by Sam Pizzigati | ( Inequality.org ) | – – Our ‘free market’ health care system gives CEOs the freedom to squeeze us. Blogging Our Great Divide. Our current health care system in the United States works just fine — for the corporate executives who run it. Take, for instance, Michael Mussallem. This eminent power […]
Saudi decree allowing women to drive cars is about politics, not religion
By Haifaa Jawad | (The Conversation) | – – In an unexpected move that surprised everyone, including his own people, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia has suddenly passed a royal decree permitting women to drive. His stunning decision comes after years of the ban, which was justified using Islam as a pretext. […]
Iraq strikes Back: Kurds under air travel ban, Turkey blocks Oil
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday passed a resolution demanding that the Iraqi army take control of the province of Kirkuk and reclaim the Kirkuk oil fields as a national patrimony. The parliament also demanded that the government arrest and try Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani for treason. […]
The Biggest Impediment to Saudi Women Was Never the Driving Ban
By Medea Benjamin | (Foreign Policy in Focus) | – – No matter their age, Saudi women are treated like minors — to the point that many require permission from their sons to work, study, or travel. It looks like 27 years of protesting, along with international pressure and government recognition that it needs more […]
UK: Is Corbyn’s call to Nationalize Utilities the end of Neoliberalism?
By Andy Price | (The Conversation) | – – Let’s be under no illusion about the significance of what we have just seen: a Labour Party leader calling, at the party’s annual conference, for the nationalisation of public utilities – not to cries of derision or the dropping of jaws, but to a standing ovation […]
Saudi King seeks Recognition for letting Women Drive, a basic right
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia’s King Salman issued a decree on Tuesday permitting women to drive as of June of next year. Saudi Arabia was the only country in the world to forbid its female citizens from driving automobiles. This unusually misogynistic position derived from two sources. One is […]
Is Trump setting US course toward War with China?
By Alfred W. McCoy | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – [This piece has been adapted and expanded from Alfred W. McCoy’s new book, In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power.] For the past 50 years, American leaders have been supremely confident that they could suffer military setbacks […]
Saudi Arabia: Official Hate Speech Targets Minorities
Human Rights Watch | – – Incitement Leads to Discrimination Against Shia, Other Groups (Beirut) – Some Saudi state clerics and institutions incite hatred and discrimination against religious minorities, including the country’s Shia Muslim minority, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 62-page report, “‘They Are Not Our Brothers’: Hate Speech by […]
If Trump were really President, he’d Forgive Puerto Rico’s Debts and Rescue it
By Juan Cole | (informed Comment) | – – I’m not sure what Donald Trump thinks the job of president consists of. One task is to swing into action when 3.4 million Americans are living without electricity, 40% of them without potable water, and hundreds of thousands without shelter. When some 80% of its agricultural […]
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