By Ronald Suny, University of Michigan | – After decades of neutrality, the two Scandinavian states that have to date remained out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by declaring an intention to join the American-led alliance. But there is a major obstacle in their way: Turkey. The […]
Archives for May 2022
Our Compassion for Ukrainian Victims of War was not on Offer to Iraqis or Afghans when We Invaded
By Nan Levinson | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – I’ve been watching this country at war for many years now and, after 9/11, began spending time with American veterans who came to disdain and actively oppose the very conflicts they were sent to fight. The paths they followed to get there and the courage it […]
The Iraqi Dust Bowl: The US Invaded for its Oil, but now Climate Change from burning Fossil Fuels is Smothering the Country
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some Middle East countries profit off oil and gas, but the very source of their prosperity is threatening their future, since burning these fossil fuels causes global heating, and you wouldn’t want the Middle East to be hotter than it already is. But it will be. The very oil that […]
How media reports of ‘Clashes’ mislead Americans about Israeli-Palestinian Violence
By Maha Nassar, University of Arizona | – Israeli police attacked mourners carrying the coffin of slain Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 13, 2022, beating pallbearers with batons and kicking them when they fell to the ground. Yet those who skimmed the headlines of initial reports from several U.S. media outlets may have […]
Shireen Abu Akleh: An Independent and International Investigation must be Held into her Killing
By Ian Black | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – Shireen Abu Akleh’s death may well turn out to be a landmark event in Israel’s global reputation and, perhaps, even its domestic politics. The killing of the high-profile Palestinian-American journalist, who worked for Al Jazeera covering Israel and the occupied West Bank, has been […]
Stressed by Drought and Pests, Trees in Southwest are losing Resilience to changing Climate
By Fiona L.Q. Flaherty | – ( Cronkite News ) – FLAGSTAFF – The electric blue sky frames a stand of ponderosa pines – their ramrod trunks picket the forest floor as sunlight floods the ground. A breeze tickles the green needles, mingling dust with the heady scent of pine. At first, it’s easy to […]
Tucker Carlson’s “Great Replacement” Theory Comes From an Anti-US Nazi French Thinker who considered all Americans Negroes
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A hate-filled 18-year-old murdered 10 and wounded 3 African-Americans in Buffalo on Saturday, having penned a rambling screed about replacement theory. The most common version of this whiny idea, imported from the more hysterical fringes of the French Right wing, holds that Jewish capitalists are importing cheap immigrant labor to […]
Afghan Women Activists protest against Taliban’s new Burqa Decree
By Deepa Parent | – ( OpenDemocracy.net ) – “You are all loose women for protesting against the burqa. Why don’t you want to cover your bodies? You are not Muslims,” a Taliban fighter yelled at Zoya* when she led a march of 20 women in Kabul on Tuesday. Zoya, 38, a women’s rights activist […]
Global Heating Hits Working Class Harder, and bakes poor Housing in Hotter Cities
By Stephen Healy, Western Sydney University and Abby Mellick Lopes, University of Technology Sydney | – Cost of living is a major focus in this election campaign, and yet political leaders have been unacceptably silent on the disproportionate impact of climate change on Australians with low incomes. This is particularly true for Western Sydney, home […]