US politics

By Carmel O’Toole | (The Conversation) | – – In the style of some thuggish boxing promoter at a weigh in, the US president-elect, Donald Trump, gave us a clear and unsavoury flavour of the style of White House press conferences to come. And it’s not tasting good. In brutal contrast to the elegant style […]

Donald Trump

The Russian Honeypot: Putin has had big plans for Donald Trump

contributors

By John Feffer | Foreign Policy in Focus | – – [I wrote this article about Russian efforts to cultivate Donald Trump as an asset last week for a Korean newspaper where it was published on Sunday. Little did I know that news would break this week of allegations that Russia has a file of […]

Donald Trump

The Iranian Connection in the Age of Trump

contributors

By Rajan Menon | ( Tomdispatch.com | – – Stack up the op-eds and essays on the disasters that await the world once Donald Trump moves into the White House and you’ll have a long list of dismaying scenarios. One that makes the lineups of most pundits involves a crisis with Iran. So imagine this. […]

Authoritarianism

Trump does Poor imitation of Tin-Pot Dictator at “Press Conference”

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – In his first news conference in months, president-elect Donald J. Trump engaged in a series of petulant tirades. For anyone like myself, who has lived under dictators in the global South, his performance was unpleasantly reminiscent of their authoritarian publicity techniques. Instead of letting a wide […]

Health

US Iraq-Afghanistan ‘Burn Pits’ – Poisoning America’s Soldiers

contributors

Reviewed by H. Patricia Hynes | (Truthdig) | – – “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers” A book by Joseph Hickman They are called “this generation’s Agent Orange”—the open fire pits operated on over 230 US military bases across Iraq and Afghanistan during our wars there. Every kind of waste—plastics, batteries, old ordnance, […]

National Security State

Last Year the US Dropped 26,171 Bombs on 7 Muslim-Majority Countries

contributors

TeleSur | – – The countries include Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia and Pakistan. In the waning days of the Obama administration, new research by the Council on Foreign Relations, CFR, has confirmed the militaristic legacy it leaves behind: the United States dropped at least 26,171 bombs in seven Muslim-majority countries in 2016. According […]

Central Asia

For Russian hold on Trump, follow the Money, not the Sex tapes

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Buzzfeed has published the unverified allegations by a former MI6 analyst with good Russian contacts, contained in a two-page hitherto secret annex to the US intelligence community’s report on Russian hacking and interference in the 2016 election. These two pages have circulated in Washington for months. […]

Bill of Rights

A Living Wage & a Right to Live: Resisting a government of Generals and Billionaires

Rebecca Gordon

San Francisco ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Many of the folks I know are getting ready to play serious defense in 2017, and they’re not wrong. Before we take up our three-point stance on the national line of scrimmage, however, maybe we should ask ourselves not only what we’re fighting against, but what we’re fighting for. […]

African-Americans

Obama’s Farewell Address: Racial Discrimination a Challenge Ahead

contributors

NBC | (Video Report) | – – “As President Barack Obama’s time in office comes to a close, he delivers his Farewell Address from Chicago.” President Barack Obama’s Farewell Address (Full Speech) | NBC News Full Transcript Everybody have a seat. My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes […]