Authoritarianism

Medea Benjamin interviews Sharif Abdel Kouddous | – (Code Pink) – The global climate meeting called COP27 (the 27th Conference of Parties) will be held in the remote Egyptian desert resort of Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt from November 6-18. Given the extremely repressive nature of the Egyptian government, this gathering will likely be different from others, […]

Authoritarianism

‘Bloody Friday’ highlights the Plight of the Baloch in Iran

Middle East Monitor

By Samand Muhammad-Shahi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – A month after a brutal massacre, protests continue in Iran’s restive region of Balochistan, home to the Baloch-Sunni ethno-religious minority. Six more people, including three children, were reported to have been killed on Friday as Iranian security forces opened fire on the demonstrators in […]

Authoritarianism

Invasion of the Mind Snatchers: How to Combat the GOP Election Denialists’ Plot to Subvert Democracy

Dan Dinello

Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – In the 1978 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, an alien fungal spore infection takes over the minds of susceptible people, growing into pods that duplicate their bodies and transforming them into pod people — mindless authoritarian monsters that want to control America. A remake of the 1956 movie […]

Authoritarianism

As Crackdown Intensifies, Iranian Demonstrators Turn To Protest Art

Golnaz Esfandiari

( RFE/RL ) – As the authorities intensify their deadly crackdown on antiestablishment protests in Iran, some demonstrators are resorting to protest art to express their dissent. The street art and graffiti has targeted Iran’s clerical regime, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and has appeared on public walls in major cities. دیوارنویسی اعتراضی در […]

Authoritarianism

Top Iran Prosecutor Threatens Death Penalty for Leading Protests, as Government arrests over 7,000

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – BBC Monitoring reports that the protests in Iran are continuing, both in small towns and big cities, though the situation inside Iran is murky because the regime has cut off the internet. Many protesters appear to have retreated to the suburbs, rather than rallying right downtown where the state security […]

Authoritarianism

QKremlin? Russians say they Fear a NATO Invasion will Make their Children Gay

Richard Foltz

Montreal (Special to Informed Comment) – On October 17 the Russian Book Publishers Union sent a letter to the Russian Duma expressing concern thata proposed bill against “LGBT propaganda” could lead to the banning of numerous works of classic literature, including books by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Ostrovsky and many others. The proposed bill is merely the […]

Authoritarianism

The world must hear the Voice of Iranian Women

Global Voices

By Azin Mohajerin and Sussan Tahmasebi | – ( Globalvoices.org ) – The name Mahsa (Jina) Amini has become a rallying cry for millions of people across the world to protest the oppression of the Iranian government against its own citizens. The hashtag #MahsaAmini has broken records on social media for the number of times […]

Authoritarianism

Prison Revolt, Fire, Gunshots at Notorious Evin Facility in Iran, which houses Political Prisoners, as Iran Protests enter 5th Week

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dubai-based Al-Arabiya assembles Tweets from Iran about the prisoner uprising at Iran’s maximum-security prison, Evin, which led to the outbreak of a major fire on Saturday. The facility holds political prisoners, including foreigners. Interrogations there have routinely involved torture. Despite government claims that the fire had been extinguished on Saturday […]