Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Wall Street Journal yesterday trolled he Palestinians with a breathless head line that “some” Palestinians are giving up on having their own state. Anyone who has been following the Palestine issue knows that for some time a plurality of Palestinians has swung behind a one-state solution and now want […]
Top 5 Ways The Moon is part of Mars
Trump tweeted that the moon is a part of Mars. People cried dementia, but here are some alternative ideas as to what he meant. 1. It is true that meteors strike Mars and send Mars soil and dust to the moon. And vice versa. 2. Both the moon and Mars (and earth) congealed from space […]
On D-Day: Remembering the Muslim Troops who Fought the Axis
Updated. By Juan Cole One of the frustrations for a world historian is the unyieldingly parochial vision of the North Atlantic common among journalists and even many historians, and consequently among the public. The world leaders gathering for the D-Day commemoration should by all rights include the Pakistani and Indian prime , Indian Prime Minister […]
Hey, Psst, Prince Charles: Here are Some Graphs on Global Heating that maybe Even Trump could Understand
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump says that a meeting with Prince Charles that was supposed to last for 15 minutes extended to an hour and a half conversation as the prince attempted to convince him of the reality of climate change. Prince Charles may as well have saved his breath. There are nothing but […]
Headcanon: Review of Juan Cole, “Muhammad: Prophet of Peace” at Northwest Progressive Institute
David A. Johnson has written, for The Cascadia Advocate (a project of the Northwest Progressive Institute), a review of my new book on the Prophet Muhammad: Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires, published October 9, 2018 Available at Barnes and Noble And Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor And Hachette And Amazon Here […]
Why Britain Protested: Trump a “Sexual Predator” and “Racist” says Shadow FM
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump feigned not to see them or imagined them as putting out a welcome mat for him, but the actual reaction of the British public to his visit was profound dismay that he was given state honors. Washington Post: “Londoners protest Trump’s state visit: He ‘shouldn’t even be allowed in […]
The Prophet’s Tribe: The First Mention of Quraysh in an Inscription from the Dawn of Islam
The Qur’an, the Muslim scripture, speaks of the Quraysh as a tribe that engaged in travel and worshiped at a shrine. Qur’an 106, “Quraysh,” says, Because of his benevolence toward the Quraysh they were enabled to undertake the winter and summer caravans. So let them worship the lord of this shrine, who provided them with […]
On Anniversary of D-Day: Would Trump have bothered, or Been on Other Side?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I grew up in the shadow of World War II. It ended only seven years before I was born. I had an uncle who had been at the Battle of the Bulge. My father was too young to serve, but was inspired by the fight against fascism and joined as […]
Pompeo: Jared Kushner’s Palestine plan “unexecutable;’ Kushner: Palestinians unready for Self-Rule
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I can barely believe it. Mike Pompeo, who can believe 10 impossible things before breakfast every day, including the impending Rapture and Hilary Clinton’s responsibility for Benghazi, isn’t a complete Trumpbot after all. In private remarks to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that someone recorded and […]