US politics

By William D. Hartung | (Tomdispatch.com) | – – Now you see it, now you don’t. Think of it as the Department of Defense’s version of the street con game, three-card monte, or maybe simply as the Pentagon shuffle. In any case, the Pentagon’s budget is as close to a work of art as you’re […]

Bernie Sanders

Fruits of Perseverence: Dem Platform Committee to Feel the Bern

contributors

TeleSur | – – The Democratic Party will allow Sanders to have a prominent say in writing its platform this year. The Democratic Party said on Monday it will give U.S. presidential contender Bernie Sanders a prominent say in writing its platform this year, a gesture that could ease tensions between Sanders’ camp and party […]

History

Top 3 sources of Immigration to US every Decade since 1820 (Animated Map)

contributors

Metrocosm | (Animated video) | – – “From 1920 to 2013, 79 million people obtained lawful permanent resident status in the United States. This map visualizes all of them based on their prior country of residence. The brightness of a country corresponds to its total migration to the U.S. at the given time. 1 dot […]

Bill of Rights

Snowden on Torture Report: “When the CIA destroys s.th., it’s never a Mistake”

contributors

TeleSur | — After the CIA inspector general admitted it destroyed a 6,700 page report on torture, the famed whistleblower said the CIA does not destroy by “accident.” Edward Snowden commented this week on the CIA inspector general office’s “mistaken” destruction of its only copy of a top secret torture report: ““When the CIA destroys […]

Bill of Rights

The late great Fourth Amendment: Feds, Police and Intrusive Technologies

contributors

By Matthew Harwood and Jay Stanley | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – Can’t you see the writing on the touchscreen? A techno-utopia is upon us. We’ve gone from smartphones at the turn of the twenty-first century to smart fridges and smart cars. The revolutionary changes to our everyday life will no doubt keep barreling […]

Featured

British PM Cameron’s tiff with Trump over Muslims: The Hypocrisy Factor

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – When Donald Trump announced his monstrous and yet daffy plan to exlude Muslims from the United States (what with being, himself, both monstrous and yet daffy), British Prime Minister David Cameron called him out. The plan, he said, is “divisive, stupid and wrong.” Trump gave an […]

African-Americans

Trump’s Politics of Whiteness and the CIA tip that Jailed Nelson Mandela

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The revelation that the Central Intelligence Agency provided the tip to the Apartheid South African government that led to Nelson Mandela’s arrest should come as no great shock, though the public confirmation is perhaps surprising. Nor is it unconnected to the popularity of Donald Trump, who […]

Militarization

No US Troops on the Ground in Iraq & Syria . . . until there Were

contributors

By Peter Van Buren | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – One of the most popular apps these days is Snapchat. It allows the sender to set a timer for any photo dispatched via the app, so that a few seconds after the recipient opens the message, the photo is automatically deleted. The evidence of […]

Drone Warfare

Surges, Mission Creeps & Drones in the Mideast: America’s Forever War

contributors

By Tom Engelhardt | ( Tomdispatch.com ) | – – There are the news stories that genuinely surprise you, and then there are the ones that you could write in your sleep before they happen. Let me concoct an example for you: “Top American and European military leaders are weighing options to step up the […]