Politics

Male Face Masks have been the Height of Masculinity for Centuries: Why see Coronavirus Masks as Wimpy?

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A recent study of the way Americans are adapting to the coronavirus found that “Men more than women agree that wearing a face covering is shameful, not cool, a sign of weakness, and a stigma”. The study indicated that American men resist wearing face masks more than do women, partly […]

African-Americans

The Killing of Ahmaud Arbery highlights again the Fatal Danger of Jogging while Black

The Conversation

By Rashawn Ray | – Unsteady cellphone footage follows a jogger – an apparently young, black man – as he approaches and attempts to run around a white pickup truck parked in the middle of a suburban road. Moments later he lies dead on the ground. The killing of Ahmaud Arbery took place on Feb. […]

Donald Trump

From WW II Victory to Trump’s ‘America First’: Is our anti-Nazi Resolve Foundering?

Andrew J. Bacevich

( Tomdispatch.com ) – The 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s surrender in May 1945 ought to prompt thoughtful reflection. For Americans, V-E Day, as it was then commonly called, marked the beginning of “our times.” The Covid-19 pandemic may signal that our times are now coming to an end. Tom Engelhardt, editor and proprietor of […]

Donald Trump

Neo-Nazi “Reopeners” would Kill nearly as many Americans as died in All US Wars

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Roughly 1,264,000 US soldiers have died in all the wars this country has ever fought. A new simulation by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School predicts that if all the states completely reopened today and all Americans ceased all social distancing measures, a million people would die in this country […]

Donald Trump

How the Tiny ‘Reopen’ protest movement was Astroturfed and boosted by Fake Grassroots Tactics

The Conversation

By Marc Ambinder | – Many Americans have been under strict stay-at-home orders, or at least advisories, for more than a month. People are frustrated and depressed, but have complied with what they’ve been asked to endure because they trust that state and local public health officials are telling the truth about the coronavirus pandemic. […]

Donald Trump

“Unhinged” Trump Calls on his Mussolini-Style Black Shirts to Attack Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s tweets on Friday, “Liberate Michigan,” and “Liberate Minnesota,” and “Liberate Virginia” were clearly intended to incite his armed, conspiracy-minded, militant followers on the far right against those elected state governments, which intend to buck him on reopening the economy on May 1. The possibility of Trump-inspired violence against Governor […]

Donald Trump

Trumpism was Always the Tyrannical Tantrum of a Stubborn 5-Year-Old, but Now it will Kill People; Lots of People

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trumpism is a form of fascism, of course, but at its core is a whiny rebellion against the achievements of human and civil rights since the 1960s. Do the new norms after the Civil Rights Movement stop people from saying in public that African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asians and women […]

Epidemics

Coronavirus and Medicare for All: Our Crisis comes from Gov’t Putting Profit over Public Health

F. Douglas Stephenson

Gainesville, Florida (Special to Informed Comment) – Big business dominates our government and public health takes a back seat to the need for private profit. Many government leaders from both political parties share the same ‘profits over public health’ ideology, even though the Covid-19 pandemic clearly shows how our economic system has failed to serve […]

Donald Trump

Coronavirus and Georgia’s Kemp: How the GOP Stupidocracy will Kill us All

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, whose only advantage in life appears to be being a white male who has failed upward all his life, announced on Thursday that he was finally implementing a shelter-in-place order for his state of 10.5 million people. He said the reason for his about-face after two […]