The Future of Syria - Gray Zone Competition

A Political Junkie at Viable Opposition - 

At a recent meeting of the congressionally-mandated Syria Study Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the participants outlined Washington's agenda for Syria, particularly a forward-looking examination of the diplomatic and military components of America's long-standing efforts in Syria. The discussion entitled "Syria in the Gray Zone" focused on what is termed "gray zone competition" in Syria, a concept that we will look at in this posting. Let's start by taking a quick look at CSIS. Here, in their own words, is what we need to know about CSIS to put... more »

Buy Native and Give Native All Year Long

Pam Palmater at Indigenous Nationhood - 1 week ago

(Treaty Truckhouse fundraiser [top left], Rez Famous Clothing [top right], Warrior Life Clothing [bottom left], Unist'ot'en fundraiser [bottom right]) If you are anything like me, I need multiple lists to keep myself organized this time of year. With the holidays speeding towards us faster than we can keep up, I need a list for tasks to complete at work before we break for the holidays; a grocery list to prepare for multiple family feasts; and, of course, the holiday gift-giving list. Without these lists, I would certainly be doomed to rely on my brain, which is already overloaded w... more »

A STORY
Rain Trueax at Sweethearts Of The West - 1 week ago

by Rain Trueax *Historic photos from Ancestry.com* When we do research on an historic figure, we get the bare facts (which don't always agree). Rarely do we get the emotional stories behind those facts. I live on land that has one of those amazing stories that could fit into a romance-- or not. I know the bare facts, but what lies behind them? That is where imagination takes over. This story begins with two brothers, John and Sebastian Ritner, born in 1804 and 1815 in Helvetia Confederacy, Switzerland. I've been curious as to why and what year they immigrated from there to the Unite... more »

Jack Lindsay - The Normans and their World

Resolute Reader at ResoluteReader - 1 week ago

For those of us brought up on a particularly British history education the Normans were something that happened to England in 1066 and very little else. For many of us, the Normans were "the French" and everything thing that entailed. We were even lucky enough to go on a trip to Normandy which meant that we could learn more about this, through the Bayeux Tapestry, and that other staple of

Who Does the Kremlin Want to Win in 2020?

A Political Junkie at Viable Opposition - 1 week ago

In a recent news story on RT, one of Russia's official media outlets, I found this: According to RT, Clint Watts, a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) and Non-Resident Fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, has developed a new approach to determining who Russia wants as American president in 2020. Before we delve into FPRI's new instrument, let's look at FPRI first, followed by an analysis that looks at a novel way of measuring the Kremlin's chosen candidate for 2020. Here is FPRI's mission: "*The Foreign Policy Research Institu... more »

Fred A. Wilcox - Shamrocks and Oil Slicks: A People's Uprising Against Shell Oil in County Mayo, Ireland

Resolute Reader at ResoluteReader - 1 week ago

This charming account of a campaign of local people to stop Shell building a refinery and gas pipeline through the glorious coastal landscape of County Mayo in Ireland is both a rage of anger at a world were profit is put before people and planet; and a celebration of the ordinary people who stand up and protest against this. In the early 2000s Shell decided to exploit the Corrib Gas Field.

Theses on the New Chaos Marxism

Doloras LaPicho at Chaos Marxism - 1 week ago

1. We hereby disavow the "Old Chaos Marxism"'s interest in "meme magic" for the following reasons: 1. The fascists got there first and did it better (or at least did it as successfully as possible). 2. We should have predicted they should do that, because as Walter Benjamin identified in the 1930s, fascism is precisely turning politics into aesthetics. 3. Meme politics are stupid politics. We announce *Gresham's Law of Memetics*: *boomer memes drive out dank memes*. Memes which appeal to the dumbest, grossest part of the lizard ... more »

Hamilton Ontario: A Troubling Timeline

BloodRayne at Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective - 1 week ago

*INTRODUCTION:* Hamilton is in crisis. It may seem alarmist to use that word, but when we review the events of the past year, it is impossible to come to any other conclusion. I believe I can speak for all of us at ARC Collective when I say that we are deeply troubled by the lack of support HPS has shown anti-racists so far, while government officials appear to mishandle the situation. There have been a few positive steps, including the beginnings of an independent review of police conduct at Hamilton Pride, but these steps are barely a start and do not go nearly far enough. When d... more »

Hamilton Ontario: A Troubling Timeline

BloodRayne at Anti-Racist Canada: The ARC Collective - 1 week ago

*INTRODUCTION:* Hamilton Ontario is in crisis. It may feel alarmist to use that word, but when the entirety of the year's events are reviewed, it's impossible to come to any other conclusion. I believe I can speak for all of us at ARC Collective that we are deeply distressed that, despite recent assault charges against Rebecca Long, those who have been victimized by white supremacists and Yellow Vesters remain largely unsupported by HPS despite ample evidence of assaults and harassment. When reviewing media articles and press releases, it became clear the media, government and po... more »

Stealing The 2016 Election?

rosserjb@jmu.edu at EconoSpeak - 1 week ago

I have been watching the later stages of the still-ongoing House Judiciary Comm hearing on impeaching Trump. I have seen Republicans repeatedly ranting on about how this is an effort to undo the "popular election" of Trump, the will of the "63 million" who voted for Trump. Really, how dumb are these people? Hillary had three million more than Trump, 66 million. He was not the popular winner. What a joke. Of course impeachment is explicitly an undoing of an election result. The person elected, even ones who actually won the popular vote such as Nixon and Clinton, is charged with... more »

Russia - A State Sponsor of Terrorism?

A Political Junkie at Viable Opposition - 1 week ago

Since just before voting day in November 2016, Washington has adopted the narrative that the Russians are to blame for pretty much everything in the world that is wrong. While this narrative existed after the so-called annexation of Crimea after the uprising in Ukraine, it really took root when the contents of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server were released to the public, a reality that pretty much torched her chances of residing in the Oval Office. Recent moves by the United States Senate show that the anti-Russia mantra is alive and well and actually growing by the day. Wh... more »