Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Biden administration has reverted to the longstanding practice of not funding Israeli institutions in the Palestinian West Bank. AFP reports that State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, “engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after 1967 and […]
Wind and Solar are Saving Texas from Brownouts during deadly Heat Dome, but Republicans want to Abolish Them
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kristoffer Tigue at Inside Climate News reports that climate change made the brutal heat wave assaulting Texas worse, but that the state’s renewable power sources have helped keep the air conditioners running. Temperatures are predicted to stay over 100°F this week, with a slight break owing to a thunderstorm system. […]
Climate Crisis: Iranian City, hottest in World on Thursday, hits Record for late Spring Heat, at 50.8 °C [123.44 °F]
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The Iranian city of Zabol in the northern part of the Sistan and Baluchistan province won the global high temperature sweepstakes on June 22, according to the Spanish meteorological site OGIMET , coming in at 50.8 °C [123.44 °F]. It is the first time in 60 years that a city in […]
Israeli Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir calls for Killing Thousands of Palestinians and Squatting on their Property
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Jordan’s al-Ghad [Tomorrow] newspaper reports from occupied East Jerusalem that on Friday the extremist Israeli Minister of National Security, Itamar Bin-Gvir called on Israeli squatters on the Palestinian West Bank to take over the territory and to settle it with support from the far right-wing government. Ben-Gvir made the remarks […]
The Real Project for a New American Century: Ford Receives $9.2 Billion Loan for EV Battery Plants to Counter China
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – David Shepardson at Reuters reports that Ford Motor Co. and its partner SK of South Korea have received a $9.2 billion loan for 3 battery plants in Kentucky and Tennessee from the Department of Energy under the loan program called Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM). It is the biggest single […]
Another Day, another Israeli Pogrom Against Occupied Palestinians; or, Echoes of the Sudetenland
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A civil war is raging in Israel-Palestine, and the outcome won’t be pretty for anyone, including Americans. Fascist Israeli squatters are routinely attacking Palestinian hamlets with mayhem and murder on their minds, and the Israeli Army often takes the side of the aggressors. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has turned control […]
Climate Crisis: Himalaya Glacier Melt Feeds India’s and Pakistan’s Rivers, but 80% of Lower Level Glacier Mass could be gone this Century
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new report on ice in the Himalayas issued by The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) finds that at the lower elevations of the Himalaya mountains, the snow depth and mass are projected to decline 25% by 2050 (regardless of greenhouse gas scenarios, i.e. this is already baked […]
Europe Heating up at Twice global Average, with Extreme Weather cost of $2 bn.
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The World Meteorological Organization says that a new report reveals Europe to be the continent undergoing the most rapid heating in the world, double the global average. Global heating is caused by humans burning coal, fossil gas and petroleum and putting billions of metric tons of carbon dioxide into the […]
The Biden Effect: Electric Vehicle Sales skyrocket 79% in US in Q1
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Laws have consequences. The Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Biden administration and the Democrats in Congress (with no Republican support at all) is already beginning to green and turbocharge the American economy. Abhik Mukherjee at Counterpoint Research calculates that if we look at both battery electric vehicle (BEV) and […]