Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan region, the center of its petroleum industry, has been wracked with protests for a week, in part over water shortages. Rallies have erupted in the towns of Mahshahr, Izeh, Ahvaz, Kut-e Abdollah, Susangerd, Aligoudarz and Shoushtar, according to Amnesty International The Iranian government has sometimes replied to […]
Only Electric Cars can save the Planet, with as much as 4/5s fewer Emissions than Gasoline Cars
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A life-cycle study of automobile emissions in four major new-car markets globally by Georg Bieker of non-profit The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has demonstrated conclusively that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are dramatically cleaner than gasoline cars under virtually all circumstances, no matter how dirty the electric grid in […]
Iran opens new Oil Port on Gulf of Oman to avoid narrow Straits of Hormuz and to Avoid US Sanctions
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to Al Jazeera, on Thursday, Iran announced the opening of a new petroleum export terminal near the port of Jask on the Gulf of Oman, which will allow its vessels to avoid what Iranians refer to as the Persian Gulf and its narrow outlet, the Strait of Hormuz. Although […]
Under Pressure from Biden, Japan pledges to double target for Renewables in energy mix by 2030, to 38%, and to Slash Emissions
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The importance of having a U.S. leader like Joe Biden, who has come to believe in the necessity of drastically cutting the emission of greenhouse gases, was demonstrated Wednesday when Japan announced that it was doubling its proposed cuts to carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. This according to Reuters. Japan […]
Trump Associate Indicted for being Agent for Emirates, Covertly Shaping US Mideast Policy
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald Trump as president dumped the Paris Climate Accord, withdrew from the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal, endorsed the 2017 blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and pushed for declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization. The Brotherhood had been part of the 2011 uprisings against […]
The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and Muslim Secularism: A conversation with Juan Cole (Ta’seel)
Juan Cole in conversation with Ta’seel Commons: “’To read Juan Cole’s deft, plain-spoken translation of the Rubáiyát is to find companionship, to rejoin a thousand-year human conversation about how to endure, enjoy, and find a fleeting beauty in everlastingly dire times. The lucid, cogent and mind-opening Epilogue is a kind of grace, a gift freely […]
“No ice cream for you” – Ben & Jerry’s ceases distribution to Israeli Squatter-Settlements in Palestinian West Bank
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The civil society movement to boycott, divest from and sanction (BDS) Israel racked up another victory on Monday when it was announced that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream would cease being sold in the Israeli-only squatter-settlements built on usurped Palestinian-owned farmland. Ben & Jerry’s was founded by Ben Cohen and […]
Palestinian-Israeli Party in Gov’t Warns of “Religious War” over Violent Squatter Invasion of al-Aqsa Mosque Complex
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that early on Sunday morning, hundreds of Israeli squatter-settlers stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque from the direction of the Moors Gate, with heavy guard by the Israeli security forces. An attempt was made to exclude Palestinians from the Mosque and its environs. In […]
Did Netanyahu Try to get Trump to Wag the Dog with Strike on Iran after Biden Won?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Susan B. Glasser reports at The New Yorker that after it became clear that Joe Biden had won the presidency, from November 7, lame duck Donald Trump desperately wanted to hold on to his office and contemplated a strike on Iran to bolster his position. Glasser writes that “the subject […]
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