Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has abruptly been handed an honest-to-God crisis that may distract him from his usual antics of trolling Venezuelan asylum-seekers, firing elected prosecutors who disagree with him on coerced childbirth, and firing scientists who wouldn’t manipulate state COVID statistics for him. DeSantis called Hurricane Ian a once-in-a-500-year […]
Juan Cole on Theocracy: The David Feldman Show (Video)
The David Feldman Show | Juan Cole on Theocracy | – “03:30:52 SPECIAL GUEST: Professor Juan Cole in conversation with Professor Adnan Husain Professor Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Since 2002, he has written and edited Informed Comment (juancole.com). On today’s show: Professor Cole draws […]
Iranian Revolutionary Guards launch Drone Strikes on Dissident Kurds in Iraq, as Baghdad summons Iranian Ambassador
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps on Wednesday targeted Iranian Kurdish expatriate political and paramilitary groups in the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq for drone strikes, killing over a dozen people and wounding more than fifty. So reports Patrick Wintour at the Guardian. This is not the first time Iran has […]
Irony Officially declared Dead as Israeli Foreign Ministry Decries Russian Annexation of Others’ Territory
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In a further sign that all irony is dead, the Israeli Foreign Ministry rejected the annexation of four Ukrainian districts by Russia on Tuesday, saying that Israel “recognizes the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, and will not recognize the results of the referendums in its eastern districts.” On Tuesday, […]
Iranian Teachers’ Union charges Gov’t with Dishonoring Nation’s Girls, Recalling Theme of Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – So far, the wave of street protests staged in dozens of Iran’s towns and cities appear to have been spontaneous and to lack organization or clear leadership. These demonstrations continued on Monday night in Sanandaj, Tehran, and some other cities, according to the Twitter feed of Iran Protests Watch. Although […]
Our Atmospheric CO2 is now past the point that in the Deep Past has Meant the Melting of the Antarctic Ice Sheets
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – So as a historian, I am particularly interested in what the past tells us about the present. I’ve taught courses on climate change in history. But of course my kind of history doesn’t go back very far from the point of view of physical scientists. The academic discipline of “history” […]
From Veiling to Abortion, Iran’s Theocrats seek to Control Women’s Bodies, just as do U.S. Republican Theocrats
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Saturday, hard line Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi announced that his government would pull out the stops to crush the popular unrest sweeping the country that was sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa “Zhina” Amini, 22, a Kurdish young woman who was arrested by the morals police for […]
Iran Protests for “Woman, Life, Freedom” and against “Tyranny” spread to 31 Cities, with 35 Dead
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran is witnessing the worst mass unrest since the failed Green Revolution of 2009, which saw its biggest crowds come out in major cities such as Tehran, Tabriz and Shiraz, and which was spear-headed by college students and youth more generally. The 2009 movement was not joined by the bazaar, […]
Top Six Astounding Signs of Solar Progress in US, as this Source accounts for 45% of New Power Installations in 2021
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Berkeley Labs has brought out its report on utility-scale solar power in the United States during 2021. Here are some headlines from the report: 1. Utility-scale solar and distributed solar came to 45% of all new electricity-production capacity added to the US grid in 2021. In contrast, wind was 32% […]