US politics

By William D. Hartung | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – It’s one of those stories of the century that somehow never gets treated that way. For an astounding 25 of the past 26 years, the United States has been the leading arms dealer on the planet, at some moments in near monopolistic fashion. Its major […]

Climate Change

How to Survive Climate Change: Learn from Puerto Ricans & Hurricane Maria

contributors

By Jane Palmer | ( Mosaic) | – – The rest of the world can learn from Puerto Rican communities rallying together to recover from a natural disaster fuelled by climate change. Christmas is a big deal in Puerto Rico – celebrations traditionally run from November to February – but festivities are in scant supply […]

Donald Trump

As N. Korea Summit Looms, Trump’s New Security team are hardly Diplomats

contributors

By Christopher R. Hill | (Project Syndicate) | – – While Mike Pompeo and John Bolton have shown that they can communicate with Donald Trump, neither has ever shown any capacity for dealing with a crisis, much less arresting the decline of US leadership in the world. The expected meeting between Trump and North Korean […]

Corruption

Swampy McSwampface: EPA Chief Ruining Environment Living in Polluter Lobbyist Condo

contributors

By Jessica Corbett, staff writer | ( Commondreams.org) | – – “As he has done over and over again, he showed contempt for transparency, ethical guidelines, and the public interest.” As key figures of the Trump administration face mounting concerns about conflicts of interest, a growing number of critics are calling for the resignation of […]

Central Intelligence Agency

John Bolton Skewed Intelligence, Say People Who Worked With Him

contributors

By Sebastian Rotella | ProPublica | – – Former colleagues say the next national security adviser — whose job is to marshal information and present it to the president fairly — resists input that doesn’t fit his biases and retaliates against people he disagrees with. In early 2002, as the Bush administration hunted for Osama […]

Donald Trump

Trump: “US out of Syria ‘Very Soon'”– Quip or Policy Reversal?

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump in the course of a speech on infrastructure in Ohio, yesterday, observed that the US was near to completely defeating the ISIL “caliphate” and that the US would be withdrawing from Syria very soon. CBS News: “Trump says U.S. to pull out of Syria “very […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s Fascination with appointing War Criminals to High Office

Rebecca Gordon

San Francisco (Tomdispatch.com) – A barely noticed anniversary slid by on March 20th. It’s been 15 years since the United States committed the greatest war crime of the twenty-first century: the unprovoked, aggressive invasion of Iraq. The New York Times, which didn’t exactly cover itself in glory in the run-up to that invasion, recently ran […]

Bush

Can’t get Fooled Again: Trump Appointees make him look like Bush 2.0

Juan Cole

Via Otherwords.org By Peter Certo | (Otherwords.org) | – – The president once distanced himself from the Bush legacy. Now he’s brought back the architects of its darkest moments. Political reporters have a saying: There’s always a tweet. That is, for nearly every political moment or presidential decree, there’s an uncannily on-point comment buried somewhere […]

Donald Trump

Voters & Congress need to Stop Warmongers like Bolton via War Powers Act

contributors

By Sarah van Gelder | (Yes! Magazine) | – – A widespread show of support at the local level could embolden lawmakers toward a no-first-use policy on nuclear weapons. “Yes, John Bolton Really Is That Dangerous” read a headline from the New York Times. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he “can’t imagine a more reckless, […]