Epidemics

( Tomdispatch.com) – Who knew that Martians, inside monstrous tripodal machines taller than many buildings, actually ululated, that they made eerily haunting “ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla” sounds? Well, let me tell you that they do — or rather did when they were devastating London. I know that because I recently reread H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel […]

Epidemics

COVID-19 killed more Americans in 2021 than 2020, and the Republican Party Death Cult is mostly to Blame

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The number of dead from COVID-19 in the U.S. in 2021, as of yesterday, November 21, surpassed the deadly toll of 2020. Some 771,013 Americans have died of the novel coronavirus as of this writing, according to Johns Hopkins. The CDC estimates that 385,343 people died of COVID-19 in 2020. […]

Corruption

All Trump’s Cover-Ups: From Syria Airstrike on Civilians to US COVID Genocide

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The US Founding Fathers had a cynical side. They did not think people in government could be trusted to do the right thing. They thought people often do what they can get away with. The point of James Madison’s checks and balances was not just to guard against tyranny but […]

Donald Trump

In Irrational COVID Policy, is there any Difference between Republicans and Iran’s Ayatollahs?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – David Axe at the Daily Beast reports on what he says is very bad news for the US red states whose Republican governors are depending on herd immunity to get us past the COVID-19 pandemic. Some Iranian provinces have, since its beginning, reported more cases of the coronavirus than they […]

Anti-Vaccination

Your unvaccinated friend is roughly 20 times more likely to give you COVID

The Conversation

By Christopher Baker and Andrew Robinson | – As lockdowns ease in New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, and people return to work and socialising, many of us will be mixing more with others, even though a section of the community is still unvaccinated. Many vaccinated people are concerned about the prospect of mixing […]

Epidemics

Is the Pandemic finally Subsiding in the Middle East? New Infections at Lowest Level for More than a Year

Brian Whitaker

( Al-Bab.com) – New Covid-19 cases recorded in the Middle East and North Africa averaged 19,075 a day last week. This is the first time since September last year that the daily average among the 20 countries monitored has dropped below 20,000. TRT World: “Schools in Iran reopen under COVID-19 restrictions” New infections peaked in […]

Donald Trump

Is Trump one of Top Mass Murderers? Dr. Birx says he Killed 130K- 160K with Bad COVID Policy

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In remarks this month to Congress, Dr. Deborah Birx, former member of Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force, estimated that Trump’s COVID policies cost between 130,000 and 160,000 lives that need not have been lost. World leaders often are responsible for large numbers of deaths of soldiers in war, but […]

Authoritarianism

Brazilian Senate Panel urges Pres. Bolsonaro be Charged with Crimes against Humanity for killing 150K by worsening Pandemic

The Conversation

By Matt Williams | – A Brazilian congressional panel has recommended that President Jair Bolsonaro be charged with “crimes against humanity” over his alleged bungling of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The near-1,200 page report, formally presented on Oct. 20, 2021, holds Bolsonaro culpable for worsening a crisis that has to date killed […]

Anti-Vaccination

Wahhabi Saudi Arabia has a More Rational Vaccine Mandate than the US Republican Party

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Republicans, among all Americans, are the most Islamophobic or Muslim-hating, with 72% holding that Muslims are more likely than members of other religions to encourage violence by their community. Republican TV idol Tucker Carlson called Iraqis “monkeys” and “illiterate” and maintains that “white men” invented civilization. That is, Muslims in […]