Three Strikes and You’re Hot In our globalized world, old-fashioned geography is not supposed to count for much: mountain ranges, deep-water ports, railroad grades — those seem so nineteenth century. The earth is flat, or so I remember somebody saying. But those nostalgic for an earlier day, take heart. The Obama administration is [...]

As Democrats hustle to shovel a billion dollars into President Obama’s campaign coffers – making promises to rich people and their corporations every step of the way – America’s billionaires are spending even more money to seize control of the nation’s public schools. Although super-wealthy capitalists like Microsoft’s Bill Gates, fellow [...]

Dumb Question of the Twenty-first Century: Is It Legal? Is the Libyan war legal?  Was Bin Laden’s killing legal?  Is it legal for the president of the United States to target an American citizen for assassination?  Were those “enhanced interrogation techniques” legal? These are all questions raised in recent weeks.  Each seems to [...]

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos boarded 6 ships participating in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla in order to prevent them from breaking Israel’s blockade of Gaza strip to deliver humanitarian supplies. 8 Turkish nationals and a Turkish American were killed in the operation, and the event sparked international outcry and severely strained [...]

Ha fallecido a los 62 años el autor de uno de los himnos soul reivindicativos más importantes, “The revolution will not be televised” Actualmente el hip-hop se debate en demostrar cuál es su esencia, si una música marcada por un espíritu reivindicativo y con el deber de suponer un continuo incordio al poder o [...]

In times of war, U.S. presidents have often talked about yearning for peace. But the last decade has brought a gradual shift in the rhetorical zeitgeist while a tacit assumption has taken hold — war must go on, one way or another. “I am continuing and I am increasing the search for every [...]

“Son las políticas de EEUU las que han determinado que bandas de hombres armados y niños-soldado inflinjan indecibles horrores a mujeres y niñas”. Los estadounidenses están enterándose de los resultados de un reciente estudio [*] sobre las violaciones masivas perpetradas en la República Democrática del Congo, aunque la mayoría no vincula [...]

Since President Obama was inaugurated, there have been over two thousand six hundred arrests of activists protesting in the US.   Research shows over 670 people have been arrested in protests inside the US already in 2011, over 1290 were arrested in 2010, and 665 arrested in 2009.   These figures are certainly underestimate the number actually [...]

Este verano se cumplirán cuatro años desde que los indicadores financieros activaron las alarmas y encendieron los focos rojos. El colapso del mercado hipotecario en Estados Unidos, así como la crisis financiera que le seguiría, fueron correctamente diagnosticados por unos cuantos analistas. La mayoría de los funcionarios en las agencias [...]

En el reciente informe 2011 “Crimen y violencia en Centroamérica. Un desafío para el desarrollo” , del Banco Mundial, puede leerse que “El crimen y la violencia constituyen el problema clave para el desarrollo de los países centroamericanos. En tres países -El Salvador, Guatemala y Honduras- los índices de crimen y violencia [...]