Portside

Quote of the Day - Michelle Alexander: Dr. King was speaking out against the Vietnam War, condemning America's militarism and imperialism; Reader's Comments: March on Washington; Black Unionists; Full Employment; Bradley Manning; Syria; Wal-Mart Workers Winning; U.S.'s 1 Percent So Much Richer; Visualization of Every Protest Since 1979; Announcement - Memorial for Margrit Pittman - New York - Oct. 6

As part of their national convention in Chicago, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) presented a public forum titled "21st Century American Militarism: Occupation Abroad and Resistance at Home." Featuring talks by Christian Parenti, Michael Rakowitz, Suraia Suhar, and Nick Turse, and followed by an interesting Q&A session - a stimulating discussion of war and militarism in the current day US Empire.

The play, which ran in San Francisco from May 9th to June 16th, had an all-male ensemble of 10 actors who portrayed the stories and sentiments of many of the soldiers in the much-lauded, 300-year-old Scots Highland Regiment known as “The Black Watch.” The script, by writer Gregory Burke, was faithfully based on his months of interviews – in, yes, pubs – with former Black Watch troops who had completed two tours of duty in Iraq (2003 & 2004) and one in Afghanistan (2009)