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Juan Cole

Authoritarianism
Young Unveiled Iranian Women Protesters Keep Mysteriously falling off Buildings, According to Country’s Police

Young Unveiled Iranian Women Protesters Keep Mysteriously falling off Buildings, According to Country’s Police

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Like Russian officials and failed diplomats, who seem to fall off buildings at a dizzying rate, Iranian young women under the harsh, patriarchal rule of the ayatollahs have developed the same health condition. Or so it is alleged by the official Iranian press. Independent organizations such as Amnesty International beg […]

Featured
Dark Brandon Pardons Those Convicted of Pot Use, Righting a Historical Wrong: The 'War on Drugs' Targeted Minorities

Dark Brandon Pardons Those Convicted of Pot Use, Righting a Historical Wrong: The ‘War on Drugs’ Targeted Minorities

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a pardon for all federal convicts on the charge of marijuana possession. Mr. Biden further urged state governors to take a similar step regarding those convicted on state possession charges. Third, he asked Xavier Becerra, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the […]

Featured
As Saudis stab Biden in the Back with OPEC+ Oil Cut, Only Electric Vehicles can Make US Independent

As Saudis stab Biden in the Back with OPEC+ Oil Cut, Only Electric Vehicles can Make US Independent

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a major blow to President Joe Biden, on Wednesday, OPEC+ took steps toward cutting the oil production of the members by 2 million barrels a day. Jackie Northam at NPR reports the views of analysts who believe that Saudi Arabia and Russia drove the decision in order to get […]

Climate Crisis
Ray of Hope: Florida's Solar-Powered Babcock Ranch Handily survived Hurricane Ian

Ray of Hope: Florida’s Solar-Powered Babcock Ranch Handily survived Hurricane Ian

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Babcock Ranch, Florida, in the southwest of the state, was planned in 2005 as a 17,000 acre community. It had as goals conservation and sustainability. The town was built to withstand the hurricanes that sweep over Florida with ever more frequency and fierceness. And, lo and behold, it was able […]

Authoritarianism
Iran: School and University Women Lead Rallies, Sit-ins Bareheaded, as Leader Khamenei Softens on Compulsory Veiling

Iran: School and University Women Lead Rallies, Sit-ins Bareheaded, as Leader Khamenei Softens on Compulsory Veiling

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday in Iran, demonstrations, marches and rallies continued for the 17th day, spearheaded by high school and college students. Many universities entered a third day of class boycotts by students, who said they would not return to their studies until the government released imprisoned students. At some universities students […]

Featured
Proliferation and Nuclear Winter: If Putin drops an Atom Bomb on Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia -- Everyone -- will Want a Bomb

Proliferation and Nuclear Winter: If Putin drops an Atom Bomb on Ukraine, Iran, Saudi Arabia — Everyone — will Want a Bomb

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russian President Vladimir Putin again threatened on Friday, as he announced the annexation of four provinces from Ukraine, to use nuclear weapons, presumably as a last resort, in his war on Ukraine. Putin said, according to Reuters, “The United States is the only country in the world that has twice […]

Dissent
Iran Protests for Personal Freedoms Enter 3rd Week, as all Three Branches of Government Vow Crackdown

Iran Protests for Personal Freedoms Enter 3rd Week, as all Three Branches of Government Vow Crackdown

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that President Ebrahim Raisi met Saturday with the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and with the Chief Justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, about the wave of demonstrations that entered its third week this weekend. The heads of all three branches of civil government called on the police to […]

Apartheid
Nexstar, Broadcaster of "Kung Fu," "Nancy Drew," Fires Journalist Katie Halper for Defending Palestinian Rights

Nexstar, Broadcaster of “Kung Fu,” “Nancy Drew,” Fires Journalist Katie Halper for Defending Palestinian Rights

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Journalist Katie Halper of the YouTube channel Katie Halper Show (which can be supported at Patreon) was fired on Thursday from her three-year-long morning gig on “The Rising” at The Hill TV over her remarks on Israeli Apartheid practices toward Palestinians. Both the news site The Hill and The Hill […]

Climate Crisis
Dear Gov. DeSantis: Ian isn't a once-in-500-years Flooding event, it is the New Normal, and Your Policies are helping Cause it

Dear Gov. DeSantis: Ian isn’t a once-in-500-years Flooding event, it is the New Normal, and Your Policies are helping Cause it

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has abruptly been handed an honest-to-God crisis that may distract him from his usual antics of trolling Venezuelan asylum-seekers, firing elected prosecutors who disagree with him on coerced childbirth, and firing scientists who wouldn’t manipulate state COVID statistics for him. DeSantis called Hurricane Ian a once-in-a-500-year […]

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Juan Cole
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