Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A daily column is inevitably personal, even if the focus is, as with Informed Comment, on current events. Today I’m going to reflect, not so much on my turning 70 as on the world I confront through these old eyes, and how my experiences help me cope with it and […]
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US politics
The Ukraine Moment: Lessons from the War on Terror
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Ukraine is obviously a powder keg. With each passing day, in fact, the war there poses new threats to the world order. Only recently, Vladimir Putin’s Russia intensified its attacks on civilian targets in that beleaguered land, while threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons and adding Ukraine’s neighbor Belarus to its […]
Ken Burns’ Holocaust Documentary should set our Hair on Fire about the Creep of Trumpian Fascism
Oakland (Special to Informed Comment) – The genius of Ken Burns’ documentaries is his ability to personify history. Watching the documentary by Burns, Lynn Novick and Sarah Botstein on the U.S. and the Holocaust is a challenging experience for most people, and is especially difficult for those from Jewish families that include survivors. I learned […]
QKremlin? Russians say they Fear a NATO Invasion will Make their Children Gay
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 […]
US officials, having Stabbed Palestinians in the Back for Decades, now “Offended” that President Abbas doesn’t Trust them and Wants Russia Involved
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Barak Ravid at Axios reports that Biden administration officials are furious about remarks by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas saying he lacked confidence in the US as a mediator. What Ravid does not say is that Washington has no right, none, to get on a high horse. Since the US sponsored […]
Lonely MAGA Bros: Peter Thiel’s New Conservative Dating App Ghosted by, like, Women
By Lisa Portolan, Western Sydney University | – The Right Stuff is a new conservative dating app, recently launched in the US. Not yet available in Australia, the app was apparently created “for conservatives to connect in authentic and meaningful ways.” It offers to bring people together with shared values and similar passions, ensuring users […]
D.C. Attorney General Opens Investigation Into Republican Governors’ Shipping of Immigrants to the Capital
By Marilyn W. Thompson and Perla Trevizo | – ( ProPublica ) – District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine has opened an investigation into whether southern border state governors misled immigrants as part of what he called a “political stunt” to transport them to Washington. Racine told ProPublica and The Texas Tribune his office […]
Why Biden’s Marijuana Pardons Are a Seismic Shift
By Paul Armentano | – ( Otherwords.org) – The immediate impacts are modest, but the order marks a top-level recognition that 100 years of cannabis prohibition were a mistake. By Paul Armentano | October 10, 2022 Fulfilling a high-profile campaign pledge, President Joe Biden recently announced that his office will be issuing pardons to several […]
Did Trump’s attempt to Withdraw from Afghanistan and Somalia Prove he Knew he had lost?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It has long been known that on November 11, 2020, as it became clear that Joe Biden had won, then president Donald Trump signed an order for the complete withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia before the January inaugural. At the January 6 Commission public hearing on Thursday, […]