( Otherwords.org) – If you feel powerless, remember that the biggest change you can make is to support leaders who think our planet is actually worth saving. I don’t think I’m alone in feeling this way, but here goes: I can’t deal with climate change. I can’t read about it, I can’t watch documentaries on […]
Archives for June 2019
Headcanon: Review of Juan Cole, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace” at Northwest Progressive Institute
David A. Johnson has written, for The Cascadia Advocate (a project of the Northwest Progressive Institute), a review of my new book on the Prophet Muhammad: Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires, published October 9, 2018 Available at Barnes and Noble And Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Amazon Here […]
Why Britain Protested: Trump a “Sexual Predator” and “Racist” says Shadow FM
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump feigned not to see them or imagined them as putting out a welcome mat for him, but the actual reaction of the British public to his visit was profound dismay that he was given state honors. Washington Post: “Londoners protest Trump’s state visit: He ‘shouldn’t even be allowed in […]
The Alarming Rise of Anti-Semitism in Europe
By Eva Cossé, Researcher, Western Europe | – (Human Rights Watch) – European Governments and Public Should Stand Up Against Hate On May 24, a Jewish cemetery was vandalized in the city of Bordeaux, France. On May 26, Germany’s government anti-Semitism Commissioner warned Jewish men against wearing the kippah in public following a spike in […]
The US Cult of Bombing & Endless War: Ten Tenets of Air Power That I Didn’t Learn in the Air Force
( Tomdispatch.com ) – From Syria to Yemen in the Middle East, Libya to Somalia in Africa, Afghanistan to Pakistan in South Asia, an American aerial curtain has descended across a huge swath of the planet. Its stated purpose: combatting terrorism. Its primary method: constant surveillance and bombing — and yet more bombing. Its political […]
Gaza War Crimes: How long can Israeli Gov’t Evade the Int’l Criminal Court?
The Chief Military Advocate General of the Israeli army, Sharon Afek, and the US Department of Defense General Counsel, Paul Ney, shared a platform at the ‘International Conference on the Law of Armed Conflict’, which took place in Herzliya, Israel between May 28-30. Their panel witnessed some of the most misconstrued interpretations of international law […]
The Prophet’s Tribe: The First Mention of Quraysh in an Inscription from the Dawn of Islam
The Qur’an, the Muslim scripture, speaks of the Quraysh as a tribe that engaged in travel and worshiped at a shrine. Qur’an 106, “Quraysh,” says, Because of his benevolence toward the Quraysh they were enabled to undertake the winter and summer caravans. So let them worship the lord of this shrine, who provided them with […]
On Anniversary of D-Day: Would Trump have bothered, or Been on Other Side?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I grew up in the shadow of World War II. It ended only seven years before I was born. I had an uncle who had been at the Battle of the Bulge. My father was too young to serve, but was inspired by the fight against fascism and joined as […]
Bolton may want War with Iran, but the Pentagon is Eyeing China
(Tomdispatch.com) – The recent White House decision to speed the deployment of an aircraft carrier battle group and other military assets to the Persian Gulf has led many in Washington and elsewhere to assume that the U.S. is gearing up for war with Iran. As in the lead-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, U.S. […]