(Tomdispatch.com) – Despair about the state of our politics pervades the political spectrum, from left to right. One source of it, the narrative of fairness offered in basic civics textbooks — we all have an equal opportunity to succeed if we work hard and play by the rules; citizens can truly shape our politics — […]
Archives for April 2019
On how Everything Sam Harris says about Islam is Wrong: Part 2 on “Unbelievers”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This is the second installment in a series on Sam Harris’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad book, “The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Religion” (Norton, 2005). Part 1 is here. On page 31, Harris says, “It is clear, however, that Muslims hate the West in […]
Did the Same Saudi Hackers who Trapped Khashoggi Target Amazon’s Bezos for Nude Photos?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ security team has alleged in The Daily Beast that Saudi Arabian intelligence hacked his phone and passed to the National Enquirer intimate photos that the married Bezos had sent to his lover, Lauren Sanchez. Although the Enquirer’s parent company, AMI, has alleged that it received the […]
Turkey’s Erdogan Lost Key Cities in Paranoiac Campaign that ignored Sinking Economy
By Ihsan Yilmaz and Erdoan Shipoli | – Votes are still being counted in local elections that took place across Turkey on Sunday, but so far it appears that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s party has lost key cities and towns. That includes the Turkish capital Ankara, which has been run by Islamist mayors for the […]
We Don’t have a Global Emissions Problem, we Have a Rich Peoples’ CO2 Problem
By Nicholas Beuret | – American congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently shook up environmental politics by releasing a broad outline of a Green New Deal – a plan to make the US a carbon-neutral economy in the next ten years, while reducing both poverty and inequality. Lauded by many as a radical and necessary step, president […]
Saudi Political Prisoners Face Severe Abuse: Report
Political prisoners in Saudi Arabia are facing severe abuses by prison authorities, according to a medical report leaked to the Guardian newspaper. The leaked report documented evidence that political prisoners – both men and women – are suffering from malnutrition as well as cuts, burns and bruises due to severe physical abuse by authorities. The […]
Syrian Ambassador: Trump should give Israel the Carolinas, instead of Syria’s Golan
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Syria’s envoy to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, lambasted the Trump administration for recognizing the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights. He said that if Trump wanted to give somebody else’s territory to Israel, it should be North and South Carolina. The United Nations Charter forbids the acquisition of territory […]
The Great March of Return is a Turning Point in Palestinian Collective Memory
By Yousef Alhelou | – Despite Israeli efforts to deter Palestinians from taking part in this weekend’s Great March of Return, and in spite of the cold weather conditions which prevailed, a tsunami of demonstrators flocked to Gaza’s 25-mile-long fence. Heavily-armed Israeli forces fired live ammunition at protesters, who came in their thousands to mark […]
Incremental Settler Colonialism: Israel to Approve 5,000 new Squatter Units in Palestinian West Bank
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The Israeli Civil Administration is expected to approve 1,427 new illegal settlement units, on Sunday, and to announce plans to construct another 3,500 units next week. Haaretz news outlet reported that the Israeli Civil Administration is expected to approve the 1,427 new settlement units across the occupied West Bank. Sources mentioned that […]








