2025

I am reprinting my column this week from Tomdispatch.com . Check in over there for the essential introduction of the invaluable Tom Engelhardt. My name isn’t important, only what I have to say. I’m writing with a pencil because I need to conserve my batteries tonight. It’s Year 24 of Our Trump (though he himself, […]

Israel/ Palestine

The long-term Impact of Israel’s Gaza Genocide will only become Clear as the Toxic Dust Settles

Middle East Monitor

by Dr Emma Keelan by Dr Brendan Ciarán Browne ( Middle East Monitor ) – As the toxic dust begins to settle, it is hard to even fathom the complex feelings of our Palestinian friends and colleagues, many of whom have families in Gaza who are beginning the arduous task of returning home and […]

Plutocracy

The Far Right, the Tech Bro Oligarchy, and Zionism

Yoav Litvin

Musk serves as Trump’s ideal dancing partner in the chaotic spectacle of the dismantlement of the last fragile remnants of public welfare, writes Yoav Litvin. ( The New Arab ) – Elon Musk, the obscenely wealthy, self-appointed messiah of the digital age, wields influence like a neural network running on overload. Hailed by some as […]

Featured

The Qur’an’s Celebration of Diverse Skin Colors: Forms of Equality in the Muslim Scripture

Juan Cole

I am reprinting part of this essay that appeared in Renovatio, the literary magazine of a small Muslim liberal arts college — Zaytuna — in Berkeley, Ca. The Qur’an is the most hated book in America that no one has ever read, and there are already new visa bans on Muslims deriving from severe misunderstandings […]

Antisemitism

Death shaded the Life of this Holocaust historian. The cancer Memoir he began in Hospital was a final ‘Act of Love’

The Conversation

By Tess Scholfield-Peters, University of Technology Sydney (The Conversation) – Mark Raphael Baker began writing his final book, A Season of Death, from his hospital bed, in the wake of his terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis. His second wife, Michelle, would later observe: “More than a comfort or distraction, in him it was a need.” The […]

Arctic

The Alarming Findings of AI Model that analysed Millions of Images of retreating Glaciers

The Conversation

By Tian Li, University of Bristol; Jonathan Bamber, University of Bristol, and Konrad Heidler, Technical University of Munich (The Conversation) – The Arctic has warmed nearly four times faster than the global average since 1979. Svalbard, an archipelago near the northeast coast of Greenland, is at the frontline of this climate change, warming up to […]

Featured

Let us be Joyous about the Release of all Hostages, Israeli and Palestinian, in Gaza Peace Deal, including 21 Palestinian Children

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – It is wonderful news that on Sunday and Monday Israeli and Palestinian hostages were released as part of the ceasefire deal brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Hamas released Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023. Emily Damari, 28, was kidnapped from […]

Israel/ Palestine

Tevet, Palindromes, and the Ceasefire in Gaza

Shamai Leibowitz

( The Times of Israel ) – On the occasion of the ceasefire in Gaza, let’s reflect on the current Hebrew month of Tevet: This word is a linguistic treat—it’s the only month that forms a palindrome, a word or phrase that reads the same backward and forward. However, in Hebrew, this palindrome magic doesn’t […]

Donald Trump

Trump’s “Largest domestic Deportation Operation in U.S. History” would Target America Itself

Andrea Mazzarino

( Tomdispatch.com ) – This country, once a haven for immigrants, is now on the verge of turning into a first-class nightmare for them. President Donald Trump often speaks of his plan to deport some 11.7 million undocumented immigrants from the United States as “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” Depending on how […]

Archives for 2025

Trumpocalypse: What Turbocharged Carbon Will Do to Our Children