The head of the U.S. Bureau of Prisons was forced to step down last week as scandals swept through the vast U.S. prison system.
JOHN KIRIAKOU: The Scandal of US Prisons
Caitlin Johnstone: False Flags Suddenly All the Rage
This sudden embrace of the idea that governments can stage attacks on their own people to justify their pre-existing agendas is a sharp pivot from the scoff such a notion in mainstream liberal circles has typically received.
King Remained Hopeful to the End
Dedrick Asante Muhammad says Martin Luther King Jr. was clear-eyed that America must embrace radical change, which won’t come from the powerful but from the “naïve and unsophisticated.”
Analysis, Biden Administration, Commentary, Economy, Income Inequality, Race Relations, Racism, U.S.
Student Debt Cancellation a Racial Justice Issue
Presidential executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in student debts would increase Black wealth by 40 percent, the authors say.
WATCH & LISTEN: Debut of New Song on Julian Assange, Chelsea Manning & Aaron Swartz
The song and video is a tribute to the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher, the WikiLeaks source who spent 7 years in prison, and the activist who was hounded by the law and committed suicide at the age of 26.
The Case for Neutrality to Defuse Crisis With Russia
Faced with the certainty of the destruction of their country, most Ukrainians would settle for peace through neutrality, writes Scott Ritter.
COVID-19: As Omicron Rages, US Teachers Fight for Safety
The chaos in the Chicago Public Schools has been mirrored in districts across the U.S., Barbara Madeloni reports.
American Empire, Analysis, Biden Administration, China, Cold War, Commentary, Foreign Policy, Mike Pompeo, Militarism, Pentagon, Taiwan, The Bush-43 Administration, Trump Administration, U.S., U.S. Congress
Biden Tightens the Noose Around China
The term “containment” never comes up, writes Michael T. Klare. But nonetheless, here is the new 21st century Cold War on a planet desperately in need of something else.
The Spy Who Went on Safari
A British soldier who handled a notorious IRA informer also gave spy tips to east African wildlife rangers whose shoot-to-kill anti-poaching policy killed dozens of innocent Kenyans, Phil Miller reports.
US Must Stay Out of Kazakhstan’s Troubles
There’s great temptation for Washington to get involved, says Anatol Lieven, whether it be driven by the pro-democracy industry or to cause trouble for Russia and China.
Craig Murray: What Kazakhstan Isn’t
As in all systems without democratic accountability or effective legal impunity for the elite, frustration and resentment among the general population has built naturally.
ROBERT PARRY: America’s Staggering Hypocrisy
After the failure so far of U.S.-Russia talks on Monday, we revisit a 2014 article by Robert Parry that explores the U.S. attitude toward Russia over Ukraine that is still the obstacle in the current talks.
Slovenian PEN Center Elects Assange as Honorary Member
The PEN Center in Slovenia has elected imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange as an honorary member, calling him the “bravest journalist and publicist of the last two decades.”
Hoarding Welfare Funds Amid Rising Need in US
The situation shows how President Bill Clinton’s 1996 welfare reform has failed families who badly need direct cash assistance, writes Hannah Dreyfus.
Analysis, Column, Commentary, Election 2016, Election 2020, Propaganda, Protest, U.S., U.S. Congress
PATRICK LAWRENCE: In Praise of Protest
If the Jan. 6 demonstrators defaced the Capitol in the name of one thing a year ago, Pelosi and all the other clowns rendering “commemorative” performances last week defaced it in the name of something else.
What War With Russia Would Look Like
Wendy Sherman thinks her aim in talks with Russian officials starting Monday is to lecture them on the cost of hubris. Instead she’s set to lead the U.S., NATO, and Europe down a path of ruin, warns Scott Ritter.
US-Russia Talks May Be the Last Chance
It’s crunch time in Russia-U.S. relations. High-level talks starting Monday will determine the shape of world security for decades to come, observes Tony Kevin.
WATCH: Craig Murray, Roger Waters & Randy Credico on Julian Assange, Torture, the Ruling Class & Censorship
Weeks after being released from Saughton Prison in Edinburgh, former British diplomat Craig Murray joined Roger Waters and comedian Randy Credico.
American Empire, Afghanistan, Analysis, Commentary, Europe, International, Iran, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Is it the End of American Adventurism?
Americans have become increasingly skeptical of the use of military force for matters beyond defending the American homeland, writes Trita Parsi.
What I Got Wrong About Julian Assange
Those who revealed un-redacted cables have never been prosecuted nor requested to remove them from the internet, writes Dean Yates.
Censorship, American Empire, Biden Administration, Commentary, Iran, Media, Propaganda, Trump Administration, U.S.
Caitlin Johnstone: The Obedient Censors at Meta
A monopolistic Silicon Valley mega-corporation deleting political speech about an important historical figure because Washington says he was a terrorist is a notably brazen act of censorship.
American Empire, Africa, Analysis, Biden Administration, Commentary, International, Middle East, Militarism, Pentagon, Terrorism, The Bush-43 Administration, Torture, U.S. Congress, Until This Day--Historical Perspectives on the News
The War on Terror Is a Success — for Terror
Nick Turse reports on the proliferation of U.S. military targets since U.S. Congress gave successive presidents an essentially free hand to make war around the world.
Craig Murray: Your Man in Saughton Jail
Murray recommends a spell there to any other middle-class person who, like himself, was foolish enough to believe that Scotland is a socially progressive country.
The Propaganda Engulfing Jamal Khashoggi
As’ad AbuKhalil writes this “friend” of Western journalists was close to the ruthless regime, even to the commander of his own eventual assassination squad. He’ll be remembered as the servant of Saudi princes and an early champion of bin Laden.
Secrecy, Argentina, Censorship, Intelligence, Militarism, Nuclear Weapons, United Kingdon, Until This Day--Historical Perspectives on the News
UK Deployed 31 Nuclear Weapons During Falklands War
British warships in 1982 were armed with dozens of nuclear depth charges in a nuclear-free zone in Latin America, Richard Norton-Taylor reports.
Lowering the Throne of America’s Delusion
The U.S. will not face reality about its foreign policy disasters but rather retreats to fantasy worlds that exist only in its own imagination, writes Michael Brenner.
Schism in US Judaism Deepens
As the Ultra-Orthodox pack their bags for Israel, Lawrence Davidson says other American Jews remain in place and continue an increasingly heated debate over human rights versus Zionism.
Replacing the Pipes from Coast to Coast
Gabriel Filippelli welcomes the $15 billion in the recently enacted infrastructure bill but says it is still not enough for the de-leading work needed nationwide in the U.S.
New Year’s Day 2050
The international community will, by mid-century, need to find new forms of collaboration to contain the damage wrought by climate catastrophe, writes Alfred W. McCoy.
JOHN KIRIAKOU: My Resolution to Write
In 2022, I’m going to write more to people in prison and in Congress too, the author vows.
UN Official Also on the Board of Shell
If Jane Holl Lute’s many endeavors outside the U.N. passed the institution’s ethics test, her latest gig became more complicated, Stéphanie Fillion reports.
American Empire, Assange extradition, Brazil, Britain, Commentary, International, Latin America, Russia, Ukraine, WikiLeaks
WATCH: Galloway & Lauria on What to Expect in 2022
Editor-in-Chief Joe Lauria spoke to George and Gayatri Galloway about what the year 2022 might bring.