2021

Why spending $2 trillion on child care, health care and fighting climate change won’t make inflation any worse than it already is

By Michael Klein | – One of the main concerns raised by critics of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan is that it will drive up inflation, which is already running at the fastest pace in four decades. The Senate is currently considering a roughly US$2 trillion bill passed by the House that would […]

Climate Crisis

A Rise of average world Temperatures by 2.3° C. (4.2° F.) will degrade the quality of life in every country on Earth

Alfred W. McCoy

By Alfred McCoy | – ( Tomdispatch.com) – When midnight strikes on New Year’s Day of 2050, there will be little cause for celebration. There will, of course, be the usual toasts with fine wines in the climate-controlled compounds of the wealthy few. But for most of humanity, it’ll just be another day of adversity […]

Human Rights

Abusive and Discriminatory Policing by Israel of Palestinian-Israelis in Lod During May Hostilities

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Jerusalem) – Israeli law enforcement agencies used excessive force to disperse peaceful protests by Palestinians in Lod (al-Lydd) during civil unrest in the city in May 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. At times the police appeared to act half-heartedly and unevenly to violence against Palestinian citizens of Israel committed by […]

Israel/ Palestine

What does Liberation Mean for Israeli-Occupied Palestinians: A Vision of Health and Education

Al-Shabaka

By Yara Asi | – ( Al-Shabaka ) – The Palestinian health and education sectors have been neglected by Palestinian authorities and the donor community. How can Palestinians collectively develop these sectors with a vision for liberation? Al-Shabaka’s US policy fellow, Yara Asi, examines this question and offers recommendations based on interviews she conducted with […]

Books

You heard that Right – “Peace Movements in Islam” – Juan’s new Book Challenges Stereotypes

Juan Cole

Today is a special day for me. In 2015, at the height of the ISIL cult’s influence in Iraq and Syria and during a time of extreme bigotry toward Muslims in the United States, I conceived a project on “Islamic Peace Studies.” The point was not to deny the violence of cult-like movements such as […]

Agriculture

How Climate Change and extreme Weather may lead to Food Shortages and Escalating Prices

The Conversation

By Paul Ekins | – In a world with an increasing human population, climate change may have a serious impact on our ability to grow enough food. Research from as far back as 2007 found that around 30% of year-to-year fluctuations in tonnes of crops grown per hectare were due to changes in the climate. […]

China

Rejecting Biden pressure to distance itself from China, Emirates suspends $23 bn F-35 Deal

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United Arab Emirates, the fabulously wealthy set of oil states at the head of the Gulf, has frozen its $23 billion deal to buy advanced stealth F-35 fighter-jets and unmanned drones from the United States. The Abu Dhabi local press delicately explained that the freeze was for “technical reasons.” […]

Israel/ Palestine

Why does the US turn a blind eye to Israel’s expansion of Squatter-Settlements on Palestinian Land?

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor) – Israeli media have been pointing out that the Biden administration in Washington is not too bothered about the occupation state’s illegal settlement expansion. There is little reason to doubt the veracity of the claim. So far, US President Joe Biden has managed to maintain a fine balance between his agenda […]

Climate Crisis

Alarming Loss of Sea Ice diminishes the Arctic’s ability to cool the Global Climate

The Conversation

By Matthew Druckenmiller, Rick Thoman, and Twila Moon | – The Arctic has long been portrayed as a distant end-of-the-Earth place, disconnected from everyday common experience. But as the planet rapidly warms, what happens in this icy region, where temperatures are rising twice as fast as the rest of the globe, increasingly affects lives around […]

Archives for 2021