By Mathew Barlow, UMass Lowel and Suzana J. Camargo, Columbia University | When Hurricane Ian hit Florida, it was one of the United States’ most powerful hurricanes on record, and it followed a two-week string of massive, devastating storms around the world. A few days earlier in the Philippines, Typhoon Noru gave new meaning to […]
Archives for October 2022
New Israeli Policy of Targeted Assassination of Palestinians . . . by Drone
By Ramona Wadi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – For decades, the international community has sought to portray the occupied West Bank as being distinct from Gaza by focusing on the Palestinian Authority in terms of diplomacy, and showcasing Ramallah as an example of prosperity. Israel’s colonial violence in the occupied West Bank […]
‘They Have Found The Courage’: Iranian Women Go Hijab-Less In Public Amid Protests
( RFE/ RL ) – Two young Iranian women posted a photo of themselves having breakfast at a restaurant in Tehran without hijabs. The same day, actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya spoke at the public funeral in the Iranian capital without a headscarf. On September 27, a video emerged of a woman without a hijab marching on […]
Proliferation and Nuclear Winter: If Putin drops an Atom Bomb on Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia — Everyone — will Want a Bomb
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russian President Vladimir Putin again threatened on Friday, as he announced the annexation of four provinces from Ukraine, to use nuclear weapons, presumably as a last resort, in his war on Ukraine. Putin said, according to Reuters, “The United States is the only country in the world that has twice […]
America’s Fickle Relationship with the Kurds: Review of “Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship”
Barcelona (Special to Informed Comment) – Review of Ozum Yesiltas, Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship (Lanham: Lexington Books, 2022). The Kurds of Syria and Iraq have been at the forefront of the fight against the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Their fight against the radical group brought […]
There’s a huge Surge in Solar Production under Way – and Australia could show the World how to use It
By Andrew Blakers, Australian National University | – You might feel despondent after reading news reports about countries doubling down on fossil fuels to cope with energy price spikes. Don’t. It’s a blip. While the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a temporary fossil fuel resurgence, it also accelerated Europe’s renewable ambitions. And the […]
Choosing Life in a Pro-Violence Society
( Tomdispatch.com) – In significant parts of this country, the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade returned Americans to a half-century-old situation in which hundreds of thousands of women, faced with unwanted pregnancies, were once forced to resort to costly, potentially deadly underground abortions. My spouse’s employer, the Pentagon, recently announced […]
Iran Protests for Personal Freedoms Enter 3rd Week, as all Three Branches of Government Vow Crackdown
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that President Ebrahim Raisi met Saturday with the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and with the Chief Justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, about the wave of demonstrations that entered its third week this weekend. The heads of all three branches of civil government called on the police to […]
Joint Statement: States Should Act to Protect Human Rights in Palestine, and Dismantle Israel’s Apartheid
In August, Israeli authorities raided the offices of seven Palestinian civil society organizations and ordered their closure in an attempt to stop their critical work, and further silence Palestinians. In response to this alarming escalation in the repression of our Palestinian partners, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch […]