Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week Trump erroneously tweeted out that Alabama was in the path of Hurricane Dorian, which could have set off a panic in Alabama that led to people leaving their homes unnecessarily, and to economic harm. The Birmingham National Weather Service contradicted the president. It now transpires that Wilbur Ross, […]
Archives for September 2019
The Most Dangerous Border: What Israeli Strikes in Lebanon mean for Iran & Saudi Arabia
By Abdulaziz Alghashian | – Recent clashes between Israel and Hezbollah on the Lebanese border have caused much speculation of a looming military confrontation between Israel, Hezbollah and Iran, which backs the militant group. The exchange of fire in early September followed the crashing of two reportedly Israeli drones in Beirut in late August. A […]
The Politics of the Local Weather Broadcast: Call your Station and Demand News of Climate Crisis
(Informed Comment) – Many of us rely on daily reports, often presented by local TV weatherpersons, to get through our daily routines. How do I dress, do I need to take an umbrella to work, must I come home early to avoid the snowstorm? These professionals have a difficult job. Their predictions are generally correct […]
Trump-Taliban Talks like those with N. Korea– a Photo Op on the Deck of the Titanic
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Afghanistan government has been miffed and apprehensive for some time that the Trump administration has been talking to the Taliban in Qatar without any representation from Kabul. Government officials were therefore happy about Trump’s abrupt cancellation of what he depicted as a summit with the Taliban at Camp David […]
Islamophobia, Boris Johnson and the British Conservative Party
By Mohammed Samaana | – Belfast (Informed Comment) – The new British PM Boris Johnson prided himself on having a diverse government. Actually only on September 4, his new chancellor, Sajid Javid was proud to say during his first spending review speech that someone with his background, the son of a Muslim bus driver, can […]
How climate change is driving emigration from Central America
By Miranda Cady Hallett | – Clouds of dust rose behind the wheels of the pickup truck as we hurtled over the back road in Palo Verde, El Salvador. When we got to the stone-paved part of the road, the driver slowed as the truck heaved up and down with the uneven terrain. Riding in […]
The Pain Remains: The Living Literature of War
( Tomdispatch.com) – Do you remember July 8, 2011? Where you were? What you did? Whom you talked to? Anything at all? I couldn’t pin down one single thing for that day. I couldn’t even locate an email I had sent or a photo I might have taken. It’s all evidently lost in the ether, […]
Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Himalayan Miscalculation on Iran: Bringing China into the Mideast
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is one of the world players who pushed Trump to breach the 2015 treaty with Iran. Trump then slapped the severest economic sanctions on Iran ever imposed on any country in the absence of war. Trump went around the world menacing other countries into […]
Britain’s Trump: The Further Failure of Right Wing Populism
(Informed Comment) – After only six weeks in office, Johnson’s grand plan to leave the European Union with or without a deal by 31 October has collapsed like a pack of cards and, instead, he may have the shortest term as prime minister in British history. So, unlike the United States, the cause of right […]