Opinion

Third Time’s the Charm?

The military didn't even bother to retain most of the documents from the Combatant Status Review Tribunals conducted in 2004, so the government has no documents showing any reason for holding these men

H. Candace Gorman

Primary Importance

For leaders of interest groups and social movements, power comes from being able to show elected officials that you know who, where, and how numerous these hell-or-high-water voters are within your ranks, and within their districts, at all times

Hans Johnson

Anthropologists on the Front Lines

The Pentagon's new program to embed anthropologists with combat brigades raises many concerns

Lindsay Beyerstein

U.S. Lobbyists Assault E.U. Regs

Why is the United States, which practically invented consumer protection, now lagging behind the E.U., and in some cases, trailing Japan, China and Mexico?

Terry J. Allen

Harold Washington Remembered

Washington's candidacy forged political unity among Chicago's notoriously fractious black community and helped bring the city's feuding Latino groups (including Mexicans and Puerto Ricans) together

Salim Muwakkil

Talking American Democracy in China

Chinese democracy does not involve much voting, awareness of how the government works, information about politics, or what I like to call "facts," yet the Chinese government claims to be democratic, and many of my Chinese friends will agree that this is true

Mike Levy

Tax and Spend? Hell, Yeah!

Why does anyone need $50 million a year? What do you do with it--buy five houses in Aspen like Enron's Ken Lay did?

Susan J. Douglas

Come on People! Bill Cosby is Right

Cosby's critics excoriated him for delivering his rant from an elitist ivory tower without offering solutions, arguing that the black poor are the helpless victims of white supremacy and institutional racism

Laura S. Washington

The Accidental War

The Bush administration might not deliberately launch a war with Iran, heightened U.S.-Iran tensions could push some minor incident into a major conflict.

Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

Treaty of Detroit Repealed

The new contracts demonstrate that companies without unions, global labor markets and corporate power are dictating the future for American autoworkers--even for those who are in a union

David Moberg

Biofuels Are No Cure for Climate Change

Don't judge a climate cure by its color. Give it a rub, and you'll find that the term 'biofuels' is actually obscuring an insidious reality

Megan Tady

The Disturbing Sounds of the Turkish March

The true problem with "militaristic humanism" resides not in "militaristic," but in "humanism," in the way a military intervention is presented as humanitarian aid

Slavoj Žižek

Examining the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

Harman doesn't believe homegrown terrorism is a major threat to U.S. security today, but that it is important to learn from experiences in other countries like Britain and Canada, where citizens have been inspired to commit terrorism at home by Islamic propagandists reaching out over the Internet

Lindsay Beyerstein

E-Wasting Away in China

While the media ride their new lead-painted hobbyhorse--the danger of Chinese wares--spare a thought for Chinese workers dying to dispose of millions of tons of our toxic crap

Terry J. Allen

Justice for Some

Restrictions on federal grants starve the poor of much-needed legal representation.

Megan Tady

Katrina Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Race does matter in the caustic caldron of the post-Katrina era--the world still perceives us as "refugees"--permanently scarred victims to be forever adrift in tragedy

Laura S. Washington

Snoops Get A Direct Line

That Verizon readily opened its phone logs to the feds should come as no surprise: The firm is a shining example of the revolving door between government and the telecom industry.

Brian Beutler, The Media Consortium

Suicide and Spin Doctors

There are many ways for the oppressor to force himself into the mind of the oppressed, but one surefire way is through indefinite detention. Never knowing when--or if--you will be released is a cruel form of psychological torture and allows you to keep hope while simultaneously filling you with fear

H. Candace Gorman