US politics

By Naomi Schalit, interviewing Emily Channell-Justice, J. Eugene Clay, Jacob Lassin, Maggie Smith and Ryan Haddad | – Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a provocative address that could be construed as a pretext to war, claimed on Feb. 21, 2022, that all of Ukraine belongs to Russia and formally recognized the independence of two breakaway […]

Donald Trump

Cancun Cruz dares Say Biden is Weak on Putin, when he Supports “Vladimir’s Lapdog” Donald Trump

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Hill reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is saying that Joe Biden is the best thing that ever happened to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cruz is trotting out the tried and true Republican tactic of Chickenhawk Macho. He does not have any credibility in this regard, since he ran […]

Featured

Tucker Carlson lets slip that “Whiteness” is scam as he targets AOC for Race-Baiting and Sexual Harassment

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tucker Carlson’s White Power Hour on Faux News was devoted in part on Friday evening to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), known as AOC. Carlson polluted the airways with a mixture of woman-hating, sexual innuendo, and –surprise– racism. The racism took the form of attempting to induct Rep. Ocasio Cortez into […]

Eastern Europe

Invading Ukraine may never have been Putin’s aim – the threat alone could advance Russia’s goals

The Conversation

By Ronald Suny | – An invasion is not the only way the crisis in Ukraine can play out. A diplomatic solution may yet provide an off-ramp for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose placement of tens of thousands of troops along Russia’s border with its smaller neighbor kicked off the current crisis. Indeed, the leaders […]

Donald Trump

A Republican Genocide of Quackery: COVID-19 has Killed as many Americans as all our Wars combined

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The CDC now estimates that there have been 1,045,389 excess deaths since January 1, 2020, because of COVID-19. PBS estimates that roughly 1,100,000 Americans have died in all US wars in history. That is, the death toll from COVID-19 is just about as great as the toll of all our […]

Israel Lobbies

How Glib charges of “Anti-Semitism” at every Human Rights Report on Israel undermines Jewish Civil Rights

Jennifer Loewenstein

Madison, Wi. (Special to Informed Comment) – The unqualified branding of people, organizations, reports, and movements as “anti-Semitic” for their criticism of Israel is having a boomerang effect. Labeling every condemnation of Israel as “anti-Semitism” silences those whose voices are most needed. The repeated charge of anti-Semitism debases its actual meaning—and provides cover for those […]

Afghanistan

U.S. Sanctions on Afghanistan Could Be Deadlier Than 20 Years of War

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Mark Weisbrot | – (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Originally published in Inside Sources. Economic sanctions have, in recent years, become one of the most important tools of U.S. foreign policy. There are currently more than 20 countries subjected to various sanctions from the U.S. government. But if more Americans knew how many […]

Feminism

Texas’ Abortion Restrictions most Harm Low-Income Patients, Advocates Say

Cronkite News Arizona PBS

By Natasha Yee | – ( Cronkite News ) – PHOENIX – Esmarie stared down at two solid pink lines on the test strip in the small bathroom of her central Texas apartment. The 20-year-old had been uncharacteristically tired and unable to wake up for her fast-food job. She remembered the feeling from her last […]

Iran

Iran nuclear deal: to reset relations with Tehran, Biden must overcome a long legacy of mistrust at home

The Conversation

By Andrew Payne and Louise Fawcett | – As officials from Washington and Tehran return to Vienna for talks that aim to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran hawks in the US Congress are determined to prevent that happening. In a letter sent to the US president Joe Biden on February 7, Republican US senator […]