Author: Sydney Robinson

It has become so commonplace now that one would almost forget that once upon a time, Republicans were semi-rational beings who were not openly racist and hateful to anyone who didn’t shout “Amen” at least once a day. A Rolling Stone article from late August by Matt Taibbi argues that Trump’s presidential race “stopped being funny,” when racists began citing Trump as justification for their violence towards immigrants. What at first seemed like a mediocre SNL joke has now morphed into something that is gaining support with a sizable and angry sector of the American public. It’s been nearly two months now...

France conveyed very clearly that they mean business on Sunday when they dropped 20 bombs on Raqqa, an ISIS recruitment center and training camp in Syria. French president Francois Hollande called the attacks committed by the Islamic State on Friday an “act of war,” and vowed that “terrorism will not destroy France, because France will destroy it.” France has been engaging with ISIS for a while now under the direction of the U.S., but the country is now officially at war with the extremist group. We can now expect to see a great deal more engagement with the Islamic State and possible boots...

A disturbing trend has been emerging in the last year: Belgium, a relatively small nation, has been linked to nearly every terrorist and terrorist plot in 2015 from Charlie Hebdo to the 11/13 massacre. At least two of Friday’s attackers were born and raised in Brussels; a third, Abdelhamid Abaaoud who is a Belgian living in Syria has been identified as the likely mastermind of the Paris attacks and is still on the run. Belgium is a very divided nation which went without a cohesive government for 541 days in 2010 and 2011. In this country, generations of immigrants find that they...

In Jefferson County, Colorado, a major victory has been won against the Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity, and the privatization of education. Grassroots organizations in Jefferson County recently came together in order to oppose a school board decision which was heavily influenced by a flood of money from Americans for Prosperity. The school board had previously voted to impose a “new history curriculum, new restrictions on teachers’ job security, and more privately-operated charter schools.” An outpouring of protest from students, teachers, parents, and community members demanded an election,  resulting in a major recall of board members in favor of more...

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz speaks to Democracy Now! about the mistakes he believes our president is making in regards to the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the ways in which it will hand over control to corporations in America. JOSEPH STIGLITZ: Yeah. And the irony is that the president came out and said, “This is about who makes the trade rules—China or the United States?” But I think the big issue is, this is about who makes the rules of trade—the American people, our democratic process, or the corporations? And who they’re made for, which is, for the corporations or for...