Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – International Energy Agency analysts Leonardo Paoli and Timur Gül write that, globally, electric car sales more than doubled in 2021 to 6.6 million, while they had been 3 million in 2020 and 2.2 million in 2019. Moreover, they say, all the net increase in automobile sales in 2021 came from […]
The Boosted are 97 times less likely to die of Covid, as Republican Party Death Cult Kills Tens of Thousands
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The United States has failed Covid. Compared to most other industrialized countries, its per capita rate of infection and death is much higher. Despite having plenty of vaccines, there has been a lag in getting them into people’s arms, especially into the arms of the most at-risk group, of those […]
Apartheid 2.0: Amnesty International Joins Chorus condemning Israeli rule over stateless Palestinians
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli state has won the trifecta of condemnation by major human rights organizations, as, on Tuesday, Amnesty International joined with Human Rights Watch and B’Tselem in calling Israeli rule over the 5 million Palestinians of the Occupied Palestinian Territories a form of Apartheid. Amnesty carried out its investigation and […]
How the Ukraine Crisis is Changing Biden’s Mideast Policy: The Rise and Rise of Qatar
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Russia’s massing of over 100,000 troops around Ukraine has provoked a diplomatic and military crisis, but also a potential energy crisis. That is because Europe gets about one third of its natural gas from the Russian Federation, and Germany gets about half of its from that source. Natural gas prices […]
Islamophobia and the Capitol Insurrection: How the FBI Ignored White Radicals While Spying 24/7 on Muslim Americans
This is my new column at Tomdispatch.com . After you give it a read, do visit the link for the original to see Tom Engelhardt’s incisive introduction. ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson excused one of the leaders of the extremist Oath Keepers organization implicated in the January 6th insurrection by describing […]
In Parable for Occupation, Autopsy Shows Israeli Troops mistreated American on West Bank, leading to his Death
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Last week was another in a long line of public relations disasters for the Israeli state, as its unacceptable military occupation of millions of stateless Palestinians continues. It isn’t just that the Palestinians are deprived by Israel of basic human rights. Israeli policy is to strip from them in piecemeal […]
Another Sign Big Three Automakers are dumping Big Oil: GM to invest $7 Billion in Michigan Electric Vehicle, Battery Plants
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Kalea Hall at the Detroit News reports that General Motors will invest $7 billion in the development of electric vehicles and batteries, in a bid to overtake Tesla. Article continues after bonus video WXYZ 7 Detroit: “GM to spend nearly $7B on EV, battery plants in Michigan” That $7 billion […]
Climate Hope: Record $920 bn. was invested in Low-Carbon Tech in 2021
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – BloombergNEF reports that in 2021, a record-breaking $920 billion was invested globally in low-carbon technology, just short of $1 trillion. The report says that $755 billion was spent to implement low-carbon technologies, with $366 billion going into renewable energy and $273 billion into electrifying transportation. That $273 billion put into […]
“No Rights which the White Man was Bound to Respect” What SCOTUS once Ruled about a Black Woman, as Biden prepares to Nominate One
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Associate Justice Stephen Breyer announced on Wednesday that he would retire this summer at the end of the present term of the Supreme Court. Biden made a campaign promise to nominate an African-American woman to the court, and Democrats expect him to follow through. Arguably, Biden would not be president […]