Corruption

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – Did the massive explosion in Beirut, about three quarters of a century after the decimation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, have any lessons or warnings for us. I think the answer is clearly yes. Lesson 1: Early news reports regarding the Beirut blast indicate that government officials had […]

Corruption

Beirut: ‘Day of Judgment’ Protesters Occupy Gov’t Buildings, Banking Assn., Forcing New Elections

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announced snap elections after a huge crowd of thousands gathered in downtown Beirut Saturday, confronting security forces and taking over government buildings and the Banking Association. Angry about the criminal government negligence that led to the destruction of Beirut’s port and part of the city […]

Corruption

Lebanon’s deadly blast: when corruption turned into carnage

Open Democracy

By Walid el Houri | – ( OpenDemocracy) – On 4 August 2020, at 6pm the explosion at the Beirut port sent a destructive shockwave across a radius of more than 7 kilometres. The explosion was heard as far away as Cyprus, but it was felt across the whole world. It is hard to measure […]

Corruption

“I don’t take Responsibility:” US has the Worst Pandemic Response, but can Trump be held Accountable?

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Whether you consider the appalling death toll or the equally unacceptable rising numbers of Covid-19 cases, the United States has one of the worst records worldwide when it comes to the pandemic. Nevertheless, the president has continued to behave just as he promised he would in March when there had been […]

Corruption

Congress’ Relief Package was for Small Business, but pro-Trump Millionaires Grabbed up the Lion’s Share

Jim Hightower

( Otherwords.org ) – Thanks to a specially carved loophole, one multi-millionaire claimed 339 times more than the average small business received. By Jim Hightower | May 20, 2020 Monty Bennett was just another faceless right-wing millionaire on the long list of high-dollar donors to Donald Trump — until he suddenly surfaced in April as […]

Arms Sales

Did Trump fire State Dept. Inspector to Protect Shady Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The mystery deepens. Late last Friday, Trump summarily fired the State Department Inspector General, Steve Linick. While in US law as it now stands, the president has the power to fire pretty much anyone in the executive, if he fired Linick as an act of retaliation for one of Linick’s […]

Corruption

Trump, Inc.: How Jared Kushner is Tackling White House Coronavirus Response — Without Any Evident Experience

ProPublica

by Andrea Bernstein, WNYC | – This story was co-published with WNYC. (ProPublica) – On April 2, Jared Kushner uncharacteristically took to the podium to speak at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing. He’d been given the task, he said, of assisting Vice President Mike Pence’s Coronavirus Task Force with supply chain issues. “The president,” […]

Corruption

Could Trump end up in Court over his Disastrous Mishandling of Coronavirus?

John Feffer

(Foreign Policy in Focus and Hankyoreh) – Donald Trump said that he would make America number one again. And now the United States leads the world in coronavirus infections and COVID-19 deaths. It is a dubious achievement. How could this have happened? The United States is supposed to have one of the best medical systems […]

Corruption

Protesters slam ‘Crime Minister” Netanyahu’s Assault on Democracy in Israel, Praise Palestinian-Israeli Medics fighting Coronavirus

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some two thousand demonstrators gathered in formation in Rabin Square on Sunday in Tel Aviv for a “black flag” protest against the “destruction of democracy” by indicted prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. They carefully kept six feet apart and wore surgical masks imprinted with the slogan “Crime Minister.” So reports Omar […]