Corruption

Chicago (Feature; Special to Informed Comment) – Adding another humiliating chapter to his despicable life, the twice-impeached former President becomes the first ex-president to face criminal charges. Responding to the indictment, Trump said, “Never before in our nation’s history has this been done.” He’s right, never before in our nation’s history have we had a […]

Corruption

What Trump’s 34 Felony Counts of Business Fraud Charges Mean

The Conversation

By Jeffrey Bellin, William & Mary Law School | – Former President Donald Trump was arraigned in New York on April 4, 2023. Shortly after, the charges that a Manhattan grand jury indicted him on were made public. As anticipated, there were numerous counts of falsifying business records related to “hush money” payments made in […]

Corruption

US Joins Civilized World: Trump’s Arraignment for Electoral Corruption is just like former French President Sarkozy’s

Juan Cole

Revised. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s arraignment today has been widely denounced by the US Right as politically motivated and unprecedented. But high officers of the US government, including former vice presidents Aaron Burr and Spiro Agnew, have had to be arraigned before judges. Moreover, in other countries, such as Israel, Germany, France and […]

Authoritarianism

Constitutional Crisis Threatens to Tear Israel Apart as Att’y-Gen. takes on Netanyahu and 200 Reservist Pilots refuse to Fly

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Thursday, the Israeli parliament passed a law preventing the Supreme Court from removing a sitting prime minister for inability to carry out his or her duties. This move was tactical, not strategic. Prime Minister Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, and he agreed with the Supreme Court in 2020 […]

Corruption

37 Israeli ‘Top Guns’ Boycott Training to Protest Gutting of Courts; Most El Al Pilots decline to fly PM to Italy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli Air Force, like its other armed forces, heavily depends on reservists. That was why Egypt was able to surprise Israel in the 1973 War, which they launched on the holy day of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when reservists were with their families. The reservists are required […]

Arms Sales

Merger Mania in the Military-Industrial Complex: Tackling Pentagon Waste Means Battling the Big Weapons Makers and Asking More of Congress

Tomdispatch

By Julia Gledhill and William D. Hartung | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – It’s early in the new Congress, but lawmakers are already hotly debating spending and debt levels. As they do so, they risk losing track of an important issue hiding in plain sight: massive Pentagon waste. At least in theory, combating such excess […]

Corruption

Corruption: Supreme Court Justices party at $25,000-a-head Soirees with Corporations that have cases before the Court

OtherWords

By Jim Hightower | – ( Otherwords.org) – As many of its own members privately admit, Congress has become a pay-to-play lawmaking casino — closed to commoners, but offering full-service access to corporate powers. But there’s another government entity that’s even more aloof from workaday people: the Supreme Court. And it has become a handmaiden […]

Authoritarianism

Yemen: Authorities Failing to Protect People’s Basic Rights: Dire Conditions, Bureaucratic Barriers to Aid

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Yemeni authorities are failing to meet their international legal obligations to protect socio-economic rights for millions of Yemenis, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing a submission to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. After more than seven years of protracted conflict, the Yemeni […]