alley

Noyo Confidential disappeared into the Everglades, into the misty swamps of Alligator Alley last week. I decided to skip the column because I didn't want to do anything that remotely smelled like work. Hey, I…

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