Oslo (Special to Informed Comment) – In November 1970 the Great Bhola Cyclone smashed into the southern coast of what is now Bangladesh, killing 500,000 people. It wasn’t just the deadliest storm in human history — it knocked over the first domino in a political chain reaction that brought the world to the brink of […]
Archives for March 2022
We must turn solidarity with Ukraine into the new normal for all refugees
By Nicolas Haeringer | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – Since Russia started its war on Ukraine, we’ve seen a tremendous outpouring of solidarity with Ukrainians. People have made online donations to the Ukrainian army, Europe has welcomed refugees with open arms and free trains, western countries have united in their imposition of sanctions on […]
The Taliban is holding girls’ education hostage in Afghanistan – the question is, why?
By Sippi Azarbaijani Moghaddam, University of St Andrews | – Afghan children and teenagers have not had much to look forward to since the Taliban took power in August last year. They have endured six months of uncertainty, anxiety and fear as they waited to see what Taliban rule would bring for them. Women could […]
Stanford U. Electricity now 100% Green, with Savings of $ .5 Billion; Why aren’t more Universities in Forefront of Climate Battle?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Chelci Adami of the Stanford Report writes that Stanford University has transitioned to 100% renewable electricity. The Stanford Solar Generating Station #2 went online in mid-March, adding 63 megawatts to the university’s electricity supply. The campus had completed a previous 54-megawatt solar installation in 2016, and the new facility has […]
The US Should Remember that Israel’s Squatter-Settlements in Palestine are War Crimes
( Middle East Monitor ) – US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, engaged in further diplomatic contradictions, as he fluctuated between asserting the Biden administration’s stance purportedly against Israeli settlement expansion, yet making concessions for earlier encroachment upon Palestinian land. “We can’t do stupid things that impede us from a two-state solution,” Nides reportedly told […]
In 20 years of studying how ecosystems absorb carbon, here’s why we’re worried about a tipping point of collapse
By Caitlin Moore, David Campbell, Helen Cleugh, Jamie Cleverly, Jason Beringer, Lindsay Hutley, and Mark Grant | – From rainforests to savannas, ecosystems on land absorb almost 30% of the carbon dioxide human activities release into the atmosphere. These ecosystems are critical to stop the planet warming beyond 1.5℃ this century – but climate change […]
The Five Horsemen of Today’s Apocalypse
( Tomdispatch.com ) – Once upon a time, the tutelary gods of nationalism and internationalism met for a chat. They had a superb perch above the clouds. From there, they could see everything happening on the Earth below and they set to arguing, as they so often did. Sophia, the goddess of internationalism, began by […]
If Biden Really wants Putin to Fall, He should make Green Energy a War Measure
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden, at the end of his impassioned address in Warsaw, said: “A dictator bent on rebuilding an empire will never erase a people’s love for liberty. Brutality will never grind down their will to be free. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia — for free people […]
There’s No Better Time to Buy an Electric Car and Kick Our Oil Addiction
( Otherwords.org ) – Long used to cheap gas at the pump, Americans are experiencing serious sticker shock these days. News headlines link this sharp increase to Russia’s war on Ukraine. But that assumes oil companies have no control over the price of oil — that high prices stem “naturally” from things like the war […]