Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is a hell of a note when you can’t have a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois, without some gun nut with a military weapon turning the place into Falluja, killing 6 people and wounding 31. The Republicans in Congress, beholden to campaign money from gun companies, […]
Archives for July 2022
Medicare still Superior at Age 57
Gainesville, Florida — On July 30, 1965, US President Lyndon B Johnson signed the Medicare Act into law. The law created two new programs, Medicare for those who had reached the social security retirement age of 65 years, and Medicaid for those whose incomes were below specific levels. In the long history of struggles to […]
We Have a Smoking Gun — Indict Trump
By Mitchell Zimmerman | ( Otherwords.org) – Trump White House insider and January 6 Committee witness Cassidy Hutchinson provided startling and compelling evidence that Donald Trump deliberately set out to incite an insurrection at the Capitol. Before giving his inflammatory speech, Hutchinson testified, Trump was told his supporters were armed with guns, knives, spears, and […]
What are bail funds? Two social policy experts explain
By Cynthia A. Golembeski, The New School; and Matthew Bakko, University of Michigan | When someone charged with a crime is eligible for release but cannot afford cash bail, they typically will remain in jail until they are sentenced or released – unless someone makes a payment on their behalf. One option is to enlist […]
Extreme Life: Why the Climate Emergency is the Moral Equivalent of World War III
( Tomdispatch.com In recent weeks, a newly emboldened right-wing Supreme Court struck down a more than century-old New York law restricting the carrying of concealed weapons and a nearly 50-year-old precedent on abortion. Meanwhile, the January 6th Committee has been laying out in graphic televised detail how our last president tried to subvert the 2021 […]
In Sea Change, US Presbyterian Committee brands Israel’s Occupation of Palestinians Apartheid, calls for end to Collective Punishment in Gaza
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week, the International Engagement Committee of the 1.2-million-strong Presbyterian Church passed a resolution entitled, “On Recognition That Israel’s Laws, Policies, and Practices Constitute Apartheid Against the Palestinian People.” There are roughly 75 million Presbyterians around the world, and it has a strong presence in Africa, with 3.4 million members […]
72% of Palestinians view 2-State Option as non-Viable given Israeli land-grabs, and 23% want a Joint State
( Middle East Monitor ) – A recent poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research showed that there is significant disillusion with Palestinian politics. Arguably most notable is the opposition to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s decision-making, a further deterioration in his popularity as leader and, more importantly, a decrease in support […]
As Biden sends more Troops to Eastern Europe, how do US Commitments now Compare to those of the Cold War?
By Christoph Bluth, University of Bradford | – (The Conversation) – US president Joe Biden is beefing up the US military presence in eastern Europe as a reaction to the Ukraine war. Biden plans to redeploy troops from Germany to Poland and Romania and send more destroyers to strengthen Nato’s naval presence on its southern […]
How to get involved in the Mass Mobilizations erupting after Roe Overturned
Zane McNeill | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – On Friday, the Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling which ensured the right to abortion. After a May leak of the drafted decision, advocates have had time to mobilize and prepare for the potential reversal of Roe, but had hoped that […]