Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – My mother was a Lutheran and the Coles were Catholics, though my grandfather fell away when he married a woman from the Brethren peace church. So it was striking to me that on this Christmas a Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, Munther Isaac, and Pope Francis both made headlines with their […]
Archives for December 2023
From BLM to Gaza: Inside the Youth-led fight for a Demilitarized Future
By Alessandra Bergamin | – ( Waging Nonviolence ) – In January 2020, Dissenters — a grassroots, youth-led antiwar movement — began with the mission to connect violence against Black and brown communities in the U.S. to the systems of oppression that fund, arm and enable global militarism. While born from the legacy of the […]
In First, Britain Likely Generated more Electricity from Wind/Water/Hydro than Fossil Fuels in 2023
By Grant Wilson, University of Birmingham; Joseph Day, University of Birmingham; and Katarina Pegg | – There are many milestones to pass in the transition from a high to low-carbon sustainable energy system. There is the first hour without coal, or oil, or gas generation (or all of them together) and the point when the […]
A Merry Muslim Christmas from India’s Hyderabad, c. 1630: Jesus, the Dutch, and Diamonds
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The nativity of the Christ child is not solely an occasion of Christian spirituality, but has been celebrated through the ages by Muslim writers and painters, as well. As I have pointed out, the story of the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus is told in the Qur’an: Verses 19:17-35: […]
No, Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital was not a Hamas Command Center; Biden endorsed an Israeli Lie
By Jake Johnson | – ( Commondreams.org) – The Israeli military launched a deadly assault on Gaza’s largest hospital last month on the grounds that the facility concealed a sprawling Hamas command center. But a detailed Washington Post investigation by By Louisa Loveluck, Evan Hill, Jonathan Baran, Jarrett Ley and Ellen Nakashima published Thursday found […]
What are the Motivations behind Israel’s Genocide in Gaza, and what is the Way Forward?
Yoav Litvin is an Israeli-American doctor of psychology/neuroscience, a writer and photographer. ( AlJazeera ) – On October 7, Hamas fighters breached the Gaza prison fence, launching a coordinated attack on at least seven Israeli military installations and more than 20 surrounding residential communities. Over 1000 Israeli citizens, both civilian and military, as well as […]
Israelis have killed the same Percentage of Gazans in 11 Weeks as Allies did Italians in all of WW II
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN reports figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health as of Friday: “between 7 October and 7:00 on 22 December, at least 20,057 Palestinians were killed in Gaza. About 70 per cent of those killed are said to be women and children. As of then, 53,320 Palestinians have been […]
Meta (Facebook and Instagram) is Systemically Censoring Palestine Content
Human Rights Watch – (New York) – Meta’s content moderation policies and systems have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook in the wake of the hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 51-page report, “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of […]
A “Delicate Matter”: Clarence Thomas’ Private Complaints About Money Sparked Fears among Rich that He Would Resign
By Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex Mierjeski and Brett Murphy | – ( ProPublica ) – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ decadeslong friendship with real estate tycoon Harlan Crow and Samuel Alito’s luxury travel with billionaire Paul Singer have raised questions about influence and ethics at the nation’s highest court. In early January 2000, Supreme […]