Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Even before some whistleblowers among the generals went to the Atlantic magazine with their complaints that Trump disrespected US war dead, the president was in trouble with the military. I suspect that yesterday’s news will have caused Trump’s standing with the military to plummet further. A new opinion poll from […]
What was the Battle of Belleau Woods, the Slain Marines at which Trump called “Losers” and “Suckers”?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic reported yesterday on what he was told by four members of Trump’s entourage about the president’s 2018 visit to France. He had been scheduled to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris, but it was raining and he made excuses. Goldberg’s sources told him that […]
With US AWOL, NATO Allies rattle sabers: Turkish Ruling Party says Greece is now a Rogue State
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Greece and Turkey have been having loud shouting matches this summer, with some pretty ominous language at times. The two are supposed to be NATO allies, but you couldn’t tell it from their bellicose rhetoric. A nationalist Turkish politician, Devlet Bahceli, is quoted as having said of said this past […]
China slams Trump Admin. as “Saboteur” on Iran Deal, “Making a Mockery of Int’l Law”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iran nuclear deal was horse trading. Iran gave up 80 percent of its civilian nuclear enrichment program and was supposed to get in return the lifting of all sanctions. Instead, Trump maximized sanctions, in what is essentially a trade and financial blockade on the country. So it is like […]
Is the US missing the Boat on a Green Recovery from Covid? Every new Gigawatt of Renewables is 1500 Jobs
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The coronavirus is still running wild, causing over 40,000 new infections a day in the US, which has among the highest rates in the world. The US had an unemployment rate of over 10% this July, and the US economy is in the dumpster. Scientists warn that the fall could […]
6 Million Stricken with Covid-19: Trump has turned the US into a Sh*thole Country
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US reported its six millionth coronavirus case, and deaths are headed toward 200,000. It is hard to explain just how bad the US death rate under Trump from the novel coronavirus is. Reuters: “U.S. coronavirus cases top 6 million” It isn’t only that it is worse than other industrialized […]
Chadwick Boseman’s Wakanda: Afro-Futurism is in the Present
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death at the all too young age of 43 from colorectal cancer has been weighing on me the past couple of days. I am a fan. But I also am battling cancer, and I think I understand his incredible productivity in his last years, as he knew […]
Iraqi Shiite Militias 1, Trump 0: US Forced to Reduce its Presence by 1/3
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iraqis aren’t sure what to make of the report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal that the US military will reduce its troop presence by a third by November. The numbers will fall from 5200 to 3500 this fall. Athir Shar’ in Kitabat suspects that even the withdrawal aims […]
How Trump brought us 11.1% Unemployment, lost Manufacturing Jobs, worsened Trade Deficits and Kowtowed to China
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump supporters often acknowledge that Trump’s personal style puts them off, but that they like his economic program. They agree that the trade deficit with China is too high and that the US should not let its manufacturing sector dwindle. The problem is that Trump’s rhetoric on those issues, like […]