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Archives: Uncategorized

Saudi Arabia wants to improve Image; Here’s How

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Saudi Arabia is alleged to be hiring a PR firm to improve its tattered image in the West . As usual, such a…

The Message on Climate must be ‘Yes We Can,’ not Apocalypse Now’

By Jon Christensen | (The Conversation) | - - There’s been no shortage of pessimistic news on climate change lately. A group of climate scientists and policy experts recently declared that we…

Gov.’s branding Mosque bombing ‘terrorism’ astonishes US Press

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - This Saturday, a Bloomington, Minnesota mosque was attacked with an improvised explosive device, which destroyed an office with fire and blew out windows…

Iran’s Rouhani lashes out at Trump Over Nuclear Deal

By TeleSur | - - Hassan Rouhani calls for upholding the 2015 nuclear deal despite new U.S. sanctions. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was inaugurated for a second term on Saturday, has…

Leftist Kurds with US Air Support breach Walls of ISIL Capital, enter Old City

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Al Jazeera reports that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US Air Force and other international allies, has breached the walls…

How Trump Used the London Attacks to Further His Agenda (Cole Rising Up Interview)

Rising Up with Sonali | Sonali Kolhatkar | (Audio and Video Interview) | "Just days before the UK elections, US president Donald Trump has wielded his Twitter account as a weapon once…

Trump, Saudi Arabia and yet another arms deal

Russell E. Lucas, Michigan State University The first stop on Donald Trump’s first trip as U.S. president was to Saudi Arabia. That was no accident. His decision was surely based on the…

Wikileaks’ Assange claims Victory after Sweden drops Charges, Vows to Publish More

TeleSur | - - Swedish prosecutors dropped the rape investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Friday, saying the investigation had not been able to proceed because of legal obstacles. "Today is…

Even Conservative SCOTUS can’t Stomach N Carolina Voter Suppression

by Andrea Germanos, staff writer | Commondreams.org | - - North Carolina's Voter ID Law Meets 'Its Much-Deserved Demise' Decision by U.S. Supreme Court not to review appeals court decision on 2013…

Dakota Access Pipeline already Leaking Oil & not Completed

TeleSur | - - Even before it is fully operational, and after months of demonstrations by Indigenous and environmental groups that warned of the same, the Dakota Access Pipeline has already suffered…

Wind Power and the quest for 100% Renewables in age of Trump

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Are some major industrial countries only a decade or two from getting all their electricity from non-fossil fuel sources? Since it is the…

Trump Sanctuary Threat Quashed by Court – Is anything he does Constitutional?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - US district judge William Orrick responded to a lawsuit by the county of San Francisco and by Santa Clara county against a Trump…

As Scientists March, Will Trump give away US Science Lead to China?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - The marches for science in the United States and around the world are an expression of alarm about the Trump administration's budget proposals,…

Who Profits from Trump’s dramatic but useless Bombings?

By William Astore | (Tomdispatch.com) | - - What does an “America-first” foreign policy look like under President Donald Trump? As a start, forget the ancient label of “isolationism.” With the end…

Are Progressives Suffering from Trump Fatigue?

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Many progressives are suffering Trump exhaustion. The new administration has set the country back on so many fronts that it may not even…

Trumpworld Fake News: Iran attacks US Navy, Iraqis Massacre Bowling Green

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - So I was watching Chris Matthews' Hardball on MSNBC Thursday evening and Matthews had Kellyanne Conway on to defend Trump's disastrous first two…

Here we go Again: Trump Admin Threatens Iran

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - National Security Advisor Mike Flynn came out on Wednesday to make a brief statement putting Iran "on notice." Flynn complained about Iran's ballistic…

Trump’s Alt-Reality: White Terrorism against Mosque justifies Muslim Ban

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Trump staffer Stephen Miller, an arch-conservative, defended Trump's Muslim ban on television Monday by pointing to Europe, where he alleged there were Muslim…

Torture works . . . to produce Fake News (and that’s how we Got into Iraq)

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - I told this story back in 2005 but it is a good story, has held up, and bears repeating now that President Trump…

Trump’s Visa Ban is about anti-Muslim Bigotry, not Security

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | - - Reuters is reporting that on Wednesday, Trump will announce a halt to the issuing of visas to citizens of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya,…