Saturday Night Live’s parody of the Senate confirmation hearings for Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense. (Sorry, for US-based viewers only.)
Will Obama Stand up to the Keystone XL Pipeline & Climate-Destroying Tar Sands? (Klare)
Michael T. Klare writes at Tomdispatch.com: Presidential decisions often turn out to be far less significant than imagined, but every now and then what a president decides actually determines how the world turns. Such is the case with the Keystone XL pipeline, which, if built, is slated to bring some of the “dirtiest,” carbon-rich oil […]
On How the visit of Iran’s Ahmadinejad to Egypt was a Dud
The first visit of an Iranian president to Egypt, in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution against Hosni Mubarak, was expected to be a big deal. It wasn’t. Oh, it marked a change. The Mubarak regime despised the Khomeinist government of Iran. Egypt’s staff generals helped Iraq […]
On How Americans are being Gouged and Made more Unequal by the Internet Monopolies (Moyers Video Interview)
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 […]
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 […]