Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a surprise development, Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif suddenly flew to Biarritz on Sunday for meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit. He clearly was invited at the instance of French President Emannuel Macron, who is still attempting to salvage what he can of the 2015 Iran nuclear […]
China: How the Republican Imperial Presidency Led to Trump’s Trade National Socialism
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump has put US companies on alert that he might force them to withdraw from China, where they have $256 billion invested. He says he is given this power by the 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. The Republican Party has spent over a century […]
Former Iraqi PM Threatens Military action against Israel after Tel Aviv Bombed Shiite Militia Base
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Former prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, responded to news that Israel had bombed Shiite militia bases in Iraq with threats that if it continued, Iraq would take strong defensive measures and would carry the fight to Israel itself, forming a multinational coalition and backed by Iran. Al-Maliki has been […]
Bernie Sanders’ Manhattan Project: The Game-Changing Green New Deal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Sen. Bernie Sanders’ breathtaking Green New Deal, with an advertised price tag of $16.3 trillion, is aimed at nothing less than saving the planet from the worst consequences of global heating. The plan aims to create 20 million new, well-paying jobs. It should be noted that one possible outcome of […]
Climate Crisis: Panic as 74,000 Amazon Wildfires Plunge Sao Paulo into Darkness, Can be Seen from Space
Rain forests aren’t supposed to be on fire
Trump Mimics Israeli Supremacist Right, Accuses Jewish American Democrats of Treason to Israel
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump on Tuesday attacked American Jews who vote for the Democratic Party (as 70%-80% of them do) as demonstrating “a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” What Trump meant has been widely debated and, in my view, misinterpreted. He wasn’t bringing up dual loyalty or accusing Jewish Democrats of […]
Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar’s support for Palestinians is like the Anti-Colonialism of George Washington
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib did a press conference on Monday in response to their having been barred by the Israeli government from leading a visit to Israel and Palestine. They repeatedly referred to Occupation and the conditions of occupation. I have a sinking suspicion that this talk of […]
In major Defeat for Trump Warhawks, Gibraltar Releases Iran Tanker, citing European Law
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Aljazeera reports that its correspondent in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, Andrew Simmons, confirms that a tanker carrying $140 million worth of Iranian petroleum has now left the island at the mouth of the Mediterranean. The tanker was seized by Gibraltar authorities on July 4 on the grounds that […]
America as a Company Town: Royal Dutch Shell Workers in Penna. Coerced to Show up for Trump
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Anya Litvak at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that a contractor handling the Trump appearance at the Royal Dutch Shell plant instructed the workers not to yell or protest and informed them that they would not to be paid that day unless they came to the Trump event. Their attendance was […]