Economy

CNN: “A highway patrol officer was caught on camera hitting a woman with what a witness says were “knockout punches.” Aviva Shen at Thinkprogress writes: “The officer said the woman was walking barefoot along the freeway on Tuesday and refused to stop when asked. The video shows the cop tackle her, pin her down, and […]

Economy

China’s New Soft Power: Transformers 4, X-Men & Hollywood

contributors

By Chris Homewood, University of Leeds What do The Amazing Spider-Man 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and Godzilla have in common? Aside from belonging to the summer blockbuster class of 2014, they all feature China in some form or another. Many of these Chinese moments are fleeting – the future X-Men, for example, mount […]

Dissent

Not War on Poverty but War on the Poor: Washington’s Real Foreign Policy Aims

Juan Cole

By Noam Chomsky via Tomdispatch The question of how foreign policy is determined is a crucial one in world affairs. In these comments, I can only provide a few hints as to how I think the subject can be productively explored, keeping to the United States for several reasons. First, the U.S. is unmatched in […]

censorship

Ruling Hindu Tea Party wants to “Develop” India for its 1%

contributors

By Gyanendra Pandey New Delhi Through the President’s address to Parliament on June 9, 2014, the newly elected Indian Government has officially outlined its short and longer-term agenda. The emphasis, as expected, is on faster economic growth. Questions of welfare and security for the poor and disadvantaged are, however, very superficially addressed. This has to […]

Apartheid

In the Deaths of 3 Israeli Teens, Likud Policies are also Implicated

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole The kidnapping and killing of three Israeli squatter youth whose parents usurped Palestinian land has produced a paroxysm of hatred and calls for reprisals in Israel. Whoever is responsible for it, the killing of the youth was a horrid and inexcusable crime, and the heart of any parent goes out to the […]

Climate Change

20% of Britain’s Electricity is now from Renewables Despite Tory Hostility

contributors

By Joshua S Hill New figures published by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) show that 19.4% of the UK’s electricity mix for the first quarter of 2014 was generated from renewable sources — up from 12.4% for the same period a year ago. Furthermore, the DECC note that both hydro and […]

Banking

UN to Detroit: Denial of Water to Thousands 'Violates Human Rights'

contributors

By Sarah Lazare Experts slam city's aggressive drive to disconnect water from residents who are unable to pay United Nations experts declared Wednesday that the city of Detroit's shut-off of water to thousands of residents who are unable to pay their bills "constitutes a violation of the human right to water" and may be discriminatory […]

Banking

Elizabeth Warren Crushes Chris Matthews, And A Word On Cement

contributors

By Sandy Dechert Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, met more than his match last Thursday when he took on lively freshman Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. Looked as if Matthews got a bit more than he expected, in the form of a very well-reasoned and remarkably civil tongue-lashing from the Massachusetts people’s choice. A […]

Economy

How WW I, British Greed, and Oil Distorted Modern Iran

contributors

By Farhad Malekafzali With one hundredth anniversary of the start of WWI fast approaching, the consequences of the war for Iran deserves attention. When it comes to European role in shaping Middle East, the better-known story is what happened in the Arab parts of that region. There the Anglo-French machinations planted the seeds of instability […]