Obama’s Legacy Is An Excuse For Trump
Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. is known for its regular polls. It asked voters what words came to mind when they thought of President Donald J. Trump. Different adjectives…
Dr Arshad M Khan
A Case For An Incompetent President
Since January when this administration entered office, has anything significant been accomplished? Not really. The only major bill slapping more sanctions on Russia was entirely the work of Congress. …
What’s The Real Plan Behind Trump’s Fire And Fury For North Korea?
It has been a week of barking out military options, a week of 'everything is on the table', a week of threats no longer veiled. Not an example of 'cool…
Fighting The Sanctions Against Russia And Laughing At Trump
The high level individuals leaving the Trump administration must be a record. Eleven since the end of January averaging out to almost two per month. The latest Mr. Anthony…
The U.S Media And Venezuela’s Fight For A New Constitution
The Venezuelans go to the polls on Sunday (July 30) to elect delegates who will rewrite Venezuela's constitution. In Latin America generally, society is broadly divided into three groups: whites,…
A US – Iran War
There are two kinds of people: those with, and without, grace. President Trump can decide on which side he falls, although Mrs. Abe the Japanese Prime Minister's wife has…
The North Korean Dilemma Part II : Economic Ties And The Banyan Tree
About a hundred miles north of Bangalore, India, in the village of Thimmamma Marrimanu grows an eponymous banyan tree. There are all kinds of records for trees: the tallest, the…
The North Korean Dilemma – Part I: War And Peace
The North Koreans sent us a gift on July 4th. In the morning, -- their time, it was still July 3rd evening here -- they launched a missile. It…
Exploiting Hate in the World’s Largest Democracies: Violence for Gain
The well-known journalist, Seymour Hersch, has published an article in the German newspaper Die Welt refuting President Trump's assertions blaming the Syrians for the chemical incident at Khan Shaykhun…
Two And Half Minutes To Midnight
There is a disturbing, discordant dissonance in the world. It is an uncomfortable feeling that something really bad is about to happen. Events unfold almost daily each of which…
Valuing Human Life In The UK
Arnold Turling is a very angry and unhappy man -- vindicated but at what cost. Three years ago, he advised the All Party Parliamentary Rescue Group that cheap flammable…
For May And Trump Storms On The Horizon
When Donald Trump began his presidential campaign no one believed he could possibly be elected. When David Cameron went to the country on EU membership, he could not imagine…
A Coarse Trump And The Disunited States Of America
This Thursday, June 1, the U.S. decided to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord. Like Brexit, the process is not like instant coffee; if anything, it is much more…
Trump Bullies Europe As Daesh Kills
The thirst for war is ancient. As old as disputatious neighbors or rival tribes, it is enticing -- a siren call for the strong, presenting as it does a…
On Being Presidential And The Judgment Of History
There is in the U.S. a certain notion of being presidential. Toss missiles at Syria or bomb Afghanistan and everyone reflexively calls it presidential. Added to warmongering is peace…
Climate Change Proof To Convince Even The Most Irrational
The People's Climate March on Saturday, April 29, 2017, flooded Washington, DC, with over 100,000 protesters. Organizers claimed 150,000, with marches in 330 other cities across the country and…
Is The U.S. Going To War With North Korea?
In a continuation of the theater of the absurd, all 100 U.S. senators were driven to the White House to listen to a top-secret intelligence briefing on North Korea. …
Books, North Korea And Trump’s Sanity
How many books have been authored by Donald Trump? The answer: a steady stream totaling a whopping 17 -- more than enough to keep a full-time writer fully occupied…
Syria Chemical Weapon Attack: Truth Comes At A Cost
Shooting from the hip with unerring accuracy was the Wild West according to Hollywood. As anyone who has ever fired a pistol will tell you it is improbable, and…
Fake News In The U.S Endangering Russian Ties While Corruption Pays Off Big
The incessant drumbeat demonizing Russia has reached a crescendo here in the U.S. Half-truths lead, and outright lies follow. A Congressman on National Public Radio accuses the Russians of…
Is Trump’s Wall Necessary? Mexican Migration Over The Last Century
With all the focus on a wall to (in a way) quarantine Mexico and President Trump's notorious disinclination to read, one wonders if he would be interested in a brief…
Trump’s Actions And Address To Congress: Some Thoughts
Coming from Donald J. Trump it was a remarkable speech, the measured tone, the presidential timbre ... plus it offered something to everyone. Increased military expenditure of $54 billion…
The Insane And The Sane As Bigotry Unleashed: Indian/Pakistani Victims
A disheveled, unkempt, unclean Steve Bannon finally emerged from his warren this week to claim outstanding success for this administration in its first month in office. Disheveled, unkempt, unclean is…
Chaos And A Surreal Trump
For the ancient Greeks logos meant reason, dialogue and debate. It could also mean speech, the power of language for good or self-gain, an aspect demagogues know well and…
Is Rising Inequality A Failure Of U.S. Democracy?
It is a conceit of democracy that opposing parties, after months of trying to convince the public the other would be a disaster for the country, should after the election…
Another Missile Crisis or More Chaos?
Iran test-fired a missile and the U.S. government went ballistic. It put Iran 'on notice' -- a phrase meaning little but with a distinct menace. Rummaging around in the Obama…
A Bully Pulpit or A Bully’s Pulpit
Such a flurry of activity in the first week as executive orders poured out of the Oval Office at a fast and furious pace. To what end ... Yes, a…
A Letter To Two Presidents
January 20th is unique ... unique in that it has been inauguration day in the U.S. since 1937. Thus it is on this day the people have two presidents, one…
An Uncertain Future Follows Obama’s Farewell
President Obama's farewell address focusing on the state of our democracy offered a lofty perspective coupled with a homily on the responsibility of citizenship. Thrown in were elements of legacy…
Another Mass U.S Shooting: Wars And Consequences
Yet another mass shooting in the U.S., this time at Ft. Lauderdale airport, Florida's second largest. A certain Esteban Santiago flew from Alaska changing planes en route at Minneapolis. Arriving,…
Hacking or Leak And Expelling Diplomats
In the U.S., the big news lately has been the expulsion last week of 35 Russian diplomats in retaliation for alleged Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee that…
Reviving Israel’s Dying Two State Solution
The Christmas season is when people in the Christian world are encouraged to think of those less fortunate, including of course people oppressed for no other reason than being a…
Killing The Messenger: The Politics Of Bringing Up The Russian Hacking Story Again
Stealing elections is not new. Most observers can recite examples. It was also clear something was wrong. The size of Bernie Sanders rallies for one in comparison with Hillary…
Is The U.S Fighting Terrorism Or Manufacturing It?
President Obama's final foreign policy speech at MacDill air force base in Tampa, betrayed its purpose through the venue. The Tampa, Florida, base is home to Special Operations Command and…
Donald Trump And The Spike In Hate Incidents In USA
An unequal society is like tinder, dry and just waiting for a match to set it off. In the US case, add multi-ethnicity, a surfeit of guns, joblessness resulting in…
Beggars Among The Rich Is A Clue To The Working Class Vote For Trump
This is the week of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. For many in our increasingly unequal society it is not a happy holiday. Triangulation has been the byword for…
Can A President Trump Follow His Signature Agenda?
This has been the first presidential election in living memory where it was difficult to cast a vote. As the voting numbers show, many stayed away. Better the devil you…
Will The American Political Nightmare End With The Election?
In a few days the election, and what to many Americans is a political nightmare, will be over. But will it? Who can imagine Trump graciously disappearing from the…
Hillary, Trump, Sartre And Existentialism
In the US, the political system has now disgorged two candidates the citizenry cannot be less enthusiastic about. Driven by ambition more than a love of the people or a…
The Appalling U.S. Presidential Election
On the eve of the last presidential debate, some observations on this unique election are in order. In the forty years I have been following US presidential elections, I have…
The Cant Of The Powerful: Killing People To Save Them
Friday, October 7 went by quietly unnoticed by major US media. It was the 15th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan -- a war with no foreseeable end in sight.…
America’s Epidemic Of Violence
Multiple killings in the U.S. are becoming so common (almost daily in the week past) that they no longer attract top billing in the news. Moreover, incidents of road rage…
The U.S. Presidential Debate: A Back And Forth Volleyball Of Lies
Imagine a volleyball packed with lies being bounced back and forth across a net by one well-practiced in the art of mendacity and the other blissfully unaware of any truth.…
As We Sow So Shall We Reap
The United States has been at war for 15 years -- wars intensified by a Nobel Peace Laureate. The cost is now estimated by reliable sources in the trillions and…
Goodbye To The World Of The Single Superpower
China and Russia conducted joint naval exercises in the South China Sea last week. Five Russian and ten Chinese ships participated in eight days of drills covering joint air…
The Kashmir Problem
Born out of cataclysm in 1948, the Kashmir problem remains alive and unwell. In the latest iteration of the long self-determination struggle, 75 protesters have been killed by Indian…
A Flimflam Impeachment: The Overthrow Of Dilma Rousseff
What did Dilma Rousseff do to warrant impeachment? According to her opponents, she falsified the accounts to exaggerate the health of the economy, a practice not uncommon among governors. In…
Can Trump Win?
In July, the Caine Prize for African Writing was awarded to Lidudumalingani Mgombothi. The 10,000 pounds sterling award recognizes African writers for short stories written in English. His story, "Memories…
The Devolution Model For Peace In Kashmir
While there may be no real evidence of a historical Moses (for the Egyptians were obsessive about recording significant events, as an exodus of 2 M people would have been),…
Dissecting Suicide Bombing For Answers
That perception is prelude to reality is implicit. We may believe it in our bones but it is not always so, particularly in the case of suicide bombing. For example,…
Should India And Pakistan Invite Back British Rule?
Preposterous! you say. Take a closer look: The countries have now been independent for 69 years. Just a few days before the recent Independence Day(s) festivities -- the two…
Can Peace Overtake The Violence In Kashmir?
The choreography of violence is being staged yet again in Kashmir. This time the spark lighting the accumulated tinder has been the killing of a popular militant leader. And the…
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