US politics

DHS’s Mayorkas brands “Crisis” language about Border as Trumpian, Says Challenge Doesn’t Require Cruel Family Separation

By Ryan Knappenberger | – ( Cronkite News) – WASHINGTON – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas defended the Biden administration’s immigration policies Wednesday, but conceded the department faces “historic and unprecedented challenges” coping with a surge in migrants, particularly unaccompanied minors, in recent months. Mayorkas’ comments came in his first appearance as secretary before a […]

Joe Biden

Syria needs Long-Term Housing for the Neediest, and the US needs to Stop Blocking it

Global Voices

By Hany Al Banna | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – March 15, 2021, will mark a grim milestone—the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the popular uprising that led to the civil war still engulfing Syria. As we all grapple with the deadly crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the world’s […]

Donald Trump

On January 6th, the U.S. Became a Foreign Country

Tomdispatch

By Kevin Tillman | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – Just about everyone was shocked by what happened at the Capitol building on January 6th. But as a former soldier in America’s forever wars, horrifying as the scenes were, I also found what happened strangely familiar, almost inevitable. I thought that, if only we had taken our […]

Featured

10 Years after the Outbreak of the Syrian Revolution, the US is Still Prolonging the Agony

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On March 15, 2011, ten years ago this week, the first tiny demonstrations took place in Damascus in Syria. A larger protest, however, was staged in the town of Deraa south of the capital on March 18, from which most observers start the Syrian revolution. The first wave of protests, […]

Native Americans

Senate makes history with vote confirming Haaland as first Native American Interior secretary

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Sarah Oven | – (Cronkite News) – (WASHINGTON – The Senate Monday confirmed New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as the next Interior secretary, a historic vote that makes her the first Native American to head a Cabinet agency. The confirmation came over the objection of Senate Republicans, particularly those representing Western states dependent on […]

Iran

Amid Nuclear Standoff, Who’s In The Running To Take The Reins In Iran?

Golnaz Esfandiari

(RFE/ RL ) – Iran will hold a presidential election in less than three months amid speculation that a hard-liner and a “military man” could succeed Hassan Rohani, who is serving his final term and is under heavy pressure from his hard-line opponents who have consolidated power in the Islamic republic. As with all elections […]

Far Right

After the insurrection, America’s far-right groups get more extreme

The Conversation

By Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid | – As the U.S. grapples with domestic extremism in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, warnings about more violence are coming from the FBI Director Chris Wray and others. The Conversation asked Matthew Valasik, a sociologist at Louisiana State University, and Shannon E. […]

China

Not Waiting on Biden: China breaks US Iran Blockade, moves to import nearly 1 mn b/d of Ayatolllah’s Oil

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – China is dramatically ramping up its imports of petroleum from Iran this spring, going from a daily average of 300,000 barrels per day during the past year to 856,000 bpd. So reports Felicity Bradstock of Oilprice.com. The Biden administration has dragged its feet on negotiating a return to the 2015 […]

Joe Biden

Biden’s Relief Package Is a Huge Victory for Workers

OtherWords

By Rebekah Entralgo | – ( Otherwords.org ) – President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan is more than just a response to the coronavirus. It’s also one of the largest anti-poverty measures in U.S. history. Provisions in the package, like expanding the Child Tax Credit alone, will bring nearly 4 million kids out […]