Blogs
How US Ignorance Helped Doom the Afghan War
Americans' lack of knowledge about Afghanistan is virtually limitless. Which matters, because the U.S. is at war there. And which explains why the American military is losing its longest war.
During my 2001 trip, where I covered the Taliban defeat at the Battle of Kunduz for the Village Voice and KFI radio, I met a British reporter who offered an amusing prescription for American military action. "If the average American cannot identify three cities in a country," he suggested, "the U.S. should not invade it."
Administration Wants To Expand Reach Of National Security Letters
Civil libertarians have been trying to add more restrictions to the FBI's National Security Letters since their use exploded after the attacks of September 11th. NSLs, which allow the government to obtain private records from commercial and financial institutions without a warrant as long as they deem them "relevant" to an investigation -- with a gag order that stops companies from mentioning they've received them for good measure.
US Grows Isolated on Aggressive War
Though the U.S. political/media establishment remains in denial, an international consensus is building that the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq was a crime -- a profound and catastrophic violation of international law.
function urlEncode (aURL) { return aURL.replace(/&linkID=[0-9]*/,"").replace('&','%26'); }The crime was aggression: the waging of unprovoked war on a sovereign state.
2010 a Tipping Point for Renewable Energy
It's been a tough summer for the oil industry-or so you'd think.
BP's geyser of oil has now made headlines for 100 days, each one a reminder that oil extraction poses dangers we can't control.
Obama Should Give Warren a Recess Appointment
Capitalism and markets depend on the morality, honesty, and good faith of those who participate in them. Markets function best and deliver prosperity when they are honest and the law enforces that honesty; dishonesty, fraud, and official corruption are the poisons that keep markets in many parts of the world from delivering the goods.
Looking Behind the Numbers of House Afghanistan Vote
On Tuesday, the US House of Representatives failed to represent the majority of Americans who believe we should end the US led military occupation of Afghanistan and close the open ended military commitment to the second most corrupt government on earth. Instead, the US government will borrow an additional $33 billion to fuel the growing escalation of US military forces in the longest war in the history of the United States.
The End of (Military) History? The US, Israel, and the Failure of the Western Way of War
"In watching the flow of events over the past decade or so, it is hard to avoid the feeling that something very fundamental has happened in world history." This sentiment, introducing the essay that made Francis Fukuyama a household name, commands renewed attention today, albeit from a different perspective.
Despite WikiLeaks Revelations, Congress Votes for War Funding
Never was the case so weak for throwing another $33 billion into the Afghanistan sinkhole, but that's what a defensive US Congress did anyway on Tuesday evening. The vote was 308-114, with Republicans supplying most of the prowar votes.
Don Blankenship Hates the Police
Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship came to the National Press Club last week.
And left a lasting impression.
And the impression was this:
Don Blankenship hates the police.
The police in this case work at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA).
Blankenship was asked:
With the benefit of hindsight, what could you have done, and what have you done, to minimize the chance of an explosion like the one that claimed 29 lives?
And Blankenship answered:
A Movement Rises in Arizona
Three months ago, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law the notorious SB 1070, a bill that put her state at the forefront of a movement to intensify the criminalization of undocumented immigrants.
From the Heart of Arizona, We Still Have a Dream
Following the news that a federal judge has struck down what are essentially the worst parts of Arizona's immigration law, SB 1070, there is a sense of vindication and relief on the part of many who have been working for justice in regard to immigration issues.
A Peaceful Boycott Should Not be a Crime
In its bid to maintain its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, the Israeli government has launched a new offensive, this one against its own citizens. A bill that is currently before the Knesset would allow Israelis who support boycotts against Israel to be sued for damages. The bill is part of a government backlash against a small but growing number of Israelis who have taken up the tactic of boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS) to bring about an end to their government's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Don’t Be Fooled: Nuclear Power Kills
Two of the nuclear industry's talking points these days are that "nuclear power hasn't killed anyone" and that "no one died at Three Mile Island."
The Suffering of Fallujah
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fallujah . . .
And so it turns out that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, though not until we arrived and started using them.
Darkness at Noon in Arizona: Delayed, But Not Over
While a federal judge struck down important parts of Arizona's draconian immigration law today, namely the obligatory police check of immigration status, the battle over Arizona's immigration crisis has hardly come to a screeching halt.
Money Spoke Against Disclose Act
Senate Republicans made sure this fall's elections will be drenched in corporate money. By threatening a filibuster, the minority party blocked a Democratic plan to require disclosures of business and labor contributions in campaigns.
The measure was a direct response to a disastrous Supreme Court decision in January that ended a century-old ban on companies dipping into the treasuries to make campaign contributions. Get ready for a high-spending mud fight this fall as business groups exploit the ruling and take advantage of low polling numbers for Democrats.
Bringing a “Whole New Mind” to the BP Oil Catastrophe
I picked up and couldn't stop reading, author Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainer's Will Rule the Future, because I reside with three of his so-called "R(ight brain)-directed" thinkers, and as a scientist I've lived most of my professional life in a "L(eft brain)-directed" world.
ACORN Deserves an Apology, Too
Shirley Sherrod has her job back and a presidential apology. ACORN is still waiting.
The cases are remarkably similar. Both Sherrod and ACORN were demonized by highly edited videos appearing on right-wing websites and widely publicized by Fox News and conservative radio hosts. In both cases the mainstream media and the federal government rushed to judgment without seeing the full unedited video. Within hours, Sherrod was fired. Within days, Congress cut off federal funding to ACORN.
Could Wikileaks Offer A Way Out of War?
The war in Afghanistan just got a little foggier -- or a little more transparent -- depending on how you choose to see the weekend's 92,000-item document dump courtesy of Wikileaks. As London's Guardian editorialized, "These war logs -- written in the heat of engagement -- show a conflict that is brutally messy, confused and immediate.
So That All May Drink
After years of grassroots pressure, the UN General Assembly will debate a resolution July 28th on the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.