Inequality

(By Peter van Buren via Tomdispatch.com) As America’s new economy starts to look more like the old economy of the Great Depression, the divide between rich and poor, those who have made it and those who never will, seems to grow ever starker. I know. I’ve seen it firsthand. Once upon a time, I worked […]

Crime

Why Oklahoma’s Botched Execution is an Argument for ending Death Penalty

Juan Cole

Yet more evidence that the death penalty is cruel and inhumane arrived today at 8:00PM from the state of Oklahoma. Charles Warner, convicted of raping and murdering an 11-month-old girl, found his execution stayed today after the attempted execution…

Featured

John Kerry admits Israeli Apartheid; and 5 Ways he is Understating It

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) In a closed-room meeting of the Trilateral Commission last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel is on the verge of becoming an Apartheid state, according to a recording obtained by The Daily Beast. The remark will raise a firestorm of criticism from Palestine-deniers, who are if anything more blindered […]

Economy

Can America’s descent into Plutocracy (Rule-by-the-Rich) be Reversed?

Juan Cole

Harvard’s Lawrence Lessig, the crusader for campaign finance reform, feels that his fellow reformers don’t think big or boldly enough to inspire the kind of grassroots campaign that might break elite donors’ stranglehold on America’s political…

Dissent

The Cost of Whistleblowing: Being consigned to the Minimum-Wage Underclass

Juan Cole

(By Peter van Buren via Tomdispatch) There are many sides to whistleblowing. The one that most people don’t know about is the very personal cost, prison aside, including the high cost of lawyers and the strain on family relations, that follows the decision to risk it all in an act of conscience. Here’s a part […]

Economy

Government = Protection Racket for the 1 Percent

Juan Cole

The evidence of income inequality just keeps mounting. According to “Working for the Few,” a recent briefing paper from Oxfam, “In the US, the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009, while the bottom…

Dissent

The Limits of ‘Protest Tourism’ in the Israeli-Occupied West Bank

Juan Cole

(By “Jill Saunders”) “Jill Saunders”, a pseudonym, frequently attends the weekly demonstrations in the Palestinian village of Nabi Saleh. In this reflective piece, “Jill” questions the very idea of ‘protest tourism’ in the West Bank. The wind from the open window blows dusty air across my face as our minibus winds down the roads from […]

Economy

High Inequality Results in More US Deaths than Tobacco, Car Crashes and Guns Combined

Juan Cole

In 2009, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a study that revealed what seems to be a shocking truth: those who live in societies with a higher level of income inequality are at a greater risk for premature death. Here in the United States,…

Dissent

The New 1% isn’t just the Rich, it is the Spoiled Oligarch Heirs (Krugman)

Juan Cole

Bill Moyers interviews Paul Krugman Blurb: ” Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty, a 42-year-old who teaches at the Paris School of Economics, shows that two-thirds of America’s increase in income inequality over the past four decades is the result of steep raises given to the country’s highest earners. This week, Bill talks […]