By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The positioning of Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis, as a “liberal” or “progressive” in American politics is incorrect and indeed a little bizarre. The Pope is a conservative. In fact, he has railed against “adolescent progressivism” and against secularism, which he calls “the devil.” Pope Francis opposes […]
As Russia supports Iran in Syria, Netanyahu Loses Again
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, accompanied by Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and Military Intelligence chief Hertzi Halevy, visited Moscow and attempted to hammer out an agreement with Russia to forestall any military confrontations between the two. Netanyahu also lobbied Russian President […]
Has the GOP given up on winning the Presidency? Carson, Trump on Muslims, Latinos
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Ben Carson’s and Donald Trump’s comments about Muslims over the weekend again showed the GOP as the party of exclusion, not inclusion (though to be fair Sen. Lindsey Graham and Gov. Chris Christie had the intestinal fortitude to denounce those comments, unlike the rest of the […]
Holland’s Wind-Driven trains & 4 other Hopeful Green Energy Stories for Today
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – 1. In three years, all Dutch electric trains will be powered by wind turbines, either turbines in the Netherlands itself or in nearby Belgium or Scandinavia. The Dutch rail system transports 1.2 million people a day and was releasing 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide before this […]
Aqsa Crisis: PM Netanyahu wants Israeli Forces to use Live Fire against Rock Throwing Demonstrators
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Thousands of demonstrators came out in Jordan on Friday to protest what appears to be a new Israeli assertion of authority over Muslim sacred space in Jerusalem, which includes the third holiest place in the world for Muslims, the al-Aqsa mosque complex. King Abdullah II of […]
Trump Pledges to “Look into” Paranoid Charges of Muslim-American Terror camps
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump has probably benefited so far from giving long stemwinders of a speech on the hustings, saying enough outrageous things in each one to inflict on journalists information overload. He got away with a lot of awful statements because journalists only had room to focus […]
Rouhani: forget Geopolitics: Iran’s real Enemies are Water & jobs Shortages & Drugs
By RFE/RL | – – – Iran’s President Hassan Rohani has warned that water shortages, unemployment, inflation, and problems like drug addiction are threatening the Islamic republic. Rohani made the remarks in a September 15 speech to commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Rohani said: “Our enemies are not just Zionists, America, and […]
Pope Francis Endorses Iran Deal: Another Dilemma for GOP Catholic Candidates
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Republican presidential candidates are virtually unanimous that human-caused climate change is a hoax and burning fossil fuels is good for us; that Obamacare is evil and must be repealed; and that the UN Security Council’s deal with Iran restricting its nuclear enrichment program must be […]
Mexican Tour Organizers, Buddhist Healers, Baffled by Egyptian Army Attack
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Gabriela Bejarano Rangel, the sister and daughter of the Mexican organizers of the tour to Egypt that met with tragedy Sunday, has been interviewed at Excelsior.com. The Egyptian military mistook the tourist convoy in the western desert near Siwa Oasis for terrorists and attacked them, killing […]
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