US politics

DeSantis’ Florida as the Epicenter of the New Culture Wars: The Coming Battle for America’s Political Soul

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The concept of “woke” culture is an existential threat to Republican office holders and party officials. Led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other Donald Trump wannabes, Republicans have embarked on a campaign to bury information, books and literature; illustrating their agenda to promote racism as acceptable, […]

Artificial Intelligence

Who will Inherit the Earth? The Rise of AI and the Human Future (?)

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – After almost 79 years on this beleaguered planet, let me say one thing: this can’t end well. Really, it can’t. And no, I’m not talking about the most obvious issues ranging from the war in Ukraine to the climate disaster. What I have in mind is that latest, greatest human invention: […]

National Security State

The Privatization of War, American-Style

Andrea Mazzarino

( Tomdispatch.com ) – The way mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his private army have been waging a significant part of Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has been well covered in the American media, not least of all because his firm, the Wagner Group, draws most of its men from Russia’s prison system. Wagner offers […]

Africa

Trump joins ranks of Sexual Abusers-in-Chief like Gaddafi and Mussolini, but CNN thinks he Deserves a Townhall

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald John Trump was found liable by a jury on Tuesday for having sexually abused and then libeled writer E. Jean Carroll. The only reason he wasn’t also found liable for rape was that the victim said he inserted something else into her– fingers or some instrument — against her […]

Feminism

Post-Roe Abortion Bans force Pregnant People with Life-Threatening Complications to Travel Long Distances

Iowa Capital Dispatch

By: Kelcie Moseley-Morris – An ultrasound image of Jennifer Adkins’ 12-week-old fetus that was diagnosed with Turner syndrome and hydrops fetalis, two defects that are often fatal to the fetus and dangerous for the pregnant person to carry. Adkins had to seek an abortion in Oregon because, like 13 other states across the country, Idaho […]

National Security State

Are the Best Years of My Country Behind Me? Reflections on a Long-Ago Tour of Los Alamos and the Trinity Atomic Test Site

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com) – I turn 60 this year. My health is generally good, though I have aches and pains from a form of arthritis. I’m not optimistic enough to believe that the best years of my life are ahead of me, nor so pessimistic as to assume that the best years are behind me. But […]

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders unveils push for $17-an-hour federal minimum wage, citing state increases

Florida Phoenix

By Ariana Figueroa ( Florida Phoenix ) WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday announced Democrats’ plans to mark up legislation to increase the federal minimum wage to $17 an hour, pointing to an increase in the cost of living. Outside the U.S. Capitol, Sanders, a Vermont independent and chairman of the Health, […]

Corruption

Not the Onion: U.S. Supreme Court Justices take Gifts – Then Raise the Bar for Bribery Prosecutions

Minnesota Reformer

By: Marty Schladen – ( Minnesota Reformer) – Justice Clarence Thomas might be the most egregious when it comes to taking gifts and not disclosing them, but he’s not alone. His colleagues on the U.S. Supreme Court also haven’t been shy about taking fancy freebies from rich people — many of whom have an interest […]

Immigration

Not a Flood, not a Surge, not Illegal: Retire This Dehumanizing Language About Immigrants

OtherWords

By By Daniella Prieshoff ( Otherwords.org ) – Last year, my client Susan called me to discuss her immigration case. During our conversation she referenced the news that immigrants were being bused from the southern border to cities in the North, often under false promises, only to be left stranded in an unknown city. In […]