Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – The business press is full of stories about the race for a Covid—19 vaccine. The corporations that succeed in cracking the biological mystery stand to make billions, and the success of the vaccine will likely “open up” the economy. What receives less attention, however, is the question […]
Archives for July 2020
Despite Saudi Atrocities in Yemen, Trump and Boris Johnson are Addicted to Arms Sales to Riyadh
Tokyo (Special to Informed Comment) – “There is not a clear risk that the export of arms and military equipment to Saudi Arabia might be used in the commission of a serious violation of IHL [International Human Rights Law].” So says the Honorable Elizabeth Truss MP – the UK’s top exports expert, and wolf in […]
Drones, Robots and Automaton Skiffs: In a World of Serial Pandemics, the US Military Dreams of War without Humans
( Tomsdispatch.com ) – On March 26th, the coronavirus accomplished what no foreign adversary has been able to do since the end of World War II: it forced an American aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, to suspend patrol operations and shelter in port. By the time that ship reached dock in Guam, hundreds of […]
Barriers, Water Canons, Arrests: Netanyahu Treats Thousands of Israeli Protesters against his Corruption like Palestinians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nir Hasson and Bar Peleg at Haaretz report that demonstrations broke out again Saturday in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, as well as some smaller towns, against prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The crowds consisted of a diverse set of groups, some of them outraged that Netanyahu was allowed another term as […]
Only one way out: a unitary state with equal rights in Palestine-Israel
By Ghada Karmi | – ( OpenDemocracy.net ) – Everyone who values democracy, justice and human decency should assist the Palestinians in achieving this goal. The Zionist project that established Israel in 1948 always had at its centre the aim of acquiring Palestine’s land without its native population. In the 72 years of Israel’s existence […]
Was there Really a Russian Bounty on US Troops in Afghanistan? A Story with Holes
(48Hills.org ) – On June 26, in a major front page story, The New York Times wrote that Russia paid a bounty to the Taliban to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan last year. The story quickly unraveled. While the military is investigating the allegations, Mark Miley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says there’s […]
John Lewis and C.T. Vivian belonged to a long tradition of religious leaders in the civil rights struggle
By Lawrence Burnley | – With the deaths of Rep. John Lewis and the Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian, the U.S. has lost two civil rights greats who drew upon their faith as they pushed for equality for Black Americans. Vivian, an early adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died July 17 at […]
Dems in Congress Craft Net Zero Carbon Climate Plan, aiming at Environmental Justice
By Misha Jones ( Cronkite News) | WASHINGTON – In the South Phoenix neighborhood of Lindo Park-Roesley Park, temperatures can be up to 13 degrees higher than locations just 2 miles away, according to the Nature Conservancy. Communities that are predominantly Hispanic and Black, like Lindo Park-Roesley Park, are part of the focus in a […]
Trump’s Secret Police whisk Portland Protesters into Unmarked Cars, but allowed Right wing armed militiamen to invade Michigan State House
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ryan Haas and Conrad Wilson at Oregon Public Broadcasting report that Federal agents with no name tags pulled at least two persons off the street in Portland without obvious probable cause and put them in unmarked vehicles. Responsibility for one of the kidnappings has been admitted by U.S. Customs and […]