International Politics and Economy

By Sam Pizzigati | ( Otherwords.org ) – Does anyone have a sweeter deal than military contractor CEOs? The United States spent more last year on defense than the next 10 nations combined. A deal just brokered by the White House and House Republicans increases that amount even further — to $886 billion. Defense contractors […]

Featured

Muslims are understandably Protesting Qur’an Burning in Sweden, but the Qur’an itself urges them to do so Peacefully

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Swedish police permitted the burning of the Muslim scripture, the Qur’an (Koran) in front of the Iraqi embassy in Stockholm, on the grounds that previous attempts to stop such acts have been overruled by the courts on freedom of speech grounds. Hate acts targeting minorities are not actually free […]

Authoritarianism

American Inquisition: Field Notes from the Frontlines of the Government’s War on the Left

Tomdispatch

By Michael Gould-Wartofsky ( Tomdispatch.com) – “There must be some kind of way out of here…” As night fell over the South River Forest, the music festival was in full swing. Young and old swayed to the sounds of Suede Cassidy. Families gathered around the grill. Little ones frolicked in an inflatable bouncy house bedecked […]

Far Right

Yes, We have home-grown Fascists: And Now They’re beginning to say the quiet Part Out Loud

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – One day when I was about six, I was walking with my dad in New York City. We noticed that someone had stuck little folded squares of paper under the windshield wipers of the cars parked on the street beside us. My father picked one up and read it. I saw […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Protesters remain defiant in the Face of Violent and Brutal regime Oppression

The Conversation

By Afshin Shahi, Keele University | – The vibrant, brave and unyielding voice of dissent remains strong in Iran despite months of brutal repression by the clerical regime. The “women, life, freedom” movement is an insistent call for change that is meeting the Islamic Republic head-on with resilient defiance. Even as violence curbs the outward […]

Corruption

Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court

ProPublica

By Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski | – ( ProPublica ) -In early July 2008, Samuel Alito stood on a riverbank in a remote corner of Alaska. The Supreme Court justice was on vacation at a luxury fishing lodge that charged more than $1,000 a day, and after catching a king salmon nearly […]

Democracy

On June 25, LGBTQ+ groups will March through the Streets of Istanbul, Turkey, despite Threats of Violence

Global Voices

Undertones: Turkish citizens rethink what democracy means Is democracy in the ballot or on the streets? Written byCivic Media Observatory Posted 15 June 2023 15:41 GMT This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory‘s newsletter. Subscribe to Undertones. Welcome back to Undertones, where we analyze media narratives from around the world. This […]

Democracy

Can Lebanon Finally elect a President who will Lead it out of its Economic and Political Morass?

Habib Badawi

By Habib Badawi Beirut (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Lebanon may be a small country of some four million citizens with a land area a little less than that of Connecticut, but it plays an outsized role in the geopolitics of the Middle East. Its upcoming presidential election on June 14th therefore has wide […]

African-Americans

Top 3 Crimes Trump should have been Indicted for besides Mishandling Documents

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Although the saga of Trump’s mishandling of classified documents, as revealed in the 38-count indictment, is shocking to anyone who has ever been involved in government work, it is also darkly comic and trivial. Trump seems to have held on to the top secret documents the way a collector hangs […]