By James Ha and Alison Reeve | The international climate summit in Glasgow aimed to “consign coal power to history”. But while some major coal-consuming countries have agreed to phase out the fossil fuel in the 2030s, Australia is not one of them. Under its recently released plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, the […]
Archives for November 2021
Lincoln’s Invention of Thanksgiving was all About how Black Lives Matter
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Thanksgiving Day, as is well known, was an invented tradition arising from the Civil War, promoted by Abraham Lincoln and his successors as a myth to unite the divided country. It doesn’t actually go back to the Pilgrims. There had been many Thanksgiving Days in the nineteenth century, at a […]
Having Left the Iran Nuclear Deal, can the US revive it with the seventh round in Vienna?
By Hani Habeeb | – ( Middle East Monitor) – While the American Special Representative to Iran, Robert Malley, surprised observers of the nuclear file by saying that the point of no return for this file is approaching, Israel is escalating its tone, especially in the context of its dispute with the US over this […]
No, Modern Warfare is not “Accurate” or “Accountable” and dead Innocents are not “Collateral Damage”
By Lauren Gould, Jolle Demmers, and Nora Stel | – The US military is facing allegations it covered up civilian casualty cases in the US-led coalition war against Islamic State (IS). It’s an issue that has drawn attention to one of the most worrying aspects of US and coalition involvement in the Middle East: the […]
Pandemic History: The Great Plague of Justinian in the 500s AD was a Black Death that Shaped the Century before Islam
Research News of the University of Cambridge | – ‘Plague sceptics’ are wrong to underestimate the devastating impact that bubonic plague had in the 6th– 8th centuries CE, argues a new study based on ancient texts and recent genetic discoveries. The same study suggests that bubonic plague may have reached England before its first recorded […]
Apple Sues Israeli gov’t-backed NSO Spyware Company: “Notorious Hackers – Amoral 21st C. Mercenaries”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Apple is suing the NSO group, which produced the spyware that Israel uses to keep under surveillance the 5 million Palestinians it holds in thrall to its Occupation. The NSO group is believed to be close to the Israeli state. They have sold their hacking tools to repressive governments around […]
‘It’s My Decision’: Iran’s New Population Law Blasted For Restricting Access To Contraceptives, Abortions
By Golnaz Esfandiari and Elahe Ravanshad | – ( RFL/RE ) – Authorities have approved new legislation that imposes further restrictions on abortions, bans the free distribution of contraceptives by the public health-care system, and provides added state benefits to families with more children. The new law is an attempt by authorities to boost flagging […]
Climate Emergency: Big Oil wants to go on drilling while greenwashing with imaginary “Carbon Capture”
By June Sekera and Neva Goodwin | – After decades of sowing doubt about climate change and its causes, the fossil fuel industry is now shifting to a new strategy: presenting itself as the source of solutions. This repositioning includes rebranding itself as a “carbon management industry.” This strategic pivot was on display at the […]
Mars Attacks Earth! And we’re the Martians in this Picture
( Tomdispatch.com) – Who knew that Martians, inside monstrous tripodal machines taller than many buildings, actually ululated, that they made eerily haunting “ulla, ulla, ulla, ulla” sounds? Well, let me tell you that they do — or rather did when they were devastating London. I know that because I recently reread H.G. Wells’s 1898 novel […]