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. The resolution was an outrageous condemnation of the freely chosen economic...
North Korea Nuclear Freeze? Finally, a Realistic Proposal
As President Donald Trump met with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un for the third time at the end of June – becoming the first sitting US president to visit North Korea – the New York Times ran a piece suggesting the appearance of a new option on the proverbial...
One Cheer for Trump on Iran
On June 21, President Donald Trump informed the world (via tweet) that after getting US forces “cocked and loaded” to carry out strikes on Iranian targets the night before, he had canceled those strikes at the last minute rather than prospectively kill 150...
Instead of a US Peace Plan for the Mideast, How About a US Peace Plan for the US?
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo describes the Trump administration’s plan for peace between Israel and Palestinian Arabs as “unexecutable.” President Trump says Pompeo “may be right.” Good! As addiction counselors say, the first step is...
‘Spying’: Comey Doth Protest Too Much
“We didn’t ‘spy’ on anyone’s campaign,” writes former FBI director James Comey in a recent Washington Post op-ed. “We asked a federal judge for permission to surveil” former Donald Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, but...
War Crimes Pardons: A Terrible Memorial Day Idea
On May 16, 2008, near the town of Baiji in Iraq, 1st Lieutenant Michael Behenna, US Army, murdered a prisoner. That was the verdict of the jury in his 2009 court martial, anyway. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but paroled in less than five. On May 6, 2019, US...
A US War on Iran Would Be Evil, Stupid, and Self-Damaging
“If Iran wants to fight,” US president Donald Trump tweeted on May 19, “that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again.” The “threat” Trump appears to be responding to is a statement from Iranian...
Julian Assange: An Opportunity for the US and the UK to Change Direction on Press Freedom
May 3 was World Press Freedom Day. The annual observance usually focuses on the World Press Freedom Index published each year by Reporters without Borders. Break out the champagne! The United States ranked 48th of 179 countries this year, falling three places from...
Pardoning Assange Would be the First Step Back Toward Rule of Law
On April 11, the ongoing saga of journalist and transparency activist Julian Assange took a dangerous turn. Ecuador’s president, Lenin Moreno, revoked his asylum in that country’s London embassy. British police immediately arrested him – supposedly...
Would Social Media Have Censored Video of 9/11 or Kennedy Assassination?
According to CNN Business, “Facebook, YouTube and Twitter struggle to deal with New Zealand shooting video.” “Deal with” is code for “censor on demand by governments and activist organizations who oppose public access to information that...