2023

( Tomdispatch.com ) – “To defend civilization, defeat Russia.” Writing in the unfailingly bellicose Atlantic, an American academic of my acquaintance recently issued that dramatic call to arms. And lest there be any confusion about the stakes involved, the image accompanying his essay depicted Russian President Vladimir Putin with a Hitler mustache and haircut. Cast […]

Bashar al-Assad

Earthquake Leaves Millions Homeless and without Water and Electricity in Turkish, Syrian Harsh Winter, Many Facing Death

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad reports that on top of the now nearly 30,000 known deaths in Turkey and Syria, millions people are estimated to have been made homeless. Not only are they without shelter, they now lack water and electricity, and often even food and the World Health Organization (WHO) […]

African-Americans

Rep. Ilhan Omar makes her Move into the Mainstream

Minnesota Reformer

By Doug Rossinow | – ( Minnesota Reformer) – Only six months ago, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar’s future looked cloudy, her political base shaken. She had barely fended off a primary challenge. Her political judgments appeared questionable. Her critics appeared to have grown in number. Now House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his Republican allies have […]

Asia

Manifesto for an Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South

contributors

A new manifesto critiques the “clean energy” transitions of the Global North and offers an alternative vision from the Global South. By Peoples of the Global South Manifesto for an Ecosocial Energy Transition from the Peoples of the South An appeal to leaders, institutions, and our brothers and sisters More than two years after […]

Featured

Palestinians Mount Blood Donation Drive for Earthquake Victims, as one Artist tells European Islamophobes, ‘Turkey is Strong and Will Rise Again’

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas authorized the Palestinian foreign ministry to send a 30-member rapid response team to Malatya in southern Turkey. They were split into two teams and are paired with Turkish colleagues combing collapsed buildings for survivors. About half of the delegation were members of Palestinian Civil Defense, 10 […]

Climate Crisis

German Chancellor Scholz promises Construction of “four to five wind turbines per day” to reach 2030 Target

Benjamin Wehrmann

( Clean Energy Wire ) – In a bid to achieve the high renewable power expansion targets for the end of the decade, German chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to make the buildout a priority and hold talks with the 16 states every month to assess and improve expansion speed. The envisaged pace until 2030 would […]

Israel/ Palestine

When Governments Speak of a Non-Existent ‘Two-State Solution,’ it is to Avoid Acknowledging Israeli Apartheid

Ramona Wadi

( Middle East Monitor) – In January 2021, the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem declared that Israel imposes apartheid on the people of occupied Palestine, prompting other organisations to be more vocal about the colonial violence experienced by the Palestinians. Politically, the apartheid designation is failing to gain ground, as evidenced by the EU’s recent […]

Bashar al-Assad

Turkey-Syria earthquake: Assad blames west as agencies struggle to get aid to his desperate people

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – It didn’t take long for Syria’s Assad regime to seek political and economic benefit from the devastation of an earthquake. As emergency services were reaching victims of the 7.8-magnitude tremor on February 6, regime-linked organisations demanded governments “immediately end the siege and unilateral coercive […]

Archives for 2023

Annals of American Folly: Was Civilization Really at Stake in Iraq? Is it in Ukraine?