Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Foreign policy abruptly hijacked President Biden’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night, making the occasion less partisan that it might otherwise have been. Pundits were always declaring that Donald Trump’s response to some crisis was “the day he became president.” They made themselves look a little silly, though, since […]
UN Climate Panel: 50% of Species have fled toward Poles, as Extinctions and Food and Water Shortages Burgeon
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued its 2022 report and the scientists have bad news for us. This report is far more pessimistic than its predecessors. The climate emergency is being caused by humans burning coal, petroleum and methane gas for electricity and heating and cooling buildings. […]
Americans Shocked to See Ukrainians treated Like Iraqis even though they are White (Not the Onion)
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Some European and American commentators on Russia’s war against Ukraine have covered themselves in shame by implying that because Ukrainians are “European” or “civilized” it is harder to see them hit by artillery and made refugees than it had been with regard to Iraqis or Syrians. While in 2015 Syrians […]
What can we Learn about Ukraine’s Future from Israel’s Campaigns in Lebanon?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – I’ve been thinking about what the Russian invasion and attempted occupation of Ukraine is like in recent history, and one analogy that might be good to think with is Israel in Lebanon. Putin seems to hope that the Ukraine is like Palestine, which the Israelis have successfully kept subdued even […]
The Republican Party Persecuted US Leftists for tilting to Moscow but Makes Excuses for Putin-Loving Trump
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Trump’s fawning admiration of Vladimir Putin is well known, but it has often been brushed off as a quirk. We should have known how dangerous Putin was when he praised Trump as “impressive.” Trump is impressive the way spoiled butter left out too long is, rancid and foul-smelling. Now Trump […]
How Bush’s Iraq Fiasco ruined US Credibility and Enabled Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – George W. Bush issued a statement about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It went like this: DALLAS, TEXAS – “Russia’s attack on Ukraine constitutes the gravest security crisis on the European continent since World War II. I join the international community in condemning Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of […]
By Blocking Green Energy, Manchin and Republicans are Siding with Russia and Endangering US National Security
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Vladimir Putin just made you poorer. Your retirement funds invested in the stock market just tanked. The cost of getting to work just spiked. US energy security is imperiled even though we don’t import petroleum or methane gas from Russia. High prices affect everyone in the world, and US allies […]
Will Germany’s Pause of Russian Gas Pipeline over Ukraine Galvanize its Green Energy Switch?
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Tuesday, Germany’s socialist Chancellor, Olaf Scholtz, suspended the permitting process for the Nord Stream 2 methane gas pipeline that had been built to bring Siberian gas to Germany, over Russia’s declaration that two Ukrainian provinces were independent states. The $11 billion pipeline has already been constructed, but was awaiting […]
Why Putin’s Denial of Ukrainian Statehood and Israel’s Denial of Palestinian Statehood are Crimes against History
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his incendiary speech on Ukraine on Monday, Vladimir Putin alleged that Ukraine does not really exist, that it is an artificial construct of the Communist period, crafted by Vladimir Lenin. He declared, “Ukraine never had a tradition of genuine statehood.” When I heard that, it reminded me of the […]
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