Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Gasoline demand in the U.S. rebounded vigorously in the week leading up to the 4th of July, to an average of 9.6 million barrels a day, the highest rate seen since September, 2019, well before the pandemic. This is bad. During the 2020 pandemic year, global carbon dioxide emissions plummeted […]
UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur on Palestine slams Israeli Squatter-Settlements as ‘War Crime,’ Urges Practical Punishment
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Canadian academic and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, made waves on Friday. Lynk asked the nations of the world to classify the Israeli government practice of sponsoring Israeli squatters on Palestinian-owned land on the Occupied Palestinian […]
Israeli Supreme Court affirms Apartheid law limiting Sovereignty to Jewish Israelis, excluding 20% of Population
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports in an article edited by Mahmud Mujadalah that the Israeli Supreme Court on Thursday refused to strike down the basic law passed by the parliament or Knesset in 2018 declaring Israel a Jewish nation such that sovereignty is solely invested in the Jewish population. […]
Ship Explosion Rocks Dubai, Mideast’s Largest Commercial Zone, Possibly as a Result of Extreme Heat
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Alarabiya reports from Dubai on the massive explosion on the deck of a ship that was coming in to dock at the Jebel Ali port there, which could be heard for miles and shook the city’s skyscrapers. Since the explosion was on the ship, it appears not to have done […]
Israel and the Racial Politics of Palestinian Family Separation
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli newspaper Arab 48 reports that on Tuesday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett slammed opposition parties, led by former PM Binyamin Netanyahu, for having voted against renewal of the Family Separation Law for Palestinian-Israelis married to Palestinians. He said that the opposition had done direct damage to Israeli security. The […]
“Chaos” in Israeli Parliament over Apartheid-style Law against Family Unification for Palestinian-Israelis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al-Quds Al-Arabi [Arab Jerusalem] reports “chaos” in the Israeli parliament as it debated into the wee hours of Tuesday morning the renewal of a 2003 law that places obstacles to family unification inside Israel of Palestinian-Israelis who marry Palestinians living in the Occupied West Bank or Gaza. Members of parliament […]
Kuwait is the Hottest Place on Earth; Lytton, Canada was Right Behind it, and then it Burned Down; This is not Normal
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Mohammed Haddad at Al Jazeera English reports that in June, at least 23 countries experienced at least 122° F. (50° C.). Haddad’s article kindly provides several graphics under a Creative Commons licence, reproduced below. The earth is heating up because we burn gasoline in our cars and burn coal for […]
Top 5 Differences between the Fourth of July and the Capitol Insurrection
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – 1. The Fourth of July celebrates a revolutionary event. January 6 was a counter-revolutionary event. Why do I say this? The chief feature of the Declaration of Independence was not that it announced an insurrection (or rather confirmed one already announced by some 90 councils and other local bodies). Insurrections […]
United Nations Accuses Israel of ‘Grave Violations’ against Palestinian Children
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres presented a report to the 75th General Assembly on the “Promotion and protection of the rights of children: promotion and protection of the rights of children: Children and Armed Conflict” It had a damning section on the situation in Israel […]