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 […]
Russia Lambastes “Vicious” Israel for Striking Damascus Airport, Causing Setback to Counter-Terrorism
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – According to Tass, Maria Zakharova, the spokewsoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said of Israel’s bombardment on Friday before dawn of runways at Damascus International Airport, closing it, “We demand that the Israeli side stop this vicious and dangerous practice.” Zakharova made clear the reason for the unusually fierce condemnation […]
Ms. Marvel: Can a 16-year-old Marvel Superhero Change the Image of Islam in America?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Marvel Cinematic Universe streaming superhero television show, Ms. Marvel dropped on Disney+ this week, and it is a revolution in the representation of Muslim Americans on television. The story revolves around a Pakistani-American 16-year-old girl from Jersey City who resents her strict and protective parents and wants to attend […]
European Parliament bans New Gasoline Cars in 13 Years for 449 Million People, to fight Climate Emergency and Russia
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Margaux Otter at L’Obs reports that on Wednesday, the European Parliament voted to ban the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) automobiles by 2035, only thirteen years from now. It is an epochal vote that aims at completely re-configuring the automobile industry in the 27-member European Union, with its […]
Israel’s Crisis in Parliament is a Crisis for its Apartheid in the Palestinian West Bank
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday evening, the government of Naftali Bennett in Israel failed to pass a crucial law in parliament, according to the Israeli newspaper Arab 48. The failure, which strikes at the foundations of Bennett’s far right vision of an expanding Greater Israel that forever forestalls any Palestinian state, exposed the […]
Biden’s Green New Deal: 100 Gigawatts of New Solar, in Biggest Energy Program since FDR’s TVA
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – President Biden just launched a series of executive orders and other measures for solar energy that have the potential to be the biggest energy initiatives by any president since Franklin D. Roosevelt, on whose watch the Hoover Dam and the Tennessee Valley Authority came into being. The Hoover Dam produces […]
It is now Cheaper to Switch from Coal directly to Wind and Solar than to Natural Gas
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Matthew Gray at Transition Zero writes that it is now cheaper in North America and Europe to switch from coal plants directly to wind, solar, battery renewable energy sources than it is to switch to methane (“natural”) gas. TZ figures transition costs in expenditure of carbon dioxide, and finds that […]
Chevy Bolt now Least Expensive EV in US Market, as Studies show they cut Carbon by ~70% over ICE Cars
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – General Motors has just slashed the cost of its struggling Bolt by over 18%! If you just go by the sticker price, the base 1LT (Luxury Touring) at $26,595 is now the least expensive electric car in the US market. The 2Lt comes in at $29, 795. So reports Pras […]
The last Time our Atmosphere had 421 ppm of Carbon Dioxide, Florida was under Water and Giant Camels and Rhinoceri roamed Indiana
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Friday that in May, carbon dioxide peaked at 421 parts per million, a level not seen since the Pliocene Climatic Optimum between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago. Human civilization developed during a long period when carbon dioxide was between 270 […]