2022

Would a “Cold” War Be the Best News Around? Ukraine, Taiwan, and Other Flashpoints in a New Age of Geopolitics

( Tomdispatch.com ) – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been widely described as the beginning of a new cold war, much like the old one in both its cast of characters and ideological nature. “In the contest between democracy and autocracy, between sovereignty and subjugation, make no mistake — freedom will prevail,” President Biden asserted […]

Climate Crisis

Harvard study links fracking to early death risk for seniors

Sustainability Times

By Laureen Fagan: ( Sustainability Times) – Most people know it as fracking, a process of drilling for gas and oil using methods like hydraulic fracturing to inject water or chemicals into rock layers so that the fossil fuels can be extracted. It’s long been opposed by climate activists, but now a new study suggests […]

Climate Crisis

EVs are Freedom Cars: When you Fill up your Car with Gasoline, you’re Helping Putin Destroy Ukraine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Alex Mills writes that Russia produces 11 million barrels a day of petroleum and in 2021 exported 7.5 million barrels a day. That is about 11.5 percent of all the petroleum produced daily in the world. It is in part the income from those oil sales that helps Vladimir Putin […]

Inequality

Let’s Go after the Ill-Gotten, Tax-Evading Gains of All Oligarchs, not just Russian Ones

Sam Pizzigati

( Inequality.org ) – Can we please get serious about taxing the rich? Polls show that hefty majorities of people in the United States — and around the world — believe the rich ought to be paying more at tax time. Yet our contemporary don’t-tax-the-rich era has now entered its fifth consecutive decade. Egalitarian tax […]

Climate Crisis

IPCC report: Half the world is facing water scarcity, floods and dirty water — large investments are needed for effective solutions

The Conversation

By Balsher Singh Sidhu, University of British Columbia | – More than half the world’s population faces water scarcity for at least one month every year. Meanwhile, some people have to deal with too much water, while others have access to only poor water quality. That’s billions of people living with drought in Africa and […]

Climate Crisis

Germany: Renewables stocks surge as govt renews vow to speed up expansion amid Ukraine war

Clean Energy Wire

By Kerstine Appunn | – ( Clean Energy Wire ) – German renewables stocks have surged amid prospects of an accelerated energy transition after the government emphasised plans to speed up renewables expansion as a way to become independent of imported fossil fuels, Tim Kanning writes in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The debate had gained momentum […]

Donald Trump

Can the Republican Party shake its Putin Habit, as Pence takes on Trump?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s response to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s horrific invasion of Ukraine was to call Vlad the Invader a “genius.” A majority of Republicans seems to agree. Their idolization of the Russian martinet appears to be rooted in their perception of him as a white Christian nationalist. There were even cheers […]

racism

GOP Hostility to Ketanji Brown Jackson Goes Beyond Hypocrisy

OtherWords

( Otherwords.org ) – Republicans complain about “reverse discrimination” on the Supreme Court. Their real complaint is against constitutional democracy. By Mitchell Zimmerman | March 2, 2022 No one can seriously dispute that Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court, is a brilliant and eminently qualified candidate. Jackson has had a distinguished […]

racism

Our Double Standards on War and Refugees

Michael Jansen

By Michael Jansen | – ( Gulf Today ) – Demonstrators attend a rally in support of Ukraine after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized a military operation in eastern Ukraine, in Prague, Czech Republic. Reuters Under US leadership Nato and the European Union (EU) have mobilised compelling military and financial resources to counter and halt […]

Archives for 2022