This essay was first published in January 2017. It seems even more prescient 8 and a half years later. At that time I could not […]
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US out of Iraq, but Peace remains Elusive
The Iraq War is over except for the packing, President Obama announced on Friday. He held out hope that the US would be at peace […]
Qaddafi’s People’s Temple
The final weeks of Muammar Qaddafi’s violent and coercive life reminded me vividly of Jim Jones and the People’s Temple Cult. It was obvious from […]
Turkey Goes into Iraq after Kurdish Attack
Many catastrophes ensued from George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq (launched in order to, he told an astonished and puzzled Jacques Chirac, then French […]
Iran Alleges Saudi Plot Story is MEK Sting
The state-backed Iran Times carries a report from Iran’s Mehr news service that alleges that it learned from Interpol that Gholam Shakuri is a member […]
News that Makes you Go ‘Hunh’?
Simple explanations for perplexing news headlines. * A poll shows that the US public blames politicians in Washington, D.C., more than they do Wall Street, […]
Sanctions on Iran will Never Produce Real Change
After the announcement of the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, D.C. (a case that, on the basis of what has […]
This is the Way the Iraq War Ends, with Bangs and Whimpers
The Associated Press is reporting that its sources in the Obama administration are admitting that all US troops will have to leave Iraq by 31 […]
Did Columbus Cause Climate Change?
This story is irresistible for a world historian interested in climate change. Richard Nevle, a geochemist at Stanford, argues that the European advent in the […]
Facebook Shanghaiing
There are lots of problematic things about the way Facebook is run, and many more serious than the one I’m going to complain about. For […]
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