Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The rats are deserting Trump’s sinking ship, after he fomented the Great QAnon Capitol Insurrection, with two cabinet secretaries and some other officials having resigned. It is too late. The Insurrection did not tell us something about Trump we did not know. Those now leaving are perhaps attempting to avoid […]
Terrorism and invading the Legislature, in the Middle East and America
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump whipped up far right wing conspiracy theorists and white nationalists on Wednesday, telling them the election had been stolen The implication was that it had been stolen by Black and Brown people in urban areas like Detroit and Philadelphia. Thousands of members of Proud Bois, Boogaloo, QAnon (who believe […]
“The Stone of Help:” Rev. Raphael Warnock ran for the Senate from Ebenezer Baptist Church: What that means to American History
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Rev. Raphael Warnock, the new senator from Georgia, grew up in Savannah. His commitment to the Black Baptist tradition was deepened during his undergraduate years at Morehouse College. He told Vicky Eckenrode of the Savannah Morning News on 24 Oct 2005 of Morehouse, “It has deep Baptist roots so […]
Already a New Boss in Town: Saudis, afraid of Biden, Hurry to End their Blockade on Qatar
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Saudi Arabia announced Monday that it would lift its land and sea blockade against Qatar, and that Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (the UAE) would allow Qatari aircraft to fly through their air space again. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt announced their boycott on the small peninsula […]
Tragedies, Farces and Trump’s Coup d’état: The History of an Idea
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Amy Gardner at the Washington Post got the scoop. In an hour-long telephone call to Georgia officials, including the the secretary of state, Trump browbeat them and hinted around that he could arrange jail time for them or foment unrest or spoil the January 5 senatorial run-off unless they found […]
Trump and Iran in Last 17 Days: Will they or Won’t They?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There is a lot of buzz inside the Beltway, most of it generated inside the Beltway, about possible hostilities between Iran and the Trump administration in the Mad President’s last 17 days in office. Some of this buzz is around today’s January 3rd, 2020, anniversary of Trump’s assassination of Gen. […]
The Apartheid Pandemic: As 10% of Israelis get Covid Vaccine, Zero Occupied Palestinians have– Will wait Months
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some ten percent of Israelis have already been given the coronavirus shot, showing what an efficient government can do for its citizens with the right medical and administrative infrastructure. The Trump administration has not been able to ramp up the actual shots in arms, despite shipping millions of doses of […]
Thanks to our Generous and Wonderful Readers
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We’re pretty sure that when all is said and done, we made our fundraising goal again this year. We can’t thank our generous and wonderful readers enough. This is what it truly means to be a reader-supported site. Those of you who are expecting copies of The Rubaiyat of Omar […]
New Year Bliss in Persian Poetry: the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – After the dark year of 2020, I thought it might be nice to talk about poetry and rebirth today. The quatrains or Rubaiyat attributed to the medieval astronomer Omar Khayyam (d. 1131), four-line Persian poems, are often about renewal, and some make special mention of New Year’s Day (Now-Ruz in […]