Health

Whites still won’t Mask up: Impeach Trump for discouraging Hygiene in a pandemic and killing hundreds of thousands

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One of Trump’s biggest crimes for which he is unlikely ever to be held responsible was just discouraging mask-wearing in the midst of a pandemic of a respiratory disease. He, of course, contracted the disease himself, as did most of his prominent staffers, mainly because they refused to socially distance […]

Epidemics

Israel faces legal – and practical – obligations for including Palestinians in vaccine success

The Conversation

By Yara M. Asi | – As nations scramble to vaccinate populations against COVID-19, one country has been ahead of the rest: Israel. By late January, Israel had vaccinated more than 30% of its population – more than double or triple the rate of other high-income states like the U.S., the U.K., France and Germany. […]

Epidemics

Will the Pandemic help Shift the world from Oil to Green Energy?

Middle East Monitor

By Elif Selin Calik | – ( Middle East Monitor) – It is crucial to an understanding of the global consequences of the coronavirus pandemic to consider the transition to alternative energy sources for the benefit of future generations. Covid-19 is affecting people all over the world, but a year ago it was just another […]

Epidemics

The other pandemic: Loneliness widespread with the loss of social connections

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Chloe Jones | Special for Cronkite News | – PHOENIX – The pandemic has affected different people in different ways, causing financial stress due to job loss, sliding grades, relationship pressures and worries that vulnerable loved ones could contract COVID-19. But one factor that has affected Americans across the country is the loss of […]

Donald Trump

Four Years Later: ‘Welcome to Psychopathocracy,’ the Sequel

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – N.B.: I wrote this essay on January 10, 2017. Four years later, I stand by most of it, and I think its argument has been well substantiated. The one thing I’ve rethought is my conviction that we could fight back against psychopathic policies by appealing to the Congressional majority of […]

Climate Crisis

Dear Rats deserting Trump’s Sinking Ship: All those Times you didn’t Resign or Even criticize his Monstrous Deeds

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The rats are deserting Trump’s sinking ship, after he fomented the Great QAnon Capitol Insurrection, with two cabinet secretaries and some other officials having resigned. It is too late. The Insurrection did not tell us something about Trump we did not know. Those now leaving are perhaps attempting to avoid […]

Epidemics

How 3 prior pandemics triggered massive societal shifts

The Conversation

By Andrew Latham | – Not so anymore. People are beginning to understand that the little changes COVID-19 has already ushered in or accelerated – telemedicine, remote work, social distancing, the death of the handshake, online shopping, the virtual disappearance of cash and so on – have begun to change their way of life. They […]

Displaced and Refugees

The Apartheid Pandemic: As 10% of Israelis get Covid Vaccine, Zero Occupied Palestinians have– Will wait Months

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some ten percent of Israelis have already been given the coronavirus shot, showing what an efficient government can do for its citizens with the right medical and administrative infrastructure. The Trump administration has not been able to ramp up the actual shots in arms, despite shipping millions of doses of […]

Climate Crisis

COVID-19, the US Election and our Desperate Need for Clean Air, Green Energy

Middle East Monitor

By Elif Selin Calik | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – One of the enduring images of 2020, the year of the pandemic, has been the sight of people connected to ventilators in hospitals. It is an image that helped us realise the importance of being able to breathe. Many have died because they […]