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Archives for December 2020

Donald Trump
Trump sent Feds to Portland, but will coddle White Supremacist militias who invaded Oregon State House

Trump sent Feds to Portland, but will coddle White Supremacist militias who invaded Oregon State House

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Far right brown shirts, some armed with firearms or bear mace, invaded the Oregon state house in Salem on Monday. Most of them maskless and posing a pandemic danger to the state senators, they sought by threats of force to make the legislature lift covid-related restrictions. Journalists were assaulted, with […]

Kurds
Will Syrian Kurds be crushed between the Russian Hammer and Turkish Anvil?

Will Syrian Kurds be crushed between the Russian Hammer and Turkish Anvil?

Nikola Mikovic

Major global actors in the Middle East are traditionally using the Kurds as bargaining chips for their own geopolitical trade. Russia is no exception. The Kurds of northern Syria could soon “fall victim” of the Russo-Turkish lucrative deals. Moscow has reportedly recently asked Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – an alliance composed of Kurdish, Arab, and […]

Russia
Why is the Russian Public Paying for Bombing Schools in Syria?

Why is the Russian Public Paying for Bombing Schools in Syria?

Human Rights Watch

By Belkis Wille | – Senior Researcher, Crisis and Conflict Division | – ( Human Rights Watch) – The Russian military marked the fifth anniversary of its intervention in the armed conflict in Syria on September 30. The consequences have been devastating for many Syrian civilians, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions more forced […]

religion
Did Rise of Non-Religious 'Values Voters' Help tip the Election to Dems?

Did Rise of Non-Religious ‘Values Voters’ Help tip the Election to Dems?

The Conversation

By Phil Zuckerman | – The voting patterns of religious groups in the U.S. have been scrutinized since the presidential election for evidence of shifting allegiances among the faithful. Many have wondered if a boost in Catholic support was behind Biden’s win or if a dip in support among evangelicals helped doom Trump. But much […]

Authoritarianism
Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits

Trump aping Mideast Tinpot Dictators and raving about declaring Martial Law, which even Iran Prohibits

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – With Trump raving in White House meetings, prompted by the equally certifiable Michael Flynn, about declaring martial law, it sets an old Middle East hand like me thinking. In my part of the world, leaders declare martial law or a “state of emergency” at the drop of a helmet. And […]

Debt
Austerity Terrors:  Congress Stimulus Package Finally Passes - but it is Too Little, Too Late

Austerity Terrors: Congress Stimulus Package Finally Passes – but it is Too Little, Too Late

John Buell

Southwest Harbor, Maine (Special to Informed Comment) – 900 billion dollars is a big amount, Apparently one trillion is a whole order of magnitude greater. Or at least the number is so terrifying that politicians bend heaven and earth to avoid being connected with trillion dollar expenditures. And this allergic reaction is bipartisan. In the […]

Democratic Party
2020 Began and Ended with Trump baiting Iran into War: Can we get through another Month without One?

2020 Began and Ended with Trump baiting Iran into War: Can we get through another Month without One?

Middle East Monitor

By Ahmed Omar | – The single main story of the year has without a doubt been the coronavirus pandemic which has thus far claimed over 1.5 million lives around the world amid encouraging news about vaccine development. However it is now easy to forget that before this story became a near permanent fixture of […]

Donald Trump
White House Partying like it is 2021, with a Covid 9/11 Death Toll Every Day

White House Partying like it is 2021, with a Covid 9/11 Death Toll Every Day

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com) – ‘Tis the season to be folly Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Don(ald) we now our gay apparel, Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la!… It’s party time in the nation’s capital and the Christmas spirit reigns supreme, even if the Texas Republican Party does want to secede from the Union. I mean, who doesn’t? And hey, don’t you want to […]

Featured
Everyday War Crimes:  Israeli PM Netanyahu Gets COVID Vaccine, Squatters get Vaccine, but Not Occupied Palestinians

Everyday War Crimes: Israeli PM Netanyahu Gets COVID Vaccine, Squatters get Vaccine, but Not Occupied Palestinians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu received a coronavirus shot on Saturday. He has pledged that the 9 million Israelis will be vaccinated in a matter of months. Inside Israel, Netanyahu was widely thought to have mishandled the pandemic, and it hurt his popularity as the country goes yet again to […]

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