Corruption

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has introduced, and several other congressional Democrats have co-sponsored, a bill to curb big petroleum companies engaged in profiteering. Whitehouse said at his site, “We’ve seen this script before, and we cannot allow the fossil fuel industry to once again collect a massive windfall by taking […]

Corruption

It’s Not Just Inflation — It’s Price Gouging

OtherWords

By Lindsay Owens | – ( Otherwords.org) – If you’ve been slammed lately by higher prices on everything from groceries to rental cars and gas prices, you’re probably wondering what on earth is behind these skyrocketing costs. Corporations are quick to blame this new reality on the pandemic, but another major culprit is hiding in […]

Corporate Surveillance

Did the Pegasus Spyware Netanyahu used against Palestinians and gave to Saudis bring him Down?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Pegasus spyware made by the Israeli NSO company and backed by the Israeli state has been used extensively against Palestinians to keep them stateless, and former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu used access to the software as an incentive for Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to improve relations […]

Authoritarianism

How democracy gets eroded – lessons from a Nixon expert

The Conversation

By Ken Hughes | – Now that a full year has passed since the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, the 2020 election and the republic, it’s evident that the attack never really ended. Instead, it spread out to other, less visible, more vulnerable targets. Donald Trump had hoped to reverse his election loss […]

Corruption

Could Dominion’s Lawsuit Finally Take down Fox Fable “News” for its Serial Lies?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis has struck down Fox Cable News’ motion to dismiss the libel lawsuit against it of Dominion, the maker of voting machines. Dominion alleges that Fox anchors repeatedly hosted Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who made false and inflammatory claims about Dominion voting […]

Corruption

All Trump’s Cover-Ups: From Syria Airstrike on Civilians to US COVID Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US Founding Fathers had a cynical side. They did not think people in government could be trusted to do the right thing. They thought people often do what they can get away with. The point of James Madison’s checks and balances was not just to guard against tyranny but […]

Banking

Make them Pay Up: Pandora Leaks show that the Super-Rich rob Public of $200 bn a year in lost Tax Revenues

John Feffer

( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – The rich have always flaunted their wealth. It was rarely good enough to enjoy financial success, you had to be conspicuous about it. They build enormous homes for everyone to gawk at. They throw lavish parties. They commission paintings, statues, biographies. They endow institutions so that their names […]

Corruption

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Buddies Tried to Get the VA to Sell Access to Veterans’ Medical Records

ProPublica

by Isaac Arnsdorf | – ( ProPublica) – Former President Donald Trump empowered associates from his private club to pursue a plan for the Department of Veterans Affairs to monetize patient data, according to documents newly released by congressional investigators. As ProPublica first reported in 2018, a trio based at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort weighed in […]

Arms Sales

The Profits of War: How Corporate America Cashed in on the Post-9/11 Pentagon Spending Surge

William D. Hartung

( Tomdispatch.com) – The costs and consequences of America’s twenty-first-century wars have by now been well-documented — a staggering $8 trillion in expenditures and more than 380,000 civilian deaths, as calculated by Brown University’s Costs of War project. The question of who has benefited most from such an orgy of military spending has, unfortunately, received […]