Astore: When you define something as war, it dictates the use of the military (or militarized police forces, prisons, and other forms of coercion) as the primary instruments of policy. Violence becomes the means of decision, total victory the goal. Anyone who suggests otherwise is labeled a dreamer, an appeaser, or even a traitor.
Queer activist Yasmin Nair says that the fight for gay marriage was driven by an elitist, conservative movement.
Pitt: First, the very existence of the TAA bill means these people in DC know the trade bill will be a job-destroyer in the US. Otherwise they wouldn't bother, period. Second, $700 million per year isn't nearly enough to help all those who will have to hit the bricks once their jobs go away, so $450 million is basically a bad joke.
Pilger: The Assange case amplifies many truths, and one is the growing, global totalitarianism of Washington, regardless of who is elected president.
From the article: [June 3’s] release is the largest on secret TISA documents and covers numerous previously undisclosed areas. It contains drafts and annexes on issues such as air traffic, maritime, professional services, e-commerce, delivery services, transparency, domestic regulation, as well as several document on the positions of negotiating parties. WikiLeaks has also published detailed expert analysis of the topics covered in today’s release.
Fiore: After a little smack-down by the Senate, the Most Transparent Administration Ever is still trying to push through the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the Most Transparent Way Possible.
Hedges: The pathology of the rich white family is the most dangerous pathology in America. The yearning for positivism that pervades our corporate culture ignores human nature and human history. But to challenge it, to state the obvious fact that things are getting worse, and may soon get much worse, is to be tossed out of the circle of magical thinking that defines American and much of Western culture. The left is as infected with this mania for hope as the right. It is a mania that obscures reality even as global capitalism disintegrates and the ecosystem unravels, potentially dooming us all.
Poulin: Giroux argues that the country is in the midst of a counter-revolution, one that cannot be understood simply by pointing to police brutality. He claims the left needs a larger theoretical and political framework to understand the uniqueness of the current historical moment, one that has forged a number of fundamentalisms, including educational fundamentalism, military fundamentalism, economic fundamentalism and religious fundamentalism, which together have given rise to a new form of financial and cultural totalitarianism or more broadly a pernicious and unique brand of authoritarianism.
Beaudoin: The U.S. could provide leadership in world nuclear disarmament. It could also stop acting as arms exporter par excellence; a recent Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report revealed that the U.S. has been leading the world in exports to other regions of the world.
Fang: Drawing largely from these disclosures,The Intercept has identified several former government and military officials whose voices have shaped the public discourse around government spying and surveillance issues but whose financial ties to NSA contractors have received little attention. These pundits have played a key role in the public debate as the White House and the agency itself have struggled to defend the most controversial spying programs revealed by Snowden’s documents.
Farming and writing don't bring home the bacon—why I'm no longer ashamed to ask my community to help. Photo via Shutterstock Shannon Hayes YES! Magazine April 14, 2015 “Would you prefer to ride a dragon or a winged tiger?” Ula asks, skipping between Saoirse and me as we head up the road for our morning walk. More
