Photography by Erika BlumenfeldPhoto by Erika Blumenfeld © 2010Recently we met with Captain Louis Skrmetta who runs Ship Island Excursions out of Gulfport, Mississippi. His father Pete came to the US from Croatia in 1904, and began working as an oyster fisherman, now an endangered endeavor. From that background arose ...
Mike & Friends Blog
Back in spring 1970, just after the shootings at Kent State, the Kent State University (KSU) campus went on lockdown and every KSU student was forced to leave within hours, many for good. Since we formed the Kent State Truth Tribunal (KSTT), I have heard many KSTT participants recollect their ...
Feces, Urine, Blood, Smoke, and Something Indescribable
The smell was unlike anything I've smelled before, a mixture of feces, urine, blood, smoke, and something else indescribable. That day started out much like many days in Iraq. We were woken up about 2:30 am to prepare for a mission, one of many that seemed pointless. Our Battalion commander ...
The Republican Plan: Punch Me in the Face
They may not have a health plan. Or a jobs plan. Or a peace plan. But they do have a plan.Here is the Republican plan:"I'll give $100 to first Rep. who punches smary [sic] idiot Alan Grayson in nose."That incitement to violence was tweeted by Dan Gainor. Who is Dan ...
Recently, I had the good fortune to be invited by NPR to submit an essay on a favorite thriller of mine. I decided to write about George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is both an excellent thriller and an increasingly powerful and relevant political warning -- a combination readers of my ...
BP Oil Poisons the Gulf of Mexico’s Food Chain
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldPhoto by Erika Blumenfeld © 2010NEW ORLEANS – Environmental experts warn that the eco-systems and food chain in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding region already deeply harmed and toxified by the ongoing British Petroleum (BP) oil disaster likely face much greater damage.“You know how the pelicans ...
The Casey Sheehan "End to War" Bill
My son, Casey, joined the military in 2000, shortly before his 21st birthday, to help pay for college. He had already completed everything he could take at the local JC and was eager to move on—but he had a fulltime job, and even though we (his dad and I) helped ...
Join the FAT (Fast Against Torture) on August 1, 2010
Please consider participating in a 24 hour Fast Against Torture in memory of all those illegally, unethically tortured around the world, including, most importantly, those tortured and waterboarded by the Bush-Cheney administration. Sunday August 1, 2010 is the eight-year anniversary of the writing of the "torture memos" by Office of ...
The Senators Who Gave Us 15 Million Unemployed Want to Deny Them Benefits
It is amazing how people in Washington are so forgiving -- of each other. We have close to 15 million people unemployed and more than 8 million people under-employed because the folks managing our economy were incompetent. In spite of the efforts of economists and policy types to portray the ...
BP’s Scheme To Swindle The “Small People”
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldClint Guidry, the Louisiana Shrimp Harvester Representative on the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force created by Executive Order of Gov. Bobby Jindal, has called BP "liars" and "killers." (Photo by Erika Blumenfeld © 2010)Gulf Coast fishermen and others with lost income claims against British Petroleum (BP) are outraged ...
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldPhoto by Erika Blumenfeld © 2010For the first time in 87 days, little or no oil could be escaping into the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s Macondo well. The new Capping Stack was deployed on July 11 from onboard the Transocean Discoverer Inspiration.Photo by Erika Blumenfeld © ...
Movement to Rethink the Afghanistan War Gains Traction
This week's Newsweek cover leads with the title, "Rethinking Afghanistan" and features an essay from Richard Haass at the Council on Foreign Relations, warning that the war isn't worth the cost and the current policy isn't working. It's gratifying to see the message that Brave New Foundation's Rethink Afghanistan campaign ...
Gray Panthers Oppose Rep. Boehner's Proposal to Raise Age of Social Security Recipients
On June 29, House Republican Leader John Boehner made news with his statement that the age for persons eligible for Social Security benefits should be raised from 65 to 70. "If you have substantial non-Social Security income while you're retired, why are we paying you at a time when we're ...
"For a Better Life for the Peasants": Food Sovereignty and Land Reform in Haiti (Part II)
Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen (Heads Together Small Producers of Haiti) is one of Haiti’s two national peasant farmer movements. The oldest peasant group in Haiti, it was born in 1970 under the Duvalier dictatorship. Tèt Kole’s history is notable also because of the violence it has faced at the ...
Toxic Dispersants Near Gulf Harm Humans and Wildlife
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldMy eyes are burning as I type this. We've just returned from spending the day down in Barataria, located about an hour's drive south of New Orleans. The community of fishermen is swimming in oil. Within minutes of arriving, our eyes begin to burn and we begin ...
Government Persecutors Read my Blog
On July 12th, after one postponement, the POTA (Peace of the Action) 3, plus 3, went to trial in DC Superior Court for our arrests after the ANSWER rally and march on March 20th (the 7th anniversary of the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq).On March 20th, after the rally ...
Unjustified, Indefensible, Wrong
My sister Allison Krause was one of four students killed in the 1970 Kent State shootings. You may have heard about that day in American history - May 4, 1970 - when the Ohio National Guard opened fire on unarmed students protesting the invasion of Cambodia. Some of those killed ...
The Attack of the Real Black Helicopter Gang: The IMF Is Coming for Your Social Security
A few years back, there was a fear in some parts about black UN helicopters that were supposedly taking part in the planning of an invasion of the United States. While there was no foundation for this fear, there is basis for concern about the attack of another international organization, ...
"We've Lost the Battle But We Haven't Lost the War": Haiti Six Months After the Earthquake.
Haiti during the World Cup is much like my hometown of New Orleans was during the Superbowl. Don’t try to make plans with anyone to do anything during a game. (In the more cash-rich New Orleans, the ban on non-game-related activity stretched back a day or two before a game, ...
Hell Has Come to South Louisiana
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldPhoto by Erika Blumenfeld © 2010Clint Guidry is a shrimper from Lafitte, Louisiana. As we sit together, he shows me a picture of his house with 18 inches of water in it as a result of Hurricane Ike in 2008.In his deep voice, he looks me in ...
Requiem for the Antiwar Movement
“When you vote for war, don't be surprised when you get it.”– Cindy Sheehan “I will send at least two additional combat brigades to Afghanistan.”– Presidential Candidate Barack Obama “This war (Iraq) prevents us from tackling every serious threat that we face, from a resurgent al-Qaeda in Afghanistan to a ...
Photography by Erika BlumenfeldFrom the air, the area north of Grand Isle, Louisiana, much of it around Barataria Bay, looks like scorched earth. This area has been and is heavily afflicted by BP's oil. The so-called cleanup efforts, including laying out booms to supposedly prevent oil from destroying more marsh ...
SEC & MMS: A Tale of Two Failures
Written with Eliot SpitzerHow many disasters will it take to overhaul the regulatory agencies? The SEC and the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) share a number of characteristics we can’t help but notice in the wake of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, which followed the second-worst financial disaster in ...
A Second Slave Rebellion in Haiti (Or: What's the Worth of a Haitian Child? Part III)
One of the many effects of poverty in Haiti is that desperate parents regularly give away their children in the hope that the new family will feed and educate the children better than they themselves can. Instead, the children usually end up as child slaves, or restavèk. In a country ...
General Atomics Afraid of Peace of the Action
Last week I was getting ready to head out to DC for Peace of the Action’s Sizzlin’ Summer Protest when I got a call with a 202 (DC) area code. This is how the conversation went: Me: Hello, this is Cindy. Caller: Hello, my name is (I forget) from PM ...
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Mike's Blog
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March 23rd, 2013
This evening is going be a big moment in turning our country around on the issue of gun violence. That's why I desperately want you ...
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March 21st, 2013
I am hosting a nationwide series of house parties this Saturday night where tens of thousands of people will gather together in living rooms to ...
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March 15th, 2013
The response to my Newtown letter this week has been overwhelming. It is so very clear to everyone that the majority of Americans have had ...
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March 13th, 2013
America, You Must Not Look Away (How to Finish Off the NRA)
The year was 1955. Emmett Till was a young African American boy from Chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi. One day Emmett was seen "flirting" with ...
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February 26th, 2013
My Final Word on Buzzfeed and Emad Burnat's Detention at LAX
Thanks to everyone for bearing with me as I spend so much time on what happened to Emad Burnat. It's important to me because he's ...
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February 26th, 2013
Michael Moore Responds to Buzzfeed Story on '5 Broken Cameras' Co-Director Emad Burnat
On Tuesday, February 19th, Emad Burnat, the Palestianian co-director of the Oscar-nominated documentary '5 Broken Cameras,' was detained with his wife and son at Los ...
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February 20th, 2013
Last night was the Motion Picture Academy-sponsored dinner in Beverly Hills honoring the directors and producers of this year's five nominated films for Best Documentary. ...
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September 11th, 2010
If the 'Mosque' Isn't Built, This Is No Longer America
OpenMike 9/11/10 Michael Moore's daily blog I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built on ...
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December 14th, 2010
Why I'm Posting Bail Money for Julian Assange
Yesterday, in the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, the lawyers for WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange presented to the judge a document from me stating that ...
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May 12th, 2011
Some Final Thoughts on the Death of Osama bin Laden
"The Nazis killed tens of MILLIONS. They got a trial. Why? Because we're not like them. We're Americans. We roll different." – Michael Moore in ...
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November 22nd, 2011
Where Does Occupy Wall Street Go From Here?
This past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and ...
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September 22nd, 2011
A STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL MOORE ON THE EXECUTION OF TROY DAVIS
I encourage everyone I know to never travel to Georgia, never buy anything made in Georgia, to never do business in Georgia. I will ask ...
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December 16th, 2010
Dear Swedish Government: Hi there -- or as you all say, Hallå! You know, all of us here in the U.S. love your country. Your ...
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November 2nd, 2010
This letter contains (almost) no criticisms of how the Democrats have brought this day of reckoning upon themselves. That -- and where to go from ...
