Blogosphere

Blogosphere
How Bush’s War on Iraq Produced Trumpism, Instability, Refugees and Climate Catastrophe
Juan Cole: Much that is wrong with politics in the Trump era ... was foreshadowed by Bush. It was Bush who practiced the Big Lie to take the country to war against Iraq. It was Bush who encouraged climate denialism and gutted health, financial and environmental regulation. His deregulated financial institutions plunged the country into the 2008 Depression and blighted the lives of millions of Americans who lost their homes. ... Bush lied the country into a war for oil. ... Bush’s obsession with getting more hydrocarbons out of the ground and making them cheaper by invading Iraq and removing Saddam-specific sanctions helped put 5 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere. ... Bush gave us the worst of all possible worlds– an unstable Middle East, a refugee crisis that pushed Europe to the far right, a loss of trust in government and the press that Trump capitalized on... [ Visit Website ]
Mar 21, 2019, 4:27pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: The Permanence of White Supremacy
Margaret Kimberley: White supremacy is the guiding force behind many atrocities committed around the world. Zionism is an example of white supremacy in action. But many of those who expressed shock after the New Zealand killings don’t question Israel’s apartheid system that could not be carried out absent the support of the United States and its allies. ... White supremacy explains the willingness of many Americans to support the bipartisan project to carry out regime change in Venezuela and other nations. It is expressed as as positive, a humanitarian gesture meant to save the colored peoples of the world from themselves. The notion of a white man’s burden still exists in the 21st century. ... Europeans invaded Australia and nearly eradicated the aboriginal inhabitants. The entire indigenous population of Tasmania was wiped out by the settler population. The bigger shock is that there aren’t more mass killers from Australia and other nations that owe their existence to genocide... [ Visit Website ]
Mar 20, 2019, 3:22pm

Blogosphere
New Zealand: Is Trumpism now replacing ISIL as a major Cause of Stochastic Terrorism?
Juan Cole: One of the tactics of the so-called “Islamic State group” or ISIL had been to put out calls on the internet and social media for people to engage in random acts of violence. ... Some have called this random, one-off violence, which is almost impossible to forestall, “stochastic” terrorism. ... The good news is that the military defeat of the ISIL’s phony “caliphate” in eastern Syria and western and northern Iraq appears to have reduced the amount of stochastic terrorism associated with that group. ... The bad news is that Trump’s promotion of key themes of white supremacism, in conjunction with the billionaire Mercers and bizarre ideologues like Steve Bannon, have clearly produced a new wave of stochastic white nationalist terrorism. ... A whole series of acts of terrorism have now demonstrated significant links to Donald J. Trump’s resurgent white nationalism, a key component of which is hatred for Muslims... [ Visit Website ]
Mar 15, 2019, 3:55pm

Blogosphere
Spain’s Socialists aim for 75% Renewables in Ten Years (at 40% Today)
Juan Cole: Spain’s Socialist prime minister Pedro Sanchez and his cabinet have approved a draft proposal to get t 74% of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2030, a little over a decade from now, and the government is hoping for 120 gigawatts of green energy by then. It is also hoping that 22% of its vehicles will be electric by then. Madrid is hoping to go down to carbon emissions levels not seen since the 1970s. ... Sanchez proposes spending $53 billion on the plans, which will save nearly $80 billion in the cost of importing petroleum and other hydrocarbons. ... Spain is only one of 5 of the 28 members of the European Union who are aiming for 100% electricity generation from renewables by 2050... [ Visit Website ]
Mar 6, 2019, 3:08pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Russiagate and Democratic Defeat
Margaret Kimberley: The Mueller investigation has come up empty and Democrats are scrambling to keep their creation alive in order to make themselves politically relevant. They should be planning how to go about giving the people what they need and want. But Medicare for All and any other proposals that would benefit the masses are off the table for them and their corporate donors. ... After two years they will now investigate Trump’s activities that were always the most obvious impeachable offenses. Trump was a tax cheating crooked businessman and it shouldn’t be hard to find evidence of wrongdoing. Even so, Nancy Pelosi is steadfast in saying there will be no impeachment regardless of what these investigations uncover... [ Visit Website ]
Mar 6, 2019, 2:38pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Venezuela Reveals America’s Sickness
Margaret Kimberley: Does the United States have the right to decide who governs Venezuela? The answer is a simple and resounding “No.” Those who respond in any other fashion are followers of the discredited doctrine of Manifest Destiny and are equally discredited themselves. Reactions to the Donald Trump coup attempt are quite revealing and prove that this country is indeed very, very sick. We can now see that most politicians are either cynical cowards who will go along to get along, or are true believers in imperialism like Trump and his presidential predecessors. ... Venezuela is the very definition of a litmus test. The line of demarcation is clear and all means of intervention, including sanctions, must be opposed on principle... [ Visit Website ]
Feb 27, 2019, 2:25pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Kamala Harris: The Fix is In
Margaret Kimberley: It is painfully obvious that Kamala Harris is unprepared for the scrutiny that comes with waging a presidential campaign. But it is equally obvious that her lack of gravitas may not matter at all. The fix is in as the old saying goes. She is the choice of the Democratic Party leadership, the black misleaders, and their partners in corporate media. They will give her cover whenever she needs help. Gaffes and comical pandering at the expense of black voters may not hurt her chances at all. ... “All Harris knows how to do is pander, and she doesn’t even do that very well.” ... Conversely, Bernie Sanders, the true front runner, is scrutinized over minor issues and must fend off bald faced lies.He can expect a repeat of the treatment he received from the Democratic Party leadership and corporate media in 2016... [ Visit Website ]
Feb 20, 2019, 4:05pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Black Voters Used to Destroy Bernie Sanders
Margaret Kimberley: The last thing that Democratic Party leadership wants to see is another Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. ... Now they are terrified of the prospect that a new campaign will expose and challenge their corrupt relationship with corporate interests once again. Sanders is popular and they are well aware of that fact. The voters want his signature Medicare for All plan, free college tuition, and an increased minimum wage. A candidate who runs on those platform positions will win the party nomination and election. But Democrats hope to win with nothing more than platitudes and anti-Trumpism, just as they did during the 2016 debacle. ... The current weapon of choice is telling lies that will turn black voters against Sanders... [ Visit Website ]
Feb 13, 2019, 2:22pm

Blogosphere
The Age of Environmental Breakdown: We need the Green New Deal Now!
Juan Cole: ... “the extent, severity, pace and closing window of opportunity to avoid potentially catastrophic outcomes has led many scientists to conclude that we have entered a new era of rapid environmental change. We define this as the ‘age of environmental breakdown’ to better highlight the severity of the scale, pace and implication.” ... The earth’s natural systems are being destabilized jointly and faster than ever during the 200,000 years of human existence. Actually, with regard to burning coal, gas and oil to raise the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere from 270 parts per million to 410 ppm of CO2 just since 1750, we accomplished a change in only 268 years that in past eras has taken tens of thousands of years... [ Visit Website ]
Feb 13, 2019, 2:15pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Democrats are the McCarthyites
Margaret Kimberley: The ongoing investigation popularly known as Russiagate is a cynical hoax perpetrated by the Democratic Party leadership and their friends in corporate media. ... Russiagate distracts the public from taking a hard look at the Democratic Party corruption and resulting missteps that put Donald Trump in the White House. ... It also serves the interests of the bi-partisan surveillance state, which feared that Trump pronouncements indicated fundamental changes in foreign policy which they could not abide. ... The Russiagate pimps are stoking fear and hatred. They spread outright lies and ignorance and they are doing so because of base motives... [ Visit Website ]
Feb 6, 2019, 2:40pm

Blogosphere
Top 10 Ways that the United States is the Most Corrupt Country in the World
Juan Cole: 1. The US is so corrupt that our ruling, Republican Party, would even deny human-made climate change and adopt pro-carbon policies destined inexorably to wreck the planet earth, all to ensure a few extra years of profits for dirty coal companies and oil giants like Exxon-Mobil. ... 2. Our government is so corrupt that the Environmental Protection Agency has not only ceased actually protecting the environment but it has become a cheerleader for polluting industries, gutting any regulation that might stand in the way of making a little extra money at the expense of, like, killing people. ... 3. The US government is so corrupt that it is winking at the brutal murder by Saudi authorities of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi ... 4. The US is so corrupt … (audience: ‘How corrupt is it?”) — it is so corrupt that the US Senate has allowed a bill to come to the floor, introduced by Mario “Benedict Arnold” Rubio, which approves of individual states excluding vendors and contractors who boycott Israel... [ Visit Website ]
Jan 30, 2019, 5:08pm

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Trump, Democrats, and International Fascists Attack Venezuela
Margaret Kimberley: Venezuela is a clear cut litmus test for anyone who claims to support the norms of democratic governance. The people of that nation have chosen a left party to lead them. But the United States opposes their choice and works with its allies to undermine their nation. These interventions must always be opposed. There can be no condemnation of Maduro that justifies U.S. interference. Corporate media talking points about who is or isn’t a dictator must be ignored. The Venezuelan people are suffering but that is because of U.S. sanctions and their destruction of the economy ... Venezuela is the proverbial line in the sand. One either supports the right of self-determination or not... [ Visit Website ]
Jan 30, 2019, 4:53pm

Blogosphere
America’s 7 Racist Exclusions: From Muslim Visa Ban to 1930s Exclusion of Jews
Juan Cole: The two-year anniversary of Trump’s Muslim visa ban and Holocaust Remembrance Day have arrived more or less together, and it is worthwhile reviewing how they reveal an ugly side to America. US history is replete with racism as public policy. ... 1. Chinese Buddhists Both racism and religious bigotry built up toward Chinese-Americans brought in from 1849 to build the trans-American railroad. ... 2. Japanese Buddhists. In 1907-08, the US and Japan concluded a “gentlemen’s agreement” whereby Japan would limit the number of passports it issued to Japanese wanting to come to the United States. ... 3. Indian Hindus & Sikhs and other Asians. Not satisfied with measures against Buddhists, white Christians next went after Hindus and Sikhs. ... 4. Syrians-Lebanese. In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan reappeared on the national stage and agitated against immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. The Klan infiltrated the Democratic Party and took it over... [ Visit Website ]
Jan 28, 2019, 11:38am

Blogosphere
Freedom Rider: Free Marzieh Hashemi
Margaret Kimberley: A Black American journalist languishes in a DC jail, imprisoned without charge as part of the US vendetta against Iran ... Journalist Marzieh Hashemi is locked away in a federal jail in Washington DC. According to the court order written by a federal judge she “has not been accused of any crime.” ... an African-American journalist who married an Iranian and made a life in his country. She is a reporter for Iran’s Presstv and in that role has interviewed this columnist and many others who present viewpoints that are censored by American corporate media. ... Her kafkaesque detention is purely political. Donald Trump’s foreign policy is driven by strict adherence to Israeli and Saudi Arabian dictates and that means using every means to attack Iran... [ Visit Website ]
Jan 23, 2019, 11:53am

Blogosphere
Copenhagen to be 1st Carbon Neutral City by 2025 and other Wind Energy Good News Stories
Juan Cole: Wind power is falling rapidly in cost, with turbines becoming bigger and more efficient. ... Alexandre Jeanblanc at Investor’s Corner explains that Copenhagen plans to become the first carbon neutral city in the world by 2025! Denmark is blessed with abundant wind energy sources, which is part of the explanation for the capital’s ability to put forward such an ambitious goal. Some 22% of Denmark’s electricity is produced by wind turbines, but the country intends to increase that proportion to 50% by 2025, only six years from now. ... Copenhagen is also addressing transportation, making the city bicycle-friendly and hoping to account for 75% of trips inside the city by bicycle. The remaining automobiles and buses will be electric or hydrogen... [ Visit Website ]
Jan 22, 2019, 3:23pm

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