( Middle East Monitor) – Starting on March 27, 1948, a beautiful, small Palestinian village called Beit Daras, came under Zionist militias attacks. With little means – a few old rifles and kitchen knives – the Badrasawis fought back, repelling the first raid and the second. The final attack on the peaceful village followed a […]
Archives for May 2020
In the Midst of a Pandemic, Can we Afford to spend Trillions on War Industries?
( Foreign Policy in Focus) – Camus’ novel of a lethal contagion in the North African city of Oran is filled with characters all too recognizable today: indifferent or incompetent officials, short sighted and selfish citizens, and lots of great courage. What not even Camus could imagine, however, is a society in the midst of […]
Despite the Opposition of Some, The Science is Clear: Masks Stop the Spread of Coronavirus and should be Mandatory
By Jeremy Howard | I’m a data scientist at the University of San Francisco and teach courses online in machine learning for fast.ai. In late March, I decided to use public mask-wearing as a case study to show my students how to combine and analyze diverse types of data and evidence. Much to my surprise, […]
Dr. Bright to Congress: With 85,000 already Dead, US Gov’t Coronavirus Inaction threatens us with “Darkest Winter in Modern History”
The testimony of Dr. Rick Bright on Thursday was a remarkably low-key affair given the bombshell revelations Ruiz divulged of the paralysis, inaction and frankly stupidity of the Trump administration regarding the looming coronavirus catastrophe back in January and February. We all saw Trump himself say stupid things like that the virus was a hoax […]
Democracy is not a Luxury in Times of Pandemic
Washington, D.C. (Special to Informed Comment) – While some pundits extol the virtue of strong government (i.e., dictatorship) in fighting Covid-19, Middle Eastern activists are once again mobilizing to insist that democracy is not a luxury in a time of pandemic. “Systems of government that are more democratic and transparent will keep citizens safe,” argues […]
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: “All those whose Names are Written in Love’s Book”
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: Quatrain of the Day All hearts that shine with passion’s radiance, no matter if they pray in mosque or church– all those whose names are written in love’s book have been set free of hell and paradise. trans. Juan Cole, (Whinfield 60) هر دل که در او نور محبت بسرشت گر […]
How China’s Han Empire Predicted America’s Imperial Decay
Ann Arbor (Special to Informed Comment) – The Han dynasty’s collapse is an abject lesson in imperial decay that prefigures in alarming ways our own national decline. Bad policies replaced professionalism with cronyism and compromised formal checks on administration. Three years of the Trump administration can be compared with Han Imperial decline point for point. […]
Who is “Essential” to our Covid-19 World? A Military Spouse’s Perspective on Fighting this Pandemic
By Andrea Mazzarino | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – “When he first came home, it was tough.” So Aleha, the wife of an airman in Colorado, told me. She was describing her family’s life since her husband, who lives with chronic depression, completed a partial hospitalization program and, in March, along with other members of […]
Top 6 Reasons Trump & Pompeo are Blessing Israel’s new Annexationist Government
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dropped in on Israel on Wednesday to bestow his blessing on the new annexationist coalition government being formed by indicted prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his new partner, Gen. Benny Gantz of the Blue and White bloc. Pompeo flew 24 hours to spend 6 […]
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