2020

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Babak Dehghanpisheh at Reuters reports that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced on Thursday that the coronavirus Covid-19 has spread to nearly all of the 31 provinces of the huge country (Iran is as big geographically as Spain, France and Germany combined, and its population rivals that of Germany at 81 […]

Iraq

The Iraqi Youth Uprising is a New Kind of Politics, but the Elites, US, don’t Get It

Middle East Monitor

By Haifa Zangana | – ( Middle East Monitor) – Muhammad Allawi has recently been appointed as Prime Minister of the Iraqi transitional government, since when the auction for government positions has quickened; in this it is no different to previous governments. They are the same governments that the youth rose up against in October […]

Bill of Rights

From Stoning Gays to Endorsing Slavery: The Problem with Bible Classes in State Schools

James A. Haught

(Syndicated to Informed Comment) – Here in Appalachia’s Bible Belt, conservatives in the Legislature want to force all West Virginia public high schools to teach Bible classes, as occurs in several other Republican-controlled states. I wonder how such classes handle Bible topics like these: First, the Bible decrees that gay males must be killed. Leviticus […]

Donald Trump

Rudy Giuliani’s sinister Foreign Policy Coup on Behalf of the World’s Shadiest Customers

Bob Dreyfuss

(Tomdispatch.com) – Imagine, just for the sake of argument, that the president of the United States was an arrogant, information-challenged, would-be autocrat with a soft spot for authoritarian leaders from China, Russia, and North Korea to Egypt (“my favorite dictator”), Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. And then, suppose that very president, while hollowing out the State […]

Featured

Netanyahu, failing to get a majority for the third time, Lashes out at Foes as “Arab Terrorists” and Jewish Terrorist-Lovers

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Arab48, a Palestinian-Israeli news site, reports that caretaker Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu accused the “Joint List” made up of 15 Palestinian-Israelis elected to parliament of being “terrorists” and put them out of consideration in the formation of a government. A minimum of 61 seats is needed to form a […]

Iran

The Impossible Presidency: Rouhani Caught in Cross-hairs of Trump, Iranian Hardliners and Public Apathy

Shahram Akbarzadeh

Melbourne (Special to Informed Comment) – For the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran the voter turn-out at the parliamentary elections has fallen below the psychological threshold of 50%. According to the Interior Ministry in charge of administering the elections, the national participation rate was 42.5%. In the capital city […]

Assyrians

Trump Administration Says Iraq is Dangerous for Christians, until it Wants to Deport Them

ProPublica

By Yeganeh Torbati | – To deport Iraqi Christians, Trump’s immigration officials rely on testimony saying they won’t be at particular risk. But to justify funding and attention, officials elsewhere in the administration say the Christians face grave danger. (ProPublica) – Even as U.S. immigration officials have pushed to deport hundreds of Iraqi Christians over […]

Bernie Sanders

Can Bernie Sanders yet make Socialism Cool Again?

The Conversation

By Jason Hannan | – Love him or hate him, Bernie Sanders … has inspired a massive, energetic, hardworking and fiercely loyal following, determined to carry him to victory at the Democratic National Convention in July. To the great agitation of his rivals and critics, Sanders has demonstrated a stunning popularity among a diverse cross-section […]