How a once serious party surrendered judgment, subordinating institutions to a single strongman—and what must be done before the republic dangerously erodes from within How is it possible that the Republican Party, at the peak of American power and at the new dawn of the country’s 250th anniversary, became a cult of personality around a…
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary—a testament to endurance, sacrifice, and democratic aspiration—it does so under a dark and foreboding shadow. At this defining moment, the nation finds itself led not by steadiness or vision, but by a figure whose erratic conduct, corrosive narcissism, and moral decay mock the very ideals this milestone…
As midterm campaigns accelerate and disillusionment with Trump’s domestic and foreign policies widens, a stark scenario emerges: America faces a perilous inflection point demanding immediate action before democratic erosion becomes irreversible Donald Trump did not invent America’s vulnerabilities, but he has driven them to a breaking point. His contempt for democratic norms, alliances, and international…
A war launched to reshape the Middle East has instead exposed the limits of force—and the cost of misunderstanding a nation that has spent millennia learning how to endure The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was finally unveiled a few days ago only reaffirmed how misguided the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28…
Today’s podcast guest is Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh, a blogger and activist who has written extensively since 2006 on environmental and human rights issues in Vietnam. She has been arrested twice for her activism, and received a 10-year prison sentence. She was released after two years, on the condition of exile from Vietnam.
In this episode, we discuss the current political status inside Vietnam and its status in the region, Quynh’s experience of activism and persecution, including her arrests and imprisonment, environmental and human rights issues in Vietnam, and what role the US has and can play in supporting democracy and freedom in the country.
Listen now; link in bio.
Full bio
Nguyễn Ngọc Như Quỳnh is a blogger and activist who has blogged extensively since 2006 on environmental and human rights issues in Vietnam, publishing principled arguments to inspire change and greater transparency. Ms. Quynh co-founded the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers, an independent writers’ association that encourages members to “protect people’s rights and freedoms from restrictions and censorship.” She was arrested on October 10, 2016 under the charge of “conducting propaganda against the state” and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was released from prison on October 17, 2018, and sent into exile in the United States.
In 2014, she received a Human Rights Defender award from the Stockholm-based NGO Civil Rights Defenders, and was awarded the 2017 International Women of Courage Award by the US Department of State.
Today’s guest is Ambassador Frederic C. Hof, Bard College’s Diplomat-in-Residence, who served as ambassador and special adviser for transition in Syria under President Obama, and as special coordinator for regional affairs in the US Department of State’s Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. A US Army Vietnam veteran, Ambassador Hof served two tours of duty in the US Department of State.
In this episode, we discuss Ambassador Hof`s recent Track II diplomacy work in Lebanon regarding the prospects of a future Israeli-Lebanese agreement and the elements of the consensus document developed from this work, and the impact of the war on Iran on this delicate diplomacy work.
Listen now; link in bio.
A new Human Rights Watch report reveals that Russia is using schools in occupied Ukrainian territories to erase Ukrainian identity. Children are denied education in their own language, pressured to obtain Russian passports, subjected to propaganda, and even prepared for future military service. Families who try to keep their children connected to Ukrainian education face surveillance, threats, and intimidation. Education should nurture identity, critical thinking, and hope—not become a weapon of war. The international community must do more to protect these children, support their education and mental health, and hold those responsible accountable. A child`s classroom should never become a battlefield.
Trump’s primetime address about the election was baseless delivered with unhinged temper tantrum from our Toddler-in-Chief. After his deranged babblings about transgender people and crime rates, he spewed baseless and outright disproven claims about election security, whining about the 2020 election, only this time accusing China instead of Russia, contrary to official intelligence assessments, while rambling on about burn bags and shadow governments. Yet Republicans won the White House in 2024; they won the House and Senate, and the Supreme Court has a conservative majority with three Trump appointees on the court. In what world is this election rigging in favor of Democrats? This is instead nothing but the delusional screams of a demented fool, who sees the writing on the wall for a midterm swing in favor of Democrats in the House, laying the groundwork now to call any Democrat victories in November the result of corruption and cheating, especially if the SAVE America Act doesn’t pass. Mr. Trump, this isn’t rigging, corruption, or conspiracy – this is a blazing, neon sign narcissist that is destroying America.
Public institutions should invest in prevention strategies centered on inclusive dialogue, adaptive macroeconomic policies, and reforms responsive to marginalized groups. Local leadership, resilience committees, and grassroots conflict-resolution empower communities to address tensions before violence escalates. The global epidemic of violence will continue to haunt us for generations at unfathomable cost in lives and treasure unless we recognize its scope and invest in the Herculean efforts needed to start mitigating this plague. The UN and democracies must be at the forefront of this campaign, which captures precisely what these thinkers warned us against: a world where violence fills the vacuum left by the collapse of legitimate authority.
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Political violence emerges not merely from divergent interests but from the deliberate choice to pursue objectives through coercion rather than negotiation. The paralysis of the UNSC and democratic institutions reflects what Arendt identified as bureaucratic tyranny: “In a fully developed bureaucracy, there is nobody left with whom one can argue, to whom one can present grievances, on whom the pressures of power can be exerted. … everybody is deprived of political freedom, of the power to act… where we are all equally powerless, we have a tyranny without a tyrant.” This captures the international community's inability to enforce accountability—vetoes and geopolitical rivalries create a structural void where violence thrives unchecked. Political fragility and weakening institutions, seen in Syria and Myanmar, make societies vulnerable to breakdown, radicalization, and violent dissent.
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TRUMP JUST ADMITTED WHAT WE ALWAYS KNEW: THIS WAR IS ABOUT LOOTING, NOT SECURITY BREAKING: The Thief-in-Chief Confesses America's True Mission in Iran He said it. Out loud. No shame. No filter. Just the bare, ugly truth spilling out of his mouth like vomit: "We are making billions of dollars from Venezuela; the same will happen with Iran." THERE IT IS. The confession. The mission statement. The war crime announced in broad daylight by a sitting president who no longer pretends to care about international law, human rights, or even basic decency. Trump just told the ENTIRE WORLD what this war is REALLY about. Not uranium. Not nuclear weapons. Not "threats to humanity." OIL. RESOURCES. THEFT. Pure, unadulterated PIRACY dressed up in patriotic bunting. Trump BEGGED China and Russia to STAND ASIDE while he LOOTS IRAN. "Promise me you won't give them weapons," he WHINED. Like the bully demanding the principal keep other kids inside while he steals their lunch money. "Let me rob them alone. Don't protect them from me." Like a thief calling the cops ahead to make sure they won't interrupt the robbery. That's the request of a sitting president. Not diplomacy. Just naked, sniveling entitlement from an empire so broken it forgets other nations aren't its property. He wanted the world to watch him steal and applaud. When they refused, he whined like a spoiled child who didn't get his way. He is just a vile criminal with so much blood in his hands. HE'S NOT EVEN PRETENDING ANYMORE. For decades, America LIED about its wars. Weapons of mass destruction. Spreading democracy. Protecting freedom. LIES. ALL LIES. But Trump? He doesn't bother with the mask. He ADMITS he's a THIEF. He BOASTS about it. He BRAGS about looting Venezuela and promises to do the same to Iran. THIS IS WHAT EMPIRE LOOKS LIKE WHEN IT STOPS PRETENDING. A common thug in a suit, sitting in the Oval Office, openly confessing to GRAND LARCENY against sovereign nations. How SHAMELESS do you have to be? How BROKEN does your moral compass need to be to BOAST about STEALING from millions of people? EVERY AMERICAN DEAD IN THIS WAR DIED FOR THEFT. Let that SINK IN. Every flag-draped coffin. Every widow's tear. Every orphaned child. They DIED trying to STEAL what DOESN'T BELONG TO THEM. They died for TRUMP'S BANK ACCOUNT. For EXXON-MOBIL'S SHAREHOLDERS. For the BILLIONS he COVETS like a GREEDY CHILD. IRAN HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF. EVERY RIGHT. If THIEVES break into your HOME and ADMIT they're there to STEAL YOUR PROPERTY, you SHOOT THEM. You BOMB THEM. You DESTROY THEM. That is SELF-DEFENSE. That is JUSTICE. That is LAW. Iran OWES the WORLD nothing. They OWE America NOTHING. Not negotiation. Not compromise. Not mercy. Just MISSILES and FIRE until the THIEF RETREATS. THE GLOBAL SOUTH IS WATCHING. And they are NOT IMPRESSED. They see EXACTLY what this is. They see America for what it IS: a BULLY with a BOMB, a THIEF with a NAVY, a CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE with a NATIONAL ANTHEM. THIS WAR WILL BRING GENERATIONAL SHAME TO AMERICA. Trump will NOT steal Iran's resources. He will NOT plant TRUMP TOWER TEHRAN. He will FAIL. And when he does, the ENTIRE WORLD will WITNESS the HUMILIATION of the SO-CALLED SUPERPOWER brought LOW by a NATION that REFUSED TO BEND. GOD IS WITH IRAN. Not because Iran is PERFECT. But because JUSTICE is PERFECT. And DEFENDING YOUR HOME FROM THIEVES is JUSTICE. And RESISTING EMPIRE is JUSTICE. And AMERICA'S NAKED AGGRESSION will COLLAPSE under the WEIGHT of its own GREED. Trump CONFESSED. Now let him FACE THE CONSEQUENCES. #TrumpConfesses #ResourceTheft #IranWar #Venezuela #AmericanImperialism #GlobalSouth #Resistance #AntiImperialism #NoWarOnIran #HandsOffIran #ThiefInChief #WarCriminal #EmpireOfLies #ExxonMobil #OilWars #DivineJustice #VictoryToIran #FromTheRiverToTheSea #FreePalestine #BRICS #MultipolarWorld #DeclineOfEmpire #TrumpTowerTehran #NeverHappening
The next episode of my podcast "On the Issues" is this upcoming Tuesday, August 4, at 10:00am EDT with Benafsha Yaqoobi,a civic society and human rights activist from Afghanistan. Visually impaired, she worked for years as an attorney defending the rights of women who faced violence, and later served as a Commissioner for the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, where she focused on educating blind children. Living in exile, she currently serves as a prosecutor on the team bringing Afghanistan’s case before the People’s Tribunal for the Women of Afghanistan in 2025.
Listeners can register for the live podcast recording on Zoom at the following link: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2817839569161/WN_n-bwUKXOQp-5oTBjig1M3Q
Archived episodes will be released the following day, on Wednesdays at noon. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app, including Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify, to be sure to always get the latest episodes.
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Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: On the Issues with Alon Ben-Meir, featuring Benafsha Yaqoobi. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Religion, when co-opted by political actors or stripped of its ethical core, becomes a potent catalyst for violence, sanctifying exclusion and legitimizing brutality. Sectarian divides—whether in the Middle East, South Asia, or parts of Africa—transform identity into a battlefield where compromise is heresy and annihilation becomes duty. When faith is manipulated to justify power or grievance, such as in India, Israel or Iraq, it ceases to restrain violence and instead consecrates it, deepening cycles of retribution and rendering conflicts existential rather than negotiable. The convergence of these dimensions explains why violence has become a baseline condition rather than an exception. Although effecting change is extremely difficult, every effort must still be made, provided the public leads the charge through sustained protest, continuous advocacy, and relentless pressure on policymakers to enact change.
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