The Least of All Possible Evils: Humanitarian Violence from Arendt to Gaza                                       by Eyal Weizman            Verso Press, 2012, 208pp., $26.95 Violence is a basic fact of international relations. It is the […]

As Israeli airstrikes and naval shells bombarded Gaza this weekend, the world asked the question that perennially frustrates, confuses and enrages so many people across the planet: Why aren’t the Americans hating on Israel more?As in Operation Cast Lead, the last big conflict between Israel and Hamas, and as during the operation against Hezbollah in […]

The upcoming meeting between Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin is a meeting of the two most important political leaders in contemporary Europe. The FT has the story: Angela Merkel will spell out growing German concerns about the clampdown on civil society in Russia when she meets Vladimir Putin on Friday, signalling a sharp cooling of the traditionally […]

As was widely reported in both religious and secular media, on October 5, 2012, a letter highly critical of Israel was sent to Congress by leaders of most of the major mainline Protestant denominations and the National Council of Churches (which is dominated by them). The denominations include the biggies—the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United […]

  This documentary makes the argument that U.S. corporations are not paying their fair share of taxes and that their failure is a major part of the reason we have a substantial deficit. It goes on to argue that higher corporate tax payments (not necessarily higher rates), as well as higher taxes on the wealthiest […]

We’re Not Broke is launches outrage at the multinational corporations that engage in offshore banking and other tax avoidance strategies. At a time of strained state and Federal budgets, it is not a stretch to assume that lost tax revenue is at least partially to blame for mounting deficits. However, the argument that offshore corporate […]

Thomas Jefferson based his hope for the new American Republic on “the common sense and good judgment of the American people.” This faith had its roots in the ancient republican principles of civic duty and citizen participation. From ancient Athens forward, both duty and participation were considered necessary to guarantee that the republic, every republic, […]

Midway through September, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign ran into some turbulence. Captured on a clandestine camera, Romney was found to have disparaged the alleged entitlement mentality of the 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax. But even as Romney’s liberal critics rejoiced in his embarrassment, they seemed strangely unapologetic about their own brand […]

We’re Not Broke, a new award-winning documentary, may convince viewers that the American tax-collection system is even more compromised than they thought. The title may elicit objections from deficit hawks, but the film shows that Uncle Sam has enormous assets in addition to its towering debts; the U.S. Treasury just isn’t taking in nearly as […]

In Germany, 91 percent of the electorate would have voted for Obama. This comes close to the “Enver Hoxha Standard”, the 98 percent regularly won by Albania’s eternal dictator in the Soviet days. Barack Obama’s harvest in Germany is the mother of all landslides, rendered even more awesome by the miniscule 4 percent Mitt Romney […]