Keyword: United States of America

Star Trek and the Continuing Mission of American Imperialism

Picture: As you said Sophia Mihic - It is set years in the future, but the new Star Trek movie is a sixties nostalgia film. I sat riveted to the screen and to the present moment with my husband and our daughter between us. At the same time, I was transported back to the original run of the series between 1966 and 1969, and I was transported back to the reruns that still pop up now and then. That's what the sixties are in American political culture: a history that actually happened, has been replayed, and has not yet played out....

President Obama and the Harsh Racial Reality

Picture: SEIU International Dedrick Muhammad - The black love affair with President Barack Obama is stronger than with any figure in the post-civil rights era. According to a recent New York Times poll, President Obama enjoys a 96% approval rating among African Americans. As an African American myself, I too feel pride and joy in seeing one of us succeed and attain so much respect and acclaim in the United States, a country with such a strong and recent history of racist oppression and alienation. I also appreciate having such a...

The American/Israeli Relationship: Bibi Plays Barack

The Associated Press reports that Israel's "Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday (24 May 2009) ruled out a return to Israel's 1967 borders, as its largely right-wing cabinet rebuffed calls to remove Jewish settlements built on Palestinian land." Meanwhile in the clip above, Pepe Escobar comments on a televised meeting between Israeli Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu and United States (US) President Barack Obama, which took place on 18 May 2009, during the Israeli PM's...

The Geopolitics of Energy in Eurasia: Oil, Gas and the Real Afghan War

Picture: TomDispatch.com Pepe Escobar - As Barack Obama heads into his second hundred days in office, let's head for the big picture ourselves, the ultimate global plot line, the tumultuous rush towards a new, polycentric world order. In its first hundred days, the Obama presidency introduced us to a brand new acronym, OCO for Overseas Contingency Operations, formerly known as GWOT (as in Global War on Terror). Use either name, or anything else you want, and what you're really talking about is what's happening on the immense energy...

Congo Ignored: When 5 Million Dead Aren't Worth Two Stories a Year

Picture: Change the World Julie Hollar - The wars that have wracked the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 1996, killing well over 5 million people (International Rescue Committee, 1/08) in what may be the deadliest conflict since World War II, are officially over. A peace agreement was signed in 2002, and general elections were held in 2006. But conflict and the humanitarian crisis continue. The most recent survey (IRC, 1/08) estimated that 45,000 people are dying each month from conflict-related causes (primarily hunger and...

Bill Maher Interviews Naomi Klein, Matt Taibbi and Reza Aslan

Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine," Matt Taibbbi, contributing editor for Rolling Stone Magazine and Reza Aslan, author of "How to Win a Cosmic War" are interviewed by Bill Maher. They debate topical American issues of the day, including President Barack Obama going after tax cheats, as well as the need to prosecute those responsible for torture -- often described as the Bush/Cheney torture scandal. On Tax Havens Obama is going after corporations who keep...