The FCC, the telecoms and cooperating MSM continue their resolute PR campaign to sell 5G to an unsuspecting American public as if the technology is up and running at effortless full capacity. The truth is that even as ‘spotty’ coverage is being established in large urban markets, the telecoms are well aware that there are fundamental uncertainties yet to be addressed which may take years before widespread distribution can be accomplished. Continue reading
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the US economy created 148,000 new private sector jobs during July. The jobs number does not translate into employed people as increasingly Americans hold two or more jobs. For example, the BLS reports that from June to July the number of multiple job holders rose by 233,000 which is 85,000 more than the 148,000 new private sector jobs. What we are seeing is not more people employed, but more multiple job holders. Since May the number of multiple job holders has increased by 534,000. Continue reading
Despite the finger-pointing and outcries of dismay from those who are watching the government discard the rule of law at every turn, the question is not whether Donald Trump is the new Adolf Hitler but whether the American Police State is the new Third Reich. Continue reading
Don’t look now, but there is a new monetary craze going on in some parts of the world, and it is the new so-called ‘unconventional’ monetary policy adopted by some central banks to push interest rates to ultra-low levels, and even into negative territory. For some time now, some central banks and some governments have been pushing nominal interest rates down, so much so that a few countries have negative short-term interest rates and, when inflation is factored in, even more deeply negative real interest rates. Why suddenly such an unconventional monetary policy? Their rationale is a fear that the economy could otherwise be saddled with an overvalued currency and be faced with a too heavy debt burden, and this would hurt their economic growth. Continue reading
Americans are the most over-entertained, uninformed know-nothings on planet earth—despite around 80% of US households having Internet access, making it easy to stay informed with minimal effort. Continue reading
The world has been marking the 50th anniversary of the first manned moon landing. I’ve also been celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 astronauts getting safely back to Earth. After all, it’s one thing to get all the way up there; it’s another to return in one piece. Continue reading
It would be unfair to claim that Palestine has not produced great leaders. It has, and Bassam Shakaa, the former Mayor of Nablus, who passed away on July 22 at the age of 89, was living proof of this. Continue reading
Most often when White House officials step down, they were sacked, usually allowed to submit a resignation letter—likely the fate of former Senator/Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Dan Coats. Continue reading
Ninety-one people a day die from opioids and 1,000 visit ERs in the US, according to the CDC. How did opioid makers get such a deathly grip on the US population? Recently, the New York Times reported that the global consulting firm McKinsey & Company had a big hand in these morbid figures. Continue reading
Those were the words of presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden when confronted about his comments regarding his cooperative working arrangement with two racist, white supremacist Dixiecrats, James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. Continue reading
Anyone feeling the need to defend Baltimore from Trump’s opinions ought to talk about what really ails that city. Continue reading
The most ridiculous thing about Donald Trump’s xenophobic, demagogic assault on Central American amnesty seekers is that his frantic demand to build a $5 billion border wall isn’t his most ridiculous ploy. Continue reading
The corrupt Brazilian government installed by Washington has decided to destroy the Amazon Rain Forest. This will adversely affect the Earth’s climate by eliminating a massive carbon sink. Continue reading
Control over nearly 250 million acres of public lands was placed Monday in the hands of a former Reagan administration official who has argued that all federal lands should be sold to fossil fuel and other corporate interests in accordance with the goals of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Continue reading
Puerto Rico is America’s Okinawa, Japan’s poorest prefecture, its people grievously harmed by the presence of US military bases. Continue reading
Enough meandering around the bush! Palestinians have right on their side both morally and legally. Yet Israel is able to trample upon these victims of an illegal 52-year-long occupation with absolute and utter impunity, more so now than ever before. While it is the case that almost all US administrations swayed towards Israel’s side, at the very least they erected a non-biased facade for public consumption and at least two, that of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, worked towards a two-state-solution with sincerity. Continue reading
“Cui bono?” is a phrase you’ll often see used on conspiracy-minded Youtube videos and discussion forums. It’s Latin for “Who benefits?”, and it refers to a perspective in legal analysis that the one who stands most to gain from a crime is often the perpetrator. It’s the “motive” part of “means, motive and opportunity.“ Continue reading
Initiated in early 2016, Venezuela’s Local Provision and Production Committees (CLAPs) program distributes subsidized food to around six million Venezuelan families in need, around two-thirds of the population, part of the nation’s participatory social democracy. Continue reading
With the CIA’s dirty war in South Sudan winding down, it’s time to take a brief but comprehensive look at the origins and history of this most secret of Pax Americana crimes in Africa. Continue reading
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris might as well be Israelis, though they’re both running for the presidency of America. Continue reading
On July 23, the US House of Representatives passed (the vote went 398-17, with five voting “present”) a resolution condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. Continue reading
In today’s political climate, the question of whether or not to impeach the president of the United States is often thought of in political terms. Continue reading
America’s First Amendment prohibits congressional actions against speech and press freedoms—the most important ones in all societies. Continue reading
Planting billions of trees across the world is by far the cheapest and most efficient way to tackle the climate crisis. So states a July 4 article in The Guardian, citing a new analysis published in the journal Science. Continue reading
At the end of last Wednesday’s marathon appearances by special counsel Robert Mueller, I looked over at the American flag that flies across the street from my apartment building. It looked more bedraggled than usual, as if it had just endured one of those cringe-inducing Donald Trump flag hugs and now faced the Walk of Shame. But still it waved, tattered as it may be these days, and we try to live in hope. Continue reading
It has been decades since a bona fide antiwar candidate ran for US president; that is, a candidate who ‘felt’ peace in their bones rather than a political calculation to be exploited. By my reckoning, that last campaign would be Sen. George McGovern’s 1972 peace candidacy which came at the height of the Vietnam war. Post 911, there have been no comparable presidential peace candidates although an alternative on economic issues in 2016, Bernie was not considered a ‘peace’ candidate. Continue reading
When I was young and naive, I actually believed that we could make this society kinder and gentler. I was 23 years old when I began teaching. My salary was $4,500 per year, I was married and my wife was pregnant. Continue reading
Enough already. Continue reading
Joe Biden is using Republican talking points to attack single payer health care. One wonders why he doesn’t just run as a Republican. Continue reading
Seven-year-old Tariq Zabania from Al-Khalil (Hebron) was killed on the spot when an Israeli Jewish settler ran his car over him on July 15. Little Tariq’s photograph, lying face down on the road, was circulated on social media. His untimely death is heartbreaking. Continue reading
As I sit on the small balcony on the top floor of an old house in the working class neighborhood of Alfama in Lisbon, Portugal, it is early evening, the time for wine and voices wafting on the fragrant breeze through the twisting cobble-stoned streets. The National Pantheon (Panteao Nacional) stares me in the face. I stare back, and then look up to the heavens and to the cross that is silhouetted against the blue sky. It crowns the Pantheon’s massive dome. On its façade stand three statues, only one of which I can see clearly. She is Santa Engracia, a Christian martyr from before the period when the Roman Emperor Constantine legalized and legitimatized Christianity, transforming the cross into a sword. It was her church before the state found it acceptable to convert it into a space to glorify its secular saints and its military and political prowess. Continue reading
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Debating Democrats, please, no fighting in the war room
Direct your artillery at the real enemy and not each other.
Posted on August 5, 2019 by Michael Winship
I’m not one of those people who insists that every kid on the T-ball team receive a group participation trophy, sweet as that may be. But equally, my teeth grind when I see a flurry of post-debate articles headlined, “Winners and Losers.” They reduce this most important presidential campaign of our lives to a game where a single swing or a miss matters more than the heinous presidency we’re enduring or any of the issues vital to all of us terrified about the future for our families and ourselves. Continue reading →