Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Saudi archeologist Muhammad al-Maghthawi has published a photograph of an inscription in the vicinity of Medina that seems to be the first to mention the Prophet’s third wife, `A`isha. It seems to date from the first century of the Muslim era (A. H.), and is probably from the late […]
The Qur’an, the Prophet, and a Forgotten History – Juan Cole in conversation with Hamza Yusuf
From the podcast of the journal Renovatio: Journal of Zaytuna College. Juan Cole’s Muhammad: Prophet of Peace Amid the Clash of Empires (2018) retells the history of the prophetic period in seventh-century Arabia through the context of a brutal war between the Iranian Sassanian Empire and the Roman Empire in the Near East. In this […]
World’s Largest offshore Windfarm to power 1 mn British Homes & other Good Climate News
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Hanna Ziady at CNN Business reports that just next year, in 2020, the world’s largest offshore wind farm will open 75 miles off the eastern, Yorkshire coast of Britain. Hornsea I alone will power 1 million homes. Britain, with a population of 66 million, has 27 million households. It has […]
Witness Intimidation: Unbalanced Trump Seeks Whistleblower sources, hints Execution for Espionage
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump, being unbalanced, has never dealt well with criticism. In the face of credible charges of impeachable offenses in his July conversation with Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump is unraveling. Eli Stokols at the LA Times reports that an attendee at a Trump event in New York for his UN […]
Annals of Impeachment: From Nixon’s “Smoking Gun” Tape to Trump Zelensky Summary
On August 5, 1974, Nixon was forced by the Supreme Court to release the smoking gun tape in which he and his chief of staff H. R. Haldemann had a conversation, in the course of which Nixon could be heard acknowledging his knowledge of the burglary of the Democratic National Committee office files in the […]
Universal ethical truths are at the core of Jewish High Holy Days
By Ronald W. Pies | – My most vivid adolescent memories of the Jewish High Holy Days are the painful rumbling of my empty stomach as I fasted on Yom Kippur, and the sharp blasts of the shofar – the ram’s horn – sounding from the synagogue pulpit. I was one of millions of Jews […]
Finally, an Impeachment Inquiry: Pelosi on “Nationalist” Trump’s “betrayal of our National Security”
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Nancy Pelosi finally caved to pressure to open an impeachment inquiry into Trump, after he admitted to having pressured the Ukraine government to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden. Biden is clearly furious over the whole thing, and as a pillar of the Democratic establishment and former president of the […]
Ukraine Scandal shows the Squad was Right about Impeaching Trump, & they’re Telling the Dems so
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mi) was widely castigated for saying, virtually as soon as she was elected, that it was necessary to impeach Trump (she used a colorful epithet in doing so, which some observers said made a bad impression, even though rich old white guys speak like that all the […]
Bribery & High Crimes and Misdemeanors: Did Trump finally go Full Impeachable in Ukraine Calls?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that in the course of his conversation in July with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump pressed him on eight separate occasions to investigate Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden. Biden when vice president is known to have pressured the Ukrainian government to fire a prosecutor […]