Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was elected on Sunday to his second (non-consecutive) term as president, in a victory for planet earth as well as for Brazil. He first served 2003-2010. Since 2019, Brazil’s president has been the far right demagogue Jair Bolsonaro, who just lost to the leftist da […]
Archives for October 2022
Invasion of the Mind Snatchers: How to Combat the GOP Election Denialists’ Plot to Subvert Democracy
Chicago (Special to Informed Comment) – In the 1978 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, an alien fungal spore infection takes over the minds of susceptible people, growing into pods that duplicate their bodies and transforming them into pod people — mindless authoritarian monsters that want to control America. A remake of the 1956 movie […]
Surging numbers: Driving an Electric Vehicle doesn’t need to cause Range Anxiety
By Hailey Forbis | – ( Cronkite News) – SANTA MONICA, Calif. – With more electric vehicles humming down highways, states are under increasing pressure to install more public charging stations to make sure the juice keeps flowing. The challenge is particularly acute in California, which adopted a rule in August to gradually phase out […]
Citizens’ Social Media can provide an Antidote to Propaganda and Disinformation
By Robert W. Gehl, York University, Canada | – In early October, the Pew Research Center released a report called “The Role of Alternative Social Media in the News and Information Environment.” While the report is well-researched and reveals a great deal about the current state of digital media, news and right-wing propaganda, it is […]
3-Alarm Fire on Planet Earth: Current Climate Policies will Heat it by extra 5.4° F. (3C) by 2100, for 1st time in Millions of Years
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – William J. Ripple et al. writing in BioScience warn that we are deep into a climate emergency, which they call “code red on planet earth.” They point to the increased frequency and severity of weather-related disasters, producing “untold human suffering.” Human-driven global heating, especially in the Arctic, which is warming […]
Iran: Protesters call for Move to a non-religious State. What Changes would that Bring?
By Hossein Dabbagh, University of Oxford | – My friend was in Tehran during protests after the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the morality police (Gasht-e Ershad). My friend went into a grocery shop intending to buy milk. The seller refused to sell anything to her. “Why are you refusing?” she […]
As Crackdown Intensifies, Iranian Demonstrators Turn To Protest Art
( RFE/RL ) – As the authorities intensify their deadly crackdown on antiestablishment protests in Iran, some demonstrators are resorting to protest art to express their dissent. The street art and graffiti has targeted Iran’s clerical regime, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and has appeared on public walls in major cities. دیوارنویسی اعتراضی در […]
Tackling Inflation By Rewarding the Rich Is a Fool’s Errand
By Sonali Kolhatkar | – ( Otherwords.org ) – British Prime Minister Liz Truss recently resigned after just 45 days in office, disgraced by her own economic prescriptions. There’s a lesson here for the United States, a nation beset by similar economic troubles. The main takeaway? Tackling inflation by rewarding the rich is a fool’s […]
The Stochastic Ex-President: How Trump set up the Pelosis for Attack
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Joe Biden noted Friday evening — concerning the assailant who fractured Paul Pelosi’s skull with a hammer in the Pelosi home in San Francisco — “that the same chant was used by this guy that they have in custody that was used on January 6, the attack on the […]
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