Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The BBC reports that a power outage and consequent explosion at the Natanz nuclear enrichment site in Iran on Sunday is being blamed by Iranian officials on sabotage. It reports that some Israeli outlets have speculated that the cause was an Israeli cyber-attack. The head of Iran’s nuclear energy program, […]
Greening Earth and creating Jobs, Biden to slash Fossil Fuel Subsidies and Extend Wind, Solar Credits
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reuters reports that President Biden intends to slash tax subsidies for fossil fuels like coal and petroleum and to use taxes instead to encourage renewable energy. Since jobs in the coal industry are plummeting, and since job growth in renewable electricity is over 3 percent a year, Biden’s plans will […]
Tucker Carlson touts ‘Replacement’ Conspiracy Theory; but his own Ancestor could have been Lynched
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Grand Dragon Tucker Carlson went on another Fox News show to push his streaming program, and while there was struck with diarrhea of the larynx, oozing amid loud excretions a hateful farrago of antisemitic white supremacy. He openly embraced the tin foil hat conspiracy theory of “replacement,” the notion that […]
More CO2 in our Atmosphere now than any time since 3.6 mn Years Ago, when Oceans were 90 feet higher (that’s our fate)
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a scientific shocker, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has found that despite the slowdown in carbon dioxide emissions in 2020 because of the pandemic, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere rose to a global average of 412.5 parts per million (ppm) from 410 in 2019. At the […]
Iraq Announces end of US Combat Mission in Iraq, further reduction in 2,500 Troops now There
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iraqi News Agency reports that Qasim al-Araji, Iraq’s National Security Adviser, said on Wednesday that his country had reached an agreement with Washington specifying that there would be no foreign military bases in Iraq. During a press conference alongside foreign minister Fuad Hussein, al-Araji added that the Biden administration […]
How to understand Indirect US-Iran Nuclear Talks at Vienna: Iran wants US to get its Knee off Tehran’s Neck, Chauvin style, First
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The current signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (Joint Plan of Comprehensive Action or JCPOA) met in Vienna Tuesday with Iran. The United States delegation, led by Robert Malley, met on the sidelines with Deputy Secretary-General European Union Enrique Mora, who engaged in shuttle diplomacy between Iran and the […]
Middle East, Africa, in Special Trouble as Human-Caused Climate Emergency causes 30% drop in Agricultural Productivity Growth
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new paper in the journal Nature Climate Change has found that the human-caused climate emergency is responsible for a 20 percent drop in global agricultural productivity growth in the past 60 years.* A. Ortiz-Bobea and colleagues write: “The cumulative impact of ACC [anthropogenic or human-caused climate change] on global […]
In Historical Irony, Israel can only have a Government with Palestinian-Israeli (and maybe Muslim Brotherhood) Support
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a great historical irony, the immediate future of Israeli politics may depend on the Israeli branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. After the recent Israeli election, the fourth in less than two years, long-serving prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again appears to be falling short of attracting 61 members of […]
What Christians can Learn from the Qur’an’s denial that Jews bore Responsibility for Christ’s Crucifixion
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Through Christian history, and especially since Christians became numerous and powerful as the Roman Empire adopted the faith as its state religion, Jews have been senselessly victimized around Easter and falsely blamed for the killing of Christ. Interestingly, the Qur’an denies that the Jews were at fault in Jesus’ execution. […]