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 […]
Cancun Cruz dares Say Biden is Weak on Putin, when he Supports “Vladimir’s Lapdog” Donald Trump
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Hill reports that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is saying that Joe Biden is the best thing that ever happened to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cruz is trotting out the tried and true Republican tactic of Chickenhawk Macho. He does not have any credibility in this regard, since he ran […]
Tucker Carlson lets slip that “Whiteness” is scam as he targets AOC for Race-Baiting and Sexual Harassment
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Tucker Carlson’s White Power Hour on Faux News was devoted in part on Friday evening to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), known as AOC. Carlson polluted the airways with a mixture of woman-hating, sexual innuendo, and –surprise– racism. The racism took the form of attempting to induct Rep. Ocasio Cortez into […]
Replaced by Mega-battery: Massive 3 GW Coal Plant in Australia forced to Close by Cheaper Wind and Solar
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Australian firm Orion Energy in New South Wales is closing its massive, nearly 3 gigawatt Eraring coal plant eight years early. The largest coal plant in the country will be gone by 2025 instead of 2032. This development is good news for the earth, since coal is the single […]
A Republican Genocide of Quackery: COVID-19 has Killed as many Americans as all our Wars combined
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The CDC now estimates that there have been 1,045,389 excess deaths since January 1, 2020, because of COVID-19. PBS estimates that roughly 1,100,000 Americans have died in all US wars in history. That is, the death toll from COVID-19 is just about as great as the toll of all our […]
Conflict with Russia is Raising your Gasoline Bill; an Electric Car is the Answer
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Reporters pressed White House spokesperson Jen Psaki on Wednesday about the likelihood that any Russian military engagement in Ukraine will raise petroleum prices further. Ensuing US sanctions on Russia would keep some of its petroleum off the market, as has already happened to Iran, at a time when demand is […]
“Niagara Falls becoming Horizontal:” NOAA warns of nearly 1 foot Sea Level Rise in 30 years, “Common” High Tide Floods
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The sea level along the US coastline in the lower 48 will rise as much in just the next 30 years as it had the century before our own moment (1920-2020), which is to say, nearly a foot or a third of a meter. That is the takeaway from the […]
Not Since Charlemagne: Megadrought in US Southwest, boosted by Human CO2 emissions, is worst since 800 AD
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The megadrought in the US West has produced drier conditions as of the past year than any seen in over 1,200 years, according to a just-published article in Nature Climate Change by scientists A. Park Williams, Benjamin I. Cook and Jason E. Smerdon of UCLA. The length and intensity of […]