General Discussion

By Dave Lindorff

            Reading the papers and listening to the radio about the Democratic primary race, which is reaching its climax tomorrow in California, New Jersey, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, I’m having a powerful sense of deja vu harking back to my years living and working as a journalist in China in the 1990s.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

Islamophobia has become a significant factor driving politics in many western countries.

Islamophobia – fear of Muslims – is now highly visible among European populations concerned about terrorist responses from Islamic groups claiming Jihadi links. However, it is also evident among those same populations in relation to the refugee flow from the Middle East. In addition, Islamophobia is highly evident among sectors of the US population during the presidential race. It is a significant issue in Australia. Outside the West, even the (Muslim) Rohingya in Burma are feared by Buddhist monks and others.

By Jackie Smith and Alfredo Lopez

(The following article was co-written by Dr. Jackie Smith -- of the International Network of Scholar Activsts -- and TCBH member Alfredo Lopez. It is being published here and in other places.)

 This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

By Dave Lindorff

            When it comes to Hillary Clinton’s State Department email scandal, reporters -- and even her right-wing critics in the Republican Party -- are asking the wrong question.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

By Dave Lindorff

A 72-year-old college professor named Alexander van der Bellen, running for president as the candidate of the leftist Austrian Green Party, a fringe party that had never been considered a serious contender in post-war Austrian politics, just won a narrow victory over Norbert Hofer, a right-wing candidate of the neo-fascist Freedom Party who had been favored to win.

By Dave Lindorff

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

By Jess Guh, MD

Zika has been described as extraordinary in so many ways. But the only thing that’s really extraordinary about the whole thing is how incredibly dispassionate I am about it.

By Linn Washington, Jr.

During a casual conversation inside a store on a swanky shopping street located a short distance from London’s fabled Kensington Palace a twenty-something retail clerk said she feels a strange sense of discomfort that she’s never felt before in London, the city where this native of Algeria has lived most of her life.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

 [Note to TomDispatch Readers: The remarkable Noam Chomsky has a new book out: Who Rules the World? It's almost too obvious to say, but it's a must-read!

By Dave Lindorff

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

There is an elephant lying

flat out on the ground,

depressed, wasted.

His life is giving rides.

By Dave Lindorff

By Alfredo Lopez

In the recent New York primaries, Bernie Sanders experienced some very cold water thrown in his face. Not only did he lose, and soundly, but he was served a major lesson about one of the primary deficiencies in his campaign.

We are

breaking the little bones of earth

(bones of coral, bones of red wolf,

bones of bat and bee,

 This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

 This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

By Robert M. Nelson

This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here.

 This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

By Linn Washington, Jr.

Hooey –- silly talk/nonsense –- frequently has slimy characteristics and slime is slippery.

Former President Bill Clinton recently slipped on some silly talk when trying to dance around a slime trail oozing from his presidency during the 1990s.