Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – France’s parliamentary elections witnessed an upset, with centrist President Emmanuel Macron’s party, La République En Marche and its Ensemble coalition losing its absolute parliamentary majority. A majority requires 289 seats, and Macron’s party gained 245 seats. Among the beneficiaries are the Left and the Greens, who joined together in the […]
Lutheran Church Denounces Killing of Abu Akleh, Calls for end of Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Territories
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Lutheran World Federation Council has called for an end to the Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian Territories (Gaza and the West Bank). The statement said that “The Council is deeply concerned by the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the recent escalation of violence, including the killing […]
Al Jazeera: Image of Bullet that killed American Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh Proves it came from an Israeli M4
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Al Jazeera news network, based in Qatar, has received from the Palestine Authority an image of the bullet that killed American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and has concluded that it was certainly fired from an Israeli M4 rifle. The green-tipped, 5.56mm caliber bullet is deadly when fired at a […]
Did Trump try to Get VP Mike Pence Killed?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Jan. 6 Committee revealed on Thursday that Trump knew that the Capitol had been breached by his Oath Keeper and Proud Boy black shirts when he sent his tweet at 2:24 p.m. saying, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our […]
A Distinctly Native Criminal Class: Was Rep. Loudermilk Part of the Jan. 6 Insurrection? How many in Congress Were?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – There are 435 representatives in the House, and you and I have not heard of most of them. In some instances this anonymity means that they have their noses to the grindstone, quietly representing their districts. In other instances they are involved in shady dealings and shun the spotlight lest […]
This Week’s Climate Disasters in the US are Giving us a Glimpse of our Future if we don’t Stop CO2
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – We’re only midweek, but we have already seen serial disasters across the United States that have been exacerbated by the climate emergency, caused by human beings burning coal, methane gas and petroleum. So writes Mihai Andrei at ZME Science. I put it to you that this first paragraph at the […]
Why the Oath Keepers looks an Awful lot like al-Qaeda and Trump is its Usama Bin Laden
Revised. Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Although the Congressional inquiry into the Jan. 6 insurrection is releasing new information about the ties between the White House and the insurrectionists, that the attack on the Capitol that day was a well-planned paramilitary operation was clear from Department of Justice indictments already released. Below, I revisit one […]
California Milestone: State for First Time briefly Generates 103% of its Electricity from Renewables
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On one day in May, Lauren Sommer at NPR reported, California ran for several hours on 103% renewable electricity, which means it generated enough electricity from wind, solar, hydro, geothermal and battery to fulfill the entire needs of the state plus to be able to export a bit to neighboring […]
What did the President Know and When did He Know it? Trump’s 7-Part Plan and the Insurrection
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – When the news of the burglary at the Democratic campaign headquarters in the Watergate building broke, it wasn’t initially clear that President Tricky Dick Nixon had ordered it. (He did, twice. Yes.) So for those too young to remember that dreary scandal, the question of “What did the president know […]