(By Pratap Chatterjee via Tomdispatch) Enemies, innocent victims, and soldiers have always made up the three faces of war. With war growing more distant, with drones capable of performing on the battlefield while their “pilots” remain thousands of miles away, two of those faces have, however, faded into the background in recent years. Today, we […]
Did the GOP Obsession with Monica Lewinsky contribute to 9/11? Is the Benghazi hysteria deja vu?
(By Juan Cole) The reemergence in the news of Monica Lewinsky is also a reminder of one of the lowest deeds in modern politics, the impeachment of Bill Clinton by House Republicans in December of 1998. What is too little noted is the effect of the GOP circus on our national security. The partisans howled […]
Saudi-Iran Struggle and the Syrian Proxy War can only be Resolved by Diplomacy
(By Robert Mason) The current foreign policy tensions between Iran and the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) pivot around Iran’s nuclear programme, ideology (the relative balance between revolutionary/resistance ideology and pragmatism), sectarianism, territorial disputes (such as over the islands of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunb) and alliances with state and non-state actors. […]
Global Warming could Uncork East Antarctic Ice Shelf, Leading to Massive Sea Rise
(By Andrea Germanos) A small amount of ice in the East Antarctic holding back an area of marine ice like a "cork" is at risk from climate change, threatening unstoppable sea level rise that could go on for thousands of years, according to new research. The findings from researchers at the Germany-based Potsdam Institute for […]
Nat’l Climate Assessment Says We’re in Trouble. This Chart Shows Why.
This animated chart from the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences shows the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Note the spike? Measuring CO2 in parts per million (ppm), the chart shows, first, how the amount of the gas…
Human Rights NGOs Call for Palestine to take Israel to International Criminal Court
(By Human Rights Watch) (Jerusalem) – Palestine should urgently seek access to the International Criminal Court (ICC), a group of 17 Palestinian and international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, said today. In a letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the groups said that providing the ICC with jurisdiction could give victims of war […]
Is Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Case against Iran Collapsing?
(By Juan Cole) Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has determinedly beaten the drums for war with Iran, though his lack of any actual overt action on that front has suggested to many observers that he uses the Iran issue to distract the international community from the Israel project of annexing the Palestinian West Bank and […]
Dark Triad: Right wing Conservatives far more likely to be Sociopaths
PROOF! Conservatives and CEOs Really ARE Evil Psychopaths (via Americans Against The Tea Party) Have you ever wondered why today’s conservatives never seem make any sense? Turns out that what we’ve always suspected is true. Recent scientific studies reveal that extreme conservatives — and the rich CEOs they serve — really are evil psychopaths… ——– Ring […]
Why the Super-Rich Should Pay Super Taxes
(By Paul Buchheit) Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, "It's really American to avoid paying taxes, legally…It's a game we play…I see nothing wrong with playing the game because we set it up to be a game. It's not a game for Americans who need jobs and education and public transportation and infrastructure repair. But public […]