US politics

By Mitchell Zimmerman | ( Otherwords.org) – The Prohibition Era mobster and thug Alphonse “Al” Capone comes to mind as we see the man who incited the January 2021 Capitol insurrection, among other misdeeds, finally face a criminal charge: falsifying business records. Al Capone was the boss of a murderous Chicago criminal enterprise that […]

Climate Crisis

Boosting EV Market Share to 67% of US Car Sales is a huge Leap – but Automakers can meet EPA’s tough new Standards

The Conversation

By Alan Jenn, University of California, Davis | – (The Conversation) – One big question keeps surfacing after the Biden administration announced plans to raise auto standards so sharply they would likely boost electric vehicle production to 67% of all new passenger vehicle sales in under a decade: Can automakers pull that off? The proposal […]

Reproductive Choice

Florida Legislature approves extreme 6-week Abortion Ban, after Weeks of Protests and Debates

Florida Phoenix

By: Danielle J. Brown – In less than a year, Florida has moved from a 15-week abortion ban to the passage of one of the most restrictive bans in the nation — a 6-week abortion ban. The state House approved the legislation after at least six hours of questions, amendments, debate, protests and a […]

National Security State

US Military: Losing Wars is making Recruitment Harder

Tomdispatch

By Nan Levinson ( Tomdispatch.com ) – After more than 20 years of losing wars, recruiting for the U.S. Army is now officially a mess. Last year, that service fell short of its goal by 15,000 recruits, or a quarter of its target. Despite reports of better numbers in the first months of this year, Army […]

Arab Americans

Arab Americans are a much more diverse Group than many of their Neighbors Mistakenly Assume

The Conversation

By Yasmin Moll, University of Michigan | – Marking April as Arab American Heritage Month – a time to learn about the history, culture and contributions of our nearly 4 million strong community – is gaining traction across the country. In 2022, Joe Biden made history as the first U.S. president to recognize the month, […]

Donald Trump

Trumpism Triumphant: Tennessee GOP Expulsion of Black Reps. shows Rot of Racism

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Feature; Special to Informed Comment) – The demonstration on the floor of the Tennessee Legislature on March 30 was not an insurrection, such as occurred on January 6. It was a passionate political protest, driven by raw emotions in the wake of another AR-15 massacre at a local school on March 27. The […]

nuclear weapons

90 Seconds to Midnight: The Doomsday Clock and Me

Frida Berrigan

(Tomdispatch.com ) – I’m not a TikTok person. I’m too old. But when I finally ventured onto that popular but much-maligned app, which traffics in short videos and hot takes, I was surprised to find many videos about the Doomsday Clock. It’s nothing like a conventional timepiece, of course. It’s meant to show how close […]

Far Right

Physicians: Ruling banning Abortion Pill could harm Women experiencing Life-threatening Miscarriages

Minnesota Reformer

By Kelcie Moseley-Morris and Sofia Resnick A Texas federal judge with a history of anti-abortion beliefs has thrown into jeopardy the most common form of abortion since Roe v. Wade fell last summer. U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk released his decision on the cusp of Easter weekend to pause the Food and Drug […]

Corruption

Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire

ProPublica

By Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski ( ProPublica) – In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago […]