US politics

Eminent Domain for the People Leaves Wall Street Furious Housing justice advocates hopeful about innovative Richmond plan to use public seizure laws to save underwater homes from foreclosure Sarah Lazare writes at Commondreams.org Using the authority of state government to actually help people has Wall Street bankers in a panic, spurring threats of aggressive legal […]

Domestic Surveillance

The Business of America is Spying on America (Engelhardt)

Juan Cole

Tom Engelhardt writes at Tomdispatch.com: Hey, let’s talk spying! In Surveillance America, this land of spookery we all now inhabit, what else is there to talk about? Was there anyone growing up like me in the 1950s who didn’t know Revolutionary War hero and spy Nathan Hale’s last words before the British hanged him: “I […]

Domestic Surveillance

Top Ten Things that don’t Make Sense about NSA Surveillance, Drones and al-Qaeda

Juan Cole

In a Reuters Exclusive, John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke reveal that the National Security Agency shares information it gleans from warrantless surveillance of Americans with the Special Operation Division of the Drug Enforcement Agency, which then uses the metadata to develop cases against US citizens. The DEA then routinely lies to the judge and defense […]

CIA

America’s Drone Tally in Pakistan and Yemen for July (Serle and Ross)

Juan Cole

Jack Serle and Alice K Ross write at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism The CIA killed more people in Pakistan per strike than at any point since July 2012. US drones return to Yemen‘s skies and al Qaeda confirms the death of its deputy leader. UN report finds indications of increased US and UK involvement […]

al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula

How the GOP Libya Witch Hunt Made us Close our Mideast Embassies and Crippled US Diplomacy

Juan Cole

About those US embassy closures in the Middle East: they make the US look like a wimp. The United States is still the world’s primary superpower, for better or worse, and it has the potential to influence the world in both positive and negative ways. At one extreme, its unique geopolitical position allows it to […]

Afghanistan

How we lost our Constitution somewhere in Iraq and came back without it to Try Manning (van Buren)

Juan Cole

Peter Van Buren writes at Tomdispatch.com On July 30, 1778, the Continental Congress created the first whistleblower protection law, stating “that it is the duty of all persons in the service of the United States to give the earliest information to Congress or other proper authority of any misconduct, frauds, or misdemeanors committed by any […]

Energy

The New Neros: The Koch Bros Profit from Burning the World Up (Halperin Infographic)

Juan Cole

Courtesy Grist

US politics

How a Bill Becomes Law (George Carlin)

Juan Cole

George Carlin explains how the United States really works. Warning: some profanity (as is appropriate to the subject). The Clip

Climate Change

Where has all the Water Gone? How Climate Change and Soaring Water Demand are Drying out the Southwest (deBuys)

Juan Cole

William deBuys writes at Tomdispatch.com: Several miles from Phantom Ranch, Grand Canyon, Arizona, April 2013 — Down here, at the bottom of the continent’s most spectacular canyon, the Colorado River growls past our sandy beach in a wet monotone. Our group of 24 is one week into a 225-mile, 18-day voyage on inflatable rafts from […]