Featured

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Uber warmongerers John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, somehow the National Security Adviser and Secretary of State of the United States, respectively, have sent an aircraft carrier battle group toward the Gulf in the vicinity of Iran, in hopes of provoking a military confrontation with that country. Iran does not have […]

Climate Change

Tipping Point: For 1st Time in US History, Renewables made more Electricity than Coal in April

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Avery Thompson Popular Mechanics reports that in the month of April for the first time in US history, the country produced more electricity with renewables than with coal. Part of the solution to this puzzle is economic. In much of the US, Thompson notes, you could actually make more money […]

Democratic Party

The Democrats can Crush unpopular Trump in 2020, but only if they Run to the Left

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new CNN/SSRS poll of about 1,000 people shows that among a random sample of registered voters, Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden each crush Trump by 6 to 7 points, even at this very early point in the campaign. Kamala Harris also wins, but by a smaller margin. This poll […]

Featured

Super-Majority of Arab Youth in New Poll say Religion too Important in Public Life

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A just-released survey of youth (aged 18-24) in 16 Arab countries has found that 66% of them say there is too much religion in public life. Further, fully 79%, almost 4 in 5, say that the Arab world desperately needs to reform its religious institutions. Fully half said that religion […]

Constitution

Mueller thinks Trump Committed Obstruction: Why he Wrote to Barr and why Barr Lied

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment): Devlin Barrett and Matt Zapotosky at WaPo broke the story that Special Counsel Bob Mueller wrote a sharp letter to Attorney General William Barr to protest the 4-page summary Barr put out before releasing the Mueller report to the public. The letter was private but someone just leaked it to WaPo. […]

Featured

In our National Interest? 250K Yemenis now Starving to Death, with 233K already dead in Trump-Backed War

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s policy in Yemen might best be described as “malign neglect.” The US is giving strategic and logistical support, and above all political legitimacy to a brutal war being waged on little Yemen by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and their coalition allies (though that group seems to be […]

Climate Change

Scottish Gov’t Announces ‘Climate Emergency’ in response to Extinction Rebellion Call

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon of the social-democratic Scottish National Party has called a “climate emergency,” doing so in response to a call from “Extinction Rebellion Scotland.” The latter is a youth protest group that has staged walk-outs from high schools and engaged in civil disobedience in numerous cities around […]

Antisemitism

Hatred of One is Hatred of All: San Diego Synagogue Shooter had Attempted to Burn down Mosque

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – One person is dead and three are wounded after a shooting at a synagogue in San Diego, which the mayor has branded a “hate crime.” The attack came a day after an Iraq War veteran was arraigned in Sunnyvale, Ca. in the north of the state for running over 8 […]