Bill Moyers interviews Susan Crawford on the virtual monopoly on internet provision held in the US by a few companies, who overcharge those who can afford their rates, exclude the poor, and give us slow, crappy service compared to more advanced and enlightened countries where being slaves of the corporations is frowned upon. The blurb […]
Archives for February 2013
Why Tunisia’s Arab Spring is in Turmoil
On Friday, tens of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets to protest the shocking assassination of leftist, secular politician Chokri Belaid earlier this week. He had been the leader of a small opposition party and had been an outspoken critic both of the ruling al-Nahda Party and of the neighborhood militias that sprung up […]
American Torture: The 50-Nation Hall of Shame (Jamiol Cartoon)
courtesy Jamiol’s World by Paul Jamiol.
When we Kill without Caring: Bill Moyers on the Downside of Drones (Video)
Bill Moyers on the downside of droning our enemies to death. The blurb: In a web-extended version of his broadcast essay, Bill Moyers gives examples of how indiscriminate killing by our military forces not only cuts down innocent bystanders, but drives “their enraged families and friends straight into the arms of the very terrorists we’re […]
Top Ten Surprises of the Brennan Hearing on CIA Torture and Drones
The confirmation hearing for John Brennan allowed the country to grapple with many issues that had been swept under the rug and seldom discussed in public. While few to none of them were thus resolved, it does seem to me positive that they were brought up in public. Surprises? 1. The LAT reports that “Republicans […]
Are today’s Drone Strikes still covered by the 2001 Congressional Authorization of Use of Force? (Currier)
Cora Currier writes at ProPublica: Drone Strikes Test Legal Grounds for War on Terror In his second inaugural address, President Barack Obama declared that “a decade of war is now ending.” White House press secretary Jay Carney later said there was “no question” that the U.S. conflict with al-Qaida was “entering a new phase.” That day in […]
Naming the Dead Killed by US Drones: (Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
The Drones Team at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism writes: The Bureau is launching an ambitious new investigation, which will seek to identify as many as possible of those killed in US covert drone strikes in Pakistan, whether civilian or militant. The Bureau is raising some of the money for this project through a crowd-funding […]
Deep Democratization in Egypt: How Women are Driving the Changes (Krause)
Wanda Krause writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: Political analysts writing on Egypt have tended to focus on the missteps of President Mohamed Morsi. Others are engrossed with how (un)well Egyptians are faring in dealing with frustration of what they are sure will amount to dashed hopes. The problem here is that all […]
Lawmakers Threaten Brooklyn College for Event on Boycott of Israel over Settlements (Democracy Now!)
Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! reports on the attempt of far right-wing partisans of Israel to quash a courtesy sponsorship by the Department of Political Science at Brooklyn College for a student-organized panel on boycotting and disinvesting from Israeli enterprises usurping Palestinian land and resources in the Palestinian West Bank. It features eminent scholar and cultural […]