Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Declaration of independence begins with the famous words, crafted by Thomas Jefferson: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure […]
Archives for July 2022
Robert Reich: Bans on Abortion, Birth Control, and same-sex Marriage are at Stake
By Robert Reich | – (Minnesota Reformer) – Overturning Roe v. Wade is extreme, but what’s just as alarming is the logic Justice Samuel Alito used to justify it, which puts a whole range of other rights on the chopping block, too. We enjoy many rights that are protected by the Constitution but not explicitly […]
Iran: Rights Defenders Sentenced for Questioning Covid Policies: Arbitrary Arrest and Unfair Prosecution
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities sentenced five prominent human rights defenders to prison on June 19, 2022, for attempting to file a legal complaint against government agencies and officials for mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should quash the convictions of the human rights defenders, which […]
Why MCU’s Ms. Marvel matters so much to Muslim, South Asian Fans
By Safiyya Hosein, Toronto Metropolitan University | – (The Conversation) – The Disney+ TV show featuring Ms. Marvel, also known as Kamala Khan — the first Muslim superheroine of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), launched June 8 — and the internet has been alight with discussions about the lovable titular character. The comic book series, […]
Does Megadrought of the 500s in Yemen help Explain the Rise of Islam?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new article in the journal Science gives evidence for a prolonged dry spell in the kingdom of Himyar (which now would comprise Yemen, southern Saudi Arabia and Oman) in the 500s. Since the Prophet Muhammad is traditionally said to have been born in 567 or 570, any new information […]
European Union Ministers Agree on Climate Bills, the De Facto End of Gasoline Cars by 2035
By Kerstine Appunn | – ( Clean Energy Wire) – EU member states have approved the end of fossil fuelled passenger cars in 2035 and found compromises on emissions trading and a “Social Climate Fund”. The fund will be used to cushion the impacts of a new price on CO2 in the transport and heating […]
‘We are Ready to receive You’: Blue States prepare for Influx of Patients seeking Abortion Care
By Cami Parrish | – ( Cronkite New ) – PHOENIX – Health care clinics in states including California, New Mexico, Colorado and Washington are preparing to become “safe havens” for pregnant people living in Arizona and other places where abortions are restricted or banned. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on […]
The clean energy revolution isn’t just a techno-fix– it’s about capturing hearts and minds
By Bjorn Sturmberg, Australian National University; Hedda Ransan-Cooper, Australian National University; Johannes Hendriks, Australian National University; Pierrick Chalaye, Australian National University | – The Black Summer bushfires devastated parts of the Eurobodalla region in New South Wales. Then earlier this year, the area was hit by floods. As climate change threatens to bring more severe […]
Unlike SCOTUS, Iraqi Kurds are Rethinking Lax Gun Laws after Shootings; Will even Iraq be Safer than the US?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Other countries can just adopt rational policies to deal with severe social problems. The United States is locked into various weird metaphysical dogmas that make reasoning about such issues difficult. The second amendment, for instance, has nothing to do with universal gun ownership, whatever ideologues on the Right assert. The […]