Alternative Visions – Trump in Historical Perspective: From Nixon to Breitbart – 03.03.17

In today’s show, Jack puts Trump strategy and policies in historical perspective, showing how his proposed programs are rooted in policies initially proposed by Nixon and Reagan. Trump represents the latest in a series of corporate-radical right initiatives to restructure economic and political relationships periodically with US foreign competitors and to contain domestic challenges.  Nixon’s NEP program of 1971, and …

NOTES – Credit Unions, Banks, Wretched firms

Credit union advantages They are essentially nonprofit organizations Lower loan rates Pay higher savings yields Lighter on fees – 72% of largest credit unions offer free non string checking – many don’t have monthly fees (but those often don’t pay interest either Lower fees for overdrawing Many require only $5 to open savings account   If you are a veteran, …

Jonathan Marshall – Ukraine Sabotages Trump’s Russia Detente

Less than two weeks into office, President Trump faces one of the first big tests of his non-confrontational policy toward Russia. As new fighting erupts in Eastern Ukraine, the Kiev regime and its U.S. supporters are predictably demanding a showdown with Vladimir Putin. Initial evidence suggests, however, that the latest flare-up in this nearly three-year-old conflict was precipitated by Kiev, …

Glenn Greenwald – Trump’s Muslim Ban Is Culmination of War on Terror Mentality but Still Uniquely Shameful

IT IS NOT difficult for any decent human being to immediately apprehend why and how Donald Trump’s ban on immigrants from seven Muslim countries is inhumane, bigoted, and shameful. During the campaign, the evil of the policy was recognized even by Mike Pence (“offensive and unconstitutional”) and Paul Ryan (violative of America’s “fundamental values”), who are far too craven and cowardly to object now. …

Ayaz Gul – Officials Count Around 30,000 War Dead in Afghanistan This Year

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN —  Hostilities in Afghanistan have left around 30,000 people dead and as many wounded, mostly insurgents, according to the latest official estimates. As of Sunday, counter-insurgency operations conducted by Afghan police and military forces around the country had left more than 18,500 “enemy” fighters dead and wounded 12,000 more, according to defense and interior ministry officials. Mohammad Radmanesh, …

JOHN HUDSON, PAUL MCLEARY, DAN DE LUCE – Russia Missing from Trump’s Top Defense Priorities, According to DoD Memo

A Pentagon memo outlining the incoming Trump administration’s top “defense priorities” identifies defeating the Islamic State, eliminating budget caps, developing a new cybersecurity strategy, and finding greater efficiencies as the president-elect’s primary concerns. But the memo, obtained by Foreign Policy, does not include any mention of Russia, which has been identified by senior military officials as the No. 1 threat …

We are entering a new epoch: the century of the migrant

Today there are more than 1 billion regional and international migrants, and the number continues to rise: within 40 years, it might double due to climate change. While many of these migrants might not cross a regional or international border, people change residences and jobs more often, while commuting longer and farther to work. This increase in human mobility and expulsion …

Ivan Eland – The Never-ending ‘War on Terror’

The Obama administration has decided to stretch the 15-year-old congressional authorization for war against the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, or those harboring them, to include an illegal war against a group in Somalia — al-Shabab — that wasn’t even in existence at the time of the attacks in 2001. In fact, as with many of its Islamist terrorist opponents …

Eric London – A cabinet of generals: Trump appoints John Kelly to lead Department of Homeland Security

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team announced yesterday it will nominate retired Marine General John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Kelly is the third ex-general slated for a top cabinet position. His nomination follows those of James Mattis for Secretary of Defense and Michael Flynn for National Security Adviser. The unprecedented prominence of the military in the …

Eric Sommer – Trump Cabinet Selections: Radical Militarization, A Country to be Governed by Generals and Billionaires

In recent years these precepts have been seriously undermined as one president after another has dispatched military forces to participate in armed conflicts or to create them without declaring war.  But this trend has greatly accelerated with Trumps selection of a large number of former Generals for positions at the heights of the U.S. state. He has, for example, selected …