The police response to public protests in Ferguson, Missouri in the wake of the deadly August 9 shooting of Michael Brown, Jr., an unarmed eighteen-year-old black man killed by a white police officer, was a prime illustration of the hyper-aggressive nature of policing in America today. The residents of Ferguson fed up with hostile and …
Continue reading “Police Response in Ferguson Rooted in Systemic Violence and Militarism”
Republicans have justifiably criticized President Obama for skirting the constitutional need to obtain legislation for his agenda in issues from climate change to immigration to health care. Although some of this condemnation is political – because Obama has issued fewer executive orders since Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s – Obama is almost certain to …
Continue reading “Any Nuclear Agreement with Iran Must Have Proper Approval from Congress”
Baghdad and two cities south of the capital suffered from a number of bombs targeting civilians. Across the country, at least 212 people and 184 more were wounded.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is being touted as the newest "threat" to the American homeland: hysterics have pointed to Chicago as the locus of their interest, and we are told by everyone from the President on down that if we don’t attack them – i.e. go back into Iraq (and even …
Continue reading “ISIS: Made in Washington, Riyadh – and Tel Aviv”
America’s attention recently turned away from the violence in Iraq and Gaza toward the violence in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting of Michael Brown. While all the facts surrounding the shooing have yet to come to light, the shock of seeing police using tear gas (a substance banned in warfare), and other military-style weapons against …
Continue reading “Ferguson: The War Comes Home”
At least 119 people were killed and 31 more were wounded, mostly in airstrikes. There were more reports of casualties but no solid numbers were given in them.
On August 7th, President Obama authorized airstrikes on Iraq in nominal support of a besieged population of about 10,000 Yezidis, a Kurdish ethnic minority, who were placed under siege by the Sunni Jihadist Islamic State, henceforth to be referred to as (ISIS). In mainstream media, the intervention has been criticized as backtracking on what is …
Continue reading “The History of the Islamic State”
At least 103 people were killed and 189 more were wounded today. The deadliest attack took place in Kirkuk where dozens of civilians and security forces were killed or wounded. Also, Iranian soldiers may have briefly crossed the border to help Peshmerga fighters in Diyala province.
Earlier this week, jihadists loyal to the "Islamic State" – a self-proclaimed Caliphate in eastern Syria and northern Iraq – ritually beheaded American journalist James Foley, their captive since last year. The gruesome film of the execution was posted online, of course; the IS has eagerly embraced social media as a way of preaching jihad, …
Continue reading “Empire’s Murderous Fruits”
Since Hamas fired its first projectile from Gaza into Israel in 2001, the US establishment media have strictly followed several rules of reporting on the “rockets.” These rules are unwritten. The scriveners and TV news broadcasters may not even think of them as rules. Nevertheless, American mass media reporting on Gaza rockets consistently and predictably …
Continue reading “US Media Rules of Reporting on Israeli ‘Operations’ in Gaza” 
