Militarization

AJ+ “War is a big industry in the United States, but who profits from it? AJ+ breaks down how much money was contributed by defense contractors to members of Congress in 2014 and exactly who got the bulk of that money.” These Congressmen Made A Lot Of Money From War – AJ+

Barack Obama

Double-Edged Sword: Can US overcome its Feelings of Exceptionalism?

contributors

By David Bromwich via Tomdispatch.com The origins of the phrase “American exceptionalism” are not especially obscure. The French sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville, observing this country in the 1830s, said that Americans seemed exceptional in valuing practical attainments almost to the exclusion of the arts and sciences. The Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, on hearing a report […]

Bill of Rights

Edward Snowden and the Golden Age of Spying: Interview with Laura Poitras

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt and Laura Poitras via Tomdispatch.com Here’s a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! stat from our new age of national security. How many Americans have security clearances? The answer: 5.1 million, a figure that reflects the explosive growth of the national security state in the post-9/11 era. Imagine the kind of system needed […]

Barack Obama

Drone Strikes as much an Obama Legacy as Health Care: John Oliver

contributors

John Oliver “The United States has launched a huge number of drone strikes under President Obama. It’s widely accepted and extremely terrifying” Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Drones (HBO)

Barack Obama

Apocalypse Now, Iraq Edition

contributors

By Peter Van Buren via Tomdispatch.com I wanted to offer a wry chuckle before we headed into the heavy stuff about Iraq, so I tried to start this article with a suitably ironic formulation. You know, a déjà-vu-all-over-again kinda thing. I even thought about telling you how, in 2011, I contacted a noted author to […]

Barack Obama

‘We’re on edge of large war in MidEast’ – Daniel Ellsberg

contributors

RT: “With Washington wading into another war in the Middle East, one iconic US whistleblower says Americans are being kept in the dark about the risks of the latest intervention. And he called for more people to spill the beans, as RT’s Ameera David reports.” ‘We’re on edge of large war in MidEast’ – Daniel […]

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

Gulliver and the Lilliputians: It’s America’s Small Wars that are Unwinnable

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt It’s possible I’ve lived most of my life on the wrong planet — and if that sounds like the first sentence of a sci-fi novel maybe, in its own way, it is. I thought I knew where I was, of course, but looking back from our helter-skelter world of 2014, I wonder. […]

American Jews

The Military Diminishment of Judaism

contributors

By Shalom Goldman In our time, Judaism, in all of its magnificent complexity and subtlety, has been reduced to supporting “team Israel” — whatever its policies or methods. Yes, American Jews, according to the 2013 Pew study, retain a strong sense of distinct identity, despite their distancing themselves from synagogue life and other forms of […]

Immigration

Border Police Militarization and the Immigrant Children

contributors

By Aviva Chomsky via Tomdispatch.com Call it irony or call it a nightmare, but the “crisis” of Central American children crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, which lasted for months amid fervent and angry debate, is now fading from the news. The media stories have been legion, the words expended many. And yet, as the “crisis” leaves […]