The key institutions of Western societies have lost their credibility. They fail to merit either the respect or loyalty of the domestic populations they purport to serve. Testing the validity of this assertion requires examination of Western institutions from a holistic rather than fragmentary perspective. This is easier said than done. There exists a massive amount of near real-time web based information available for us to process daily if we are attempting to keep abreast of world events. This often leaves us diligently evaluating recent events, while lacking the opportunity to step back and assemble these discrete events into a more comprehensible whole.
Criminalizing Free Expression in Israel
By Stephen Lendman, March 14 2017
In February, Association for Civil Rights in Israel executive director Sharon Abraham-Weiss blasted Netanyahu for “lashing out against the media,” saying it’s “an almost regular occurrence,” a matter “of genuine concern.” He’s waging war on free expression and the rule of law. Repressive legislation portrays “(s)ocial and human rights activi(sts) as traitors,” wanting them” forcibly eliminate(d) from the Israeli discourse…”
Stronger U.S. Economic Growth? Over My Dead Body, Says Janet Yellen
By Mike Whitney, March 14 2017
The U.S. economy is weak. Very weak. But the Federal Reserve is planning to raise interest rates anyway. Why? Here’s what’s going on…
Obama’s Ukrainian Coup Triggered the Influx of 2.5 Million Ukrainian Refugees into Russia
By Eric Zuesse, March 14 2017
On Tuesday, March 7th, Russia’s top parliamentarian dealing with the Ukrainian refugee influx into Russia — dealing, that is, with the people who have fled Ukraine as a result of U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2014 coup overthrowing Ukraine’s democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych — presented the first-ever comprehensive number of asylum-applicants from Ukraine who have received asylum there after that February 2014 coup. The Russian government had never before publicly provided a number, but does have an established system of processing refugees, including assignment of official refugee status, which «allows the recipient various social benefits, including unemployment compensation» and so each Ukrainian refugee has a file with the government.
