US politics

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment): Official Washington was horrified at the resignation on Thursday of Secretary of Defense James Mattis, who wrote Trump a letter (below) that said “Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right […]

Pentagon

The New Role of the US Navy as Brig for the World

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com) – I grew up in New London, Connecticut, watching many a military ship float by my window. New London was home to the Coast Guard Academy and sat across the river from a U.S. Navy submarine base. Uniformed guardsmen, sailors in training, and sub crews leaving port would regularly wave to my friends […]

BDS

Why Politics in 2019 will have a Lot More Backbone

Tracey L. Rogers

(Otherwords.org) – As Democratic leaders sharpen their challenge to President Trump, movement leaders are stepping up to challenge the party leadership. By Tracey L. Rogers | December 19, 2018 As I reflect on the controversies that plagued the Trump administration throughout 2018, the unforeseen political power plays that shocked our nation, and the party stalemates […]

Donald Trump

What did Flynn Know about Russian ties to Trump and When did he Know it?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Disgraced former National Security Adviser to Donald Trump, Michael Flynn, had his sentencing postponed until March on Tuesday after Judge Emmett Sullivan raked him over the coals for lying to the FBI in the White House and for intimating that he was not really guilty and had been entrapped by […]

Immigration

Little Jakelin’s Death in Border Patrol Site a ‘Systemic Failure’: Congressman

AFP

Washington, United States | AFP | – The US lawmaker who led a delegation to New Mexico Tuesday to look into the death of a seven-year-old Guatemalan girl in US Border Patrol custody blamed the tragedy on glaring systematic failures. Jakelin Caal died last week in hospital in El Paso, Texas, after being arrested with […]

Artificial Intelligence

“Alexa, Launch Our Nukes!” Artificial Intelligence and the Future of War

Michael T. Klare

( Tomdispatch.com) – There could be no more consequential decision than launching atomic weapons and possibly triggering a nuclear holocaust. President John F. Kennedy faced just such a moment during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and, after envisioning the catastrophic outcome of a U.S.-Soviet nuclear exchange, he came to the conclusion that the atomic […]

Constitution

Congress must reject Israel Anti-Boycott Act

Human Rights Watch

By Omar Shakir | – ( Human Rights Watch) – Today the US Congress is weighing draft legislation based on problematic logic that conflates a call for businesses to stop operating in West Bank settlements, which are unlawful under the 1949 Geneva Conventions that prohibit transferring civilians into occupied territory, with a boycott of Israel. […]

Constitution

ACTION ALERT: Tell Congress to Protect Your Right to Free Speech for Palestine!

ADC

Washington, D.C. | www.adc.org | December 18, 2018 – ADC condemns in the strongest terms the unconstitutional bill, SR. 70, The Israel Anti-Boycott Act. Senator Ben Cardin re-introduced the proposed bill to the 2019 annual omnibus legislation, that can be a voted on any day! It is URGENT that YOU ACT NOW and contact Congressional […]

Arab Americans

1st Palestinian-American Congresswoman will Wear Traditional Dress for Swearing In

TeleSur

Rashida Tlaib, the Palestinian-American congresswoman-elect, said she will wear a traditional Palestinian gown for her swearing-in ceremony in the United States House of Representatives next month. This move by Tlaib can be seen as a way to make visible a community in the U.S. Congress which has been made invisible due to Israel’s excessive influence […]