By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump’s State of the Union address had all the elements of fascism except brownshirts marching in the street beating people up (and he veered toward even that in his praise of the Klan and Neo-Nazis at Charlottesville). Fascism pretends to incorporate the good of the masses […]
Archives for January 2018
Egyptian opposition call for boycotting presidential elections
Middle East Monitor | – – Egyptian former presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi called today for boycotting the country’s upcoming presidential elections due in March. Speaking at a press conference held at the opposition Dignity Party headquarters in the capital Cairo, Sabahi called for the formation of a “unified coalition” to boycott the elections. “These are […]
Yemen just got Bloodier & more Complicated: Trump Ally UAE backing Separatist Militia
By Daniel Martin Varisco | (MENA Tidningen) | – – The fighting that erupted in Aden over the weekend is still going on, but army forces loyal to exiled president Hadi appear to be on the losing side. Al-Jazeera is reporting that the Southern Transition Council (STC) forces “were able to wrest control of a […]
Trump isn’t a Bug in our US Software, he’s a Feature
By Andrew J. Bacevich | ( Tomdispatch.com) | – – The present arrives out of a past that we are too quick to forget, misremember, or enshroud in myth. Yet like it or not, the present is the product of past choices. Different decisions back then might have yielded very different outcomes in the here-and-now. […]
Trump declines to Sanction Russia, Spurring Speculation about Putin Hold
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Trump administration has refused to implement new sanctions on the Russian defense sector, as mandated by Congress’s “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,” or CAATSA. Congress passed the bill last year and it was reluctantly finally signed by Trump in August. It is vaguely worded […]
Trump’s Criminalization of Muslims goes beyond Travel Ban
Basima Sisemore | (The Conversation) | – – On Jan. 19, a year after President Donald Trump’s first travel ban was issued, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments against the latest third version signed by Trump on Sept. 24, 2017. This version remains in full effect. Under the ban, nationals from eight countries are […]
Is The Internet A Luxury Or A Right? (Video)
AJ+ | – – “Ten percent of people in the U.S. don’t have broadband internet, and the number is much higher among rural communities and the urban poor. “ Is The Internet A Luxury Or A Right? | AJ+
US general defies Turkey, says not planning Manbij troop withdrawal
Middle East Monitor | – – The United States has no plans to withdraw troops stationed near the town of Manbij in northern Syria despite warnings from Turkey to remove its forces immediately, CNN quoted the US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel as saying. Pulling US forces from Manbij is “not something we are […]
No, Trump, Ice isn’t growing at Poles, and Yes, we are Boiling the Earth
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The Associated Press did a useful fact check of Trump’s bizarre assertions on climate change in the interview with his friend Piers Morgan. Since Trump is not good with reading books and the like, it may be helpful to reply to his falsehoods with graphs. TRUMP: […]