Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The 2020 Climate Transparency report finds that India is on track to meeting the carbon dioxide emissions levels that, if all countries on earth did the same, would keep global heating to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees centigrade). The bad news? Of all the top 20 economies in the world […]
Archives for November 2020
How the Israeli Occupation has stolen Palestinians’ Childhood
By Wafa Aludaini | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Decades of occupation, unrest and blockade have taken a heavy toll on the children of Palestine and in particular the children of the Gaza Strip, where regular outbreaks of aggression and the deteriorating living conditions have left a generation in desperate need of psychosocial […]
Who will be vaccinated first — and in what country? The upcoming fights over COVID vaccine
( 48hills.org) – In recent days, two US pharmaceutical companies announced that their COVID-19 vaccines could be available by December. US-based Pfizer, which partnered with the German-based BioNTech, said it has a 95 percent success rate during clinical trials. Biotechnology company Moderna also reported a vaccine with a 94.5 percent efficacy rate. CDC image Neither […]
Trump’s election tantrum could still fuel widespread violence
By Jack L. Rozdilsky | – In the lead-up to the American presidential election, it was estimated that the risk of post-election violence was high. Retailers in American cities were correct in being cautious in preparing for damage and theft due to contested election results. So far in 2020, the Insurance Information Institute estimated sustained […]
Pompeo’s attempt to Penalize Boycotters of Israel aims to Strengthen White Nationalism and Roll back Civil Rights
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Carol Morello and Steve Hendrix at the Washington Post report that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Israeli squatters on Palestinian land in the West Bank on Thursday (well, that is my characterization, they didn’t put it that way). In a bid to please his evangelical constituency and potential Jewish […]
A Trump strike on Iran will make the US an Outcast and won’t stop Tehran’s civilian Nuclear Program
By Christoph Bluth | – Donald Trump asked his senior advisers to examine options for air strikes against Iran’s main nuclear installation, the New York Times reported recently. According to the report, the meeting occurred the day after inspectors reported a significant increase in the country’s stockpile of nuclear material. Key advisers reportedly counselled against […]
Ten Foreign Policy Fiascos Biden Can Fix on Day One (and Should)
( Code Pink ) – Donald Trump loves executive orders as a tool of dictatorial power, avoiding the need to work through Congress. But that works both ways, making it relatively easy for President Biden to reverse many of Trump’s most disastrous decisions. Here are ten things Biden can do as soon as he takes […]
Merchants of Arms: Who wants a Conflict with China?
By Cassandra Stimpson and Holly Zhang | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – War: what is it good for? Apparently, in Washington’s world of think tanks, the answer is: the bottom line. In fact, as the Biden presidency approaches, an era of great-power competition between the United States and China is already taken for granted inside […]
Is it the Trump-Monster or capitalist Plutocracy? With 250,000 Dead, why is the US Virus Response so Particularly Bad?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Holly Yan, Christina Maxouris and Theresa Waldrop at CNN report that the United States has passed the grim milestone of 250,000 deaths. Trump had predicted a worst case of 50,000 deaths last spring, but then Donald Trump could not find his ass with both hands. Nor is the worrisome death […]