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Archives for December 2022
Iran: Brutal Repression in Kurdistan Capital (HRW)
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian security forces used excessive and unlawful lethal force against protesters in Kurdistan province’s capital, Sanandaj, in October and November 2022, Human Rights Watch said today. The newly created United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Iran should investigate these grave abuses as part of its broader reporting on Iranian government […]
Cartoonist Kianoush Ramazani: Hope in Iran during Turbulent Times
By Mariam A. ( Globalvoices.org ) – Three months have passed since Mahsa Amini was murdered by Iran’s morality police for violating the country’s strict clothing code, sparking unprecedented nationwide protests. And even though the state has increased its use of draconian tactics to reestablish control, including hurried public executions of young anti-government protesters, it […]
Soccer Champion Lionel Messi’s Black Cloak: a brief History of the Honorary Bisht
By Pardis Mahdavi, The University of Montana | – Shortly before Lionel Messi took to the stage to lift up the World Cup trophy, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani put a black cloak, called a “bisht,” over the Argentinian soccer star’s shoulders. Images of Messi wrapped in black fabric, which might have […]
New Solar installations Rocket up by 50% in Europe in 2022, amid Ukraine War Energy Crisis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The industry think tank SolarPower Europe has concluded that new solar power installations rocketed up in Europe by nearly 50% in 2022, driven in part by the spike in fossil gas prices caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Europe installed 28.1 gigawatts of solar power in 2021. In 2022, Europe […]
Why the Fight over defining Antisemitism is Key to the Future of BDS
By Shane Burley | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – Despite conservatives in America feigning their undying support for “free speech,” those convictions often vanish when it comes to even mild criticism of Israel. A recent Texas state bill was introduced that, among other things, barred any worker or company on a public sector contract from […]
2022’s US Climate Disasters: A Tale of too much CO2, Too much Rain – and too Little
By Shuang-Ye Wu, University of Dayton | – The year 2022 will be remembered across the U.S. for its devastating flooding and storms – and also for its extreme heat waves and droughts, including one so severe it briefly shut down traffic on the Mississippi River. During a period of five weeks over the summer, […]
America’s best Christmas Present would be Real Democracy where even the Poor Vote
( Tomdispatch.com) – Last week, I was in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station. The weather had turned cold and I couldn’t help noticing what an inhospitable place it had become for the city’s homeless and dispossessed. Once upon a time, anyone was allowed to be in the train station at any hour. Now, there were signs […]
Why Algeria’s Coup and Civil War Should Alarm Americans about Trumpism, Whether he is Convicted or Not
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump’s attempted coup on Jan. 6, for which he has now been referred to the Department of Justice on sedition and other charges by the January 6 Committee of the House, evoked in me a powerful feeling of déjà vu. It reminded me of Algeria 1991. Algeria had been […]