Informed Comment Homepage

Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion

Header Right

Donate

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Email
  • RSS
  • Featured
  • US politics
  • Middle East
  • Environment
  • US Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Economy
  • Politics
  • About
  • Archives
  • Submissions

© 2019 Informed Comment

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Month
  • 2019
    • February 2019 (99)
    • January 2019 (152)
  • 2018
    • December 2018 (160)
    • November 2018 (137)
    • October 2018 (154)
    • September 2018 (142)
    • August 2018 (147)
    • July 2018 (137)
    • June 2018 (132)
    • May 2018 (136)
    • April 2018 (133)
    • March 2018 (126)
    • February 2018 (116)
    • January 2018 (131)
  • 2017
    • December 2017 (132)
    • November 2017 (134)
    • October 2017 (146)
    • September 2017 (127)
    • August 2017 (130)
    • July 2017 (121)
    • June 2017 (125)
    • May 2017 (126)
    • April 2017 (127)
    • March 2017 (139)
    • February 2017 (135)
    • January 2017 (127)
  • 2016
    • December 2016 (124)
    • November 2016 (116)
    • October 2016 (115)
    • September 2016 (95)
    • August 2016 (66)
    • July 2016 (109)
    • June 2016 (114)
    • May 2016 (128)
    • April 2016 (157)
    • March 2016 (156)
    • February 2016 (163)
    • January 2016 (149)
  • 2015
    • December 2015 (153)
    • November 2015 (156)
    • October 2015 (147)
    • September 2015 (149)
    • August 2015 (153)
    • July 2015 (151)
    • June 2015 (152)
    • May 2015 (145)
    • April 2015 (148)
    • March 2015 (147)
    • February 2015 (136)
    • January 2015 (155)
  • 2014
    • December 2014 (157)
    • November 2014 (150)
    • October 2014 (138)
    • September 2014 (139)
    • August 2014 (151)
    • July 2014 (156)
    • June 2014 (146)
    • May 2014 (160)
    • April 2014 (146)
    • March 2014 (143)
    • February 2014 (122)
    • January 2014 (181)
  • 2013
    • December 2013 (166)
    • November 2013 (62)
    • October 2013 (62)
    • September 2013 (69)
    • August 2013 (76)
    • July 2013 (118)
    • June 2013 (109)
    • May 2013 (109)
    • April 2013 (85)
    • March 2013 (89)
    • February 2013 (70)
    • January 2013 (73)
  • 2012
    • December 2012 (96)
    • November 2012 (76)
    • October 2012 (92)
    • September 2012 (74)
    • August 2012 (66)
    • July 2012 (99)
    • June 2012 (77)
    • May 2012 (76)
    • April 2012 (98)
    • March 2012 (107)
    • February 2012 (93)
    • January 2012 (64)
  • 2011
    • December 2011 (60)
    • November 2011 (51)
    • October 2011 (41)
    • September 2011 (39)
    • August 2011 (42)
    • July 2011 (36)
    • June 2011 (49)
    • May 2011 (64)
    • April 2011 (62)
    • March 2011 (54)
    • February 2011 (52)
    • January 2011 (74)
  • 2010
    • December 2010 (79)
    • November 2010 (57)
    • October 2010 (65)
    • September 2010 (58)
    • August 2010 (56)
    • July 2010 (51)
    • June 2010 (59)
    • May 2010 (41)
    • April 2010 (48)
    • March 2010 (52)
    • February 2010 (51)
    • January 2010 (73)
  • 2009
    • December 2009 (65)
    • November 2009 (70)
    • October 2009 (49)
    • September 2009 (53)
    • August 2009 (60)
    • July 2009 (65)
    • June 2009 (78)
    • May 2009 (56)
    • April 2009 (52)
    • March 2009 (78)
    • February 2009 (46)
    • January 2009 (94)
  • 2008
    • December 2008 (84)
    • November 2008 (105)
    • October 2008 (75)
    • September 2008 (84)
    • August 2008 (84)
    • July 2008 (66)
    • June 2008 (62)
    • May 2008 (66)
    • April 2008 (47)
    • March 2008 (49)
    • February 2008 (43)
    • January 2008 (61)
  • 2007
    • December 2007 (63)
    • November 2007 (69)
    • October 2007 (67)
    • September 2007 (68)
    • August 2007 (95)
    • July 2007 (74)
    • June 2007 (59)
    • May 2007 (82)
    • April 2007 (56)
    • March 2007 (51)
    • February 2007 (50)
    • January 2007 (61)
  • 2006
    • December 2006 (49)
    • November 2006 (45)
    • October 2006 (55)
    • September 2006 (63)
    • August 2006 (94)
    • July 2006 (91)
    • June 2006 (72)
    • May 2006 (85)
    • April 2006 (69)
    • March 2006 (66)
    • February 2006 (53)
    • January 2006 (62)
  • 2005
    • December 2005 (60)
    • November 2005 (77)
    • October 2005 (76)
    • September 2005 (77)
    • August 2005 (86)
    • July 2005 (95)
    • June 2005 (85)
    • May 2005 (79)
    • April 2005 (76)
    • March 2005 (81)
    • February 2005 (69)
    • January 2005 (63)
  • 2004
    • December 2004 (80)
    • November 2004 (86)
    • October 2004 (77)
    • September 2004 (67)
    • August 2004 (99)
    • July 2004 (98)
    • June 2004 (102)
    • May 2004 (172)
    • April 2004 (114)
    • March 2004 (130)
    • February 2004 (131)
    • January 2004 (118)
  • 2003
    • December 2003 (128)
    • November 2003 (139)
    • October 2003 (166)
    • September 2003 (134)
    • August 2003 (36)
    • July 2003 (33)
    • June 2003 (29)
    • May 2003 (34)
    • April 2003 (31)
    • March 2003 (25)
    • February 2003 (25)
    • January 2003 (31)
  • 2002
    • December 2002 (16)
    • November 2002 (19)
    • October 2002 (30)
    • September 2002 (29)
    • August 2002 (17)
    • July 2002 (15)
    • June 2002 (4)
    • May 2002 (3)
    • April 2002 (8)
Category
  • Africa (117)
    • Cameroon (1)
    • Djibouti (2)
    • Eritrea (1)
    • Ethiopia (3)
    • Kenya (6)
    • Nigeria (16)
    • Senegal (1)
    • Somalia (11)
    • South Africa (9)
    • South Sudan (6)
    • Sudan (9)
    • Zimbabwe (1)
  • Animals (1)
  • Asia (693)
    • Central Asia (13)
    • East Asia (116)
      • China (88)
        • Hong Kong (1)
      • Japan (13)
      • North Korea (20)
      • South Korea (5)
    • South Asia (539)
      • Afghanistan (341)
        • Taliban (92)
      • Bangladesh (7)
      • India (59)
      • Nepal (2)
      • Pakistan (199)
        • Bilawal Bhutto Zardari (1)
        • FATA (30)
        • Haqqani Network (13)
        • Nawaz Sharif (8)
        • Pakistan People's Party (3)
        • Zardari (2)
    • Southeast Asia (39)
      • Indonesia (1)
      • Myanmar (33)
      • Thailand (2)
  • Authoritarianism (124)
  • Cats (1)
  • Culture (370)
    • art and photography (60)
    • Books (35)
      • The New Arabs (4)
    • Dance (2)
    • Entertainment (71)
      • Humor (45)
        • Cartoon (6)
      • Sports (4)
    • film (39)
    • Graphic Novel (5)
    • Music (31)
    • poetry (148)
      • Omar Khayyam (128)
    • Popular Culture (9)
    • Science Fiction (6)
    • Television (4)
  • Dehydration (1)
  • Democracy (177)
    • Elections (85)
  • Dissent (266)
  • Economy (543)
    • Banking (36)
    • Democratic Socialism (7)
    • Development (13)
    • Employment (42)
    • Inequality (151)
    • Investment (38)
    • Middle Class (46)
    • Neoliberalism (19)
    • Plutocracy (310)
    • Poverty (44)
    • Trade (82)
    • Weapons sales (1)
  • Education (58)
    • Universities (19)
  • Elderly (2)
  • Energy (897)
    • Coal (61)
    • Fossil Fuels (165)
    • Fracking (38)
    • Geothermal (4)
    • Green Energy (195)
    • Natural Gas (37)
    • Nuclear Energy (95)
    • Petroleum (129)
    • Solar Energy (138)
    • Tar Sands (13)
    • Wave Energy (2)
    • wind energy (91)
  • Environment (1,121)
    • Climate Change (759)
      • Acidification of Oceans (44)
      • Dehydration (2)
      • Denialism (75)
      • Desertification (98)
      • Extreme Weather (143)
      • Flooding (14)
      • Mass Extinction (5)
      • Methane (6)
      • Sea Level (155)
      • Soil Carbon Release (2)
      • Super Storms (19)
    • Climate Crisis (12)
    • Drought (14)
    • Environmentalism (162)
    • Green Transportation (80)
    • Ice Melt (24)
    • Pollution (122)
    • Water (41)
  • Europe (632)
    • Eastern Europe (335)
      • Balkans (5)
      • Hungary (2)
      • Russia (320)
        • Chechnya (3)
      • Ukraine (32)
    • Eurasia (5)
      • Armenia (1)
      • Shanghai Cooperation Council (2)
      • Shanhai Cooperation Council (1)
    • European Union (251)
      • Austria (2)
      • Belgium (10)
      • Denmark (2)
      • France (72)
      • Germany (46)
      • Greece (4)
      • Ireland (3)
      • Italy (5)
      • Netherlands (6)
      • Poland (1)
      • Scotland (3)
      • Spain (13)
      • Sweden (6)
    • Norway (3)
    • United Kingdom (64)
  • Featured (1,978)
  • fiction (5)
    • Comic Books (1)
    • Fall of the New Year Throne (1)
    • Flash Fiction (1)
  • Food (7)
  • Guns (9)
  • History (176)
    • Archeology (20)
    • Cold War (10)
    • Colonialism (70)
    • Ottoman Empire (10)
  • Human Rights (905)
    • Apartheid (235)
    • censorship (138)
    • Death Penalty (2)
    • Displaced and Refugees (412)
    • Gay rights (6)
    • Human Rights Watch (60)
    • Slavery and Trafficking (7)
    • Torture (49)
    • War Crimes (244)
    • War Rape (3)
  • Immigration (16)
  • International (612)
    • Arms Sales (24)
    • Corruption (156)
    • Crime (69)
      • Drugs (8)
    • Domestic Terrorism (11)
    • Drone (88)
    • Health (143)
      • Addiction (3)
      • Epidemics (14)
      • Food Security (13)
      • Health Care (58)
      • Mental Health (17)
    • Politics (156)
      • Far Right (31)
      • Left Politics (51)
    • Politics&Culture (14)
  • Islamophobia (241)
  • Juan Cole (264)
  • Latin America (47)
    • Brazil (2)
    • Caribbean (2)
    • Cuba (3)
    • Mexico (4)
    • Venezuela (3)
  • Latinos (3)
  • leisure (21)
    • Intoxicants (3)
    • Sports (2)
  • media (331)
    • Internet (120)
      • social media (86)
    • journalism (184)
      • Political Cartoons (1)
    • television (10)
  • Middle East (6,078)
    • Arab World (4,174)
      • Algeria (4)
      • Arab Spring (78)
      • Bahrain (50)
      • Egypt (446)
      • GCC (46)
      • Gulf (29)
      • Iraq (1,687)
        • Iraq War (228)
      • Jordan (21)
      • Kuwait (18)
      • Lebanon (77)
        • Hizbullah (29)
      • Libya (190)
        • Gaddafi (1)
      • Morocco (12)
      • Palestine (444)
        • Hamas (8)
      • Qatar (69)
      • Saudi Arabia (424)
      • Sudan (3)
      • Syria (953)
        • Bashar al-Assad (123)
        • Free Syrian Army (85)
      • Tunisia (90)
      • UAE (47)
      • Yemen (302)
        • Houthi (76)
        • Saleh (40)
    • Iran (640)
    • Israel (636)
      • Haredim (6)
      • Israel Lobby (81)
      • Mizrahim (6)
      • Palestinian-Israelis (25)
    • Israel/ Palestine (1,473)
      • Gaza (1)
    • Israel/Palestine (8)
    • Kurds (235)
    • Turkey (364)
  • military (103)
  • Modernism (1)
  • nationalism (98)
  • NATO (4)
  • Natural Disasters (11)
  • nuclear weapons (38)
  • Patriarchy (1)
  • Peace (63)
    • Nonviolence (13)
  • Persian mythology (1)
  • Popular Culture (22)
    • Comic Books (1)
    • Zombies (3)
  • Poverty (5)
  • privacy (19)
  • racism (254)
  • Rape (2)
  • religion (700)
    • Buddhism (23)
    • Christianity (111)
      • Assyrians (9)
      • Chaldeans (7)
      • Copts (10)
      • Papacy (21)
      • Protestants (3)
      • Roman Catholicism (15)
    • Eastern Orthodox (6)
    • Fundamentalism (2)
    • Hindu Nationalism (4)
    • Hinduism (1)
    • Islam (550)
      • political Islam (212)
        • Muslim Brotherhood (24)
      • Qur'an (28)
      • Shiites (223)
        • Alawites (6)
        • Alevis (2)
        • Druze (5)
        • Zaidis (20)
      • Sufism (15)
      • Sunnis (188)
        • Salafis (62)
      • Wahhabis (32)
    • Jewish History (29)
      • Holocaust (7)
    • Judaism (64)
      • Antisemitism (10)
    • Millenarianism (1)
    • Sikhism (1)
    • Yezidis (15)
    • Zoroastrianism (1)
  • Rights (124)
    • BDS (11)
    • BDS Occupied Territories (34)
    • Gay Rights (2)
    • Privacy (14)
    • Torturers (30)
  • Romance (1)
  • science (95)
    • Artificial Intelligence (1)
    • astronomy and outer space (21)
    • Evolution (6)
    • Technology (18)
      • Domestic drones (2)
  • Secular (West) (7)
  • Secularism (19)
  • Sexual Assault (2)
  • South Pacific (1)
  • Spirituality (19)
    • Meditation (1)
    • Sufism (9)
  • Statelessness (14)
  • Surveillance (255)
    • Corporate Surveillance (11)
    • Domestic Surveillance (167)
    • Government surveillance (215)
  • Terrorism (994)
    • al Qaeda in the Arabian Penisula (37)
    • al-Qaeda (172)
    • Al-Shabab (2)
    • Boko Haram (10)
    • Counter-Terrorism (59)
    • Far Right (13)
    • Irgun (2)
    • Islamic Jihad (2)
    • Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (592)
    • Israeli Squatters (34)
    • Jabhat al-Nusra (86)
    • Pakistan Taliban (49)
    • PKK (3)
  • Tolerance (4)
  • Uncategorized (8,020)
  • United Nations (64)
    • International Criminal Court (8)
  • Urbanization (3)
  • US Foreign Policy (448)
  • US politics (2,866)
    • Anti-War Movement (5)
    • Campaign Finance (23)
    • Censors (21)
    • Central Intelligence Agency (56)
    • Civil Rights (75)
    • Constitution (230)
      • Bill of Rights (143)
    • crime (3)
      • rape (3)
    • Democratic Party (432)
      • Barack Obama (223)
      • Bernie Sanders (77)
      • Elizabeth Warren (6)
      • Hillary Clinton (77)
      • Obama (4)
    • Democratic Socialists of America (2)
    • Domestic Terrorism (15)
    • Drone Warfare (22)
    • Espionage (107)
      • CIA (43)
      • National Security Agency (59)
    • Ethnicities (217)
      • African-Americans (126)
      • Arab Americans (65)
      • Asian-Americans (5)
      • Iranian-Americans (11)
      • Latinos (63)
    • Far Right (156)
      • Steve Bannon (46)
    • FBI (34)
    • Foreign Policy (191)
    • Gay Rights (12)
    • Guns (57)
    • Immigration (144)
    • Israel Lobbies (72)
    • Marijuana (1)
    • Militarization (207)
    • National Security State (363)
    • Native Americans (20)
    • Nuclear arsenal (5)
    • penitentiaries (6)
    • Pentagon (244)
    • Police (19)
    • prison reform (3)
    • Puerto Rico (24)
    • Religious Right (1)
    • Reproductive Choice (7)
    • Republican Party (1,663)
      • Bush (70)
        • Richard Bruce Cheney (36)
      • Donald Trump (980)
      • Neoconservatives (11)
    • Supreme Court (41)
    • Voter suppression (18)
    • Whistleblowers (3)
    • Xenophobia (7)
  • Veterans (17)
  • Voting Rights (4)
  • War (223)
    • Chemical Weapons (10)
    • Nuclear weapons (13)
  • Western Religion (343)
    • American Jews (14)
    • Christians (53)
      • Fundamentalists (33)
    • Islam-hatred (219)
    • Muslim-Americans (199)
    • Roman Catholics (6)
    • US Buddhism (1)
    • Western Jews (25)
      • Antisemitism (12)
      • Zionism (8)
    • Western Muslims (62)
  • White Supremacists (46)
  • wikileaks (8)
  • women (247)
    • Feminism (32)
  • workers (112)
  • Writing (5)
  • Youth (108)
    • Children (38)

Featured

Bush
Uygur:  Bush Targetting of Juan Cole proves that NSA can’t be trusted with our Personal Data

Uygur: Bush Targetting of Juan Cole proves that NSA can’t be trusted with our Personal Data

Juan Cole

Cenk Uygur at Young Turks makes the point that the National Security Agency and other US intelligence (services who are ending up with massive amounts of electronic surveillance information on Americans –whether that is what they were mainly going for or not) keep saying we should trust them with the information. They maintain that they […]

Featured
Solar would be Cheaper:  US Pentagon has spent $8 Trillion to Guard Gulf Oil

Solar would be Cheaper: US Pentagon has spent $8 Trillion to Guard Gulf Oil

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was in the Gulf on Friday at a conference of defense ministers from the region, including the Gulf Cooperation Council and Iran. Hagel underlined American commitment to the security of the Arab states on the littoral of the Gulf, including Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, […]

Africa
The Mandela Problem of the AWM Wing of the GOP

The Mandela Problem of the AWM Wing of the GOP

Juan Cole

The US Republican Party has become the party of the angry white man (AWM) in the United States, which is a large part of the reason it has had trouble winning presidential elections. There are more female than male voters, and if you add white females to Asians, Latinos, African-Americans, gays and agnostics, you have […]

Africa
Today’s South Africa by the Numbers (with Photos)

Today’s South Africa by the Numbers (with Photos)

Juan Cole

Population of South Africa: 51 million (slightly larger than South Korea) Annual Gross Domestic Product (nominal): $384 billion (in neighborhood of Taiwan, Austria, UAE) Rank among world economies: 29 Rank among African economies: 1 Amount GDP has grown since end of white rule in 1994: 3 times Number of people added to middle class in […]

Africa
Photo of the Day: Apartheid South Africa Sign

Photo of the Day: Apartheid South Africa Sign

Juan Cole

This sign is left over from Apartheid days and is preserved under an awning in downtown Johannesburg, South Africa as a reminder of what was. I photographed it in August, 2012. —— Related video: For more context, the BBC has a minute-and-a-half review of the horrible institution of Apartheid in South Africa:

Africa
United States, Israel opposed Mandela, supported Apartheid

United States, Israel opposed Mandela, supported Apartheid

Juan Cole

The attempt to make Nelson Mandela respectable is an ongoing effort of Western government spokesmen and the Western media. He wasn’t respectable in the business circles of twentieth-century New York or Atlanta, or inside the Beltway of Washington, D.C. He wasn’t respectable for many of the allies of the United States in the Cold War, […]

Featured
Tunisian Rapper Jailed for 4 Months for Insulting the Police

Tunisian Rapper Jailed for 4 Months for Insulting the Police

Juan Cole

Tunisia Live reports that: “Rapper Ala Yaacoubi, known by his stage name Weld el 15, turned himself in to a court in Hammamet today, where his 21-month prison sentence was reduced to four months.” He was sentenced for public indecency (because of his rap lyrics) and for insulting officers of the state (his most famous […]

Domestic Surveillance
Trashing the Law against warrantless GPS tracking: NSA nabs 5 Billion Phone location Records a Day

Trashing the Law against warrantless GPS tracking: NSA nabs 5 Billion Phone location Records a Day

Juan Cole

Remember when the National Security Agency officials maintained that they were “only” collecting “metadata” from your cell phones? What they meant by that was that they weren’t listening in on your calls, just noting who you call and when. I said at the time that ‘metadata’ on cell phones inevitably includes information on where you […]

Christianity
GOP:  No Climate Change because, Bible

GOP: No Climate Change because, Bible

Juan Cole

Opposing views points to the scary ignorance and bible-thumping to which GOP representatives in Congress are appealing in their genocidal stand against quick action on climate change. If you have to have a biblical theology about these things, it should be the old-fashioned one that human beings are stewards of the earth and have a […]

  • « Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • …
  • Page 217
  • Page 218
  • Page 219
  • Page 220
  • Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

STAY INFORMED

Join our newsletter and have sharp analysis delivered to your inbox every day.


Support Us

Help keep independent journalism alive and donate online, or make checks payable to:
"Juan Cole"
P. O. Box 4218,
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-2548
(No parcels, please)
Sign up for our newsletter

Informed Comment © 2019 All Rights Reserved