Dr. Joel Charles ( Wisconsin Examiner ) – Every day last week I woke up dismayed to see the haze from the Canadian wildfire smoke. I am dismayed because as a rural family doctor I know how damaging this smoke is to my community. I am dismayed not just at the harm this summer’s smoke […]
Archives for July 2023
China as a Mediator in Israel-Palestine
Nor Aishah Hanifa ( Middle East Monitor ) – China’s rise in the 20th century and its advancement in the 21st create what is called a realist security dilemma, and a power struggle in international relations, especially with the baton holder of superpower status, the United States. China’s steady growth as an economic powerhouse and […]
Is Saudi Arabia using “Sportswashing” to Simply Hide its Human Rights Abuses — Or is there a Bigger Strategy at Play?
By Ben Rich, Curtin University and Leena Adel, Curtin University | – As Saudi Arabia continues to open up internationally, it is yet again in hot water over its human rights record. The current controversy revolves around the kingdom’s increasing presence in the sporting world and accusations of “sportswashing”. In recent years, the Saudis have […]
Iraq’s Climate Crisis: America’s War for Oil and the Great Mesopotamian Dustbowl
( Tomdispatch.com ) – It was one of the fabled rivers of history and the Marines needed to cross it. In early April 2003, as American forces sought to wrap up their conquest of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and take strongholds to its north, the Marine Corps formed “Task Force Tripoli.” It was commanded by […]
To Stop Global Heating, Cut Military Spending
By Alliyah Lusuegro | ( Otherwords.org ) – Not long ago, I couldn’t step outside my home without pulling on my KN95 mask. As smoke from wildfires in Canada sweeps in waves across the U.S., tens of millions of Americans from the East Coast to the Midwest find themselves living under severe air quality advisories. […]
Tunisia: Crisis as Black Africans Expelled to Libya Border
( Human Rights Watch) – (Tunis) – Tunisian security forces have collectively expelled several hundred Black African migrants and asylum seekers, including children and pregnant women, since July 2, 2023 to a remote, militarized buffer zone at the Tunisia–Libya border, Human Rights Watch said today. The group includes people with both regular and irregular legal […]
The Stabbing attack against women at the U. of Waterloo underscores the Dangers of Polarizing Rhetoric about Gender
By Shana MacDonald, University of Waterloo and Alysia Kolentsis, University of Waterloo | – In the wake of the recent stabbing attack on a University of Waterloo professor and two students in a philosophy of gender course, we need to talk about the profound power words have to shape our world. We are both professors […]
Turkiye’s Erdogan Urges NATO membership for Ukraine, but Stiff-Arms Sweden over Kurdish Issue
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan invited Ukraine’s leader, Volodomir Zelensky, to Istanbul for consultations. Zelensky arrived late on Friday and met for two and a half hours with Erdogan at the Vahidettin Palace, the old residence of the last Ottoman emperor. In remarks after the meeting, Erdogan deplored the continuing war […]
The Israeli Far Right’s Alliance with PM Netanyahu is Leading the Mideast into Madness
Amr Hamzawy ( Middle East Monitor ) – Once again, the extreme religious right in Israel demonstrates its never-ending racism, violence and inhumanity towards the Palestinian people. Once again, the current Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu demonstrates that it is the direct political expression of the madness of religious extremism, which considers […]