What would happen if a few people weren’t dragging the rest of us down?

Yousef and Laila in Hammamet, Tunisia

Let me tell you a story about Yousef and Laila in Hammamet, Tunisia. As an experiment, I used AI to help plan part of this trip. For the record, no travel planners were harmed in the making of this itinerary; I still do all my own research and always have. AI suggested Hammamet as a […]

When is anti-Semitism actually anti-Semitism?

Here is a recommended link to an excellent article from the newsletter “The UnPopulist” about the recent resurgence of anti-Semitism and it’s frequent misuse by Christian nationalist, MAGA conservatives and Israel’s war mongering extreme hard right wingers. Anti-Semitism is being conveniently screamed by extreme right-wing war-mongers to deflect any legitimate criticism of alleged (and likely) […]

The Sleazy and Slippery Slope of Appeasement

For the first time since the full invasion, the United States voted against a UN resolution condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine. Marco Rubio, the once proud son of Cuban Immigrants and anti-communist hawk, said, “We didn’t feel it was conducive, frankly, to have something out there at the UN that’s antagonistic to either side.”He defended […]

Raw Travel’s “My Summer in Ukraine” Film is Streaming Now.

Raw Travel’s “My Summer in Ukraine” documentary film premiered to a standing-room-only crowd in New York City last month, a scant one week after the election. I was amazed and grateful at the response of the crowd, especially Ukrainians, who were visibly moved, some to tears. Rather than trot the film out to film festivals […]

Russian Exile Musician Releases Anti-War Single

Dmitry Spirin is a good pal of mine from the Russian band Tarakany! (Cockroach). If you’ve watched Raw Travel, you’ve heard Dima’s music. He’s a very talented and popular songwriter and musician. I met him on my trip to Moscow in 2010, and we released Tarakany’s album “Russian Democrazy” together on Punk Outlaw Records in 2013, just as […]