Inauguration 2017 Special Coverage w/ Angela Davis, Naomi Klein, Ralph Nader & More
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Special coverage in the Trump Era
From Public Citizen's Corporate Presidency site: "44 Trump administration officials have close ties to the Koch brothers and their network of political groups, particularly Vice President Mike Pence, White House Legislative Affairs Director Marc Short, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and White House budget director Mick Mulvaney."
Dark Money author Jane Mayer on The Dangers of President Pence, New Yorker, Oct. 23 issue on-line
Can Time Inc. Survive the Kochs? November 28, 2017 By Jane Mayer
..."This year, among the Kochs’ aims is to spend a projected four hundred million dollars in contributions from themselves and a small group of allied conservative donors they have assembled, to insure Republican victories in the 2018 midterm elections. Ordinarily, political reporters for Time magazine would chronicle this blatant attempt by the Kochs and their allies to buy political influence in the coming election cycle. Will they feel as free to do so now?"...
"Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America" see: our site, and George Monbiot's essay on this key book by historian Nancy MacLean.
Full interview with The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer March 29, 2017, Democracy Now! about her article, "The Reclusive Hedge-Fund Tycoon Behind the Trump Presidency: How Robert Mercer Exploited America’s Populist Insurgency."
Democracy Now! Special Broadcast from the Women's March on Washington
The Economics of Happiness -- shorter version
Local Futures offers a free 19-minute abridged version of its award-winning documentary film The Economics of Happiness. It "brings us voices of hope of in a time of crisis." www.localfutures.org.
What's New?
December 04, 2013
Phyllis Bennis: "The Rise of Diplomacy, Not Military Force, in U.S. Foreign Policy?"
December 2, 2013 By Phyllis Bennis
"What an amazing few weeks we have seen. Not to say everything in my favorite part of the world is suddenly doing fine – Syria and Palestine, Gaza in particular, still face disastrous realities of war and occupation – but suddenly the stand-down on the threat of U.S. missiles in Syria has been joined by a deal on Iran that means moves towards war against Iran are off the table at least for six months, the Geneva II talks on Syria may actually start in the next few weeks, and the war in Afghanistan may actually be coming to an end. Could we be seeing the rising role of diplomacy instead of military force as the basis of U.S. foreign policy?
Along with the promise of no additional nuclear-related sanctions, Iran will be allowed to access about $4 billion (out of more than $100 billion being held in western banks) over the next six months. It will be allowed to import spare parts and inspection materials for its civilian aircraft fleet, which has faced serious safety compromises because of the inability to import parts from the U.S. And it will be allowed to access about $400 million in tuition funds for Iranian students at international universities.<t’s href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/176351/reading-obamas-iran-speech">The Nation There are plenty of problems ahead. The deal is limited, only good for six months, and much of the U.S.-led sanctions regime that has crippled so much of Iran’s economy, shredding the middle class, remains in place. </t’s>
The deal could still fall apart. But both sides are now invested in maintaining it, at least for the six month term, so if the U.S. Congress, Israel, and the Saudis (just to name a few) don't scuttle it, this could be the beginning of something very important. So no war with Iran this week, which could have been a likely result if the negotiations collapsed-- thanksgiving indeed!"...
read full posting here