US politics

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The French press is reporting that the European Union is opening its borders on July 1, but will keep them closed to countries that seem incompetent in dealing with the coronavirus. The worst offenders in this regard are the United States and Brazil, the citizens of both of which will […]

Donald Trump

Only a Criminal Regime would Coerce Int’l Criminal Court as Trump is Doing — Oh wait

Middle East Monitor

By Tasnim Nazeer | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The Trump administration in Washington has attempted repeatedly to block investigations by the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC) in Afghanistan and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These investigations are significant for probing into the conduct of American and Israeli citizens but the US President […]

Nonviolence

Teach police nonviolence, scholars say, and how to work with local residents

The Conversation

By Jennifer Earl, James J. Nolan, Jessica Maves Braithwaite and Kirssa Cline Ryckman | – Scholars: Kirssa Cline Ryckman, Jennifer Earl, Jessica Maves Braithwaite, University of Arizona Police have a saying, “better to be judged by 12 than carried by six,” acknowledging they might face a jury if they use excessive force, but it’s preferable […]

China

The Final Defeat of the John Bolton Hawks? How Russia and China could humiliate Trump on Eve of Election by Lifting Iran Arms Embargo

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump is about to go up against China and Russia at the United Nations Security Council over the looming end to the UNSC arms embargo on Iran, and is facing a humiliating defeat that will further harm the US standing in global affairs. The 2015 Joint Plan for Collective Action […]

Militarization

Martin Luther King’s Giant Triplets: Racism, Yes, But What About Militarism and Materialism?

Andrew J. Bacevich

(Tomdispatch.com) – In the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, Americans are finally — or is it once again? — confronting the racism that afflicts this country and extends into just about every corner of our national life. Something fundamental just might be happening. Yet to state the obvious, we’ve been here before. […]

African-Americans

The George Floyd protests aren’t just anti-racist – they are anti-authoritarian

The Conversation

By Lilian Bobea | — The massive protests that erupted across the United States – and beyond – after the police killing of George Floyd are billed as anti-racist mobilizations, and that they are. Demonstrators are denouncing police violence in minority communities and demanding that officers who abuse their power be held accountable. But I […]

Africa

Top 6 Reasons Trump’s Racist Attack on Ilhan Omar at Empty Stadium is a Lie

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his typically unhinged rant to a nearly empty stadium in Tulsa, OK, Trump attempted to use Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to denigrate his Democratic rival Joe Biden. He said, according to the WaPo, “Likewise, Representative Ilhan Omar is going to be very much involved in a Biden government . […]

Democracy

War Zone America

Tomdispatch

By Andrea Mazzarino | – (Tomdispatch.com) – Recently, in this Black Lives Matter protest moment, my five-year-old son looked at me and asked, “Mommy, where did all the brown people go? Did the police here shoot them?” We’d just moved to the outskirts of a more affluent rural town from a city where my son […]

Donald Trump

Trump dumped the World Health Organization in the midst of a Global Pandemic. Why?

ProPublica

By Sebastian Rotella, James Bandler and Patricia Callahan | – ( ProPublica ) – Right before President Donald Trump unveiled punitive measures against China on May 29, he inserted a surprise into his prepared text. “We will be today terminating our relationship with the World Health Organization,” he announced during a press conference in the […]