By Andrea Robbett and Peter Hans Matthews | – Politics can divide even friends and families. When this happens, we like to tell ourselves that the explanation lies in honest differences in values and preferences. From this standpoint, friends from different political parties won’t really disagree, for example, about the number of workers displaced in […]
Archives for August 2020
Trump admits War Crime in Syria as Damascus Slams US ‘Oil Theft’
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last Monday, CNN reports US troops on patrol in eastern Syria were allowed to move through Syrian territory by the Syrian Arab Army, but then abruptly a small unit of Syrian troops fired on them. The US soldiers fired back, and took no casualties, but killed a Syrian soldier. There […]
Greta Thunberg and Youth to Angela Merkel: ‘Abandon Fossil Fuel Industry’
By Benjamin Wehrmann ( Clean Energy Wire) – Greta Thunberg and fellow activists have met German Chancellor Angela Merkel to exchange views on the fight against climate change. The campaigners said the 90 minute meeting’s atmosphere was friendly, but also added that “we look at the situation from different perspectives.” Merkel’s spokesman said the EU’s […]
The Fox is Still in the Henhouse at the Post Office
By Sarah Anderson | – ( Otherwords.org) – Skyleigh Heinen, a U.S. Army veteran who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and anxiety, relies on the Postal Service for timely delivery of her meds to be able to function. She was one of thousands of Americans from all walks of life who spoke out recently to demand […]
Trump could win again (without cheating)
By J.M. Opal | – Liberal pundits often say that Donald Trump is on the wrong side of history. From this perspective, he’s a relic and a reactionary, a living reminder of all the skeletons in America’s closet. A Democratic victory in November thus feels inevitable, especially given Trump’s objectively awful handling of the pandemic. […]
Trump walks Alone: Former US Allies Britain, France, Germany join Russia and China in Forcefully Rejecting Trump Iran Sanctions
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – LeMonde reports that France, Germany and Britain have rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to reimpose UN Security Council sanctions on Iran that were revoked in early 2016 with the signing of the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). Their joint statement said, “France, Germany and the […]
Before the CIA Coup in 1953, the US and Iran had been old Friends
By Daniel Thomas Potts | – The British- and American-backed plot to overthrow Iran’s prime minister in 1953 laid the groundwork for the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and decades of hostility with the U.S. A documentary about the plot released on Aug. 19 offers new details of what happened. I believe it is worth recalling […]
Is the Trump Administration Trying to destroy our Public Schools, Too?
( Tomdispatch.com) – Seventeen years ago, against the advice of my parents, I decided to become a public school teacher. Once I did, both my mother and father, educators themselves, warned me that choosing to teach was to invite attacks from those who viewed the profession with derision and contempt. They advised me to stay […]
China and the United States: The 21st Century’s ‘Great Game’
For China, the global war for influence is about trading partners. For the U.S., it could mean something more volatile. (Foreign Policy in Focus ) – From 1830 to 1895, the British and Russian empires schemed and plotted over control of Central and South Asia. At the heart of the “Great Game” was the United […]
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