By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The dishonesty and bad faith of Donald Trump’s Muslim ban and general pose of hating Muslims is obvious to anyone who attends to his actual business ties. His hotels in Istanbul and Dubai did not spring up like mushrooms– they resulted from friendships with Turks and […]
Iraqi Gov’t declares “mighty Triumph” over ISIL in Mosul, as Sunni Press decries Casualties
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al-Mada reports that 24 hours after Mosul was completely liberated from the hold of Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi visited it and walked around the city. Photos on his official Twitter site showed him in black military garb. Al-Abadi convened a meeting with leaders […]
G19 outmaneuvers climate Rogue Trump, ignores Donald & Ivanka
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – German Chancellor Angela Merkel ran rings around Trump at the G20 summit in Hamburg, where pictures show Donald sitting alone and being ignored by other heads of state when he bothered to show up (he sent Ivanka to sit in for him at one session). Trump […]
When will gasoline cars be illegal? France throws its Beret into the Ring
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The answer to the question in the title depends very much on the precise question being asked and on the country. If we are talking new vehicle manufactures and sales, the Netherlands and Norway say 2025. Germany and India say 2030. And now France says 2040. […]
Trump’s Fascist Weakness Mars Poland Diatribe
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Donald Trump’s speech in Poland may have attempted to camouflage its Fascist undertones with some Nazi-bashing, but no one will be fooled. The speech was probably shaped by alt-Neo-Nazi Steve Bannon, White House strategist and enabler of the white supremacist roll of toilet paper known as […]
RIP Internal Combustion gasoline Engine: Volvo Goes Electric
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Swedish auto manufacturer Volvo, owned by the Chinese automotive corporation Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, has abruptly decided to produce only electric, plug-in hybrid and “mild hybrid” vehicles by 2019, only two years from now, AP reports. Le Monde called the announcement “a coup […]
Record: Germany at 35% Renewables in Electricity Production
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – So far this year, over a third of German electricity has come from wind, solar, biomass and hydro, at 35%. That is 2 percentage points higher than in 2016. The percentage for the US is only 15%. Germany still has a long way to go to […]
Leftist Kurds with US Air Support breach Walls of ISIL Capital, enter Old City
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Al Jazeera reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US Air Force and other international allies, has breached the walls around the old city of al-Raqqa in eastern Syria and managed to get into the old city itself. Al-Raqqa is the capital of […]
With CNN Reporter Attack Video, Trump apes Seedy Dictators
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump has taken another big step toward becoming an African dictator. On Sunday he tweeted a video someone made for him that was posted at a white supremacist site at Reddit.com. It showed him attacking a CNN reporter, WWF style, and wrestling him to the ground. […]
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