After Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed, my Facebook feed filled up with people telling one another to vote in the midterms. “If you don’t like what’s happening in America, vote!” they said. Continue reading
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Voting matters, but staying engaged matters more
Real change means staying active long after Election Day.
Message to millennials
You are the largest, most diverse, and progressive group of potential voters in American history, comprising fully 30 percent of the voting age population. Continue reading
Amazon’s pay raise cuts worker compensation
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth exceeds $100 billion—while around 350,000 US company workers struggle to survive on poverty wages, along with enduring deplorable working conditions for maximum productivity at company fulfillment centers. Continue reading
Nonviolent Afghans bring a breath of fresh air
Grade 12 Afghan student Jamila Omary asked, “Do you have any plans to arm yourselves, because of the threats and dangers you have faced?” Continue reading
The biggest threat to US national security is the US government
A dictatorship does not represent the public but only the aristocracy that, behind the scenes, controls the government. Continue reading
30th straight bloody Friday in Gaza
Gazans show no signs of ending their liberating struggle against Israel’s illegal blockade and overall occupation harshness. Continue reading
I will be a poll worker November 6th—will you?
A Trumpist victory this November 6 could strike a terrible blow to American democracy, and to our ability to survive on this planet. Continue reading
Israeli fingerprints also on Khashoggi’s murder
Trump son-in-law and Middle East “peace negotiator” Jared Kushner was communicating with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) prior to and after the Saudis brutally murdered Washington-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2 at the Saudi consulate-general in Istanbul. Kushner and MBS reportedly used the WhatsApp encrypted messaging service. Continue reading
Three easy fixes to Social Security and Medicare that Republicans don’t want you to know about
Republicans would love to get rid of Social Security and Medicare. But they can’t, because Social Security and Medicare are among the most popular of all federal programs. Besides, most Americans have been paying into them their whole working lives, and depend on them. Continue reading
You want to make America great again? Start by making America free again
Living in a representative republic means that each person has the right to take a stand for what they think is right, whether that means marching outside the halls of government, wearing clothing with provocative statements, or simply holding up a sign. Continue reading
Voter registration is inherently racist
And several other reasons that the midterm elections are testing how far some states can go in disenfranchising certain voters
What if we had an election and everyone came? Continue reading
The UN ‘sheriff’: Nikki Haley elevated Israel, damaged US standing
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has made her post a “more glamorous” position than her predecessors—as President Donald Trump described Haley’s two-year term at the UN, following her resignation announcement. Continue reading
Freedom Rider: Jamal Khashoggi and U.S. hypocrisy
The corporate media cry crocodile tears over the apparent murder of an elite, CIA-connected “dissident,” while papering over US complicity in Saudi war crimes in Yemen. Continue reading
Doubt it can’t happen here? Tell it to Berlin
BERLIN—On the last full day of two weeks spent in this city, the requisite visit was paid to Checkpoint Charlie, the spot at the Berlin Wall where, from 1961 to 1989, allied forces and other foreigners crossed the uneasy border between East and West Berlin. (Germans had designated checkpoints of their own.) Continue reading
Trump’s neocon foreign policy, just like those from before
As Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, wields ever greater power over U.S. foreign and defense policy, with Defense Secretary James Mattis due to be the next victim of Bolton’s “house cleaning,” the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is preparing Libya for a neocon-led “nation-building” operation. Although Trump has slashed funding for USAID, the agency has found the necessary budget to begin to prepare Libya’s local municipal councils for elections. Continue reading
Stealing the vote
The GOP isn't out to 'win' elections anymore. They're just trying to make sure anyone who might vote against them can't.
At last, November 6 is coming: Time to vote! Let’s all join the majestic panorama of democracy in action! Continue reading
Why you might consider the Buddha’s proposal
The Buddha was said to have predicted the day he would die. When that day approached, his followers, weeping, asked him to stay with them. “I’ve told you that life is about suffering,” he reminded them, “would you have me continue suffering?” With that, his followers let go and allowed their beloved teacher to die in peace. Continue reading
Banned weapons used in all US war theaters
Whenever US forces aggressively attacks countries, dirty war is waged, including use of banned weapons. Continue reading
Why China will win the artificial intelligence race
Two artificial intelligence-driven Internet paradigms may emerge in the near future. One will be based on logic, smart enterprises and human merit while the other may morph into an Orwellian control tool. Even former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has foreseen a bifurcation of the Internet by 2028 and China’s eventual triumph in the AI race by 2030. Continue reading
Escalating online censorship
In cahoots with dark US forces, anti-social media escalated their war on alternative views—ones conflicting with the official narrative by pulling down hundreds of pages. Continue reading
Virginians show the real face of poverty
Over 40 percent of Virginians struggle to get by—a problem made worse by voter suppression and military-first spending priorities.
On a recent night in Richmond, Virginia, speaker after speaker came forward to talk about the multidimensional reality of poverty. The setting was a hearing held by the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Continue reading
The truth about the Trump economy
I keep hearing that although Trump is a scoundrel or worse, at least he’s presiding over a great economy. Continue reading
Hurricanes give Americans taste of disaster Washington’s wars bring to others
Florida residents from the eastern part of Panama City Beach to Apalachicola now know what a war zone is like. Seven hundred fifty thousand people are without power and without water. Thousands of homes and commercial structures no longer exist. Mexico Beach has been more or less wiped off the face of the earth. Many areas are still inaccessible. Many people are still trapped in place because of debris and downed trees across roads. Continue reading
A global people’s bailout for the coming crash
When the global financial crisis resurfaces, we the people will have to fill the vacuum in political leadership. It will call for a monumental mobilisation of citizens from below, focused on a single and unifying demand for a people’s bailout across the world.
A full decade since the great crash of 2008, many progressive thinkers have recently reflected on the consequences of that fateful day when the investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed, foreshadowing the worst international financial crisis of the post-war period. What seems obvious to everyone is that lessons have not been learnt, the financial sector is now larger and more dominant than ever, and an even greater crisis is set to happen anytime soon. But the real question is when it strikes, what are the chances of achieving a bailout for ordinary people and the planet this time? Continue reading
Trump and Bannon lead a worldwide Nazi movement
The actual reason why Donald Trump praised neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members who marched in the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as “fine people” is that Trump actually believes in the global goals of the neo-Nazi and white supremacist cause. This is now seen in Trump’s support for the efforts of his erstwhile White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, in creating an alliance and secretariat of far-right racist political parties in Europe and beyond. Bannon’s operation is called “The Movement.” Continue reading
Illegal US meddling in affairs of other countries
Non-interventionism is a core UN Charter principle, member states obligated to respect the sovereignty of all nations—disputes to be settled “by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.” Continue reading
That single line of blood: Nassir al-Mosabeh and Mohammed al-Durrah
As the frail body of 12-year-old Nassir Al-Mosabeh fell to the ground on Friday, September 28, history was repeating itself in a most tragic way. Continue reading
Containing the catastrophe
Anyone still unsure of how (or even whether) they’ll vote in the midterms should consider this: All three branches of government are now under the control of one party, and that party is under the control of Donald J. Trump. Continue reading
Gimme some truth: John Lennon tells it like it is
Long before Bette Midler was roundly condemned for tweeting “Women, are the n-word of the world,” John Lennon—never one to pull his punches—proclaimed in song “Woman Is the Nigger of the World.” Continue reading
Will the Trump GOP strip and flip America’s 2018 election while the Democrats fail to protect the vote?
Are you ready to be a poll worker? Continue reading
Bush backed Kavanaugh to keep election thefts of 2000 and 2004 a secret
Former president George W. Bush has been misinterpreted by many political observers as a “neo-moderate.” However, Bush’s phone calls to four wavering senators, in which he urged them to vote for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, belies the actual reason behind his support for Kavanaugh. Serving as White House Staff Secretary for Bush from 2003 to 2006, Kavanaugh was part and parcel of theft of Ohio’s 20 electoral votes to Bush in 2004, which ensured Bush’s re-election and denied the presidency to Democratic candidate John Kerry. Bush’s phone calls to Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) were supplemented with an invitation for her to visit the Bush family at their Kennebunkport, Maine estate. Bush also phoned Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Out of the three, only Murkowski voted against Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Continue reading
Trump, the resurgent Cold War president
Posted on October 23, 2018 by Wayne Madsen
Some of the world’s hottest points of conflict during the Cold War are, once again, in the headlines because of Donald Trump’s erratic and bombastic saber-rattling antics. Even a military pact between North and South Korea, one worked out between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their third summit in Pyongyang in September is being actively opposed by Trump’s pompous Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. In remarks in the South Korean parliament, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung said that Pompeo wanted Seoul to go slow on its talks with North Korea. It is known that Trump wants another summit with North Korea’s Kim. Little resulted from the first Trump-Kim meeting in Singapore, which was largely a much-ballyhooed photo op, but was heralded by some myopic Trump supporters as an epic event rivaling President Richard Nixon’s trip to China. Continue reading →