US politics

By Akilah Johnson and Nina Martin | – ( ProPublica ) – The Rev. Dr. Kejuane Artez Bates was a big man with big responsibilities. The arrival of the novel coronavirus in Vidalia, Louisiana, was another burden on a body already breaking under the load. Bates was in his 10th year with the Vidalia Police […]

Immigration

Can Biden Reverse Trump’s Unprecedented Assault on Immigration System?

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Chase Hunter | – ( Cronkite News) – WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden has promised to roll back many of the Trump administration’s restrictive immigration policies when he takes office next month. He’s got his work cut out for him. While President Donald Trump’s signature – and likely most enduring – immigration policy is […]

Democratic Party

Dreamers Deserve a Path to Citizenship

OtherWords

By Diana Anahi Torres-Valverde | – ( Otherwords.org ) – DACA changed my life. But after four years of fear, it’s clear that undocumented young people need more protection. By Diana Anahi Torres-Valverde | December 21, 2020 I grew up undocumented in America. As a kid, I often saw little hope for the future in […]

Death Penalty

Inside Trump and Barr’s Last-Minute Killing Spree

ProPublica

By Isaac Arnsdorf | – (ProPublica ) – In its hurry to use its final days in power to execute federal prisoners, the administration of President Donald Trump has trampled over an array of barriers, both legal and practical, according to court records that have not been previously reported. Officials gave public explanations for their […]

Authoritarianism

From biblical times to Trump, false messiahs have doomed societies

The Conversation

By Kimberly Stratton | – The prophet Jeremiah records in excruciating detail the catastrophic events leading to the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BCE. Jeremiah describes the devastating famine, escalating sense of fear and ominous foreboding that permeated the city despite optimistic oracles issued in the royal court by prophets, who promised divine […]

Donald Trump

Trump Pardons Blackwater 4 for Nisour Square Massacre in Iraq, because Whites must never Suffer for Killing Innocent Brown People

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, Trump the Mad pardoned 4 Blackwater mercenaries who killed 14 Iraqi civilians, including a nine-year-old boy, with indiscriminate fire at Nisour Square in downtown Baghdad on September 14, 2007. The four were convicted at then VP Joe Biden’s insistence, and were serving jail terms. WaPo says, “Investigators for […]

Donald Trump

Trump sent Feds to Portland, but will coddle White Supremacist militias who invaded Oregon State House

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Far right brown shirts, some armed with firearms or bear mace, invaded the Oregon state house in Salem on Monday. Most of them maskless and posing a pandemic danger to the state senators, they sought by threats of force to make the legislature lift covid-related restrictions. Journalists were assaulted, with […]

Authoritarianism

Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking. In my part of the world, leaders declare martial law or a “state of emergency” at the drop of a helmet. And […]

Democratic Party

2020 Began and Ended with Trump baiting Iran into War: Can we get through another Month without One?

Middle East Monitor

By Ahmed Omar | – The single main story of the year has without a doubt been the coronavirus pandemic which has thus far claimed over 1.5 million lives around the world amid encouraging news about vaccine development. However it is now easy to forget that before this story became a near permanent fixture of […]