US politics

As 6x as Many die of COVID in Deep Red Counties as in Deep Blue, Sen. Ron Johnson touts . . . Mouthwash as Cure

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) is now alleging that mouthwashes are the way to avoid getting COVID-19. Johnson, a powerful figure in Washington and former chair of the committee on Homeland Security, has a history of promoting quackery regarding the novel coronavirus. He said, “Standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to […]

Iran

To Succeed in US Foreign Policy, Biden needs a clean Break with Trump

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – The Biden presidency is still in its early days, but it’s not too early to point to areas in the foreign policy realm where we, as progressives, have been disappointed–or even infuriated. There are one or two positive developments, such as the renewal of Obama’s New START Treaty with Russia and […]

Militarization

How to End America’s Forever Wars for Once and for All

Karen J. Greenberg

( Tomdispatch.com) – As August ended, American troops completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan almost 20 years after they first arrived. On the formal date of withdrawal, however, President Biden insisted that “over-the-horizon capabilities” (airpower and Special Operations forces, for example) would remain available for use anytime. “[W]e can strike terrorists and targets without American boots […]

Climate Crisis

“Given me a Lever and I will Move the Earth:” Biden orders greening of Federal Gov’t, buying of EVs and Solar Panels

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse (d. 212 BC), speaking of the power of the lever, said, “Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” (δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω). In the US economy there are few more powerful levers than […]

Immigration

Immigrant Rights: US Senate Should Reinstate Pathway to Citizenship in Build Back Better Act

Human Rights Watch

By Hina Naveed | Aryeh Neier Fellow | – ( Human Rights Watch) – All people, including immigrants like me, have a basic need for some semblance of stability. But addressing this need hangs in the balance as the Senate contemplates the Build Back Better Act. When the US House of Representatives passed the nearly […]

Central Intelligence Agency

Yes, America overthrew the Democratically Elected gov’t of Iran in 1953 and Ray Takeyh is wrong on the History

Fariba Amini

Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment) – It is likely that, if the elected government of Iran’s Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh had stayed in power, the Middle East or at least Iran would look very different now. But, in history, we cannot reach satisfactory conclusions based on ‘ifs‘. We have to consider only the facts and […]

Congress

We’re not at War: Why is Congress giving $778 Billion of our Money to the Pentagon?

Medea Benjamin and Nicholas J.S. Davies

( Code Pink) – Despite a disagreement over some amendments in the Senate, the United States Congress is poised to pass a $778 billion military budget bill for 2022. As they have been doing year after year, our elected officials are preparing to hand the lion’s share – over 65% – of federal discretionary spending […]

Donald Trump

The Donald Also Rises? The Far Right Continues to Build Its International

John Feffer

( Tomdispatch.com) – What alt-right guru Steve Bannon failed to create, German taxpayers have just stepped in to revive: a Nationalist International. Thanks to the German government, the far right is about to get its own well-heeled global think tank, complete with the sort of political academy that was so dear to Bannon’s plan for […]

Featured

We do it to Ourselves: 30 Gun Homicides in England in 2020 (167 US Equiv.), vs. 13,620 in US

Juan Cole

Revised The murders by a high school student in Oxford, Michigan, who was given a gun by his parents even though he was making death threats and the school called them to conferences out of concern, have shaken the state and become national news. That is because the parents are being charged with criminal negligence […]