Informed Comment - Part 1829

Enter the Ayatollah: Sistani calls on Iraqis to enlist in Fight against “Terrorists”

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, spiritual leader of most Iraqi Shiites, intervened forcefully in Iraqi politics on Thursday and Friday, giving his support to the national […]

Juan Cole

Bush

Dear America: You’re in the Army Now

By William J. Astore I spent four college years in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and then served 20 years in the U.S. Air […]

contributors

Climate Change

Elon Musk on Tesla Electric Car: “All Our Patents Are Belong To You”

In a blog post entitled “All Our Patents Are Belong To You”, Elon Musk has once again done something revolutionary; opened Tesla’s patents for use by any other automaker. This guy is the real deal. When’s the last time a billionaire CEO quoted…

contributors

Barack Obama

The Second Iran-Iraq War and the American Switch

Iran has decided to intervene directly in Iraq and has already sent fighters to the front, according to the Wall Street Journal, based on Iranian […]

Juan Cole

Immigration

Seven Key Takeaways From Eric Cantor’s Shocking Defeat

No incumbent majority leader had lost a seat in Congress since 1899, when the post was first created. Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) broke that streak last night. He’s announced that he’ll step down from leadership within weeks. Cantor’s stunning defeat…

contributors

censorship

Egypt: 15-Yr. Sentence for Hero of Tahrir Revolution, blogger Alaa, 24 others

By Joe Stork, Human Rights Watch (Beirut) – A Cairo court on June 11, 2014, sentenced the prominent Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and 24 […]

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Economy

After Piketty, is the Study of Economics the Study of Rising Inequality?

By Chris Edwards, University of East Anglia The economic and political focus is increasingly on the inequality of income and wealth as they both rise […]

contributors

Climate Change

Tallest German Residential High-Rise Will Also Be Solar Aktivhaus

Award-winning proposed Aktivhaus apartment tower at Skyline Plaza complex in Frankfurt (skyscrapercity.com) The European residential high-rise boom has a green twist these days. Magnus Kaminiarz & Cie unanimously won this spring’s design award for…

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