"No crime, however horrific, can justify wars on countries and people who were not responsible for the crime committed, as former Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz patiently explained to NPR at the time."
"A harrowing image taken after the Saudi-led bombing of a wedding party in Yemen last Sunday showed a young boy clinging to his dead father’s body. One just has to wonder who that boy will grow up to be."
"One wonders why the shocking images of emaciated Yemeni babies don’t have the same effect on Mr. Trump as the photos and video of their Syrian counterparts."
“Why did 55 cheerful, well-fed, safe people in suits just vote for mass-murder?”
"It’s safe to say that we will continue to see many US citizens who live abroad renouncing their US citizenships, possibly still in record-setting numbers. This is not because they don’t love the USA, or because they are greedy tax evaders, but because they simply can’t afford the cost of compliance, which, as a result of FATCA, includes the inability to maintain bank and investment relationships abroad, and frequently, the need to pay tax to two governments on the same piece of income. Indeed, it’s fair to say that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act doesn’t really contain any positive changes for US expats."
"Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte last week told soldiers to shoot female rebels in their genitals, the latest in a series of violent, misogynistic remarks. Since he came to power on a promise to kill all the country's drug users and dealers, thousands of Filipinos have been shot dead, prompting the international criminal court to open a preliminary examination."
"Mr Jamal, a 55-year-old Bangladeshi-born chemistry professor, was arrested on his front lawn nearly two weeks ago by immigration officials as he stepped out to drop his daughter to school in Lawrence, Kansas. His wife and other two children rushed out but even before they could say goodbye, he was led away in handcuffs. He has been moved from a detention centre in Missouri to a facility near El Paso, Texas, close to the border. All three of Mr Jamal's children - seven, 12 and 14 - are US citizens and his wife has a medical condition that limits her mobility, making him the sole provider for the family."
"Contesting the cases can cause a defendant to rack up tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars of legal bills — forcing those without means to capitulate early in the legal process. Once someone is convicted and stripped of their citizenship in civil proceedings, they revert back to their original status, usually a permanent resident. Then, depending on the circumstances, the individual is deportable."
"The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 permanently erases those spending limits, while authorizing far more spending than would ever have been considered while the Tea Party movement held sufficient political influence to stop it. As a result, the U.S. government’s budget deficits for 2018 and 2019 appear set to grow the levels that the Congressional Budget Office had projected for its more realistic alternative fiscal scenario following President Obama’s spending proposals back in 2010."
"200,000 Salvadoran refugees who were granted U.S. Temporary Protected Status – some of whom have been living in the U.S. for nearly a generation – are being thrown under the bus. The federal government is stumbling over a problem of its own creation, having made it almost impossible for the Salvadorans who lawfully have lived, worked, paid taxes and raised children under TPS to acquire permanent status."