By Allison Stanger, Middlebury (The Conversation) – Elon Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, is on the surface a dramatic effort to overhaul the inefficiencies of federal bureaucracy. But beneath the rhetoric of cost-cutting and regulatory streamlining lies a troubling scenario. Musk has been appointed what […]
Archives for February 2025
The Slow Suicide of the State of Israel
Bloomington, In. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A dozen years ago I visited Israel on a two-week trip as a guest of an American pro-Israel group. I asked several of the speakers we heard, “Where do you think Israel will be in a hundred years?” The speakers invariably looked at me as though I […]
Gaza: We Analyzed a Year of Satellite Images to Map the Scale of Agricultural Destruction
By Lina Eklund, Lund University; He Yin, Kent State University , and Jamon Van Den Hoek, Oregon State University (The Conversation) – The ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas makes provisions for the passage of food and humanitarian aid into Gaza. This support is much needed given that Gaza’s agricultural system has been severely damaged […]
The art of the Steal: Lawless sheriff Trump goes Rogue in Gaza
Trump’s plan to turn Gaza into a resort tests public tolerance for illegal and immoral actions, part of a wider pattern of US imperialism, says Yoav Litvin. The new ‘rules-based order’ is that there are no rules, except the capricious decrees of the strongman, writes Yoav Litvin ( The New Arab ) – After two […]
China dominates Middle East Solar Sector as Trump hobbles Renewables in US
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chinese firms dominate the manufacture of photovoltaic solar panels, accounting for 80% of the global market (along with most elements of the supply chain). Volumes in China’s solar sector, including panels, batteries and EVs, expanded by a third in 2024, even though panel prices had plummeted. The Chinese will, however, […]
Trump’s offshore Wind Energy Freeze: What States lose if the Executive Order remains in Place
By Barbara Kates-Garnick, Tufts University (The Conversation) – A single wind turbine spinning off the U.S. Northeast coast today can power thousands of homes – without the pollution that comes from fossil fuel power plants. A dozen of those turbines together can produce enough electricity for an entire community. The opportunity to tap into such […]
Facing the Rise of Fascism Like Fools for Freedom
( Tomdispatch.com ) – This past weekend my partner and I got together with a group of friends. We’ve been meeting every six weeks or so since 1982. Originally, this group of lesbians convened to talk about sex: what we were doing, what we wanted to do, what we fantasized about doing. But you know […]
Trump, an American Stalin? Massive Population Transfers were a Feature of Communist Dictatorship
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its 2.3 million Palestinians constitutes a profound reversal of post-1945 U.S. norms, which condemned such mass relocations of indigenous populations. It is the sort of thing Soviet dictator Josef Stalin used to do, and Trump has to decide if he wants his legacy […]
A Hostile Corporate Takeover of our Democracy
Never before has one billionaire so thoroughly infiltrated our government and bent it to their will for personal gain. By Alex Jacquez, Elizabeth Pancotti ( Otherwords.org) – Befitting a presidency inaugurated by a parade of tech billionaires, President Trump has taken Mark Zuckerberg’s infamous “move fast and break things” approach to the opening weeks of […]
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