Government Wastes Billions of Taxpayer Dollars in the Post-9/11 Security Feeding Frenzy

This is a disgrace. But hey, so long as the word “security” can be applied, who cares about billions of dollars going down the drain with nothing to show for it? That has NOTHING to do with so-called “out of control government spending.” No, the real problem is poor people who milk the system with […]

U.S. Threatens to Cut Off Aid to Palestinians if They Go to UN

This is interesting because the other day the State Dept. press spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, was asked about this issue and she said that Palestinian aid is based on the needs of the people, ie. it’s not a carrot or stick. It seems she wasn’t telling the truth. From Haaretz: The United States will stop all […]

Gaza: And So It Begins

It really began yesterday with a massive Israeli air assault but it has continued throughout the day and night today. The tragic murder of eight Israelis has brought out the full force of the Israeli military. While it goes without saying that Israel has a right to defend itself, this seems less like self defense […]

The National Security State: If We Keep This Up The Terrorists Win

The events of 9/11 have spawned an understandable focus on security, however, the extent of fear-mongering, Islamophobia and ongoing curtailment of civil liberties, along with the meteoric rise of an unwieldy national security state which operates like a secret government within a government, is at odds with the principles and values of representative democracy. The […]

Israel’s Next War

There’s an interesting article over at the Israeli site +972 about how Benjamin Netanyahu tends to try to increase his domestic popularity when he’s in a jam by engaging in military action. The author makes clear that contrary to the popular mythology, oft repeated by U.S. leaders and the media, Israel has started many of […]

Thanks to Iraq Invasion Iran is Now the Driving Force in That Country

This was totally foreseeable, not that any of our leaders, the media or the think tanks and commentators will take any responsibility for championing a disastrous war that has made us less safe while empowering Iran. No, now they are busy working on the next war- Iran! Oh, the irony. And because the media unquestioningly […]

It’s Only Terrorism If The Perpetrator Is Muslim *updated*

Yesterday I wrote about how the media’s response to the attack in Norway changed dramatically after it was revealed that the perpetrator was a White, right-wing Islamophobe who was an avid reader of American right wing blogs. What was initially described as an obvious terrorist attack soon became the work of a “lone wolf” motivated […]

It’s Time to Stop Chasing the Peace Process Unicorn

As someone who believed in the peace process and the two state solution, it’s not been easy to reach this conclusion, but all the evidence points this way. Earlier this month I wrote several posts about how the Mideast Quartet had become little more than a vehicle for the U.S. and Israel to strong-arm their […]

Why All the Iran Fear-Mongering Now?

I wrote about this earlier this week because I noticed an uptick in the articles appearing in the MSM and on right wing blogs about the imminent threat posed by Iran. There is always some fear-mongering boiling under the surface but this almost seems like a coordinated effort to get Iran back on the front […]

Obama Administration Desperate to Keep Troops in Iraq

Iraq was never about weapons of mass destruction, it was about oil, re-making the map of the Middle East in the West’s image and securing military bases of operation in the region to fight other wars- like with Iran: But in recent months, the U.S. has let it be known that it is willing to […]

Some Rare Good News: Unprecedented Security Cooperation Between Palestinian Authority and Israeli Defense Forces

When we briefly put aside all the rhetoric, propaganda and finger pointing on both sides, there have definitely been improvements in the relationship between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. One thing that helped improve the relationship was the death of Yasser Arafat, who continued to play both sides- he said publicly what people in the […]

Time for Responsible Cuts to Defense Spending

Anyone who is serious about dealing with the deficit but who takes all defense spending off the table, isn’t really serious about deficit reduction. Instead, they are simply interested in using the debt debate as a pretext to cut social programs they never liked to begin with, all the while watching out for their corporate […]

Just What We Need: Another Analysis of Egypt From Israel’s Perspective

The great thing about this Newsweek article is that it is unapologetic in letting us know that all that really matters with the Arab Spring is Israel. Whenever you hear the Israel Lobby and all their media watch groups (like CAMERA) complain about the anti-Israel press, just keep in mind that they know damn well […]

Terrorist Attack in Mumbai

India is reeling after a coordinated terror attack involving a coordinated triple bombing in Mumbai. Details are still trickling in but over twenty people have been killed and over 100 injured: …The bombings came just months after peace talks resumed between India and Pakistan, which New Delhi has blamed for past attacks. Prime Minister Manmohan […]

South Sudan Declares Independence But Still Has a Long Road to Haul

It’s certainly an incredible milestone and hard-won. Probably the best resource for Sudan is the website of the Enough! Project, which tends to not rely so much on “unnamed government sources” like the MSM does. In fact, here’s a short primer on the history of the conflict. I’ll admit, I’m no expert on the conflict […]

News Round-Up

On this day in history, July 10, 1509, theologian John Calvin, a key figure of the Protestant Reformation, was born France. Some news bits: ~Elizabeth Warren for Senate? ~The GOP has predictably rebuffed the President’s so-called Grand Bargain, which is really a Grand Capitulation to corporate interests on the backs of the middle class, so […]

Rep. Gary Ackerman Wants You To Know That All Disagreement with Israel is Antisemitism

Yup, that’s the low bar that’s been set by our government when it comes to debate about the policies of our closest ally. From J-Post: …Our gathering is focused on the twin challenges of delegitimization and regional change. Despite the rhetoric, I don’t believe that increasing attacks on Israel’s right to exist and efforts to […]

Obama Administration Opposes Leak of Classified Information…Unless It’s Them Doing the Leaking

The Obama administration has waged a full-scale war against whistle-blowers. As a Presidential candidate, Barack Obama seemed to understand the importance of not only having people willing to speak out and expose government wrongdoing, but of also protecting those people. Here is what he said in 2008: “Government whistleblowers are part of a healthy democracy […]

How Israel Uses It’s Total Control of Access Points to Prevent Palestinian Rallies

We’ve often discussed the impact it would have if Israeli Arabs began to rally in support of their rights in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem. I’ve asked some Palestinians about this and their general sense is that this doesn’t happen for several reasons including a) more than 10 Arabs standing in a group will get arrested […]

U.S. Militarism and Women’s Rights

This is a subject that I’ve been interested in for a long time. I’ve always had a hard time rationalizing certain feminist principles with the United States’ hawkish foreign policy. How can we as a country proclaim our unyielding support for women around the world while at the same time advocating military solutions to almost […]