Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Haaretz reports that at public prayers for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, Ultra-Orthodox activists attempted to put up banners as separators to allow for the segregation of male and female worshipers. This action was seen as a provocation by liberal […]
Archives for September 2023
Iraqis Tortured by US at Abu Ghraib have Never Received Justice or Compensation
The US government has apparently failed to provide compensation or other redress to Iraqis who suffered torture and other abuse by US forces at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq two decades ago. Iraqis tortured by US personnel still have no clear path for receiving redress or recognition from the US government though […]
Our Move to Renewables is only the Latest of Many Energy Transitions; We can do it Again
By Liz Conor, La Trobe University | – In 2022, the burning of fossil fuels provided 82% of the world’s energy. In 2000, it was 87%. Even as renewables have undergone tremendous growth, they’ve been offset by increased demand for energy. That’s why the United Nations earlier this month released a global stocktake – an […]
From Education to Incarceration
By Tamar Sarai | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Not long after moving to Topeka, Kansas, in the early 1980s, community organizer Curtis Pitts learned about a hidden slice of that city’s history that would come to shape his life’s work over the next four decades. He was introduced to the Kansas Technical Institute, or […]
Iran’s Denials and Delusions at the United Nations
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Frankly, it was hard to watch last weekend’s interview of Farid Zakaria of CNN with Iran’s current president, Raisi. It was embarrassing. As usual it was all denial and delusion on the part of the highest official of the Islamic Republic. When Raisi’s men showed up at […]
How Israel’s war on Palestinian History turned into a War on UNESCO
by Dr Ramzy Baroud ( Middle East Monitor ) – Jericho does not belong to the Palestinians alone. It belongs to the whole of humanity. For Israel, however, the recognition by UNESCO of Jericho as a “World Heritage Site in Palestine” complicates its mission of erasing Palestine, physically and figuratively, from existence. The decision was […]
How Popular Music Videos encouraged Iraqi Shiites to Resist ISIL Terrorism
By Benjamin Isakhan, Deakin University; and Ali Akbar, The University of Melbourne | – Almost a decade ago, the Sunni jihadist network known as the “Islamic State” (IS) declared the formation of an Islamic Caliphate after they captured the Iraqi city of Mosul in June 2014. In response, tens of thousands of Shia men joined […]
In First, Rooftop Solar Alone provides 101% of South Australia’s Electricity Demand
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Giles Parkinson at RenewEconomy in Australia reports that rooftop solar briefly generated 101% of South Australia’s electricity demand on Saturday around 2 pm local time. This milestone is important, since it was reached entirely with rooftop solar on residential and business edifices rather than with industrial-scale solar farms, of which […]
Meeting Union Demands would be a Win-Win for Automakers
By Sonali Kolhatkar ( Otherwords.org) – The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union of nearly 150,000 workers at America’s “Big Three” automakers, are on strike. On the face of it, UAW’s demands sound audacious. They’re calling for a 46 percent pay raise and a four-day workweek, among other things. But in the broader context of […]