2022

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The past eight years have been the eight hottest on record, in further evidence that human-caused global heating is accelerating rapidly and dangerously. So reports the World Meteorological Organization in tandem with the COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The report argues that we can see rapid heating […]

Donald Trump

Why is the Major Israel Lobby supporting over 100 Antisemitic Racists, Climate Deniers and election Denialists for Congress?

H. Scott Prosterman

Oakland, Ca. (Special to Informed Comment) – AIPAC and Jewish Republicans are a puzzlement. They are financially supporting over 100 racists, climate deniers and election deniers running for Congress, because they express unqualified support for Israel’s occupation, expansionist settlements and denial of Palestinian human rights. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), one of the […]

Democracy

The Economy Looms Large in the Midterms, but Abortion, Ukraine and the State of Democracy are also Key Voter Issues

The Conversation

By Stella Rouse, University of Maryland and Shibley Telhami, University of Maryland | – The 2022 midterm elections, perhaps more than most in recent American history, present voters with a multitude of pressing issues to consider as they prepare to vote. These issues range from abortion to rising inflation, energy costs to the state of […]

Climate Crisis

The Day After: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow on a Broiling Planet

Frida Berrigan

( Tomdispatch.com ) – When I was growing up, there was a parody of an old-fashioned public announcement tacked to the wall of our kitchen that I vividly remember. It had step-by-step instructions for what to do “in case of a nuclear bomb attack.” Step 6 was “bend over and place your head firmly between […]

Agriculture

The Saudis depleted their Own Aquifers: now they’re emptying Arizona’s and Getting Sweetheart Deals to do So

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Ella Nilsen at CNN has done an excellent deep dive on the shrinking aquifers of the Southwest and how Arizona has allowed a Saudi and a United Arab Emirates company to establish water-hog farms to grow crops to be shipped back to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia is a country […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Thousands of Detained Protesters and Activists in Peril (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have escalated their assault against widespread dissent and protests through dubious national security charges against detained activists and grossly unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 31, 2022, the head of Tehran Province’s judiciary said that it had issued around 1,000 indictments against those arrested […]

Corporations

Coca-Cola, the world’s largest plastic Polluter, is sponsoring COP27. Here’s why that’s a problem

Global Voices

By Sydney Allen | – In a massive feat of irony, Coca-Cola, the world’s largest plastic polluter, is sponsoring COP27, the world’s largest annual environmental conference, which will take place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6–18. While there is plenty to criticize about this year’s COP27 summit (such as Egypt’s human rights abuses […]

Climate Crisis

COP27: a year on from the Glasgow climate pact, the world is burning more fossil fuels than ever

The Conversation

By Mathieu Blondeel, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick | – The burning of fossil fuels caused 86% of all CO₂ emissions during the past ten years. Despite being the primary culprits of global heating, coal, oil and gas were barely mentioned in the official texts of previous UN climate change summits. That all changed […]

Featured

Backlash in Iran against President Biden’s vow to “Free” the Country