Jeez, Louise. Via Phil Weiss: We are at the cusp of being in a position as chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Appropriations Committee to make sure that Israel continue to receive support, and the United States and Israel stand as one. There’s a bunch of legislation coming out of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I want to tell you that I sit down with AIPAC on every piece of legislation that comes out. I think it’s very, very important. In the past 30 years I have attended 31 consecutive AIPAC conferences in March, I haven’t missed one. [Applause]. And in other news: Haaretz: How...
6/19/20 Eric Margolis on the World’s Most Dangerous Border Dispute
Scott interviews Eric Margolis about the recent border skirmishes between Chinese and Indian troops, which have resulted in deaths on both sides. The border between these two countries has been in dispute practically since its creation, and neither Scott nor Margolis sees a simple resolution anytime soon. Luckily the latest clash seems to have been limited to spontaneous hand-to-hand brawling, rather than representing a coordinated strategic attack, and Margolis thinks it's unlikely to escalate any further for the moment. Still, if the border dispute were to escalate, the entire world...
Don’t Pay John Bolton
Download his stupid book for free here.
Blowback: Libyan Terrorist Stabs 12, Killing 3 in UK
I know, let's back the LIFG in a war against their secular dictator! What could go wrong?
6/19/20 Jacob Sullum on the Inescapable Reality of Racially Skewed Policing
Scott talks to Jacob Sullum about the many ways policing in America disproportionately targets black and hispanic communities, both by means of explicitly racist policies, and also those that have racially skewed impacts without necessarily having been conceived that way in the first place. Sullum cites many examples of the disparate treatment of black and brown people that are difficult to dismiss with explanations based on differential crime rates or heavier police presences in certain neighborhoods. He also reviews some of the history of the war on drugs, a policy that has, perhaps above...
6/19/20 Mike Maharrey: End Qualified Immunity for Cops
Mike Maharrey untangles the complex web of legal history that has given America the system known as qualified immunity, which in practice shields police officers from just about any civil lawsuit. The doctrine, which has emerged out of the precedents set by repeated federal court rulings, makes it almost impossible to sue state agents for constitutional violations or other damages suffered during the performance of their jobs. This is mainly because the courts have decided that unless there is specific precedent for the situation the officer finds himself in, discretion must be left up to...
Cops Kill Man
L.A. deputies blow away auto shop security guard.
6/19/20 Jeff Abramson on America’s Bloody Arms Industry
Scott interviews Jeff Abramson about America’s convoluted process for selling weapons to foreign governments. The arms trade is a multi-billion dollar industry for private firms like Raytheon—but it’s also a process that is highly controlled by the U.S. government, muddying the incentives and leading to a public-private partnership with very little accountability and unfailingly terrible results. Abramson describes the circular way in which weapons companies and various branches of government push both their own selfish interests and what they believe to be in the country’s...