Thoughts on New Year's Eve by Stephen Lendman Heading into 2015, things look grim. Domestically and abroad. US presidents able to govern like despots. Unilaterally claim emergency powers. Declare martial law. Suspend constitutional rights. Rule by diktat. With or without congressional and/or judicial authority. Based on alleged national security threats. Real or contrived. Deploying US... Continue Reading →

Comments on Palestine's UN Failure by Stephen Lendman Millions of Palestinians lack fundamental rights everyone deserves. Denied for decades. Subjugated by Israeli harshness. With no end whatever in sight. Governed by longstanding Israeli collaborators. Serving repressively as its enforcer. Benefitting at the expense of their own people. Submitting a pathetically weak statehood resolution for Security... Continue Reading →

US Vetoes Palestinian Statehood Resolution by Stephen Lendman Voting came Tuesday night. It didn't surprise. More on the results below.  Washington one-sidedly supports Israel. Including decades of ruthless persecution. Institutionalized racism. Permanent occupation.  Denial of fundamental Palestinian rights. Land theft. Settlement construction on stolen Palestinian land.  Longstanding Israeli ethnic cleansing. Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners... Continue Reading →

Bahrain: Profile of a Police State by Stephen Lendman Monarchal despotism runs Bahrain. Democracy is verboten. None whatever exists. Nor human and  civil rights. Anyone criticizing Al Khalifa rule risks arrest, imprisonment, torture, even death. Repression persists. New "Protecting Society from Terrorism Act" legislation the latest example. Americans for Democracy for Human Rights in Bahrain... Continue Reading →

Escalated US Wars Ahead? by Stephen Lendman Obama is out-of-control. Deranged. Obsessed with war. His appetite for mass slaughter and destruction insatiable. Monday's ceremonial nominal end to over 13 years of war in Afghanistan belies longstanding US plans. Including permanent occupation. Thousands of US combat troops remaining. Drone wars continuing. Afghanistan a de facto US... Continue Reading →

The Year Ahead by Stephen Lendman Understanding what's ongoing is perhaps the best way to assess what's coming. What's happening in real time is grim.  So is next year's outlook. More of the same and then some. Wars without end. Punishing neoliberal harshness.  Police state crackdowns on nonbelievers. Big Brother watching everyone. Freedom eroding in... Continue Reading →

Putin's Approval Rating v. Obama's by Stephen Lendman Putin is the world's leading geopolitical leader. Obama is a world-class thug. It shows in their approval ratings. Despite Russia's economic woes, Putin's remains extraordinarily high. A recent Levada Center poll has him at 85%. Most Russians want no one else leading them. For good reason. They... Continue Reading →

Palestine: Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Stephen Lendman Imagine a people struggling on their own to survive. Under longstanding brutalizing occupation. Ruthless by any standard. Denied representation by their democratically elected government. Besieged in Gaza. Attacked at Israel's discretion. By land, sea and air. Ruled by longstanding Israeli collaborators. Enforcers for special... Continue Reading →

West/Russia Rapprochement? by Stephen Lendman Not a chance. For sure no time soon. Despite EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Sunday saying: "I often speak to (John) Kerry and there is complete unity in views on the Ukrainian crisis, and similar views exist in other countries, from Canada to Japan. And everyone wants to... Continue Reading →

Low Oil Prices: Boom or Bust? by Stephen Lendman World oil prices are nearly half their year ago price. Triggered by global economic weakness. Market manipulation. Saudi overproduction. OPEC oversupply. US producers flooding world markets with oil. Paul Horsnell heads Standard Chartered's commodities research. He sees chaotic market conditions likely over the next few months.... Continue Reading →