Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The damning Jan. 6 public hearings revealed a plethora of historical detail, but they also shed light on character. Some of these revelations were profiles in pusillanimity. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of the slimiest creatures ever to crawl into the halls of America’s legislature, gloried in a raised fist […]
Archives for July 2022
In Wake of Jan. 6 Hearings: What was Trump’s Relationship to the Militias who invaded the Capitol?
Amy Cooter, Vanderbilt University | – It’s not quite clear what, exactly, former President Donald Trump was doing and privately saying inside the White House during the five long, violent hours when more than 2,000 rioters invaded the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021. It’s a key timeline that the House Select Committee to […]
President Biden Must Commit to Ending the War in Yemen
By Farrah Hassen | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Biden once said the U.S. should never “check its principles at the door just to buy oil or sell weapons.” He should take his own advice. By Farrah Hassen | July 13, 2022 The United Nations has called the Saudi Arabia-led war in […]
Are New Mexico’s Megafires so extreme they Mark a New era? Welcome to the Pyrocene
By William deBuys | – ( Tomdispatch.org) – Firefighters don’t normally allude to early English epics, but in a briefing on the massive Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon Fire in northern New Mexico, a top field chief said, “It’s like Beowulf: it’s not the thing you fear, it is the mother of the thing you fear.” He […]
Biden, Speaking of “Climate Emergency” and National Security, Pledges Executive Orders to Combat Global Heating
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he would use executive orders and appeal to emergency measures in addressing what he caled the “climate crisis,” deploying among other tools the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He announced, “And in the coming weeks, I’m going to use the power I have […]
The Fateful Fist Bump
( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – If you thought the polarization of politics in the United States was corrosive, brace yourself for the even more corrosive polarization of geopolitics. By John Feffer | July 20, 2022 The fist bump has been the default method of person-to-person contact in the COVID era. Shaking hands is […]
Environment: Iraqis and Iranians continue to oppose Turkey’s hydroelectric projects on the Tigris River
By Roman Shemakov | – The following story is part of series on Turkey’s Ilisu Dam project and the flooding of Hasankeyf. The Ilisu Dam, completed as part of Turkey’s Güneydoğu Anadolu Projesi (Southeastern Anatolian Development Project or GAP for short in Turkish) in 2019, has faced heavy criticism from both local as well as […]
How Climate Emergency could further Punish Inflation-Ridden Economies, with Record Heat Waves across US, UK and Europe
By Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona | – Hundreds of millions of people struggled to keep cool amid a sweltering summer heat wave as cities across the U.S. and mainland Europe experienced record-high temperatures. In the U.K., thermometers topped 104 Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on July 19, 2022, the highest ever recorded. While all this […]
Russia announces $40 Bn. Investment in Iran Oil & Gas, as Khamenei Supports Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey arrived on Tuesday in Tehran for a summit on guaranteeing the Syrian peace process in the framework of the Astana negotiations. But since this summit took place in the wake of President Joe Biden’s trip to the Middle East to create a united […]