Written by Alex Dunn After over half a year of living and dying with the COVID-19 virus, a new form of tribalism has appeared. The human capacity for finding opposing sides on any conceivable topic, now extends to how to survive a global health crisis. Whereas a reasonable person might expect that when all of…
Daniel Mason Just look at a few of the stats for America (USA): 1) We dominate a continent which is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Oh, and throw in the added benefit of the Caribbean Sea/ Gulf of Mexico to the south. To the…
Stuart Lyle Trump says, “China,” the World Jumps Trump and the GOP have decided that having failed to act effectively to stem the coronavirus pandemic, they can draw attention away from their failure by pointing the finger at China. After all, it is clear that this evil disease originated in China. Is it all that…
Michael Murry A few cases of the corona virus here in Taiwan, but the government and society have handled things quickly and well. With our excellent single payer health care system, testing and necessary quarantining went into effect with little or no political grandstanding of the sort that typically characterizes the U.S. We all wear…
Peter Van Buren The last quarter century of Iraq Wars (from Desert Storm 1991 to the present) thrust the region into chaos while progressively erasing American dominance. Iran is picking up the pieces. As long as the U.S. insists on not opening diplomatic relations with Tehran, it will have no way short of war to…
Richard Silverstein Steve Bannon gave a speech to a Vatican conference sponsored by a right-wing Catholic organization. It’s eye-opening, not because we ever needed proof that Bannon was an alt-right extremist, but because it sets these disturbing views down clearly on the page for all to read. One of the things that strikes me is…
Peter Van Buren You hear the expression “lesser of two evils” when people talk about how they will vote in November. Poll after poll shows a growing number of voters saying they will vote negatively – they’re against Hillary, so they’ll hold their nose and vote Trump, and vice-a-versa. It is also likely a large…
b. traven We hold Saudi Arabia and Turkey close to our breast while both play a double game in funding, and encouraging transit of arms and fighters for ISIS and other extremist groups in Iraq and Syria. The result? Mayhem continues and Europe is overwhelmed with desperate refugees fleeing the chaos. At the same time…
Jacek Popiel In earlier articles (here and here) we have pointed out: China’s economy is headed downwards, with major problems facing its government and people. History shows that such situations, if serious enough, have led to the breakdown of the Chinese state. As the United States and China are intimately tied on many levels, what…
Jacek Popiel A few weeks ago we examined the source of China’s “meteoric” rise to the rank of the second largest world economy and concluded that the “miracle” was essentially a one-off play based on offering the lowest cost for the production of goods for export. While successful, the policy destroyed both income and assets…
The Contrary Perspective 