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Two years after Khashoggi’s murder, why is America still an accomplice to MBS’s crimes?
Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was brutally murdered on October 2, 2018, by agents of Saudi Arabia’s despotic government, and the CIA concluded they killed him on direct orders from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). Eight Saudi men have been convicted of Khashoggi’s murder by a Saudi court in what the Washington Post characterized as sham trials with no transparency. The higher ups who ordered the murder, including MBS, continue to escape responsibility. Continue reading
The election has already been hijacked and the winner decided: ‘We the people’ lose
Republicans and Democrats alike fear that the other party will attempt to hijack this election. Continue reading
Qanon is a particularly dangerous cult
There’s a fairly good chance that most Americans know at least one person, including family and close friends, who have become followers of the wacko Qanon fringe conspiracy cult. Extremist cults have plagued America in the past. What makes Qanon so different from the Manson family, People’s Temple, Branch Davidians, Heaven’s Gate, Raëlians, and NXIVM is that they were relatively smaller groups and were concentrated in certain geographical regions, for example, Southern California, Oakland, Texas, West Virginia, and New York state. Qanon, on the other hand, has a wide following across the United States and, increasingly, around the world. Qanon, which maintains underpinnings of white supremacy and neo-Nazism, is a sect within the larger Donald Trump cult of personality. Continue reading
Here’s your hat, Donald Trump, what’s your hurry?
Even though opponents in the fight against slavery, the example set by Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas could help light our way ahead.
The other night, amidst all our upending national disasters, I was taken with an offhand comment—or rather, offhand tweet—made by presidential historian Michael Beschloss. On March 4, 1861, Beschloss wrote, “Defeated candidate Stephen Douglas held Abraham Lincoln’s hat while the new president gave his inaugural address.” Continue reading
Renewed Azerbaijani attacks seek to destabilize Caucasus region and deprive Armenians of right to live on their own lands
Repelling foreign invaders has been the single most recurring event throughout all of Armenian history. This year is no different. Continue reading
As his extradition trial drags on, media and rights groups are still ignoring Julian Assange
Many mainstream rights groups and media organizations have a mixed history when it comes to opposing Washington’s agenda. The case of Julian Assange has been no exception.
The extradition case of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange continues in London. The U.S. government is indicting the Australian living on the other side of the world under its own Espionage Act, with the case widely seen as setting an important precedent for freedom of speech and of the media worldwide. Continue reading
How concentrated animal feeding operations fuel pandemics
The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic may be the worst in recent memory but another pandemic occurred just a decade ago. During 2009 and 2010, the world was stricken with H1NI, a novel virus hosted by pigs. Continue reading
Trump wants the Supreme Court, not the people, to decide the election
WASHINGTON—When the U.S. Supreme Court opens its new term on the first Monday in October, the symbol of its most important looming development will not be an individual case but an empty chair draped in black. Continue reading
Justice sleeps and ‘we the people’ suffer: No, the U.S. Supreme Court will not save us
The U.S. Supreme Court will not save us. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: The Democrats’ supreme failure
The corporate Democrats refuse to back measures that appeal to huge majorities of their base, preferring instead to campaign against one evil man and his appointees. Continue reading
For RBG it was all principle, for Mitch McConnell it’s all power
People in public life tend to fall into one of two broad categories—those who are motivated by principle, and those motivated by power. Continue reading
Public docility gives Boris Johnson a free pass
The manner with which British government is treating Brexit is cavalier
Forgive me for using a broad brush but I cannot help but conclude that Britons may moan about government policies but are ultimately accepting. We are stereotypically known for our stiff upper lips and ability to weather all storms with our calm demeanours, unlike those emotional Latin types poised to revolt en masse over the price of spaghetti. Continue reading
UAE, Bahrain, US-Israel: drunkard’s search principle
A policeman sees a drunk man searching for something under a streetlight and asks what the drunk has lost. He says he lost his keys and they both look under the streetlight together. After a few minutes the policeman asks if he is sure he lost them here, and the drunk replies, no, and that he lost them in the park. The policeman asks why he is searching here, and the drunk replies, “this is where the light is”. Continue reading
We finally have the October Surprise—in death, Ginsburg provides
We’ve waited patiently to find out what would be the Trumpster’s October Surprise. Would he fake a video of Joe Biden in bed with a sheep? Would he wag the dog in starting a war with Canada, citing Canukistan’s icicles of mass destruction? Continue reading
Do the right thing, fulfill RBG’s last wish
Give Justice Ginsburg the proper sendoff and let the election winner choose.
Two memories: in February, I attended a public conversation my friend and colleague Bill Moyers conducted with Ruth Bader Ginsburg at Union Theological Seminary on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was there for the Judith Davidson Moyers Women of Spirit Award Lecture, and had postponed attending the year before because of health concerns. She was recuperating from the latest of her bouts with cancer. Continue reading
Civil libertarian, gender equity champion Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes
US Supreme Court Justice John Roberts announced Ginsburg’s death on Friday, saying, “Our aation has lost a jurist of historic stature”—one of only four women appointed to the High Court, Sandra Day O’Conner (Ret.), Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan the others. Continue reading
Virtual school dangers: The hazards of a police state education during COVID-19
Once upon a time in America, parents breathed a sigh of relief when their kids went back to school after a summer’s hiatus, content in the knowledge that for a good portion of the day, their kids would be gainfully occupied, out of harm’s way, and out of trouble. Continue reading
The ‘desaparecidos’ of Palestine: Gantz escalates Israel’s war on the dead
On September 2, the Israeli government approved a proposal that allows the military to indefinitely withhold the bodies of Palestinians who have been killed by the Israeli army. The proposal was made by the country’s defense minister, Benny Gantz. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Democrats’ climate change lies
The Republicans lie about the harm they do to the planet, and the Democrats lie and pretend they’re not doing the very same things. Continue reading
Milwaukee & Charlotte: Our leaders have failed us
I finally broke down and took the coronavirus test the other day because it was part of a job requirement. “Negative.” Oh. Okay. Continue reading
Afghanistan peace talks illuminate America’s failure
It might also result in the Taliban taking the nation all the way back to square one
US President Donald Trump is no foreign policy strategist. His plan to bring US troops home from Afghanistan was one of his most popular pre-election pledges in 2016 and now he is rushing to fulfil it whatever the consequences to boost his flagging campaign which is why his administration is brokering negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Continue reading
Racism is profitable
Since the first colonizers arrived in the United States to this very moment, wealthy elites have used the tools of theft, exclusion, and exploitation to expand their wealth and power at the detriment of Black, Latinx, Indigenous people, and marginalized people of color. It all boils down to this simple truth: Racism is profitable. Continue reading
The loudest voices make the greatest changes
Playwright and screenwriter Richard Wesley on Black Lives Matter, Black Power, Trump, and the noise from the balcony.
In mid-May, this year’s Pulitzer Prizes were announced, and as I scrolled down the list of recipients, I was surprised and delighted to see that the award for music had gone to Anthony Davis’ opera The Central Park Five, its libretto written by my longtime friend and colleague Richard Wesley. The piece tells the now well-known story of the five innocent young men falsely accused of rape and assault by police and much of the public, including Donald Trump. Continue reading
Mile markers of tyranny: Losing our freedoms on the road from 9/11 to COVID-19
You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we’ve lost along the way. Continue reading
Our fake commander-in-chief steps on a landmine—again
Donald Trump, the Godfather wannabe, treats our troops like toy soldiers to be thrown away.
Reading the latest story about Donald Trump’s grievous insults to the military, I thought of a scene that was cut from the original version of The Godfather. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Losers, suckers and war
Democrats are up in arms over Trump’s latest mouth-burst, but the truth is that both corporate parties have made the people suckers for endless, ‘bipartisan’ wars.
Americans certainly love war. Most will deny having those feelings, they will instead talk about warfare as a means of protecting freedom, spreading democracy or fighting tyrants. The end result of course is mass death, mostly of people in far away and non-white lands, but also of significant numbers of Americans. The carnage is usually downplayed in favor of worshipping those who go to kill and perhaps be killed themselves. This twisted dynamic is most visible when anyone dares to question the narrative of exceptionalism and benevolent warriors. Continue reading
Is Russia being framed for Navalny poisoning?
Accusations may be premature as there are others eager to freeze Russia's ties with West
The world is convinced that a political rival of the Russian president was deliberately poisoned by the state, which Moscow vehemently denies. Continue reading
The NRA’s thrill killers
Recently, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued four current or former NRA executives for “illegal financial conduct,” according to NBC. Among the charges were that Wayne LaPierre, CEO and executive vice president of the NRA, received “hundreds of thousands of dollars” of complimentary safaris in Africa. Continue reading
Since 9/11, the government’s answer to every problem has been more government
Have you noticed that the government’s answer to every problem is more government—at taxpayer expense—and less individual liberty? Continue reading
All the latest on Trump’s war on our public Postal Service
The House passed legislation to defend the Postal Service, but unless the Senate takes action, the postmaster general will be free to continue policies that have slowed the mail and raised concerns about mail-in voting.
Less than two months after Trump ally and GOP megadonor Louis DeJoy took the helm of the U.S. Postal Service, the House of Representatives met in an emergency session to address widespread fears about potential sabotage of this vital public agency at a time when it is needed more than ever to deliver medicine and other essentials and to facilitate mail-in voting. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: The U.S. is a racist militia
U.S. cops are already racist and brutal, and any militia “infiltrators” would feel right at home. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Breonna Taylor and black life
Posted on October 1, 2020 by Margaret Kimberley
Reactions to the Breonna Taylor murder, settlement and verdict all have one thing in common: Black people’s inability to protect our lives. Continue reading →