By Carl Bildt | (Project Syndicate) | – – STOCKHOLM – Muscular language has become increasingly prevalent in the debate about how to counter the threat of jihadist terrorism. Television talk-show hosts speculate about when control of Raqqa in Syria or Mosul in Iraq might be wrested from the Islamic State (ISIS), implying that these […]
Over 80 senators push Obama to increase military aid to Israel; but not Bernie
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — More than 80 percent of American senators signed a letter addressed to US President Barack Obama urging him to reach an agreement on an increased military aid package to Israel. “In light of Israel’s dramatically rising defense challenges, we stand ready to support a substantially enhanced […]
Now the 1% Live 15 yrs longer than the Poorest: The Death Gap’s Increasing
By Sam Pizzigati | ( Otherwords.org) | – – Rich people live longer than poor people. No big news there — we’ve known that health tracks wealth for quite some time now. But here’s what we haven’t known: The life-expectancy gap between rich and poor in the United States is actually accelerating. Since 2001, American […]
It’s Possible: Koch Brother Says Hillary Clinton Might Be Best Choice for Him
By Jon Queally, staff writer | (Commondreams.org) | – – Asked if he could actually see himself supporting Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical general election against Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, or John Kasich – billionaire rightwinger Charles Koch smiled, but didn’t say no. (Image: Screenshot/ABC News) When the oligarchs speak, take it with a grain […]
Defeating ISIL in Iraq while Protecting Civilians: Don’t destroy Mosul to “Save” It
Human Rights Watch | – – (Beirut) – Iraqi government forces gearing up to drive Islamic State fighters from Mosul should prioritize protection of civilians. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took control of in June 2014. ISIS and pro-government […]
Not al-Qaeda: Abu Zubayda as Bush’s Mengele Experiment
By Rebecca Gordon | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – Intro: Rebecca Gordon catches the nightmarish quality of those [Bush] years, now largely buried, in the grim case of a single mistreated human being. It should make Americans shudder. She has also just published a new book, American Nuremberg: The U.S. Officials Who Should Stand Trial […]
Trump’s Bad ideas are just our Current Practices on Steroids
By Janine Jackson | ( Otherwords.org) | – – Mass deportations? Attacks on innocent [non-]combatants? Punishing abortion restrictions? They’re all happening already. Readers of The Boston Globe were recently treated to an unusual spectacle — a parody front page and insert filled with mock stories of how a Donald Trump presidency might play out. “Deportations […]
Berlin Pirate Party Leader Arrested for Erdogan Insult
TeleSur | – – Bruno Kramm was arrested while protesting against a German law allowing the prosecution of citizens for insulting foreign leaders. The head of Berlin’s Pirate Party branch has been jailed after protesting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Pirate Party’s news agency, Pirate Times. Bruno Kramm was arrested in […]
NYU grad student union votes to boycott, divest from Israel
Ma’an News Agency | – – BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A graduate student union at New York University on Friday voted in favor of joining the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. Two-thirds of the Graduate Student Organizing Committee cast a vote in support of the resolution, which calls on […]