( Tomdispatch.com) – A photo Beijing released on March 6th of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s foreign minister Wang Yi* delivered a seismic shock in Washington. There he was, standing between Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, and Saudi National Security Adviser Musaad bin Mohammed al-Aiban. They were awkwardly shaking hands on an […]
United Nations for First Time Recognizes 1948 Israeli Ethnic Cleansing (Nakbah) of Palestinians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Today, May 15, for the first time a commemoration will be held at the United Nations HQ in New York City of the 1948 ethnic cleansing of about half of all the Palestinians, the bulk of which was carried out by Jewish military forces, as Israeli intelligence admitted at the […]
For First Time, Wind provided more Power than Fossil Gas for Britain, enough to Power 300 mn. Teslas
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – A new study commissioned by the UK private electric utility Drax and carried out by professors at Imperial College London has confirmed that in the first quarter of this year, wind turbines in Britain generated more electricity than did fossil gas plants. This is the first time the UK got […]
Good Climate News: New EPA Rule would make Fossil Fuel Plants cut Emissions 90% by 2040
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Michael S. Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, announced on Thursday the most ambitious limits on how much carbon dioxide and other pollutants coal and gas-fired power plants can emit. The plants will have to cut their carbon dioxide emissions by 90% between 2035 and 2040. The new […]
Long Beach Plans a 400-Acre Facility for Floating Offshore Wind Turbines, Largest in World
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – City News Service reports that Long Beach is planning a 400-acre facility to manufacture and install offshore floating wind turbines off the coast of California. The port has many advantages in this regard, being a deep water port with a federal sea breaker. Each of the wind towers it plans […]
Trump joins ranks of Sexual Abusers-in-Chief like Gaddafi and Mussolini, but CNN thinks he Deserves a Townhall
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Donald John Trump was found liable by a jury on Tuesday for having sexually abused and then libeled writer E. Jean Carroll. The only reason he wasn’t also found liable for rape was that the victim said he inserted something else into her– fingers or some instrument — against her […]
European Union cancels ‘Europe Day’ Diplomatic Reception to Avoid Extremist Racist Ben-Gvir, Israel’s Chosen Representative
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Le Monde reports that a European Union diplomatic delegation to Tel Aviv announced Monday that it was canceling the diplomatic reception for Europe Day there because the government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had selected far-right extremist Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben-Gvir to represent it. The site of the French […]
A Final Burial for the Arab Spring: Arab League Readmits Syria under al-Assad, as Tensions with Iran Subside
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The foreign ministers of the Arab League states, meeting in Cairo on Sunday, approved the end of Syria’s suspension from membership in that body. Syria was suspended in November 2011 as the Syrian Arab Army was deployed to massacre civilian protesters. The decision was a recognition that the Baath government […]
Sir Gawain and the Green King: What can Newly Crowned Charles III do to Combat the Climate Emergency?
Revised Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We can argue about the character of Charles’s philosophy of nature and whether it is conservative or not. I don’t really care about the origins of his concern for the dangers we face from the climate emergency. I’m just glad he takes this stance, unlike so many of his […]