Right-wingers dehumanize the poor, so that many people see them as "other" and thus not worthy of help.

Forced into deeper poverty by budget cuts, the poor may look more unsavory, and some may try desperate methods to get a little money. These can provide more excuses to step hard on the poor, and the cycle continues.

What's the purpose of this? Politicians can get elected by demonizing someone, and the poor may be a handy target, just like an ethnic minority. But there is a specific motive, too: to knock down wages and help businesses impose worse working conditions.

Against Connecting Terrorist 'Dots'.

As Bruce Schneier pointed out, the metaphor of "connecting the dots" is misleading; only in hindsight can one distinguish the dots that connect from the millions of other dots that don't add up to anything.

Are the FBI and IRS Secretly Reading Your Email Without a Warrant?

The Prime Minister of Japan persistently refuses to acknowledge Japan's aggression in World War II.

This is not excused by US officials persistent refusal to acknowledge US aggression against Iraq.

Greg Palast interviews Karzai's advisor, Yahya Maroofi, about the prospect of peace with the Taliban.

There is no reason why the Taliban and the US have to be enemies. They are likely to continue oppressing Afghan women, and if I imagine myself magically transformed into an Afghan women, I would be thinking about how to kill Taliban. However, the other parties in Afghanistan are not much better, not enough to continue the bloodshed over.