By Simon P. Watmough | The Conversation | – – The emerging humanitarian crisis that has been rocking Myanmar – where an estimated 370,000 Rohingya have been forced out of the country – has prompted broad international condemnation. But so far it has translated into little concrete action. United Nations (UN) human rights chief Zeid […]
Floridians with Solar Inverters had Electricity after Irma & other Green energy success stories
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – After Hurricane Irma in Florida, millions have been without electricity. But those Floridians who had solar panels plus an inverter or a Tesla powerwall were able to recover electricity immediately. Likewise, cities used solar to power traffic lights and other essential services after the huge storm […]
Can Yosef Abramowitz make Solar Power Bloom in Fossil Fuels-Addicted Israel?
i24 News | (Video News Report) | – – from Wikipedia: “Abramowitz was born in 1964. He lived in Israel as a child from 1969–1972, before returning to Boston. While living in Massachusetts, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston, and graduated in 1980 from Hebrew College Prozdor and in 1982 from Brookline […]
Russia rebuffs Israeli demand for 40 mi. Buffer with Iran in Syria (Haaretz)
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – According to Haaretz Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked Vldadimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation, to keep Iranian troops and Hizbullah militiamen in Syria about 40 miles from the Israeli border. The Russian replied that these were matters for the Syrian Arab Army, but that […]
Can Iran keep its Influence in Baghdad?
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – Iran wants to reunite the fighting Shiite Muslim political parties in Iraq that once gave it unconditional support. But that job is far from easy. Last week Mahmoud Shahroudi, the head of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, which advises that country’s theological leader, Ali Khamenei, visited Baghdad. […]
Superstorm Donald Hits GOP, aims to Ravage US
By John Feffer | ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) | – – If Trump succeeds in ramping up military spending and gutting everything else, we’ll be left with a bunch of nukes and an underfunded state — and no one but China to keep us afloat. The storm inside the Republican Party has reached […]
Rice Vindicated: She did Unmask Trump, Bannon– but they were meeting UAE
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The United Arab Emirates crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan slipped into the United States on December 15 for a secret meeting with Trump, Michael Flynn, Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon. It is unusual for high government officials to visit without letting the White House […]
Saudi Arabia wants to improve Image; Here’s How
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia is alleged to be hiring a PR firm to improve its tattered image in the West . As usual, such a campaign confuses substance with fluff and the money will be wasted. I am sympathetic to Saudi feelings that they get an unfair rap. […]
Our failing Forever Wars and the End of Democracy
By William J. Astore | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – When it comes to the “world’s greatest military,” the news has been shocking. Two fast U.S. Navy ships colliding with slow-moving commercial vessels with tragic loss of life. An Air Force that has been in the air continuously for years and yet doesn’t have enough […]








