2021

By Adnan Hmidan | – On 15 November, the Palestinian Authority (PA) closed its official departments, closed schools and universities as is usual every year, to celebrate the Independence of the State of Palestine, which sparked criticism. This miserable independence, in which the Head of State—and I mean Mahmoud Abbas, in particular—does not move one […]

Militarization

The Costs of War (to You): Where So Much of Our Money Really Went

Tomdispatch

By Andrea Mazzarino | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – As a Navy spouse of 10 years and counting, my life offers an up-close view of our country’s priorities when it comes to infrastructure and government spending. Recently, my husband, a naval officer currently serving with the Department of Energy, spent a week with colleagues touring a […]

Epidemics

COVID-19 killed more Americans in 2021 than 2020, and the Republican Party Death Cult is mostly to Blame

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The number of dead from COVID-19 in the U.S. in 2021, as of yesterday, November 21, surpassed the deadly toll of 2020. Some 771,013 Americans have died of the novel coronavirus as of this writing, according to Johns Hopkins. The CDC estimates that 385,343 people died of COVID-19 in 2020. […]

Climate Crisis

Why We Can’t Trust the World Bank to Stand Up to Powerful Fossil Fuel Companies

Inequality.org

By Manuel Pérez-Rocha | – ( Inequality.org) – At the international climate change negotiations in Scotland, the World Bank tried to position itself as a global champion in alleviating the climate crisis. In reality, this multilateral financial institution has been promoting and defending extractive and fossil fuel industries. In a courageous column in the Guardian, […]

Democracy

In Sudan’s new Revolt, Women and Youth will not settle for less than true Democracy

Open Democracy

By Nazik Awad | (OpenDemocracy.net) – Sudan’s coup on 25 October was both highly anticipated and inevitable. For three months, tension between the civilian and military partners that had ruled Sudan since the 2019 powersharing deal had been intensifying. After the 2019 revolution and the fall of former president Omar al-Bashir, political parties and civil […]

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Cyclone: Mental Health Distress Shows Devastation of Climate Emergency

The Conversation

By Sonja Ayeb-Karlsson | – Over the past decade, there has been growing recognition of climate-induced loss and damage – such as the destruction of homes or buildings after a flood. However, economic losses and damages have received far more attention than their non-economic counterparts. These non-economic losses and damages cannot be measured in monetary […]

Climate Crisis

The Climate Emergency Comes for Iran, as Thousands of Angry Farmers Protest in Dry Riverbed at Isfahan

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Friday, Kayhan London reports that thousands of farmers and other activists gathered in the dry riverbed of the historic Zayandeh Rud river at the major west-central city of Isfahan to protest the lack of water in the province. The crowd alleged that the Iranian administration of President Ibrahim Raisi […]

Climate Crisis

If We could Mobilize to Fight COVID-19, why can’t we Ramp up to Combat the Climate Emergency?

Jill Richardson

By Jill Richardson ( Otherwords.org ) – The recent COP26 climate summit in Glasgow was the 26th attempt to get the nations of the world to fix the climate crisis. During the summit, the Washington Post reported that countries have been under-reporting their emissions, so the negotiations are based on “flawed data.” We’ve known about […]

censorship

Turkish Online Censorship Ramps up, Targeting Sites Critical of the Government or the President

Global Voices

By Arzu Geybullayeva | – ( Globalvoices.org) – Written in 1953, the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is about a future where books are burned in an oppressive society. A new report titled Fahrenheit 5651: The Scorching Effect of Censorship, uses the well-known book to explain how a series of amendments made to […]

Archives for 2021

Palestinians have no Freedom or Independence under Israeli Occupation

The Costs of War (to You): Where So Much of Our Money Really Went

COVID-19 killed more Americans in 2021 than 2020, and the Republican Party Death Cult is mostly to Blame

Why We Can’t Trust the World Bank to Stand Up to Powerful Fossil Fuel Companies

In Sudan’s new Revolt, Women and Youth will not settle for less than true Democracy

Bangladesh Cyclone: Mental Health Distress Shows Devastation of Climate Emergency

The Climate Emergency Comes for Iran, as Thousands of Angry Farmers Protest in Dry Riverbed at Isfahan

If We could Mobilize to Fight COVID-19, why can’t we Ramp up to Combat the Climate Emergency?

Turkish Online Censorship Ramps up, Targeting Sites Critical of the Government or the President