Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that Pope Francis began his unprecedented trip to Iraq on Friday, his first visit abroad since the beginning of the pandemic. No pope had ever visited Iraq, though the country once had a significant Christian population. Part of the reason for the pope’s visit is to give […]
Typical Republican: The Racism and Anti-Science behind Texas Gov. Greg Abbot’s Lifting of Covid Restrictions
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week lifted the Texas mask mandate and allowed businesses freely to open. Roughly half the deaths and severe illness owing to Covid-19 are among minorities, including African-Americans and Latinos, even though those two groups make up less than a third of Americans. State Sen. Borris […]
Why the Biden Administration is Dead Wrong to oppose Int’l Criminal Court War Crimes inquiry in Occupied Palestine: A Betrayal of the Rule of Law
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The International Criminal Court (ICC) has decided to look into war crimes committed in the Israeli-Occupied Territories of Palestine. Outgoing chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said that the decision to go forward was reached after a painstaking 5-year review. The investigation will begin in 2014, suggesting that the court will consider […]
Reporters without Borders Files German ‘Crimes against Humanity’ Case against Saudi’s Bin Salman for Khashoggi Murder
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The France-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) has filed a criminal complaint with the Prosecutor-General of the Federal Court of Justices in Karlsruhe, Germany, against crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman and other Saudi officials for the murder of Washington Post columnist and US resident Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. The filing alleges […]
The 7 Deadly Sins of Today’s Conservatives
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – That someone at the conservative political convention, CPAC, thought it a good idea to put up a gilded statue of the odious Trump says it all. Today’s conservatives are literally worshiping a gold calf, for all the world like straying children of Israel who lapsed from their devotion to God. […]
Morocco beats U.S. in Green Energy Future Index with Massive Saharan Solar Plant
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The MIT Technology Review has released its Green Future Index. Among Middle Eastern countries, Morocco ranks number one, and it also leads Africa. I have a big problem with the index, though. One of its criteria is technological innovation in the area of green energy. These are the bases for […]
The Clearest Example of Israeli Apartheid Yet – Juan Cole Interviewed by Robert Scheer
Via ScheerPost — which is always essential reading, I was interviewed by the legendary journalist Robert Scheer. In a storied career, he covered the Vietnam War and southeast Asia, edited Ramparts, interviewed Jimmy Carter for Playboy and the president confessed to him that he sometimes had lust in his heart. Scheer has interviewed or met […]
Biden’s Double Standards: Iranian Civilians under severe US Sanctions but not accused Saudi Murderer Bin Salman
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Biden administration on Friday declassified and released a CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman bears responsibility for the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 3, 2018. CBC: “U.S. intelligence report blames Saudi crown prince for murder of […]
Why the US needs to get out of Syria: Biden orders Bombing that kills 17 in Proxy dance with Iran
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Quds al-`Arabi [Arab Jerusalem]’ reports that at least seventeen fighters were killed in U.S. air strikes on Thursday night on small bases on the Syrian border with Iraq. The bases south of Al-Bu-Kamal belong to the Brigades of the Party of God [Kataeb Hezbollah] and the Brigades of the Prince […]