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The Art of the Backpedal
Drawing by Nathaniel St. Clair It is a hallmark of right-wing populists to make a preposterous policy and then be forced — by opposition, by circumstance, by the laws of physics — to retreat. Three...
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The Lebanese Uprising Won’t Prevail While Sectarian Elites Remain in Control
Photograph Source: Shahen books – CC BY-SA 4.0 Burning tires do not a revolution make. The pictures are good, the television footage dramatic. Brave words sound good, but soundbites don’t bring down...
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To Be or Not to Be a Jewish State, That is the Question
Photograph Source: Raising of the Ink Flag, marking the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War – Government Press Office (Israel) – CC BY-SA 3.0 Israel’s champions owe us an explanation. First, they insist...
View ArticleGenetically Engineered Golden Rice: A Silver Bullet that Misses the Target
Promoters of genetic modification (GM) in agriculture have long argued that genetically engineered Golden Rice is a practical way to provide poor farmers in remote areas with a subsistence crop capable...
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Disagreeing Reasonably in a Complex World
In my last couple years of university teaching before retiring, I repeated two catch phrases as often as possible—“reasonable people can disagree” and “if two things are both true, then both are...
View ArticleThe Politics of Tyranny
“Politicians are more likely than people in the general population to be sociopaths. I think you would find no expert in the field of sociopathy/psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder who would...
View ArticleThe Superhero Movies We Need
After reading Louis Proyect’s article on the superhero movies we don’t need, I thought I’d send you a few suggestions of superhero movies we do need. I’m thinking specifically of scripts based on the...
View ArticleKashmir: Self-Determination is the Solution
It is a pity that some groups and individuals are urging palm oil importers in India to refrain from buying the commodity from Malaysia. The Solvent Extractors Association of India, India’s top...
View ArticleLatin America: Risks Worth Taking
It was just a matter of time before the Bolivian government would be the target of a reactionary opposition. Indeed it happened at its most vulnerable time during an election process that had not...
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More Mural Fever in San Francisco: Arnautoff Controversy Goes Viral
Diego Rivera mural at the San Francisco Art Institute. Photo: Jomo. Students and faculty members gathered in the auditorium at the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) recently to hear a panel discussion...
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Trump’s Syria “Withdrawal”: Where Less is Probably More
Photograph Source: Chairman of the Joint Chief – CC BY 2.0 When US president Donald Trump announced his plan to relocate a few dozen US soldiers in Syria — getting them out of the way of a pending...
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Fear on the Streets: Hezbollah and the Protests in Lebanon
Photograph Source: Freimut Bahlo- CC BY-SA 4.0 Those tens of thousands of largely young protesters demanding a non-sectarian Lebanon were joyful, filled with happiness, determined that this time they...
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Freedom of Thought is Under Attack: Here’s How to Save Your Mind
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair Freedom of thought stands at a critical crossroads. Technological and psychological advances could be used to promote free thought. They could shield our inner worlds,...
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Mexico’s Refugees
Photograph Source: Nofx221984 – Public Domain For the past year, Ciudad Juarez has been a flashpoint of the migrant and refugee humanitarian crisis gripping the U.S.-Mexico border. It began a year ago...
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The Sectarian Civil Wars in the Middle East are Ending, Replaced by Uprisings...
Photograph Source: Alrafidain TV – CC BY 3.0 The sectarian and ethnic civil wars that have ravaged a large part of the Middle East over the past 40 years are coming to an end. Replacing them is a new...
View ArticleOf Course a US President can Murder Somebody Without Legal jeopardy–Ain’t...
During his campaign for president, Donald Trump said that he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody” without losing voters. Now, in a case before the Second Circuit Court of...
View ArticleOn Those California Fires
As California burns, the press is offering all number of explanations for why this is so; naming everything from drought and climate change, to lack of sufficient acres of prescribed burns and forest...
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Talking with The Mighty Diamonds: “Harmony Can Never Go Out of Style”
Judge, Tabby and the author. Photo: Stephen Cooper. On September 25th at the Dub Club in Los Angeles, I interviewed one of the best reggae bands ever, the Mighty Diamonds. What follows is a transcript...
View ArticleThe Widening Gap Between the Super-Rich and Other Americans
Despite the upbeat words from America’s billionaire president about the “economic miracle” he has produced, economic inequality in the United States is on the rise. In August 2019, the Economic Policy...
View ArticleAs I Walked Out to the Streets to Block Traffic: Extinction Rebellion and the...
It’s that time of year, in fact as they say, it’s that time of life. It’s that time for show-downs and choices, for heroes and villains, that time for fighting in the street. Yes, as the temperature...
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